Fate-Stay Night: Precognitive Realization

by SilverMan42

This is the story of a boy named Yuzuru Shindou, an ordinary young man who had gotten himself into the battling ritual known as the Holy Grail War. What will become of him now that he has become part of this war that may result in his death? Will he be able to survive with the help of his Servant? Or will he fall into despair? (Rated M, in case sexual) (Few Tsukihime) (OCxHarem)

13. Chapter 7

I do not own Fate/Stay Night or anything related to Type-Moon whatsoever, except only the OCs of the story. Also, spoiler warning: M is in case of sexual themes and stuff. Anyway, other than that, enjoy!

---

Chapter 7

---

Yuzuru's POV:

Today was the middle of the weekend, and I was at work in Ahnenerbe doing all the preparations for the place to get started by working on setting out the dishes for Hibino-senpai to place whatever order meals that were on the menu for today, as Hibino-senpai was at the kitchen doing all the cooking while Katsuragi-senpai was cleaning and setting up the tables. Although, I've kinda been mostly spacing out a lot since…well, since what happened yesterday with my meeting with Mirai-senpai and her friends. I just couldn't believe it at all.

---

Yesterday:

"WHY SAYAKA?!" I shouted, incredulously, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PUT ME WITH HER?!"

"Because I say and scheduled for you so." said Mirai-senpai, "Besides, me, Hiroko, and Aimi will be out scouting for any and all information on other Masters and Servants here in the Grail War."

"But WHY would you PAIR ME with SAYAKA?!" I shouted, "WHY NOT JUST PUT ME UP WITH ISHIKAWA-SAN OR AIMI?! OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PUT ME UP WITH SAYAKA?!"

"Oh, why it's because I say so, as the leader of this small group of ours." said Mirai-senpai, as she gave out a teasing smile, "Plus, I wish to see how you two would handle each other well for my own amusement. Seeing as how you two interact with one another, I can already tell that you two will have great chemistry together as partners."

"WHAT?!" I shouted incredulously, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN US INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AT ALL?! HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN HOW SHE TREATS ME?! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'LL BE ABLE TO MANAGE TO GET USED TO HANGING OUT WITH SAYAKA! LIKE HELL I'M GONNA JUST GO ALONG WITH IT AND TRAIN WITH THIS BITCH AND HANG OUT WITH HER FOR A WHOLE WEEK JUST SO I CAN BE TOYED WITH BY HER AND FOR YOUR OWN ENTERTAINMENT!"

Sayaka came up to me and smacked me behind the head before she crossed her arms and said with a stern look on her face, "Look, buddy, you think I like the idea of us hanging out together?! I don't, not any better than you do either! But if we're gonna get you tough and strong for you to be able to handle yourself into whatever fight may come, then we're gonna have to work together on this one, and that means we'll have to put up with whatever shit we may give to each other! And that means you'll have to put up with whatever I have just as I'll have to put up your idiocy, got that?!"

"Ah, geez!" I said while rubbing the back of my head, "Are you serious?!"

"Dead serious!" said Sayaka with her arms crossed.

Hearing that and seeing the serious look she was making, I brought my head down and sighed as I just gave up on saying anymore, before I reluctantly said, "Fine…I'll do this…"

Saber, while still eating her rice balls, placed a hand on my shoulder as a sign of comfort, and I turned to look at her and saw that she swallowed her rice ball before giving me a genuine smile as if to tell me to hang in there. Seeing her give out that smile made me smile back at her. Well, at least she knows my pain and is giving me support.

"You'll be scheduled to meet with Sayaka at the beginning of Monday." said Mirai-senpai, "Be sure to meet up with Sayaka by that day for your training with her, and don't be late." She then gave a teasing smile and said, "Oh, and…do be sure to have good luck dealing with Sayaka. You're going to need it."

I grumbled at that before I dropped my head down and sighed, as I just gave up and went along with it, and said, "Thanks for the moral support, student council president." I then looked back at Sayaka and said as I brought out my hand, "Well, I guess since we're both paired up together, let's…try and get along, okay, Sayaka?"

"Yeah, sure." said Sayaka, as she took my hand to shake with, before suddenly-

BAM!

"OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sayaka suddenly pulled me close to her and she hit me in the stomach with her knees, giving me a sudden and extreme pain as I groaned from the hit she gave me before I got down on my knees and fell on the floor while holding onto my stomach. Saber just stood and watched with a stunned look on her face as it happened.

"Ooooohhhhhhhhhh…!" I groaned in pain before I looked up to see that Sayaka had an angry look on her face.

"Just because we're on the same team together and just because we'll be working together in the Grail War, DON'T even THINK for a second that I'll go easy on YOU!" Sayaka yelled, "I'm gonna make sure that you work your ass off and you better do whatever I say until you get things right! GOT THAT?!"

I looked at her with a bewildered look for a moment, before I groaned and said as I slowly got up, "Yes, ma'am…"

"Good luck, Shindou-sama!" Aimi smiled.

"Bear with Sayaka and deal with it for a while." said Ishikawa-san, "And try not to upset her. It won't be pretty if you do."

"Have fun with each other, Yuzuru~!" Mirai-senpai teased with a smile.

I just hung my head down in complete defeat, as I knew I was about to go through the inevitable hell that's already waiting for me with Sayaka.

---

Now:

I sighed at that and said, "I really can't believe this…"

"Hey, hey, Shin-chin." I heard Hibino-senpai, "What's the matter?"

"Huh?" I said as I turned to Hibino-senpai who had a worried look on her face, "O-O-Oh, no, uh…i-it's nothing."

"Really, you sure?" Hibino-senpai asked, "You looked kinda down about something. Did something happen?"

"Oh, uh…no, not really." I said, "It's just…something came up and…well, a lot of things have been going on one after another at school yesterday and…I kinda had to deal with it."

"Hmm, I see." said Hibino-senpai, before she smiled brightly and said, "Well, I don't know whatever it is you're dealing with, but don't push yourself too hard, Shin-chin~!"

I chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I won't. Thanks."

"Hey, Shindou!" Katsuragi-senpai called.

"Ah, yes?" I said as I turned my attention to her.

"Would you mind come checking out our new employee?" Katsuragi-senpai asked, "It looks like she's ready with her new outfit and wants you to come and take a look at her or something."

"Ah, sure!" I said, as I finished up my work, "I'll go and see her right away."

After I finished out my work, I left to go see our new employee who I just happened to have brought in for hire. I walked until I found the changing room. I knocked on the door first and waited for her to respond as I said, "Hey, this is Yuzuru. Can I come in?"

"Ah, ja!" said the new employee, "Please, come on in."

"Then, pardon my intrusion." I said, as I opened the door and let myself in.

When I came in, I already saw who our new employee was, fully dressed as a maid/waitress, and I'm sure anyone can guess, but…it was none other than Minna, who was already smiling when she saw me. Minna was dressed in a white traditional maid uniform, which was almost similar to Aimi's. Well, except for the chest part. So, why was she working in Ahnenerbe? Well, let's just say that it all just happened this morning.

---

Before: morning…

It happened when Saber and I had woken up and went over to the kitchen after finishing cleaning ourselves up for the weekend, and I was getting ready to make breakfast for all of us. Well, I WAS going to and would've already done that, but well…sure enough, when I got to the kitchen, I already saw that Minna beat me to it, and what I just saw this morning actually caught me by surprise.

"Ohayougozaimasu, goshujinsama (Good morning, master)." Minna bowed to me while dressed in a maid outfit. Yup. Minna was wearing a maid outfit today. And, well, honestly, I just couldn't help but just stop and look at how good she looked in that maid outfit. And also, just from her calling me master, admittedly.

"Ahem." said Minna, as she faced up to look at me with a smile on her face, "Now then, master, would you like to have breakfast this morning? If so, please have a seat. Breakfast is all ready for you today. Ah! Or rather…if you like…" Minna gave out a cute and shy expression on her face as she said as if tempting me, "…if you like…then, you can have me, as your breakfast, master~"

My eyes widened as I began to blush from her giving me that cute look while she said that, and I just…I just couldn't help but feel so…tempted. So tempted, in fact, that I felt like I wanted to just…go over to her, right now, and just hug her or do whatever it is that I wanna do to her, like…grab her, rip her clothes off and-

WHACK!

"OOOOOWWW!" I screamed as I was suddenly hit in the back of my head that made me fall forward, face slammed on the ground.

"You're welcome." I heard Saber say. Oh, so that's what happened…

"Y-Yuzu-kun, are you okay?" Minna asked worriedly.

The only response I could make was a painful groan.

After I recovered and got myself back up, the three of us sat down together and started eating breakfast that Minna made, which really made me feel guilty, letting her do all the work. While Saber continued eating, I decided to talk to Minna, who was still wearing her maid outfit.

"You know, Minna, I know that we're living together, but you really don't have to make breakfast for us every morning." I said, "I mean, I can take care of the cooking by myself. Besides, you're kinda like a guest in my place, so you don't have to really do anything. I'd feel bad for making you do the work when I should be doing stuff."

"Nein, I don't mind." Minna smiled, "If it's for you, I don't mind doing the cooking and chores. It's like you said, we're living together, so we should do lots of things together." Her smile faltered a bit as she said, "Besides, Yuzu-kun, I'd feel bad for you doing everything too, all just for my sake."

"Minna…" I said.

Minna smiled again as she added, "And also, if I don't get up every morning to make breakfast, then I won't be able to be doing cosplay for you!"

I sweatdropped at that as I said, "A-Ah, yeah…t-that, uh…o-okay…" Oh, right. I looked at Minna and said, "Uh…speaking of cosplay, where did you get the maid outfit you're wearing, Minna?"

"Oh, this?" said Minna, as she looked at her outfit with a smile, before she looked at me and said, "I got it from someone from the student council yesterday. I was thinking of cosplaying something for the morning yesterday while trying to look for clothes that would help me get your attention for the morning, and she was kind enough to let me have one of her spare maid outfits."

"Hmm?" I said, surprised, "Someone from the student council?"

Even Saber looked surprised from what she heard from Minna while eating. Then, a thought came to me, as I suddenly thought of only one person who would wear maid outfits all the time.

"Shindou-sama!" Aimi smiled in my thoughts.

"Aimi?" I said out loud.

"Most likely." said Saber, as if thinking the same thing as I was thinking.

"Ah, ja!" said Minna, "Aimi and I talked together and we just became friends now. She was a really nice person and she was kind enough to let me borrow her maid outfit."

"Oh, I see." I said, "Wow, I didn't know that you two became friends. I'm really happy for you."

"Danke, Yuzu-kun." Minna smiled, "Ah, come to think of it, I think this is the first time I made a friend with someone from another country since I met you."

"Yeah, I guess so." I said, "And I think it's good that you're making friends with everyone in school. I want you to get along with people that I know around Fuyuki."

"Ja!" Minna smiled, "Danke, Yuzu-kun!"

I nodded to her before I said, "Oh, by the way, I didn't get a chance to say it, but…you really look good in that maid outfit. It's cute. I like it."

"O-Oh, really?" said Minna, as she began to smile with a blush, before she said shyly, "D-Danke, Yuzu-kun…"

I smiled back and said to her, "You don't need to thank me." Then, a sudden thought came to me, and I said to her, "Hey, Minna, you…uh…you don't really have anything to do here at home, right?"

