Building Blocks

The next couple of days went by relatively peacefully for Ayako. Spent mostly hanging out with her friends, and dancing her heart out with Elizabeth, she pushed her own projects aside for this needed moment of reprieve. The fact that the Roman Singularity took weeks compared to the four days of France (and the half a day of Fuyuki) was further reminder of how tuckered out she was. And no doubt, future Singularities will not get any easier. Another welcome change was the fact that the Lancer had somehow convinced Mash to join them for their practices. She spent most of those mornings just watching their performances, and it wasn't until yesterday that she finally joined them. They both took their time in teaching her what they could, but the most important thing was that dancing was a way of expressing one's self. One that they were certain Mash could understand in time.

And then today was finally the day that things returned to its previous rhythm, with the appearance of a Minor Singularity, one located in the Indian Subcontinent. Set in 178 BCE. The time period was the bigger issue, the farthest they would have rayshifted to. Not even Chaldea's previous tests had gone this far. There's no telling what sort of risks were involved, but luckily for Chaldea, they had the perfect guinea pig who was ready to take the plunge for the rest of them.

Herself.

She was a fortunate existence for Chaldea. Someone who was both a valuable asset, and an expendable one. One that she herself had often took advantage of throughout her life. So when the Director herself asked for her expertise, she gladly answered the call. She, along with Medea, had rayshifted ahead and gathered the land, securing the area. When everything was accounted for, the rest joined them drop. Ritsuka and Koleen will focus on gathering materials from the more potent era, while she handles the anomaly that had cropped up.

"What's on your mind, lass?" Cú Chulainn asked from somewhere around, close to her.

She sighed, somewhat exaggeratedly, as her eyes surveyed the area she stood on. It didn't take long for her and Medea to secure the perimeter, and now the rest of the (current) Ground Team were here with her. She turned in a circle, inspecting the place once more with her golden eyes. Saber and Mash stood by Ritsuka's side, helping him brace the air around them after Medea's enhancements clung to him.

Koleen was stretching her arms to the side, with Sanson and Medea to her left. The Servants were conversing idly together. Elizabeth stood where the leyline was located, humming a jpop song that the both of them had danced to, using her lance as a mic. The Lancer was tasked with holding the area for them, while they all handled their own respective assigments. Finally, the Druid and Kiyohime was right beside her. The Berserker looked worried, though she hadn't yet voiced her concern.

"Nothing, really. Just making sure I don't make an obvious comment that would bring karmic justice on us." She replied, stretching her own neck in nervousness.

"Don't worry, Anchin-sama. As long as I am around, nothing wrong will happen." The Berserker declared, closing the distance between them and placing her hand within hers.

"So what's the plan?" the Druid asked as he approached them.

"Honestly? When we find whatever it is, we just blast it. No nonsense, we end it when we lay our eyes on it." Ayako answered, looking determined. "Kiyo-chan, activate your Noble Phantasm. If it's not enough, Cú Chulainn, you will use yours."

"Hai, Anchin-sama."

"Good, let's get to it then." She glanced behind her, nodding to her teammates. "I'm off, guys! Be careful!"

"Stay safe, Ayako-san!"

"Yeah, we're in dangerous waters here!"

"Don't get distracted you little gremlin." The Druid approached Elizabeth from behind her, bumping her head with his staff, eliciting a muffled cry of pain from the Lancer.

"And don't perv on Kiyo-chan and Birdie, Old Man!"

"I'm not interested in crazies, and the Master ain't interested in me."

"Hey! How rude!" Kiyohime cried out, approaching the Druid in a haste, hitting his shoulder with her closed fan. He was unfazed.

"Alright guys." Ayako clapped her hands. "Let's get going, no more dilly-dallying."

"Yes, Master."

She gave her friends a final farewell before her team of three began their trek northward, towards where the location of the current anomaly was. Not much else was known to them, aside from the fact that it was a Phantasmal Beast of sorts. That was primarily the reason why she wasn't taking any chances. The voice of the Doctor, along with Professor El-Melloi II spoke through her communicator, guiding them through the figurative maze they were in.

"How far is it, actually?" she asked them, already anticipating either of the two Servants with her to carry her along.

"Not too far, a few kilometers." The Doctor replied for her. "Over half an hour on foot. Mere seconds with Servants."

"Pinpoint a location 500 meters away from the anomaly." Ayako told him, with the Druid wordlessly already picking her up bridal style.

"Location sent, pinging you right now."

She braced herself within the Druid's arms. "Let's get there, Cú Chulainn, Kiyo-chan."

"Yes, Master."

And just as predicted, they arrived at the designated spot in mere seconds, landing in a quiet thud. So far, nothing looked out of the ordinary, standing close to the edge of the forest. But, even though things looked normal to their eyes, there was something else that stood out to her.

"Do you guys hear that?" Ayako asked the Servants.

"Nothing." Kiyohime replied, unfurling her fan and taking a single step forward. "I hear nothing."

"Exactly." Cú Chulainn said, his red eyes narrowing to a sharper gaze, tracing a rune to reinforce them as he searched for the anomaly. "No sounds of wildlife. No buzzing insects, no chirping birds. No roaring tigers. Not even the sounds of the trees swaying in the wind."

"Absolute, silence." Ayako said as she brandished her rifle, for what little it could do to a Phantasmal Beast of this nature.

"Is it a bounded field?" Kiyohime asked to them.

"It seems likely." The Druid said in reply. "And presumably, we tripped the alarm. It will know we're here."

"Great. On your toes, everyone."

"Anchin-sama."

"Yes, Kiyo-chan?" she asked the Berserker, who's eyes were trailing downwards. When her own followed, she stopped. "Oh."

"Well I'll be damned." The Druid commented, crouching beside the dent of earth that Kiyohime had found. Although, it was less of a dent, and more of an unending trench. "That's bigger than a modern anaconda."

"So a snake? We're in India, that means… a Nāga?" she voiced her thoughts aloud for them.

"A most likely possibility." Lord El-Melloi II said, taking a pause to smoke. "Though if that is the case, then their very existence is an anomaly itself. Nāga's reside within the netherworld, or the Patala, as it is known in Hinduism."

"They've already got Demonic Pillars in their fold. What's a Nāga to it?" she sighed as the grip on her rifle tightened, before relaxing. She holstered it back onto its place behind her, pulling out a few runestones in exchange. "Let's get this over with. And Kiyo-chan."

"Hai, Anchin-sama?"

"Remember, focus on the anomaly, alright?" Ayako said to the Berserker, seeing the draconic Servant flinch. "No matter what happens, don't get distracted by me."

"But… Anchin-sama…" Kiyohime's hand gripped her closed fan tightly.

"I can handle myself if need be. I don't have the firepower for the Nāga. You do." She said, with her own golden eyes locking onto Kiyohime's.

The Berserker held the gaze for what felt like an eternity, before finally turning away, closing them from the world. "Hai, Anchin-sama. I understand."

"Good." She nodded and smiled, approaching the Servant, planting her hand on the cyan kimono. "I'll be fine."

"Enough of this sappy shit, let's get going." Cú Chulainn spoke up, though less at her, and more at Kiyohime. The Berserker's eyes narrowed, glaring at him. Again, he was unfazed.

Considering his legend, she understood why.

"I will take point." Kiyohime said, noticeably turning her eyes away from him, walking away in a brisk pace. Ayako followed behind, with Cú Chulainn bringing up the rear.

The trek in the woods was bathed in a suffocating silence, not even their footsteps making a sound no matter how hard they tried, as if reminding them that they did not belong. That they were trespassing. That they were walking into a hungrt lion's den. Ayako made sure the runestones in her hands were more suited for healing. She had a feeling that it would most likely be used on herself, especially if one considers the true nature of a Nāga. She's come across beings of a different nature, that did not fit in to the modern waking world. Yet she could say for certain that a Nāga was not among them.

Soon they found themselves in the presence of a village. An empty village, painted with a red that did not belong. Bits and pieces of viscera littered the dirt path and the walls, and chunks of bones were clattered about like litter.

If she had a weaker stomach, she probably would have vomited the light breakfast she had.