"Oh, nein." said Minna, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, actually, I was planning on going to work right now since it's the weekend." I said, "If you'd like, then…"

---

Now:

And that was how I got Minna a job to work at Ahnenerbe. Surprisingly, when I told my manager (Neco-Arc) that I was planning to have Minna work at Ahnenerbe, she actually accepted her and immediately hired her to work as a waitress. Even the other employers of Ahnenerbe, including Katsuragi-senpai and Hibino-senpai, accepted Minna into Ahnenerbe. And since she was new to Ahnenerbe and I knew her better than the others, I was tasked to watch over her and help her out in whatever she needed to do at work. Not that I wasn't planning to in the first place, anyway. Anyway, Minna was finished changing into her waitress outfit and was happily showing it off for me to see.

"Well, Yuzu-kun?" said Minna, "Does it look good on me?"

Wow. Just…wow. Seeing how good she looked in that outfit, I smiled at her and said, "Yeah, it looks good on you."

Minna smiled brightly, happy to hear my answer, and said, "I'm happy! Danke, Yuzu-kun!"

WHAAAAAH!" I suddenly heard Hibino-senpai from behind me squealed, "OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD! MINN-MINN, YOU LOOK SO CUUUUUTE! ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE GONNA LOVE YOU!"

"Ah, Hibino-san!" said Minna, "Ich danke dir sehr (Thank you so much)!"

"Yeah." I said before I noticed something and turned to Hibino-senpai and asked, "Wait, hold on, Minn-Minn?"

"Yeah!" Hibino-senpai smiled, "Shin-chin is Shin-chin, and Minn-Minn is Minn-Minn!"

"Uh…okay." I said, "But, why call Minna 'Minn-Minn'?"

"Because I think it's cute calling her that!" Hibino-senpai cheered.

"O-Oh." I said with a sweatdrop, "Uh…o-okay, i-if you say so. Though, I don't know if Minna would-"

"I don't mind." Minna quickly answered.

"That was way too fast." I said.

"U-Umm…" we heard someone say, making us turn to see that it was Saber, who was also dressed as a waitress, except that hers is mostly blue. Yup. Saber was also working for Ahnenerbe as well. Let's just say that she suggested coming along with us to work because she wouldn't have anything else better to do at home. I guess Servants needs some outing from time to time too, as much as we humans do. Anyway, the rest of Ahnenerbe accepted her to work for us too along with me and Minna.

She walked over to us as she said, "I do not mean to intrude, but I was wondering if this is actually the right uniform for working."

"Oh, yeah." I said, "I'm sure it is. Anyway, you look good in that blue outfit."

"Ja!" Minna smiled, "It's lovely, Elaina!"

"O-Oh!" Saber suddenly began to blush, before she looked away and said almost shyly all of a sudden, "U-U-Umm…t-t-thank you…"

"Huh?" I said, confused, "What's with that all of the sudden?"

"Ah, f-forgive me." said Saber, "I-It's just…I-I'm not very used to being the center of attention is all…"

"Oh." I said, "I see."

"Hey, Shindou, Hibiki!" I heard Katsuragi-senpai call, "C'mon, we've got customers coming in about five to ten minutes! It's time to get to work!"

"Okay!" Hibino-senpai happily called back.

"Yes, ma'am!" I said before I turned to Minna and Saber and said, "Well, anyway, we should go and get ready for work. For now, I'll tell you two what you need to do here at work, so just follow me and do what I tell you to, okay?"

"Ja, I will." Minna smiled.

"As you wish." Saber nodded.

"Okay, good." I said, "So, shall we?"

"Ja!" Minna smiled, "We shall!"

After teaching them and telling them both what they needed to do as waitresses, we all began working as customers began coming in to eat and hang out at the café. It was a simple job for them; all they needed to do was just guide customers to the table they'll be sitting at, taking in people's orders, write the order down on the notebook as well as write their table numbers, and then go over to the counter and hand it over to the chefs doing all the cooking. Although, since they were new to this, I had to stay close to and watch over them to make sure they were doing it right. I first started with Minna.

"Hallo und herzlich willkommen bei Ahnenerbe (Hello, and welcome to Ahnenerbe)." said Minna in German, to the male customers who just came in, before she said normally for them to understand, "Your table will be right this way. Please, follow me."

I watched as Minna guided the two male customers to their table. So far, she seems to be doing good. Although…I think I might've seen one of them making weird and ogling faces for some reason like they're having some sort of lewd thoughts about her.

Oh, no…

I think I might know why. Yeah, I'll probably have to go check on them and deal with it later.

Anyway, I turned to the table I was currently attending, with the customers who're just a few schoolgirls, and I asked with the best smile I could make, "So, um…anyway, what would you ladies like to order?"

"Oh, just two cups of coffee and orange juice, please." said one of the schoolgirls, "One iced and one hot for me and my friend sitting with me, and put ice for her here."

"Got it." I said as I wrote down the order, "Anything else? Would you girls like to eat anything?"

"Oh, no thanks." the schoolgirl politely declined, "We're not hungry for anything."

"Understood." I said as I wrote their table number, "Your orders will be right with you in just a few minutes."

"Thanks." they said with smiles on their faces.

I turned around and began to leave to head for the counter to place in the order for their table. Well, that was until-

SLAM!

"Battles cannot be fought on an empty stomach!" I heard someone shout, making me turn to see that it was Saber, who was attending another table. From what I was seeing, for some reason, Saber was freaking out and she was scaring a female customer out.

"What the…?" I said before I decided to head over to her to see what was going on as I said, "Uh…excuse me, is there a problem, ma'am?"

"A-Ah, well…y-you see-"

"Yuzuru!" Saber suddenly turned to me and said, "This customer said that she only ordered a drink and said that she was not hungry to eat!"

"Well, yeah…that's the point." I said, "If the customer doesn't wanna order anything else, then just write whatever she ordered and just leave it be."

"That is something that I cannot allow, as battles cannot be fought on an empty stomach at all!" Saber shouted.

"Huh?" I said, confused.

"I mean, what if they were attacked by an enemy while they're hungry for food?!" Saber shouted, "What will they do when that happens?!"

"W-Whoa, hold on, Elaina!" I said, trying to calm her down, "J-Just calm down! They're normal people living normal lives! No one's going to attack them while they're hungry for food!"

"That is something that I cannot allow!" Saber shouted, "Because even if everything DOES seem normal for everyone, there's no telling what danger that they might encounter in their lives!"

"E-Elaina…!" I said.

"U-Umm…" we heard the customer say, making us turn to her as she said, "A-Actually, i-if you don't mind, I'd actually like to have something to eat."

"Heh?" I said, surprised, "A-Are you sure, ma'am?"

"Yes, it's fine." she smiled, "To be honest, I…actually see her point, as weird as she may sound. I-I'll have mabo curry and spaghetti, please."

"Understood." said Saber, as she already began writing down the order.

"That was fast." I said.

"And your dessert?" Saber asked.

"Seriously?!" I shouted with a sweatdrop.

---

Chikagi's POV:

Hibiki and I watched them from the counter as Shindou was trying to get Elaina not to bother with the customer about ordering things anymore, and I gotta be honest, it was pretty hilarious seeing Shindou trying to pull her away and telling her to leave the customer alone while Elaina was putting up a fight to stay where she was, resisting Shindou pulling her away and trying to get more from the customer, who was already scared of her.

"Chika-chan, should we do something about this?" Hibiki asked worriedly.

"Nah." I said, already enjoying the scene that was happening, "Let's just watch and see where this goes. I'm already enjoying this so far. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

Then suddenly, we saw Shindou finally pull Elaina away from the customer, who already ran away scared, before he suddenly fell from pulling her too much, face-first on the ground. Well, that ended quicker than I thought. Shindou quickly got himself up before he turned to Elaina and started yelling at her for making a mistake that she made, making her look down in complete shame and making comical tears.

We heard him sigh and say, "You know what, just…just go sit down somewhere. We'll handle all the customers and orders. I'll have the manager talk to you later."

Elaina nodded and began walking away with her head down to find somewhere to sit. Guess it's time out for her.

"Chika-chan, the order for their table is ready." Hibiki finally said as she handed me the tray of the order for the table I was attending.

"Ah, got it." I said as I took the tray, "Thanks, Hibiki."

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I sighed tiredly as I went over to the counter where Hibino-senpai and the other chef (Neco-Arc Bubbles) were doing all the cooking before I took the paper of the order for the table I was attending from my notebook and placed it on the counter as I said, "I'll need two coffees and an orange juice: one iced and one hot, and the orange juice have ice, please."

"Okay~!" Hibino-senpai smiled, "Coming right up~!"

"Un-Un-Un (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)!" the chef said, while rapidly nodding her head.

As Hibino-senpai and the chef went on working, I stood where I was and waited for the order to be ready. While I did, I began worrying about Minna and how she was doing with her side. I hope she's doing alright.

"You seem troubled, boy." I heard someone say, and I turned to see the old man (Neco-Arc Chaos) sitting at the counter while having a drink and smoking a cigar as he looked at me before saying, "Are you worried about the girl, perhaps?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, "I was just…wondering if she was doing okay."

The old man sucked on his cigar before blowing out a puff of smoke as he then said, "Then, why don't you go on and check up on her, boy? I'm sure she may need your help. I'll take over things in your place."

"Uh…are you sure?" I said, "I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, but…you kinda have a drink in your hand and you're smoking. It'd probably be a problem for the customers. And also, should you really be drinking and smoking during the middle of work?"

"It's fine, boy." said the old man, "My drink is non-alcoholic today for I'll only be drinking alcohol at night, and I was in the middle of a break. Plus, people are used to me smoking in here anyway, and well, as long as smoke's not causing fire, then there's no problem at all." The old man sucked on his cigar again before blowing out a puff of smoke as he then said, "Besides, I'm sure that you want to concern yourself with the girl right now and to see how she's doing and to see if she's alright."

"Sir…" I said.

"It's fine, boy, so go on." said the old man, "I'll take over your work in your stead. Besides, even we want to be sure that the new employee is doing alright as well."

I stayed quiet for a moment after hearing him say that before I nodded and said, "Well, alright then. I'll let you take over then." I turned to Hibino-senpai and said, "Hey, Hibino-senpai, I'm gonna go check up on Minna! I'll leave the work to the old man until I get back!"

"Okay!" said Hibino-senpai while working.

"Un-Un-Un (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)!" the chef said, while rapidly nodding her head and working.

As soon as that was cleared, I got off and went to go find Minna and see how she's doing, leaving the old man to take care of the work for me. I walked and looked around the café for a bit to see where I can find her. It's not too big and it's not too small for a café, so it should be easy for me to spot her. And, lucky for me, I've found her since she was easy to spot thanks to her silver hair. Unluckily, the way I found her was not exactly good as I saw that she was in a tight spot by those same guys who came in and being hit on by one of the guys who was giving perverted looks on her, while the other guy was standing there watching, and Minna was already looking like she's feeling really uncomfortable.

"Oh, great." I said, "I gotta do something about this."

As I went over to where Minna was, I heard the perverted guy say to her, "Hey, c'mon now, beautiful. Why don't you just ditch your job and come hang out with us? C'mon, let's go have some fun!"

"N-Nein!" Minna managed to say, "I don't wanna go with you! I don't wanna leave here!"

"Aww, c'mon, don't be like that." said the perverted guys, as he approached her, much to her discomfort, "C'mon, come along with us. I know you wanna have fun with us."

As soon as I got closer enough, I said with an angry look, "Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?!"

As soon as I got up to them, Minna quickly noticed me before she hurriedly went over to me as she said, "Yuzu-kun!" She then hid behind me as she held my right arm.

I looked back at her as I gave her a worried look and asked, "Are you okay, Minna?"

"Mm-hmm." Minna nodded as she held my arm tightly.

I smiled at her, glad to know that she was alright before I looked back at the guys and said, "Now, sir, I really don't exactly know what nor why you were doing that to her, and I clearly don't wanna know, but could you please leave, right now? Because you're making her uncomfortable here!"

"Huh?!" said the perverted guy, now looking angrily at me, "And who the hell are you, you brat?!"

"I'm one of the staff of Ahnenerbe and the one in charge of looking after this new employee here." I said, "So, I'd like it if you would please leave her alone and not bother her again while we're working! She's not interested in going with anyone else!"

The guy who was watching sighed and turned to his friend before he said, "See, dude? What did I tell you? She's already with someone else. C'mon, let's just do what he says and go. Also, he's gotta point. This is a place where we hang out and eat, not a place to hit on girls, and we shouldn't be bothering them while they're working."

"What, are you kidding?" said the perverted guy, looking at me with anger, "This guy?! What, you her boyfriend or something?! You look so fucking plain and dull, and so not a manly material! There's no fucking way a loser like you could be her boyfriend!"

"Sir, I really don't think I like the attitude you're making around here!" I said, "I'd like to ask that you either go back to your table and wait for someone else to take your order or just leave here now!"

"Huh?!" said the perverted guy, "What, you telling me to leave, loser?! You ain't the boss around here, so why don't you just fuck off and go back to wherever it is you came from?!" He looked back at Minna with that perverted look again before he said to her, "So, Whadaya say, babe? Why not ditch this loser and come on with a real man?"

"Nein!" said Minna as she stood behind me and held closer to me, "I'm staying with Yuzu-kun!"

"Look, you heard her!" I said, "She said no, so just leave her alone now!"

"Oh, fuck off!" he said angrily, "You're a fucking nobody! I can take you on, loser!"

"I will SERIOUSLY call my manager on you if you DON'T LEAVE!" I warned.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try, you-!"

Suddenly, a hand that belonged to a woman appeared and held on his right shoulder as a woman said, "Excuse me, sir. Did you not hear the waiter?"

The perverted guy, now pissed that someone was interrupting us, turned around to either hit or yell at her to back off before he suddenly became and sounded fearful upon seeing who it was. Hell, even I already began to realize who it was once I saw her.

The woman that interrupted us was about 5'4" tall, in her early twenties, and had long light brown-orange hair that was tied to her right as a side ponytail, and she wore a white military-like business uniform with blue shoulder pads and black belt, a blue business skirt, white stockings, and blue sneakers. She was giving off a smile; and no, I don't mean the "Hello there, I'm friendly" kind of smile, but a really, really scary smile that definitely says "Don't hurt my friends, or I'll hurt you" kind of smile with shadows casting her eyes, a devil hiding behind that gentle smile. Seeing that scary smile she was making was already scaring the living shit out of the perverted guy as he was shaking in fear.

The woman continued giving off that scary smile as she said, "He said, leave her alone. If you're gonna keep making a fuss about it…then how about…I. Cool. Your. Head. Off. A. Little…Sir?"

The perverted guy shrieked in fear before suddenly bursting out running away from the scary woman, running past us all the way to the door, while screaming out loud in fear, "IIIIITTT'S THE WHITE DEEEVVVVVIIIIILLLLL!"

As soon as he was gone, the guy who was with him and watching the whole thing sighed, relieved that it was over while mumbling "I told him so" before he turned to me and said with an apologetic look, "Hey, uh, I'm…really sorry about my friend back there. He's an idiot and he really doesn't know when to quit."

"Oh, no, it's alright." I reassured, "I'm just glad that it didn't get any worse than it already has."

He went for his pocket and place a tip on the table and said, "Please take this for your trouble. I gotta go now and find my friend. Bye!" And with that, he went out to the door and left Ahnenerbe.

As soon as they were gone, I sighed in relief before I turned to Minna and asked with concern, "Are you alright, Minna? Are you hurt? Did he try to do anything to you?"

"Oh, nein." Minna reassured me with a smile, "He was just hitting on me as he did. And I'm alright, thanks to you, Yuzu-kun. Danke."

"I see." I said, relieved, "That's good." I hugged her as I said, "I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"Ja." said Minna, as she hugged me back.

"Ahh, well that's new." our savior said to us, making us stop hugging each other and turn to her, "I didn't know that you were into that type of girl here, Shindou-kun."

"Takamachi-san!" I said.

Takamachi-san chuckled and said, "You were lucky that I was here to save you and your girlfriend from trouble there; Otherwise, you probably would've lost more than just your job from getting into a fight with a customer."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." I said, "Although he kinda started the whole thing. Anyway, thanks for your help, Takamachi-san."

Takamachi-san giggled before she said, "I'm here whenever I'm needed."

"Um…Yuzu-kun, do you know this woman?" Minna asked, "Is she a friend of yours?"

"Ah, no, more like an acquaintance, actually." I said to Minna, before I introduced her, "This is Nanoha Takamachi-san. She's someone who came over to Fuyuki City in order to look into things that are happening around the city, working as a private detective or something."

Minna gasped in surprise and said with sparkles in her eyes, "Oh, wow! Really?!" Minna turned to Takamachi-san before asking, not even trying to hide her excitement, "You're a detective?!"

Takamachi-san smiled and chuckled before answering, "Something like that. I was brought here to Fuyuki by the bureau that I work for to help out the Fuyuki City Police Department on investigating some things."

"Really?!" Minna asked, amazed, "What kinds of things?!"

"Well, some things that are just like any bad things that happen in everyone's lives: criminal activities like robbery, abduction, gang fights, rape, and murder, or even some things that had destructions signed there, but these cases are more considered…unusual." Takamachi-san answered, "Something like there are strange and crazy things that have been happening around the city and all, like the strangest mysteries that are considered more difficult or beyond solving, kinda like scary and unnatural ghost stories that are becoming real."

"Wow!" said Minna, amazed, "That's amazing!"

"It's not really much, really." Takamachi-san laughed a bit, "All I'm doing is investigating and searching for things that might help the police with dealing with the difficult cases."

"Still, I think it's great of you, Miss Takamachi." Minna smiled, "Detektive sind unglaublich!"

"Huh?" said Takamachi-san, confused by her words, "I-I'm sorry, what was that?"

"It's German, Takamachi-san." I said, "Specifically, it means, 'detectives are incredible'. I know because I can speak German."

"Ahh, I see." said Takamachi-san, now understanding what Minna meant before she smiled attractively at me and said, "Thanks, Shindou-kun. That was really helpful. I think I should learn a thing or two from you!"

"H-Huh?" I said as I began to blush while scratching the back of my head as I nervously said, "O-Oh, uh…r-really? I-I mean, i-i-it's not much, I just…I just learned how to speak it while I was in Germany, that's all."

"I see." said Takamachi-san, "Well, I think it's great of you, Shindou-kun! That's why I'd love to learn some things from someone like you!"

"O-Oh, uh…y-you think?" I said nervously, "I-I mean, well…I-I don't mind, i-if it helps you on your duties on investigations and all."

"Yes, that would be very wonderful!" Takamachi-san smiled before she gave out a mischievous grin and asked, "Although, should you really be saying some of those things in front of women with a blush on your face while your girlfriend is here?"

"H-Huh?" I said, confused, "Wait, what're you tal-"

"Muuuuuu…!" I heard someone say, making me turn to see it was Minna, who was for some reason pouting at me in a cute way, before she said raising her voice, "Yuzu-kun!"

I was confused by this for a moment before I quickly realized the situation and I said while panicking, "AHHH! N-N-No, wait! I-It's not what it looks like, I swear! I-I-I don't…I-I don't like her or anything! S-She's WAY older than me, I-I mean, not like…old-old! J-Just older than me! I-It's not like I'm into older women like Takamachi-san! I-I mean, n-not that she isn't very attractive and all! I-I mean, she IS very beautiful and I do find her attractive, but-!"

"YUZU-KUN!" Minna shouted at me, "You admit it?! You like her?!"

"N-N-No, no!" I defended, "Of course, I don't admit it! I mean, I don't admit that I like her! I-I like her as a person, but not like-like her, like in a romantic significant or anything! I-I just…!"

"Yuzu-kun…am I not attractive to you?!" Minna pouted cutely, "Do you like older women more than girls your age?!"

"N-NOOO!" I shouted, "Oh, dear God, why the hell are we even having this conversation?! We're not even dating!"

We stopped arguing as we heard Takamachi-san laughing, making us turn to her with looks of confusion, seeing that she was laughing at us and our conversation. As soon as she stopped laughing and started calming down, she gave us a cheerful smile before she said to Minna, "I'm sorry. I was just messing around, and you don't have to worry about Shindou-kun liking me or me and him being together or anything. Even if I was interested in him in that way, I wouldn't even dare try to get in between you two being together. Besides, he said so himself: even if I'm attractive, he only likes me as a friend, not as a lover. Even I feel the same way about him."

"Y-Yeah, exactly, w-what she said." I said, "A-And besides, Takamachi-san already has a husband and a child back at her home."

"Hmm?" said Minna, surprised, "O-Oh! Really? You're already married?"

"Mm-hmm." Takamachi-san nodded with a smile, "Something like that. I have a daughter that's being looked after by my folks back at home. And my significant other is also working really hard just as I am to make our child's life much better."

"O-Oh." said Minna, "Aha (I see)." She then looked at me with a smile and said forgivingly in German, "Okay, ich glaube dir (Okay, I believe you)."

Hearing that, I sighed in relief, glad that it was over with. Thank God, Minna is so understanding.

"Plus," I heard Takamachi-san say, making me look at her as she said, "I can already see that you two are already a lovely couple. You're so cute together."

I sighed at that before I said correcting her, "Okay, look, Takamachi-san. First of all, we're not a couple, we aren't even dating. We're just childhood friends who grew up together in Germany for two years while our family was doing some business, that's all. Second of all, I'm just keeping an eye on her to make sure she's okay while she's here in Japan. That's all. There's really nothing going on between us."

"Oh, I see." said Takamachi-san, as she now understood, "Still, she sure likes you a lot. Are you sure you two aren't more than just childhood friends?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I said although I felt a bit uncertain as I said, "…W-Well, I mean, I-I hope, I'm sure. The jury's still out on that one…" I turned to Minna and said, "…Anyway, Minna, why don't you go on and help out Katsuragi-senpai and Hibino-senpai, as well as the other Ahnenerbe staff? I'll stay here and talk to Takamachi-san for a bit if it's alright."

Minna turned to look at Takamachi-san for a moment, before she turned back to me with a smile and said, "Nein, I don't mind. Miss Takamachi seems like a very nice person, so she's okay, and she did save us a while ago."

"Okay then," I said, "I'll see you after I'm done talking and getting back to work."

"Ja, natürlich (Yes, of course)." said Minna in German, "Wir sehen uns bald, Yuzu-kun (I'll see you soon, Yuzu-kun)."

And with that, Minna takes her leave to go and help the others out, leaving me alone with Takamachi-san.

"She was nice." Takamachi-san smiled, "You're really lucky to have a girl who likes you a lot, Shindou-kun."