"Caster, find it." She ordered the Servant behind her, letting him conjure his lesser Wicker Men to scour the village, rushing past them in a speed she had never seen them in.

"It is keeping its presence thin." Kiyohime said, voicing the conclusion that she herself has reached.

"But not from prying eyes." The Druid said, almost proudly. "Further north. It took out my scouts." He fished out his own runestone, letting it flow in his hand. "It's rushing towards us."

"Good." Ayako nodded, closing her hands into tight fists, holding onto her runestones. "Kiyo-chan, prepare a-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, launched from where she stood by a powerful and heavy slap onto her chest. She broke through a building, landing on top of the rubble of its wall, gasping for breath as the pain sunk in.

"Anchin-sama!" she heard Kiyohime call out to her.

"Hey, focus! The Nāga's here!" Cú Chulainn's took the over in her stead, and Ayako hoped that Kiyohime would listen to him.

She heard a heavy, guttural voice, speaking in a language she didn't understand. What was it that they used in ancient India? Sankrit? She thought to herself, as she placed her runestones beside her. One on each side, tracing the other two on the dirt below her. A healing spell would do her no good if she used all runestones for the four runes she was etching. She'd do as much strain onto her body as it would to heal it. Less runestones would be more prudent.

ᛚ ᚨ ᛝ ᛋ

Laguz, of Water. Ansuz, of the God Odin. Ingwaz, of the God Yngvi. Sōwilō, of the Sun. The pain centered on her chest briefly spread throughout her body, as the energies of the earth coursed through her veins. Her hair turned a light cyan color, as the earth absorbed her runestones into itself. "Lækna."

Slowly, her cracked ribs repaired itself, quelling the bruises that began forming from ever doing so. The pain that surged through her slowly dissipated itself, filling her body with a juxtaposed sensation. A cooling warmth, like a welcoming home within a winter wonderland.

She pushed herself up off the ground, seeing the buildings they had walked by slowly destroyed by the battle between her Servants, and the Nāga. It looked like a dragon, though considerably smaller in size, and more serpent like than draconic. Kiyohime herself was more of a dragon than this thing, exemplified by her blue flaming dragon form that danced around it. Cú Chulainn himself was not to be outdone, riding atop the shoulder of his Wicker Man, with its wicker-like hands trying to hold it in place.

Ayako sighed to herself, stepping out of the building she was thrown into, sitting herself onto the large rubble that was around her. She watched the fight with a straight face, her other hand reaching for her right wrist, hovering over her Command Spells. She was confident in her Servants' abilities, but she was ready in case they needed a little helping hand.

"Kiyo-chan, I'm fine now. You can let go of me." Ayako said, sitting with a straight face with arms wrapped around her neck.

"But-but… Anchin-sama!" the Berserker sobbed into the back of her neck, absorbed by the uniform she was wearing.

"Kiyo-chan…" she gripped the Berserker's hands with her own, her voice taking a contralto pitch to it. "Atashi wa hataraku hitsuyō ga aru."

She could feel Kiyohime tense, though there was still some resistance. She slowly untangled Kiyohime's arms from her neck. "Atashitachi wa ima, Chaldea ni imasu." She said, as the Berserker's hold on her weakened. "Atashitachi wa anzendesu."

She turned around in her seat, locking eyes with the Servant, looking at her with conflict in her eyes, in her body. "Sorede, atashi ni shigoto o sasetekudasai?"

Kiyohime, with hurt flashing in her eyes, took a step back, her hands hovering just above her own chest. "Hai, Anchin-sama." She said with great reluctance. "Soto de keikai shimasu."

"Arigatō, Kiyo-chan." Her voice returned to its normal pitch, smiling appreciatively to the Berserker. The hurt from her eyes disappeared, replaced by that blind devotion she was still getting used to.

"Hai, Anchin-sama!" the draconic Servant then pranced out of the room, the door sliding open and closing the moment she stepped out.

"You really know how to handle your women, lass." She turned around to face the other person in her workshop, seeing the Druid sitting on a wicker chair he had created himself.

"Please." She rolled her eyes at him, straightening herself back on the anvil/table in front of her. "I grew up with women around me."

"I'll be honest, I thought she'd pose more of a problem." He admitted to her.

"Aside from her blinding devotion to the monk in her legend, Kiyohime values honesty above all else." Ayako said to the Druid. "As long as I don't tell a lie, to her especially, then there's nothing for me to be worried about."

He chuckled amusedly, leaning in closer with his shoulders on his knees. "Maybe I'll ask for your help then, if Medb ever drops by."

"Medb? The Queen of Connacht?" she asked in return.

"Yeah, maybe get her to lay off of me."

"Haha, I'm sorry, but I don't deal with other people's women problems." She said with a smirk.

"Yeah, figures." He scooted closer to her, his eyes returning to the puppet she laid on the surface. "So what's the problem with this one?"

"Nothing, really." She answered, her hand reaching for the puppet's chest, opening it like she would a piece of armor. "I just want to upgrade the heart."

"After what happened last time?" she nodded to him, as her hands worked to dismantle the artificial organ. "What's your plan then?"

"I have a spell in mind to engrave into the heart. If it works out as planned, it would turn whatever remnants of the heart is left, to create a new one." She explained succinctly. "A secondary heart, if you will."

"Why not just another heart?"

"Because that's not how a human functions." She replied simply. "I'm already a freak, by the very definition. Don't need to stretch it even further."

"A normal human would be hard pressed to accept such a freakish nature, especially if it was their own." He said observantly.

"True. But my mom and aunt used to be traditional magi. Even though they tried to raise me differently, some aspect of that did get passed down." Ayako used to wonder what she would be like, if she had actually grew up to be like an old Aozaki. Just the thought of it caused a cold shiver to run up her spine.

"Yeah, magi really are a bunch of freaks of nature." The apparent Druid said with a disappointed sigh. He stood himself up, letting the wicker chair crumple into itself, turning to splinters of wood. "I'll leave you to it then, see if maybe I could set up a workshop of my own here."

"Finally?" she asked, surprised, since he had so far shown no interest to the conventions of magi.

"Yeah, sure. Why not." He replied dismissively. He still might not, she noticed. She didn't comment any further, letting him leave her workshop in relative silence.

"Should you not finish your second backup first, Ayako?" Kagiso asked, as she measured the length of his one good arm.

"I will, but I'd like to have a plan written down, so I can get straight to work with your arm when I'm done with myself." She replied, carefully inspecting the Shaman's body with a quick analysis spell.

"May I… make a request?" he said somewhat suddenly.

"For your arm? Sure." She said amid writing the specifications she had in mind.

"Could you make it, more mechanical?" he asked of her.

She paused in her writing, turning to him with a confused stare. "You mean, like a cybernetic?"

"No, no. I mean, like it's obviously a prosthetic." He further clarified.

"So, you want it to look somewhat minimalistic?"

"In some sense." He rolled his armless shoulder, the ache in his muscle visible through the tension on his body.

"I can think of something, Kags." She said as she pulled out an empty piece of paper. "I've never worked with mostly metal before, but I can try."

"Thank you, Ayako." He said, smiling pleasantly at her. A true gentle giant if she ever saw one. "So... when the time comes, and it will come... who do you think we should bring out of ice?"

She looked back up to him, eyebrow raised as she digested his words. "Good question." She eventually said. "Logic and pragmatism would dictate that we bring someone back who has more to offer to Chaldea at the moment."

"And who would that be, between Dunya and Mstislavsky?"

"That's a tough question." She put her work aside, leaning back into her chair, tapping her pen on her chin. "Dunya was the de facto leader of B Team at the time, mostly because no one else wanted to take charge."

"She wanted to hand it over to you, I've heard." Kagiso commented with a chuckle.

"That she did." She said, lowly chuckling along. "She comes from a family of alchemists, but she herself doesn't really follow their trade. Her entire kit is a lesser version of the Animusphere's craft, of Wodime's craft, with a religious touch to it."

"Really? In what way?"

"It's both a religious, and scientific take on astronomy, weaving them together to create a better understanding of the universe, or at least that's what she told me." She explained from what she remembered. "I've always thought she had some minor form of clairvoyance, but we never really got to see it."