"Yeah, I guess…" I said, "Anyway, Takamachi-san, I've been meaning to ask you something; what kind of cases have you been taking lately since coming to Fuyuki? Have you been taking care of any?"

"As a matter of fact, I have been!" Takamachi-san replied, "I've been looking into cases that have been going on around Fuyuki City that happens to be very unusual. One particular case happens to have got me…intrigued, at least."

"What is it?" I asked, "What's it about?"

Takamachi-san looked at me for a bit before she began thinking to herself for a moment, before she shrugged as if saying 'might as well' and said, "Well, normally, I'm not supposed to tell ANYONE about detective stuff and the strange cases that have been going around in Fuyuki because it's…well, classified. But, since it's you, Shindou-kun, I'll make an exception and tell you. But you can't tell anyone about this case or any other strange cases that I'll be telling you about in the near future. We can't let any of this information out and cause panic around the city, understand?"

"Don't worry, I understand." I said, "I won't tell anyone. So, what's this case about?"

"Well," Takamachi-san looked around for a bit to see if anyone was looking or listening, before she went closer to me and whispered, "There's been some incidence that's been going on around the city during the nighttime, and it's been going on around and causing trouble for everyone."

"What kind of incidence?" I asked, whispering.

"Well," Takamachi-san whispered, as she took out her phone that showed a video from the news channel, "Let's just say it's…a scary kind."

Takamachi-san pressed the play button, and the news began playing as the news reporter on the screen said, "In other news, house invasions and robberies have recently been happening around Fuyuki City late last night. While it is unknown how these house invasions and robberies had been occurring throughout the homes and town, there have been many signs and evidence that there have been indeed house invasions and robberies, as there have been many homeowners and office workers who had apparently been showing signs that they have been killed as well as money being taken away from their banks."

"Whoa…!" I said, shocked, as the video even showed images of people who lived in each of these homes killed, and it was not in a very good way, and images of safes and things that hold money broken and left empty.

"And what's worse," Takamachi-san added, "Their doors and windows were already locked when these things have happened, and there were no signs of any fingerprints of those who did it, so there was no way anyone could know who or what did this or why it happened."

"Well, it's a good thing that I have a Bounded Field protecting my place." I thought.

"In unrelated news," said the news reporter on screen, "Several mysterious and ungodly shadowy figures have been appearing within the streets of Fuyuki City, appearing and causing fear and strange havoc within the night."

Huh? Wait, hold on…shadowy figures? I took Takamachi-san's phone to take a good look at the images taken on the news for a bit to make sure. On that image, there were those strange shadow figures that look like people, wandering around the streets, and without a doubt, they look like the same shadows that Saber and I had encountered back at the academy. So then, if they're here…and if people are being murdered and places have been getting robbed, then…

I gave the phone back to Takamachi-san and said to her, "I…don't really think those two are unrelated at all. They might have some sort of connection."

Takamachi-san nodded and said, "Yeah, that's what I thought too when I took a look at those from the news. Unfortunately, the police department and I don't have any clear evidence that they might be connected at all yet, and any small evidence that we've found won't be able to help out on our search at all. At least, not yet, anyway. I even called my bureau to see if they could find anything that could help us, but it'll take some time before we could even have answers."

"I see." I said, "Then, do you know who's behind all of this?"

"Beats me." Takamachi-san shrugged, "I've been looking into criminal records to see if there's anyone that has gone through similar cases that are going on around Fuyuki, but none of them seemed to match what's going on right now. The bureau is also looking into it as well, but again, that's gonna take some time until we have the answers we're looking for, but other than that, we're all in the dark as of this moment."

"I see…" I said.

"There is one other thing that DID catch my interest, though." said Takamachi-san, making me look at her, "Have you ever heard of these disturbing rumors that have been going on in Fuyuki? Rumors about this serial killer called "Killer Clown"?"

I gasped softly at that, as I have heard of them from my friends, and I answered, "Yeah, of course, I have." I then began explaining it as I said, "Killer Clown, a serial killer who's been going around terrorizing people within the shadows while wearing a scary clown mask under a hood during the night. While nobody knows who exactly the Killer Clown is behind that clown mask, rumor has it that Killer Clown goes terrorizing people in the shadows at night by targeting people who go out at night alone, or even in groups of friends or family, and then somehow lure them into the killer's trap that leads them to their deaths, leaving no survivors to tell the tale of what had happened. The few who did survive refused to tell the police or anyone else what had happened because they were either still traumatized and scared by what they saw what Killer Clown did or because they were being threatened by Killer Clown, forcing them not to say anything, or else they'll be killed by the killer in their sleep, or so they were told, at least from what I've known so far. But, what about Killer Clown? Do you think this killer had something to do with the case you're doing?"

"It's a possibility, yes." Takamachi-san nodded, "Because I heard from the police department that the serial killer, Killer Clown, had apparently recently got an accomplice, to help the killer in continuing the killer's crimes."

"Wait." I said, surprised, "An accomplice?"

"Yeah." said Takamachi-san, "Apparently, this accomplice of Killer Clown had just joined the killer in the little reign of terror recently and has been helping that killer in increasing the killer's strategy on how to kill more people."

"What does the accomplice of Killer Clown look like?" I asked.

"Well, it's…hard to say." said Takamachi-san, "The security footages of Killer Clown and that accomplice that we've been getting from the security cameras are awfully blurry, making it hard to tell what the accomplice looks like, but we did manage to tell that this accomplice doesn't wear a mask like Killer Clown and he somehow appears to be an actual clown, wearing a big weird hat and carrying a scissor as his weapon."

"Huh?" I thought, as what she just said caught my attention, "Wait, hold on…a clown with a big hat and wields a scissor…? That sounds like…maybe I should ask to make sure…?" I turned to Takamachi-san and asked, "Um…did this accomplice have any other defining features that are considered strange?"

"Well, unfortunately, no." said Takamachi-san, "The footages were all a jumbled mess of blurriness, it's hard to tell if he had anything else. If he did, I would've already noticed."

"Oh, I see." I said, before I thought to myself, "Still, at least we got a good hint on who it is that's with the Killer Clown, and there's no doubt about it; it's Caster. The same Servant that me and the others fought back at the academy."

"But in any case," said Takamachi-san, "I think it would be best that everyone should stay clear from anything that's related to Killer Clown or any of the crimes that have transpired by the killer. If those incidences and those shadows have any sort of relation to the killer, then it's best that everyone should stay close to their group as much as possible and stay cautious during nighttime. There's no telling what will happen and what the killer will do if anyone gets involved in them, so we can't let anything bad happen at night. So, that means you too, Shindou-kun. Be cautious and don't let anything bad happen to you at night, and don't go anywhere near anything related to Killer Clown and the crime scenes, understand?"

"Right." I nodded, "I'll try not to."

"Good." said Takamachi-san, "And again, don't go telling anyone about what I just told you about. There's no telling who could be listening to what we've discussed and we can't cause panic in Fuyuki City."

"Don't worry, I won't." I reassured.

"Good." Takamachi-san smiled before she pointed and said, "For the time being though, you should probably do something about that."

"Huh?" I said, confused before I turned to where she was pointing and said, "Do something about wha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

As soon as I turned around, I saw…what I considered the most disrupting thing I have ever seen! By that, I mean that…SABER IS DISCIPLINING THE CUSTOMERS INSTEAD OF SERVING THEM!

"ELAINA!" I yelled, as I went up to go stop her, "STOP! STOP WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE DOING! YOU'RE SCARING THE CUSTOMERS!"

After that…well, let's just say everything else was a complete disaster.

---

After work:

Me, Minna, and Saber were already back at home after all the work and disaster that transpired at Ahnenerbe. Minna was already in the bathroom taking a shower while I was sitting at the table with my arms crossed and with a look of anger on my face as I was looking at Saber who was sitting in front of me from the other side of the table with her head down in complete shame as if she was ashamed of herself, which she is, of course. It was completely silent with the two of us in the living room, save for the sound of water coming from the shower and Minna humming to herself in there.

Finally, Saber managed to speak, "U-Umm…I-I-I'm sorry, Master…I-I let my warrior instinct get the better of me and…well, I-I made a mess of things at work…a-and I'm…truly, terribly sorry…"

After she was finished speaking, I inhaled my breath, ready to yell at her again, before I sighed as I resigned from getting angry at her further. I would yell at her again, but I think she's already apologized enough. I mean, it was her first time working in a service industry like Ahnenerbe, so I can't be too mad at her. Besides, after what happened at work today, we had already decided to have Saber work as a cashier instead of a waitress. Plus, we did have Takamachi-san volunteer to help us since she apparently used to work at a café with her family before.

"Alright." I said, "As long as you've learned your lesson, I'll forgive you."

Saber gasped with a smile, happy to know I was forgiving her, before I said, making her smile fade, "But…please, next time, don't ever do what you just did to the customers ever again! That's a suggestion…no, THAT'S an order!"

Saber flinched from me ordering her that and looked as if she wanted to object, before she relented and sighed and said with her head down, "Yes, Master, understood."

I sighed in relief before I said, "Good. Glad we're clear on that."

"R-Right." Saber nodded in agreement, before she said, "But anyway, more importantly, about what you and Detective Takamachi discussed, I do believe that what you're thinking about is true, about this Killer Clown being Caster's Master."

"Hmm?" I said, surprised, "Wait, you were listening?"

"Well, no, but I did feel what you were thinking about when you were conversing with Detective Takamachi." said Saber, "You and I are connected through our pact, after all."

"O-Oh, right!" I said as I remembered, "Our pact! Right, sorry. It's easy to forget sometimes. But anyway, if you felt what I thought about, then, do you think these incidences are connected with Killer Clown and Caster?"

"If those shadows that are lurking around Fuyuki are the same shadow familiars that you and I have fought back at the academy, then I believe so." said Saber, "And if those shadows are the ones being controlled by that killer and if Caster is being associated with the killer on murders, then it's likely that Killer Clown could be a mage, just like you and Mirai's faction."

"Could be." I said, "But we don't have any clear evidence on whether or not they're connected. Even the Fuyuki City Police Department is having a difficult time finding the connection, and they don't even know anything about the mage world. It's gonna be a problem, and until we have answers, there's not much we can do about it."

"Yes, it is troubling, quite." said Saber, "Still, I do believe that the only way to know for certain is to go towards those incidences directly and see what we could find."

"Yeah, if we could." I said, "But Takamachi-san specifically said that we shouldn't go anywhere near the crime scenes that may be related to Killer Clown during the night, as there's no telling what'll happen, and Killer Clown would likely be still nearby those crime scenes. Plus, we don't even know where to even start. We gotta think about this before we act."

"True." said Saber.

Suddenly, we heard a knock at the front of our door, making turned to it before looking at each other, wondering who it was.

"Maybe it's Yukitsuki-san." I said, as I began to get up, "I'll go check."

"Wait!" said Saber, signaling me to stop, "Allow me to do it."

I was confused by this as Saber began to get up and walked to the door before she manifested her armored glove on her right hand and summoned her invisible sword. That's when I quickly understood. Saber must be being cautious. She raised her left hand and reached for the doorknob before she placed her hand on it and held onto the grip, but didn't turn it to open the door yet.

She turned her head towards me and said to me telepathically, "Master, give me exactly one minute before I open the door. If it's an enemy behind that door, I'll strike before they attack us."

I took a moment to look at her for a bit, as I took in what she said to me, before I said back to her telepathically, "Okay, got it."

Saber nodded at me with a smile before she turned back to the door with a serious look and closed her eyes and waited for a moment while I mentally counted down for Saber to hear. Honestly, I don't wanna think that the enemy had suddenly found us and wanna think that it's a normal person, but…well, just in case, we'll have to fight back. Here we go.

… … … … … … … … … …

…3…2…1…now!

As soon as I mentally said that, Saber quickly opened her eyes, turned the doorknob, slammed open the door, and quickly raised her invisible sword to whoever it was and swung at them to strike them down until we heard a scream of a girl, making Saber stop her attack and I quickly got up to the door to see who it was. And, much to our surprise, it was Sayaka who was at the front of our door and on the ground as she had fallen back on her butt from the surprise attack from Saber.

"Oh!" I said, surprised, "Sayaka, it's you!"

"Sayaka!" said Saber, just as surprised as I was, "S-Sorry!"

Sayaka grumbled angrily before she quickly got herself back up and quickly walked past Saber towards me and then yelled at me angrily, "YEAH, IT'S ME, YOU DUMBASS! DO YOU KNOW THAT IT'S RUDE TO ATTACK A LADY WHEN SHE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FUCKING GODDAMN DOOR?! WHERE ARE YOUR FUCKING MANNERS, HUH, DUMBASS?! WERE YOU TRYING TO FUCKING KILL ME OR SOMETHING?!"

"Ah, no, no!" I said, backing away with my hands up, "S-Sorry, sorry, I-I just…w-we thought you were an enemy or something!"

"AND YOU JUST WENT UP AND TOLD SABER TO ATTACK PEOPLE?!" Sayaka yelled at me, "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY, YOU STUPID IDIOT?! COULDN'T YOU AT LEAST TRY TO SENSE PEOPLE AND TELL WHO'S FUCKING WHO?!"

"OH, C'MON, GIVE ME A BREAK, WOMAN!" I yelled back, "I DON'T HAVE A SIXTH SENSE!"

"THEN START TRYING TO DEVELOP IT, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Sayaka yelled.

"LIKE HELL I CAN!" I yelled.

"Alright, that's enough, you two." We heard someone else say, making us turn to see it was Mirai-senpai, along with Ishikawa-san and Aimi.

"Senpai?" I said, surprised, "And Ishikawa-san and Aimi?"

"What are you all doing here?" Saber asked as she dismissed her armored glove and weapon.

"Oh, well, as of today, we shall be moving in here at this apartment complex." said Mirai-senpai, "So, we will be living next door to you as apartment neighbors."

"Huh?" I said, surprised and confused, "Wait, you're moving in here? Now? Why? Don't you already have a home?"

"We do." said Mirai-senpai, "It's just that since we're in the Holy Grail War, we've decided to move somewhere else for a bit to find another secret base of operation. And, since we're in an alliance, I thought it would be very beneficial and efficient to live in the same place together to keep each other in touch and make sure one and the other are safe and sound."

"O-Oh, I see." I said, now understanding, "So, in short, you plan to live in the same place with me temporarily until the war's over."

"Correct." said Mirai-senpai, "Plus, we need to keep in check on the Bounded Field here to make sure that it remains intact, otherwise the barrier will weaken."

"Wait, check the Bounded Field?" I said, "I thought the Enemy Masters and Servants won't be able to attack our base so long as the Bounded Field is there to protect us."

"Come now, Yuzuru, you cannot always expect the Bounded Field to last forever." Mirai-senpai chuckled, "Any enemy Masters or Servants, or even outside mages, can easily break into the Bounded Field if it is weakened. That's why we need to keep it in check to make sure that the Bounded Field doesn't weaken and remain intact, or else if left uncheck, the field will die out and you won't have anything that shall keep you safe."

"Oh, I see." I said, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Besides," Mirai-senpai added, "Us being together here will make the perfect opportunity and much efficient to get you ready and train you to learn magecraft from us. It would be best to get you prepared than not."

"Yeah." I said, "That seems like a good point."

"Yuzu-kun!" Minna called, as she got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body, "Who is it at the door?"

As soon as she got out to see what was going on and to see who it was at the door, Minna had a look of surprise for a second before she smiled brightly as she came to us until she was in front of Aimi and held both her hands and said happily, "Aimi, it's good to see you! What're you doing here?"

"Ah, Minna-sama!" Aimi smiled back, "It's good to see you as well! Well, my companions and I are currently moving in to this apartment today, so we shall be living next door to you as your neighbor."

"Oh, ich verstehe (Oh, I see)!" said Minna in German, "Das hört sich wunderbar an (That sounds wonderful)!"

"Yes, quite!" Aimi smiled.

"HEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sayaka shouted at Minna with a blush, "PUT SOME FUCKING CLOTHES ON! THERE'S A FUCKING IDIOT BOY HERE!"

"That's hurtful!" I thought to myself.

"Oh, it's okay." Minna smiled, "I don't mind at all if it's Yuzu-kun."

"YOU SHOULD MIND!" Sayaka shouted.

Ishikawa-san just stood there and watched them with a sigh while Aimi giggled.

Mirai-senpai walked over to me and said with a chuckle while we watched Minna interacting with the three, "Your childhood friend sure is quite interesting, isn't she, Yuzuru?"

"Ah, yeah." I said as I looked away so that I wouldn't have to look too much, "She's…kinda always been that way since we were kids. Minna is…well, she's free-spirited, I guess."

"And quite forward with her feelings for you." Mirai-senpai added.

"Ah, yeah, that too." I said.

"Well, anyway," said Mirai-senpai, "With that being said, does this place of yours have any quarters that we can use?"

"Oh, uh…" I said, as I looked away awkwardly, "Well…"

---

"Hey…!" said Sayaka, sounding irritated, "What…the fucking hell…IS WITH THIS PLACE?!"

We were looking at another apartment room that was next to mine and, like from the beginning, it was a reck room all filled with boxes and big piles of unnecessary garbage all over the place. In fact, all the apartment rooms still are. Though, I have been cleaning some of them out one by one with slow progress with Saber.

"What?" I said, "This is how the apartment rooms looks like."

"WHAT?!" Sayaka shouted incredulously, "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU LIVE IN A FRICKING DUMPSTER OF A PLACE?! AND YOU CALL THIS PLACE AN APARTMENT?! I MEAN, LOOK AT THIS PLACE! HOW THE FUCKING HELL DO YOU EVEN LIVE IN THIS DUMP?!"

"It's not my fault!" I shouted back, "This is the ONLY place that I can afford to live in!"

"What, you mean you can't find any other place for you to live in or buy a house of your own to call it a home for you to live in or something?!" Sayaka shouted incredulously.

"Hardly!" I said, "I don't even have enough allowance of my own to even buy a house for myself! The only thing I can do with my allowance is buy groceries and shit!"

"Wow." said Sayaka, "My God!"

"Oh, goodness me." said Aimi.

"Unbelievable!" Ishikawa-san grumbled, as she held the bridge of her nose.

"I'm surprise you even LIVE in this shithole!" said Sayaka.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped." Mirai-senpai chuckled, "Alright then, let us get to work on this mess and start cleaning out everything here."

"Oh, we're gonna start cleaning this room?" I asked, "Well, if you want to then-"

"Oh, no, no." said Mirai-senpai, "What I mean by 'we' is…my companions and I will take care of the work."

"Wait, what?" I said, confused, "W-What do you mean?"

Suddenly, with a snap of Mirai-senpai's fingers, her three friends suddenly left and came back with clean-up equipment with ridiculously fast speed and started cleaning up the place with the same ridiculously fast speed. They were doing all the clean-up really fast, from carrying boxes and trashes, to sorting out glasses and plastic bottles, to washing remaining dishes, to sweeping floors, to…man, they were just working ridiculously fast that I couldn't keep up with what they were all doing! Hell, even Saber couldn't keep up with what they were doing as she was giving out dizzied eyes!

And before we even realized it, Aimi had stood in front of us with a smile on her face and said, "There, all done! The apartment is cleaned, Ojou-sama!"

"…W-Wait." I said, confused, "What?"

"Well done, everyone." Mirai-senpai nodded, "Now, let's settle in."

As Mirai-senpai entered the apartment, I looked around to see that the room was already cleaned and cleared of space, all spotless, all the furniture set up nice and neatly, the window was somehow fixed; hell, even the couch that was a complete mess was already fixed and sewed.

I was in disbelief as I said, "Okay, what just happened?"

"I…do not have any idea, either." said Saber in bewilderment.

"Oh, why, we had simply cleaned out everything in this whole apartment complex, Shindou-sama." Aimi answered.

"Huh?" I said, confused, "Wait, everything? Y-You mean, like 'everything' everything?"

"Yes." Aimi answered with a smile, "'Everything' everything."

… … … … … … … … … …

"Wait, hold on!" I said, as I quickly went out to check on something.

I quickly went to the room next to Mirai-senpai's and opened the door to take a look inside and, well, much to my surprise, the room was just as neatly set and completely all nice and clean as the room Mirai-senpai will be staying at. I then went to check on another room. And then another room. And then another one after that. In short, they were all cleaned!

"W-Wait, how…?" I said, confused while coming back to Mirai-senpai and the others, "How did you all even-? OWW!"

Sayaka flicked me in the forehead and said, "We live in a freaking mansion, you stupid idiot! Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something for once!"

"Huh?" I said, confused before I realized what she meant and said, "O-Oh, right! S-Sorry. I forgot that you live in a big house."

"Wow, you really forget some important details of people, don't you?" said Sayaka with a deadpanned expression.

"Well, no need to worry about that." said Mirai-senpai, "Anyway, let's have something to eat for dinner. Yuzuru, would you mind lending us any ingredients and cooking utensils that you may have in your place."

"Oh, uh…sure." I said, "But, uh…what're you gonna cook?"

---

"And dinner is ready!" Aimi smiled, as she placed the last dish of dinner on the table.

Me, Minna, and Saber all came over to Mirai-senpai's place to eat dinner with them. On the table were a plate, a bowl, and chopsticks, one for each of us saved for Aimi. For dinner tonight, we were having a huge bowl of easy fried rice, a large plate of teriyaki salmons, six small plates of stir fry vegetables, six plates of omurice, and a large plate of baked tonkatsu; all of them were well-made, elegant, and all looked really delicious. In fact, me and Minna were completely amazed at how great they looked while Saber was already drooling with her eyes sparkling.

"Now, everyone, please enjoy." Aimi smiled, "Dig in."

Mirai-senpai and the other two sat down together as they placed their hands together in prayer and said, "Thank you for the food." They then took their own bowls and chopsticks to begin eating.

I looked at Minna who gave out a smile and nodded before I looked at Saber who was nodding a lot eagerly with sparkles in her eyes. I sighed and shrugged while saying, "Might as well."

The three of us sat down and placed our hands together in prayer as we said together, "Thank you for the food." We then took our own bowls and chopsticks to begin eating.

I filled my bowl with fried rice and a teriyaki salmon. I picked up a piece of salmon along with some fried rice with my chopsticks before I placed them in my mouth and chewed on them. And, whoa, my God, it tasted…really…

"…Delicious!" me, Minna, and Saber said altogether, after tasting our food.

"Of course, isn't it?" Aimi smiled, "I am very confident and proficient at cooking."

"Ja!" said Minna while happily eating her meal, "It's very good!"