He nodded silently, giving Ayako time to form her next set of words. "I never got to get to know Mstislavsky much. Even after he joined the meetings, he was still a bit of a recluse. The one thing I do know, is that there's not much left of magecraft talent in his veins, let alone his family. I think Ritsu-chan has more potential."

"A noble who's more civilian than any of us."

"But he did have the highest compatibility among all of us." She added. "I don't know if he's higher than Ritsu-chan, or Kadoc for that matter. But he was the highest in B Team."

"Hmm…" he contemplated the information himself, with his one hand holding his chin in thought. "Sounds like it all points to Dunya, then."

"Sounds like it." She grimaced. Not because she hated the woman. But choosing her, means… "I don't like leaving Mstislavsky behind."

"Neither do I, Ayako." He agreed with a nod, sighing tiredly and reluctantly. "But, the Director has said, that we will only unfreeze one Master Candidate."

"Let's hope we'll only ever need the one." She said, picking he pen back up, continuing on her work.

"It's the only thing we can hope for right now." He closed their conversation, letting the air hang with a grim undertone.

2011

"Why are we going down such a dark and creepy path, mom?" Ayako asked her, looking around their surroundings with a worried look on her face.

"Because Shiki asked for a little favor on our way to her place." The elder Aozaki replied, hands deep in her coat, elbow locked with her daughter's.

"This is such a weird favor." Ayako commented, earning a chuckle from her. "Honestly, this whole city is weird."

"It's not so bad." She said, loosening her free arm from her pocket to ruffle the red hair of Ayako's. The only red in her life that she would ever accept. "You were born here, after all."

"I guess that explains why I'm also weird." There it goes again, the sort of self-deprecating humor that she's come to use so often recently. "What is the favor supposed to be, anyway?"

"We're here to draw out a Vampire." She stated plainly.

"A Vampire? You mean a Dead Apostle?" her daughter asked back curiosly.

"Nothing of the sort." Touko answered. "From what I've gathered, he was a man who simply gained the taste for human blood."

"Ugh." She could see Ayako cringed in disgust. The expression looked cute on her daughter's face. "So he's a cannibal?"

"That, I'm not too sure of. There's not much records of him consuming human flesh." She said as her eyes narrowed into the darkness around them. Something was watching them. Just as planned.

"Then why don't we deal with it? Especially if it's the two of us." And with Ayako wrapping her own coat tighter around herself, having seemed to also notice the eyes that were on them.

"It's not our responsibility, not our jurisdiction. Around here? It's Shiki's." Touko shook her head in the darkness. She took off her glasses, priming the circuits near her eyes. Whatever it was, it was springing in action.

"That's such bullshit." Ayako said as her red coat shifted into bright orange. "Rauðr!"

Something hit Ayako. Hit her hard. Hard enough to separate the two of them, sending Ayako deep into the bamboo forest, leaving behind a light trail of blood. Her eyes lit up, empowered with the Mystic Eyes she possessed. "HOLD!"

The blade that was swinging down on her stopped, her hair swaying from the momentum created. A bloodied wakizashi, just a hair's breadth from touching her neck. Her eyes narrowed on the creature standing before her. Whatever humanity it had before, was gone by this moment. Looking less like a man, and more of a ghoul. Eyes, red and sunken. Skin all shriveled up, the tips of its fingers showing more bone than flesh. It had an inhuman hunch on its back. Truly, the only thing human that was left, was the small blade that it was wielding.

It wheezed, as if that act of breathing was a huge struggle for it. "y̕͏̷o̡̨ư.̴͟.͜͠.̀ b͟lòo͘d̶̷̀.̀.͘.̨̧" it didn't even think like a human anymore.

Her eyes caught onto something in the darkness of the bamboo forest, narrowing slightly in irritation as they turned back onto the bloodsucker. "You're late." She said to the shadows.

The ghoul moaned like an undead, tilting its head in confusion, before its sunken eyes widened. Blood coughed out of its mouth, body staggering backwards in pain. Before her very eyes, its body unraveled in a shower of gore, barely missing her. Her eyes returned to the reds of her own, with nothing left to hold. And with that, they centered on the person that approached her.