"It's delicious!" said Saber while eating.

"You know, you should take some cooking lessons from Aimi sometimes." said Mirai-senpai, "She could teach you a thing or two."

"You know, I'll consider that." I said.

Saber brought out her now empty bowl as she said, "I shall have seconds, please."

"Wait, already?!" I shouted, surprised that Saber had just finished her first bowl.

After dinner was over, Aimi took the dishes and went off to the kitchen sink to clean them out while we sat together at the table and have some tea to drink. Yukitsuki-san came over at some point and had joined us in having tea with us.

"You know, I was actually quite surprised that you'd come here to move in, Student Council President Tohsaka." said Yukitsuki-san, "And I was also quite surprised that every junk in all the apartment rooms has all been cleaned out giving us lots of spaces."

"You have my companions to thank for that." said Mirai-senpai, "They had done all the cleaning for you."

"I see." said Yukitsuki-san, "Well, thank you for that. Anyway, is there a reason as to why you'd come moving in here?"

"Actually, yes." said Mirai-senpai, "You see, my manor as of this moment is currently under reconstruction and I needed a place to stay for a long while until reconstruction is finished. So, I decided to come to move here for the time being, because I hear that this apartment complex is quite decent."

"R-Really?" said Yukitsuki-san, surprised, "But, no one's been living in these apartments in years, and I'm the only one managing this place as my uncle is sick at the hospital."

"You do have Yuzuru here as the current resident of this place, do you not?" Mirai-senpai reminded, "Despite the…poor stat of environment that this place is in, he remained to be a part of this resident of this apartment without any compliance of any sorts, no?"

"O-Oh, yeah!" said Yukitsuki-san, "That's right."

"I didn't really have much of a choice, though." I said.

"And besides," said Mirai-senpai, "I have absolutely no problem in living in a "plain" living quarters that's peaceful and quiet and is clear of any distraction of any sorts. It'll help us stay focused when it comes to doing our work."

"I see." said Yukitsuki-san.

"Speak of, I also require Yuzuru into helping me in regards of my work." said Mirai-senpai.

"What kind?" Yukitsuki-san asked.

"It's mostly things that involve student council work." said Mirai-senpai, "It's not too complicated. He'll mostly be helping us in dealing with paper works, heavy lifting, document sorting, anything that the student requires him to do to the best of his abilities. It'll help us beneficially as it will be busy work."

"I see." said Yukitsuki-san, "I didn't know that the student council would be this busy."

"Ja." said Minna.

"It's quite normal for us student council members to be busy with work." said Mirai-senpai, "But, in any case, that is why we came to move here so that he could be of assistance to us. Of course, he has agreed to the terms, right Yuzuru?"

"Ah, yeah." I said, "I-I did."

"Ah, wow!" said Minna, amazed, "You are such a good person, Yuzu-kun!"

"I see." said Yukitsuki-san, "Well, if he's okay with it, then I have no compliance about it, so you and your friends can live here if you want. Besides, it's mostly rent-free here anyway."

"Thank you." said Mirai-senpai, "I'm glad we've come to an agreement. Anyway, Yuzuru and my vice-president, Sayaka, will be going out of town for a while to do some errands for me, by tomorrow first thing in the morning. Is that alright with you, Yuzuru?"

"Yeah, sure." I said, "I mean, you did schedule me to be with Sayaka anyway."

"Good." said Mirai-senpai, "Then it's settled. Well then, we shall turn in for the night. Have a goodnight."

"Right." said Yukitsuki-san, as she got up and went off to go back to her room, "Well, goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight." I said as I began to leave as well.

"Goodnight!" Minna smiled as she followed me.

"Goodnight." said Saber as she also followed me.

"You better be seeing me tomorrow." Sayaka reminded.

"Yeah, I know." I said.

With that, we all went back to our rooms and went to turn in for the night.

---

Morning:

I was in my casual clothes, waiting outside of the apartment for Sayaka to go off to Shinto Town. Mirai-senpai, Ishikawa-san, and Aimi had already gone out to go look for the other Masters and Servants while Saber is watching over Minna while they're going out shopping. So, looks like my training with her starts there. But what exactly are we gonna do at Shinto town? That thought ran in my mind for a while until-

"Hey, you stupid idiot!" I heard her call me.

I turned around to see Sayaka was in her…school uniform? Wait, doesn't she wear anything casual?

"…what?" said Sayaka, crooking her eyebrows, "Why are you looking at me weird for?"

"Uh, no, nothing!" I said, "I-It's just…why are you dressed in your school uniform? Don't you wear any casual clothing?"

"Why in the world would I be wearing casual clothing?" said Sayaka with her hands on her hips, "This is what I always wear. You got a problem with that?"

"Ah, no, no, it's…it's just…n-never mind…" I gave up on saying anything before we began walking our way to the city, "So, uh…what're we doing?"

"Well, first, we're going into town to go and find a weapon for you." said Sayaka, "Something that's well suited for you in combat."

"Huh?" I said, confused, "Wait, what does that have to do with magecraft?"

"It doesn't." said Sayaka, "At least, not yet, anyway. Magecraft is important when it comes to fighting, sure, but that doesn't mean we should always be reliant on them, not for those without any assets to them, at least. Depending on the mage themselves, weapons can be used like conduits that can be best suited for their fighting style. Take me for an example; I use my handguns as my ideal weapons for my fighting style, as I use them for long-range combat attacks. You've already seen it first hand when we fought against Caster before, didn't you?"

"Ah, yeah." I said as I remembered our fight against Caster, "You were a good shot, by the way."

"Thanks, though flattery will get you nowhere." said Sayaka.

"Wasn't really trying to." I said, "So, anyway, what about Ishikawa-san and Aimi?"

"Hiroko mostly fights in close-range since she always uses her sword, so she's always direct with her opponents." said Sayaka, "I'm also a close-range fighter when I need to be, as I know the arts of using guns in martial arts, though I don't really need to be if it's unnecessary for such situations. As for Aimi, aside from healing, which makes her a support-type, she's the most balanced out of us, both close-range and long-range, though she mostly relies on her speed and agility to give her the advantage in combat. Basically, she's the swiftest and fastest out of us. Lady Mirai, on the other hand, is considered the most balanced out of everything, and is considered the most powerful out of all of us as she is the heiress to the Tohsaka family trained by the family head, who practices and styles in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts rather than using weapons."

"I see." I said, as I remembered my fight with them before Caster before I began imagining Mirai-senpai in battle, "Yeah, I can see Mirai-senpai being way that powerful than anyone else, even me, since she can fight with bare hands. Ishikawa-san was pretty good at using that sword of hers when I went up against her, and Aimi was pretty fast and strong when I fought against her back at the school; I could barely keep up with her."

"Well, you did unlock your Magic Circuits in time to take on Aimi and Hiroko on even ground, else you would've been dead." said Sayaka, "Speaking of Magic Circuits, you should know that people can develop Magic Circuits and not necessarily be from the mage families; it's a mutation that's super rare, but it happens, just as it did for you."

"Really?" I asked, surprised, as I looked at my Magic Circuits that were glowing in my arms, "I didn't know that. Is there anything you know about Magic Circuits?"

"Well, glad you're interested in wanting to know." said Sayaka, "And yes, there is. Magic Circuits reside within the magus's soul, and what is found on the body is just a physical expression of them that stretches itself throughout the body in a fashion similar to the nervous system, just like your Magic Circuits are now. In other words, the Magic Circuits that you have are within your soul."

"Wait, seriously?!" I said, even more surprised, "Whoa! Holy crap! S-So, uh…what then, am I-?"

"And before you say it; no, you're not a robot!" said Sayaka bluntly, "You're still human. It's just that Magic Circuits are always a part of us humans without any of us even noticing it unless you're a mage."

"Oh." I said, "Huh. Uh…o-okay. Uh, g-glad to know then."

"Anyway, as I was saying," Sayaka continued, "They are composed of core components, which are the actual Circuits so to say, and bypasses that connect those components to the brain. Magic Circuits do not change and once damaged they cannot be repaired. Because the organic activity is necessary for the operation of Circuits, it is a common mistake to think that they are literally a part of the magus body. There are rare occasions in which the Circuits continue working even after the practitioner's body has ceased all vital functions. In these cases, destruction of the brain is necessary to stop the Circuits. Their Quality and Quantity are ranked through letters like magecraft, and their Composition often varies between magi. Like any other organ, the number of Magic Circuits that one possesses is determined at birth and cannot decrease or increase naturally, meaning that those from older lineages will be more powerful, but it is possible to change that number artificially through a number of methods. One of those methods is through the establishment of a mystic pass between two magi from which the Circuits can be transferred. As the Circuits are located in the soul, a fusion of body and mind is required during the transplant. However, the process carries the same risks and complications as a transplant of organs. Furthermore, as the Magic Circuits become unstable if tampered with while in use, there is a possibility of mutual destruction if a contract similar to that between a magus and his/her familiar has not been established beforehand. For that and other reasons, lineages of magi seek not to tamper with the Circuits of their members while they are alive, but rather try to produce descendants with the greatest "extra" number of Magic Circuits possible. Note that number is not everything, and quality and precision of the Circuits are also an important factor that differs from lineage to lineage."

"I see." I said.

"As I said before, a normal person rarely acquires Magic Circuits, but in these cases, they are considered as sudden mutations." Sayaka added, "Still, the Circuits are ultimately something unnatural for the human body and their activity will cause pain and numbness to the magus. Their very presence in the human body is something uncommon and an ordinary person will have little to none. Also, the use of Magic Circuits increases the magus bodily temperature, which can have a mage to discover other enemy mages, or in this case the Masters, on the battlefield through the employment of a thermal sensor. In other words, they can track you if you're not careful with your Magic Circuits."

"I see." I said.

"Magic Circuits are "opened" when magical energy is run through them for the first time." said Sayaka, "From that point on, the user can activate them at will through the use of a mental trigger. The image that is related to that trigger will differ from a magus to another: For me, my image is the sound of a gun firing an organic heart making it burst and splatter into pieces, Hiroko's the slashing of a sword cutting her entire body until her whole body bled to nothing but red, while Aimi's the screaming of a woman in a powerful and hazardous sandstorm. Though, there are also those that can only use that trigger under predetermined conditions, such as after performing self-injury or when sexually excited. Oh, and trust me, unless you wanna lose your v-card, I suggest you not doing the latter as that last one is and can never be pretty."

"Damn." I said, "Wait, what about Mirai-senpai? What triggered her to open her Magic Circuits?"

"That's…well, that's something that you'll have to ask Lady Mirai about yourself someday." said Sayaka, "Just, not now. I'm…not really sure if you wanna know about that yet."

"Oh." I said, "Well, okay, sure. If you say so, then…I won't pry any further."

"Good." said Sayaka, "Anyway, depending on how a magus is, they can possess and have about a variety amount of Magic Circuits; an average magus usually possesses about 20 Magic Circuits, while those of powerful linage of mages have about more than an average magus."

"I see." I said, "Then, since I'm an average guy and I'm only starting as a mage, I have about 20 Magic Circuits right now. Can we develop our Magic Circuits?"

"Sure, you can, but I wouldn't recommend doing so." said Sayaka, "Because trying to develop and make more Magic Circuits, whatever procedures or methods that you may use, is always a very dangerous procedure, as failure would result in the body breaking down from the inside out, and even with success, the resulting pain would be comparable to inserting a hot iron rod into the spine."

"Oh." I said as I began to imagine that, "Ouch."

"Yeah, you really wouldn't want that." said Sayaka, "Unless you wanna try out that pain, I recommend that you wouldn't wanna try that out. Not yet, at least until you're ready."

"Right." I said, "Got it."

"Anyway," said Sayaka, "Like you said, since you started out as a mage, the amount of Magic Circuits you have is about the average magus. Meanwhile, Hiroko, Aimi, and I possess about 40-50 Magic Circuits, while Lady Mirai possess about 60 Magic Circuits with subs that are 30 each."

"Holy crap!" I said, surprised, "That's a lot! Though, then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you guys have been training in the mage world for a long time."

"Yup!" said Sayaka proudly, "With lots of practices, training, push-ups, sit-ups, and plenty of juices!"

"Wait," I said, confused, "What does that have to do with-?"

"But, in any case," said Sayaka, cutting me off, "We should focus on what kinds of weapons that you can use that'll fit you perfectly for your fighting style in combat. We'll leave all that Magic Circuits stuff and crap all to Hiroko and Aimi when you train with them next."

"O-Oh, uh…r-right." I said, "Right, okay. Got it. So, where should we start?"

"Well, first," said Sayaka, "Let's start with the weapons that's suited for me and see if they work compatibly well for you."

"Uh…wait." I said, confused, "How?"

---

"Welcome to our gun store, Shoot 'Em and Beat 'Em." said the gun store shop lady as she turned to us, speaking with a southern accent, "How may I help y'all today?"

"Hey, Shiori!" Sayaka happily greeted, "I'm here for the usual practice here at the shooting range!"

"Ah, Sayaka!" said the shop lady, now named Shiori, "How great to see ya again, love! You lookin' as fine as a dandelion!"

"Aww, shuck." Sayaka smiled, "Thanks."

"A gun store…out of all the places, it had to be a gun store." I thought with a look of disbelief.

Shiori looked at me before she glared at me with a disgusted look and asked, "And the hell's this scrawny little puke?"

"Ughhh…" I groaned.

"Oh, him?" said Sayaka, "Ah, this idiot here's Yuzuru. He's my good luck charm."

"Please don't treat me like I'm an object-"

TWHAAAAAMMM!

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!"

I was suddenly punched in the stomach by Sayaka, knocking me out of air, and making me fall and knelt to the ground while covering my stomach and groaning in pain from that really hard punch.

"You shut the fuck up, you stupid idiot!" Sayaka shouted at me before she turned around, returning to her smiling form, and said to Shiori, "Anyway, as I was saying, I'd like to try out the usual practice in the shooting range today, so that I can have this stupid idiot try out some guns."

"I see." said Shiori, "Well, honey, you are my favorite regular here, yer always welcome to here to practice ya shootin'. And if that little scrawny brat is with you, I'll let 'em in. Just be sure he better be careful now, dear."

"Thanks!" Sayaka smiled, "I most certainly will!"

I managed to get myself back up after recovering from that hit and managed to get some air back into my lungs as I breathed in and out slowly.

"Okay, ya scrawny puke, get over here." said Shiori, glaring at me, "Hurry and pick yer gun 'fore I change my mind."

I groaned and said, "Yes, ma'am…"

After I had picked out a handgun for me to practice with, me and Sayaka went down to the shooting range to practice shooting with the gun that I'm using. The shooting range that we were at was…well, loud. Like, really, really loud. It was loud from all the gunshots that was happening from people practicing with lots of guns that they were using, so much so that I had to cover my ears from the noise. They were using eye protectors to protect their eyes from the flashes that their guns were making from shooting and earphones to cover their ears from the sounds of gunshots. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of those for myself. Although looking at Sayaka, she looks like she's really used to the sounds of gunshots being made at this shooting range. Then again, she does use handguns so it makes sense.

"Hey, uh…Sayaka?!" I asked loudly a bit so she could hear me from the sound of the bangs of gunshots, "I-I know we're here to train me, but why this place?! And, shouldn't we get like protective eye wears and earphones or something?!"

"No." Sayaka answered, as we were in our station of the shooting range, "The enemy wouldn't give us time to put on protections or anything like that. It takes too long for us to do so. Plus, it's better to keep it real, and prepares us for real life situations."

"Oh." I said, as I now understood what she meant, "Okay, yeah, that's actually a good point. Yeah, keep it real."

"Yup." said Sayaka, as she handed me the gun that I'll be using to shoot, "Now, let's see what you got."

"Right." I said as I took the gun, "Okay, now. Let's see…uh…"

I took a look at my handgun for a moment; it was a CZ-USA 85 Combat that Sayaka hand-picked for me to use. I rose my hand up with the gun in both my hands and aimed it to where the target practice sheet is at. Well, here goes.

I aimed my gun at it and then…huh? Wait…what the-? I tried pulling the trigger but…it wasn't working! Wait, what the hell?! I grunted as I tried to pull the trigger harder, but it wasn't working. Shit!

"What the hell are you doing?" Sayaka asked, while crooking her eyebrows.

"Arugh…dammit, it's not working!" I grunted, as I tried to pull the trigger, which was still getting hard to do, "D-Dammit, I think it's stuck! Pull, dammit! Errrgh!"

"Oh, for God's sake, give it here!" said Sayaka, as she brought her hand out to hand her the gun, and I did so. Sayaka took a look at the gun for a few seconds before she turned something on the back of the gun and said with a deadpanned expression as she gave me back the gun, "You forgot to turn the safety off, you stupid idiot."

"Oh." I said, "Huh. Uh…right, my bad." I took the gun back and then went back to my position and what I was doing. I aimed the gun held in both my hands at the target sheet, ready to fire at it. Okay, here goes; for real this time.

Ready…? And…

BANG!

"WHOOOA!" I screamed after I pulled the trigger and fired. Holy shit! Goddamn, this thing is powerful! I think I might've blinked on that one! After the first shot, I took a look at the gun with wide eyes, shocked at how powerful and dangerous guns can be. Damn…I had no idea Sayaka, or anyone with a gun could pull that off.

I then took a look at the target sheet and saw that I…I hit nothing. I hit nothing. Really? Really?! I hit nothing?! Seriously?! I missed the target?! How?! How could I have missed?!

"Okay, that's it…!" I said to myself, as I aimed the gun at the target again. I pulled the trigger and fired again.

BANG!

I didn't blink this time, and I made sure I fired at the target sheet. I took a look again and see that…I hit nothing. Again. I hit nothing again?! Seriously, how can I miss?! I aimed at the sheets and started pulling the trigger and fired multiple times.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"OW, SHIT!" I screamed, as I stopped pulling the trigger and put the gun down because I pinched the inside of my hand, "Dammit…! I pinched the inside of my hand!"

Sayaka sighed and muttered, "Goddammit, you idiot." Then she went over to pick up my gun and take a look at it.

"I don't think the side on this gun is quite calibrated enough." I said, "I mean, the way I was shooting was looking a bit-"

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

Suddenly, Sayaka was shooting with the gun that I was using at the target sheet, making me startled and flinched from the sound of the gunfire that she was making with the shots with the gun.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

Sayaka looks at the gun again, before she turned the safety back on and gave it back to me by slamming the gun on my chest and said, "You were off by a centimeter or two, you dumbass!"

"Ow!" I said as I rubbed my chest from that slight pain before I looked at the target sheet and saw that, unlike me, she…holy crap, she did a number on that target sheet! Hell, she even made a headshot like…I-I don't know, five, six times?

"Just so you know, I'm a professional marksman when it comes to shooting using pistols and handguns." said Sayaka, "You should try paying attention sometimes."

"Huh." I said before I asked, "So, are you left-handed or right-handed?"

"Both." Sayaka answered.

"Oh, so you're ambidextrous." I said, "Okay, that makes sense, since you use two guns with both hands. Well, looks like a handgun won't do for me. Maybe I should try something bigger, like, I don't know, maybe a shotgun or something. Might give me better firepower than-"

I heard a sound of a gun cocking and I turned to see that Sayaka was already carrying a shotgun as she said while handing it to me, "Here, a shotgun. This'll help."

"Oh." I said, surprised for a bit before I took it and looked at it for a bit, and honestly, all I could say was as I was impressed, "Wow! Nice!"

"Yup." Sayaka smirked.

"Yeah, now we're talking." I said before I readied myself and said, "Hey, Sayaka, you might wanna step back a little bit. I think this thing's got a little kick to it."

"Sure." said Sayaka, as she did so.

"Okay, now buddy!" I said to the target sheet as if it was an enemy, now confident thanks to this shotgun, "Let's see how you handle this when I blow you into pieces with this baby here! Oh-ho, yeah, it's ON NOW! Ta-!"

BAAAAANNNNNGGG!

As soon as I pulled the trigger, however, as the shotgun fired, the force of that shot from the shotgun had suddenly caused me to be forcefully knocked out backward, landing towards a dumpster as I screamed, "OH, SHIT!"

Sayaka was then laughing from what just happened to me before she said while still laughing, "Yup, just like you said: it's got a little bit of kick to it!"

"OOOOOooooohhh…!" I groaned in pain from that impact earlier.

"What's wrong?" Sayaka laughed, "Stomach in your ass?"

"Worse…" I groaned, "I-I think…m-my whole organs' in my ass…"

"Yeah, looks like guns won't work for you." said Sayaka, "Let's move on."

"This gun should be banned…" I groaned.

---

After we left the gun store, we went out walking in the streets of Shinto Town to look for another weapon shop, which hopefully doesn't involve guns because I am so done with them after that shotgun. Plus, I don't think that Shiori woman at the gun store likes me very much, and I do NOT wanna see people like her in any gun shops.

"So, where do wanna go next?" Sayaka asked.

"I don't know." I said, "Don't you know any stores that doesn't involve guns? Because after what happened with the shotgun, I am so done with guns."

"Hey, it's your fault for picking something that's WAY too powerful for you to even handle." said Sayaka, "And besides, that shop earlier is my favorite place to go to and is the only gun store that'll let me practice. Plus, it's a place where I got a second handgun of the same gun I have since I was a kid. Have you seen my guns, by the way?" She turned around and took out one of her handguns to show me as she said, "They're called the Browning Hi-Power, and they're a very popular firearm. The single-action only trigger is a throwback to the classic 1911 design. It's light, smooth and breaks evenly. The reset is very short as well as tactile and audible. The steel frame is an excellent example of why steel frames are still viable. It's strong, but light, and makes the weapon thinner overall. The comfort in the hand is top notch and by far one of the most ergonomic designs. The Hi-Power actually served as an inspiration for the CZ 75, another 9mm handgun on this list. The Hi-Power has inspired dozens of different features on modern handguns and that is why it is the number one 9mm handgun. And, they are my favorite guns in the world, and they happen to be my dad's favorite."

"Wow." I said, "That's…lovely, I guess. Still not gonna use a gun anymore, though."

"Wasn't telling you to." said Sayaka, as she put her handgun back in her holster, "Anyway, since we can't have you use guns, instead maybe we should try to find some weapons that might interest you. So, tell me, what kind of weapons are you interested in?"

"Hmm…let me think…" I said, as I thought about it for a moment. Well, actually, there are weapons from the one thing that I've always been interested in.

"Well, I AM actually into weapons from stories of the Arthurian Legend." I said, "Weapons like the holy sword Excalibur or the swords and lances that knights use and stuff."