Clad in a light pink and red kimono, with her hair free and longer than the last time she saw her. Her eyes, briefly showing the color of her own Mystic Eyes, slowly turning back to a deep black. In her hands, was a clean sword in one, and its sheathe in the other.

They locked eyes with one another, maintaining the silence between them. The woman before her then shifted her eyes away, looking at something behind Touko. "Sorry. I had a stowaway."

And then, peering from behind Shiki, was a smaller version of her, wearing white pajamas, stained by the dirt around them. "I'm sorry." She croaked out, hiding from her.

Touko sighed. Ever since she had Ayako, she's found herself with some kind of weakness to children. Speaking of… "Ayako, are you alright?"

"Yeah…" she heard her daughter cough out in pain, making her way towards them. "Ugh, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Touko turned to her, seeing the blood dripping down Ayako's arm. Her mystic code was damaged as well, unable to fully defend her from the ghoul's attack. "What's the damage?"

"Cut through my tendon, and half my humerus." She replied, almost clinically, wincing in pain every now and then. "It was a clean cut otherwise, nothing sticking out."

"Would you prefer to heal it, or a new arm?" she asked as she crouched down to Ayako's level, closing the wound with her own hand.

"Let's stick with healing it." Ayako said with a disarming smile. "We can save the arm for next time."

"There won't be a next time." She admonished her daughter with a light hit to her head, before standing back up to turn back to Shiki, who was frowning at them. No. Less, frowning at them, and more frowning while facing them. She was most likely frowning at herself. "Our stuff already arrived, right?"

The Ryougi Head turned back to her with a nod. "Yeah, its all set in the guest room." she said, sheathing her sword back in its place.

"Good. Let's get out of here." Touko gave a brief pat to Ayako's back, ushering her daughter along.

"Ayako-nee." Shiki's daughter finally left the confines of the pink kimono, approaching her own daughter with worry in her eyes. "I'm sorry. Mom got held back because of me."

"Don't worry, Mana-chan. Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix." Ayako said, trying to placate the younger girl. "It's just a cut. Wanna touch it?"

"What?! Ew! No!"

"Mana, do not yell so loudly. It's almost midnight." Shiki said, reprimanding her daughter with a light smirk on her face.

"But mama! Ayako-nee's being weird again!" Mana protested, causing Ayako to double over in laughter.

"You too, Ayako. Don't tease Mana too hard." Touko herself did her part, ushering them along the path.

"But it's too easy." Ayako said amusedly, smiling at the other girl.

"Mou, Ayako-nee, you meanie!"

Now she remembered why they came here in the first place. Why she made the effort to reconnect with the Ryougis, after all those years. If she wanted Ayako to have some semblance of normalcy in her life, then her daughter needed other people to connect to. People around her age, not just herself and the hectic life that follows her. And seeing her interactions with Mana, seeing her act like the child that she is, puts a smile on her tired face. A smile that will be etched to eternity.

Her life really did take an interesting turn.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

2017

For the past week, Ayako has settled into a rhythm. In the midst of a couple more Minor Singularities, where both Koleen and Ritsuka got the chance to take control, she had made great progress with her work. Her second backup, after having its progress pushed back, was now on track to be finished by the end of the fortnight. And when that finally happens, she might be able to relax for once. More so than usual.

But, she couldn't lock herself up in her workshop forever, lest she go mad from stress and overwork. She left it with a tired yawn covered by the back of her hand, her feet taking her straight to the cafeteria, with Kiyohime following her without a sound. She couldn't hear a single step with her unreinforced ears, but she'd know that the Berserker would follow her around, at most times keeping a good distance away from her, content with watching from afar.

A perfect stalker, one would say.

"Kiyo-chan, do you remember whose turn it was to cook tonight?" she asked, her arms reaching above her head, stretching it taut.

"It is Koleen's turn, Anchin-sama. I heard she's making something called "meatloaf"." The Berserker replied, her voice echoing slightly in the late night and empty corridor.

"Are you just going to linger outside again? I'm sure no one minds if you join." She said conversationally.

"Iie, Anchin-sama. This is a meeting between Masters. I do not wish to intrude." Her answer seemed rehearsed, as if she expected the question.

Then she'll go with something else entirely. "Hey, Kiyo-chan."

"Hai, Anchin-sama?"

"What's my name?" she turned around, just in time to see the Berserker stop in her tracks. Ayako could hear the proverbial pin break.

"Your… It's… Anchin-sama…" Kiyohime took a step back, her hands gripping onto her fan tightly, almost breaking it.

"Come on, Kiyo-chan. You know that's not my name. You hate lies the most, so you should stop lying to yourself." If she were to be truly honest, Ayako did feel a little bad about doing this. Servants tend to be restricted to their legends, and how they were summoned. Berserkers, or any Servant with Madness Enhancement, got the worst of it. And in Kiyohime's case, it was that fixation with Anchin. With that damned monk.

But, of all of Kiyohime's tics, that was the one thing that she had yet to get used to. It was the one thing, that she could not let slide with a smile on her face. She didn't mind people not knowing who she (in fact, she often relished it). She didn't mind people dismissing her, for one reason or another. What she did mind, however, was being referred to as someone else. It was the least of them to happen to her throughout her life. And Ayako absolutely could not accept it. Especially when that person sees someone else when they see her. She had a name, damn it. One of the greatest gifts that her mom gave to her the moment she was born. And it is Ayako.

Aozaki Ayako.

"A-…. A…" the Berserker was having great difficulty in even trying to say her name.

"Aaaa?" and she waited.

Tears began spilling down Kiyohime's cheeks. "A… An… chin… sama…" she looked away, shame washing over her.

Ayako sighed. She knew this would have happened. But even she had her limits. She turned on her heel, continuing her walk towards the cafeteria. "Come on. It's getting late, and it would not do for me to keep them waiting."

At first, there was no immediate response. The only sound she could hear was the echo of her footsteps. She wondered if Kiyohime stopped following her, but eventually, an answer did reach her ears.

"Hai… Master…"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

i didn't actually plan on having this chapter have a lot of Kiyohime, but it sorta worked out in the end. i had something in mind in regards to that last section, initially Ayako was a lot more visibly angry, but that didn't fit the character i built her up as throughout this story. it was something that was bound to happen to Kiyohime.

and hey! we got Shiki, in a flashback! can't wait for her to show up in "present" time. and yes, she will. i don't have an exact lineup of which events i'm going to cover, but the KnK event is definitely one of them. it's also a damn coincidence that Ayako ended up being older than Mana. she was born in '99, while Mana is 2000 (because she was 10 by the time the last KnK movie took place, which was 2010).

also, on a side note, you guys might notice that this chapter is released just a wee bit earlier than usual. as of this exact moment, it's 2:20pm, and i'm tired as hell, so i'm gonna take a real long fucking nap. so, enjoy this slightly early chapter!

and, onto the translations:

"I need, to work."

"We are in Chaldea right now." / "We are safe."

"So, can you please, let me work?"

"I will stand guard outside."

"Thank you, Kiyo-chan."

and now we get to the reviews!

InedibleMarks: ascension for Servants? not really, it's a thing specific to Medea (and Da Vinci), and pretty much any Caster who has dabbled in the field. it'll end up being better than what ascensions are, but it'll come to fruition not anytime soon.

trexboy164: for the Demon Pillars? something i've thought about, but haven't put to paper yet. and i do have plans for Servants to appear in Singularities that they have connections with.

King0fP0wers: they will, but they've been so focused on getting Chaldea back into an optimal state that they barely had time to just, properly mourn for their comrades. (it'll make Part 2 hurt more)

C2M1: definitely still Guda. the only Servant who has some kind of romantic interest in Ayako is Kiyohime. there might be others, but i haven't considered it apart from her.

Addicted2fanfics: Scathach will definitely show up. Servants, if they have a prominent role in the Singularity they debuted in, will either get summoned just before, or sometime after, so she won't appear anytime soon.

Lia Angelique: exactly! thank you!

emiya: thank you!

Warlord of Chaos: i'm also excited to see what Ayako can achieve with her own brand of puppetry. it'll be awesome.

and with that out of the way, thanks again for dropping by!

leave a review if you don't mind, and i'll see you all next time!