"Hmm, I see." said Sayaka, "So, in other words, you're into eastern-styled weapons of the old English times and during the time of the monarchy. If that's the case, we'll need to find a weapon of old English that suits you well for your fighting abilities. So, what kind of eastern weapon would you prefer?"

"Well," I said, "I have been working on my sword skills with Saber every morning, and since swords are something that I'm kinda good at, I think I'll go with a sword."

"Okay, we'll go with that." said Sayaka, "Anything else, or are you good?"

"Nah, I think I'm good for now." I said.

"Okay then," said Sayaka, "Once we get you a sword that might work for you, we'll work on your fighting style by tomorrow. So, for now, let's go find a shop that sells swords. Once we do, let's find you a sword that's to your liking."

"Right, then." I said before I shouted, "Let's go get me a sword!"

---

"I CAN'T FIND ME A SWORD!" I cried out loud, as we COULDN'T even find a SINGLE STORE that SELLS SWORDS!

It was already nighttime, and we have looked everywhere in Shinto Town and we couldn't even find a store for swords! Goddammit! Oh, man, and to make matters worse, I think I'm already sweating from all the walking around this huge city.

"Will you quit complaining already?!" Sayaka shouted, "We've only been walking around the city for eight hours after lunch this afternoon, and we've only been looking through fifteen stores that sells weapons!"

"Yeah, weapons that have ONLY FUCKING GUNS AND KNIVES!" I shouted back, before I yelled, "AND THE LAST STORE THAT WE WENT TO ONLY HAD JAPANESE SWORDS, THAT HAPPENS TO BELONG TO THE YAKUZAS, AND WE WERE ALMOST KILLED BY A YAKUZA WHO HAPPENS TO OWN THAT FUCKING STORE!"

"OH, QUIT YOUR BITCHING ALREADY, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Sayaka turned around and yelled at me, "AT LEAST WE FOUGHT HIM OFF AND KICKED HIS ASS BEFORE HE COULD EVEN MURDER US!"

"YOU NEARLY SHOT ME IN THE HEAD, YOU BITCH!" I yelled back.

"YEAH, BECAUSE YOUR DUMBASS HEAD WAS IN THE FUCKING WAY, DUMBASS!" Sayaka yelled, "I MEAN, WHO EVEN TRIES TO GO UP AGAINST A FUCKING YAKUZA WITHOUT EVEN A FUCKING WEAPON OR EVEN THINKING STRAIGHT!"

"WELL, AT LEAST I DID SOMETHING INSTEAD OF JUST LETTING HIM GO OUT AND TAKE SOMEONE PASSING BY AS A HOSTAGE!" I yelled back, "I MEAN SERIOUSLY, HE COULD'VE KILLED SOMEONE!"

"YEAH, WELL, I DIDN'T EVEN NEED YOU TO GO OUT THERE AND TRY TO FUCKING BE A HERO!" Sayaka yelled, "I HAD EVERYTHING COMPLETELY UNDER FUCKING CONTROL! I COULD'VE JUST EASILY SHOT THE GUY BEFORE HE COULD EVEN FUCKING ACT!"

"HAD THAT UNDER FUCKING CONTROL, MY ASS!" I yelled, "WE WERE ALMOST CAUGHT BY THE POLICE WHEN YOU SHOT THE GUY IN HIS LEFT EAR! WE COULD'VE BEEN ARRESTED FOR DOING SHIT AND CAUSING A FUCKING SCENE!"

"ARUGH, WHATEVER!" Sayaka yelled before she calmed down a bit and said, "Look, what's done now is fucking done! Besides, that passerby's a witness; she saw what just happened, so she'll explain to the police exactly what just happened back there!"

I scoffed and said, "Yeah, if she even knew what just happened!"

"Quite complaining already and let's go!" said Sayaka angrily, "Let's go look for another weapon store and find a sword!"

"Look where, dammit?!" I shouted, "We've already looked through every single store around here in Shinto Town, and that last one was a gang store!"

Sayaka sighed and said with a deadpanned expression, "On the other side of Shinto Town, you dumbass. Where do you think this area is at?"

"Huh?" I said, confused before I began thinking about it for a moment until realization suddenly hit me as I said, "Oh…Ohh! Ohh…shit." That's right! This area of Shinto Town is an area where it's close to the Fuyuki City Bridge! Crap, I forgot about that!

"Well, now that you know, let's get going." Sayaka smiled with a hint of amusement on her face, before she rose her hand up and said cheerfully, "NOW, LET'S GO WALKING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SHINTO TOWN AND GET YOU A SWORD!" Sayaka then began walking as she brought the back of her hand close to her face and began laughing out loud like a filthy rich girl would, "AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA! AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA! AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

I sighed as we were gonna go for another tiring walk around the city again before I said nonchalantly, "Yes, ma'am…"

It was a long and hellish walk to the other side of Shinto Town as my legs were already killing me to death with each step I made. Meanwhile, Sayaka was happily skipping around her way on the streets of the town with a smile on her face. She was definitely enjoying seeing me going through the hell she was giving me. Dammit, she's supposed to be training me, not torturing me!

I sighed before I said to her, "Hey, Sayaka, could you please slow down a bit? My feet's already killing me from walking around for so long. It's tiring me out already."

Sayaka turned around to face me as she said with an amused smile on her face, "Well, it's your fault for always walking around trying to find a single store that's right for you, dumbass. If you had at least tried to start with this other side of Shinto Town, we would've already gotten you a weapon by now. Besides, I'm in charge of you, aren't I? So, whatever it is that I want you to do, you better do whatever it is that I say."

I sighed in frustration before I said, "Dammit, woman, what am I to you? Your freaking guinea pig? I'm not your toy for you to play with, I'm a freaking human being! You can't just treat me like I'm an object!"

"Well, you are to me." said Sayaka, "You're my good luck charm for my worst luck in the whole world, so I need you to help give me good luck or else I'll die because of my worst luck, and I REALLY don't wanna die because of my worst luck."

"So basically, you're using me as your shield so you could avoid the death of bad karma." I said, "Jeez, I can't believe you! First, you drag me into shit, then you get me into trouble, and now you're making me your object for your charm for the rest of your life?! Seriously, is that how you always treat guys like that or just me?!"

"Nah, just you." Sayaka laughed, "But you're a pain in the ass."

"Okay, woman, you listen right-! Ahh…!" I was about to say until I gasped in complete shock, as I saw something really horrifying in front of me.

"What?" said Sayaka, confused, "What's that look for?"

"U-Uh…S-Sayaka…!" I said somewhat fearfully.

"What?!" said Sayaka, now sounding more annoyed.

"Y-Y-You…y-you might wanna…t-turn around…!" I stammered, though I managed to say.

"What?!" Sayaka shouted, even more annoyed, as she slowly began to turn around, "What the fuck is it that could possibly be so…!" As soon as she turned around, she was now beginning to see what I was saying and seeing before she said in realization, "Oh…"

Right in front of us, there was a whole ten-story building that was being covered in complete shadowy black smoke from top to bottom, from windows to doors, and the shadowy smoke was even covering and spreading throughout the ground outside. It looked as if it was being swallowed up by the darkness that was spreading as if it was becoming haunted.

I came over right next to her as I asked, "What the hell is this?! What in the world's going on?!"

"I don't know." said Sayaka, "But whatever this is, it can't be good."

"D-Do you think that…there are people in there?" I managed to ask.

"It's possible." said Sayaka, "Though I highly doubt that they made it out alive if we even knew what happened here."

"No…" I said quietly before I turned to Sayaka and said, "W-We can't just leave it this way! We can't leave these people in there! They could need help!"

"Don't be stupid!" said Sayaka with a serious look on her face, "We can't just waltz in there and save people who're trapped! There's no telling what this shadowy smoke is and what it could do to you! Whatever this smoke is, it could kill you!"

"Well, we have to at least try something!" I said, "What do you suggest we do?! We can't just leave innocent people who could be in that building!"

"Look, I get what you're trying to say, but we need to come up with a plan first before we can even go in there!" Sayaka argued, "If we just recklessly charge in there without even knowing what the hell it is or what the hell is going on, then we'll be finished before we can even figure things out! We should call for backup and-!"

"But we won't even have enough time for that!" I shouted, "I can't just sit here and do nothing while there are people in there who could be in danger!"

"Now you listen right here, mister!" Sayaka shouted at me, "Don't you fucking start arguing with me on this! I'm a first-rate mage and you're a fucking newbie, so I have far more experience with this shit than you do, so you listen to ME and do EXACTLY what I say to you!"

"But-!"

"DO WHAT I TELL YOU, DAMMIT!" Sayaka yelled.

I was taken aback by the way Sayaka had yelled, as if commanding me to obey the order she was giving, and I could see the look in her eyes that she was dead serious about this. I…I…I know that I'm not like Sayaka and everyone else, and I know I should understand that I'm incapable of doing anything right now, and I should at least listen. But…but…

I turned to look back at the shadowy smoking building. There are people in there, who're trapped in this building; people who could need help, and we're the only ones here, the only ones who can. I…I can't just…stand here and do nothing at all while people in there are in danger! If…if I can't save any other people in that dangerous building right in front of us, then how the hell am I supposed to keep my promise to Minna and protect her as a hero that she needs?!

I shook my head before I looked at Sayaka and I shouted, "No, screw this! I can't just stand around and do nothing! There are people in there who needs help and we have to do something before it's too late! And…even if I'm incapable of doing anything with magecraft, there's gotta be at least something I can do to help! So, I'm doing this, even if it kills me!"

With that, I turned myself around and began running as fast as I could into the building. I'm not backing away from this! I have to do this!

"H-Hey, wait!" I heard Sayaka behind me, "You idiot, come back!"

I didn't listen to her, as I kept on running into the building without even stopping or turning back.

---

Sayaka's POV:

"H-Hey, wait!" I shouted as I watched that stupid idiot run forward into the building, "You idiot, come back!"

But he didn't listen to me, and he just kept on running into that shadowy smoking building without even giving a moment to turn back.

"Gaah, that idiot!" I said frustratedly, as I readied my weapons before I began running after him to follow him, "I can't believe him!"

---

Normal POV:

From afar, a mysterious figure dressed in black and wearing a clown mask underneath the black hood watched at the top of another building as Sayaka entered the shadowy building to go after Yuzuru who entered before her without thinking. As soon as they both were inside the building, the figure smiled behind the mask before the figure took out a book and opened it, flipping over a few pages, before the figure began chanting a spell in a different language as the figure repeatedly chanted, "Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir. Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir. Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir. Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir. Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir. Bahath waqutil, walbahth watadmir... (Search and kill, search and destroy. Search and kill, search and destroy. Search and kill, search and destroy. Search and kill, search and destroy. Search and kill, search and destroy. Search and kill, search and destroy) …"

As the figure repeatedly chanted those words, shadowy figures slowly began to rise up from the ground and floated in the air for a moment before they slowly landed on the floor, and brought their faceless shadowy heads up before they slowly began walking towards the building. The figure continued to chant the words, creating more and more shadow figures to appear and move towards the building.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I was now inside the building and I looked around the building to see that there were people lying on the ground, not even trying to get up or even trying to move every inch of their bodies. I went up to one of them, a male, and turned his body around so that I could see his face and see if he's alright. But, when I did so, I saw that the man was limp and had his eyes closed. No way…could he be dead already? I turned my head and placed my ears on his chest to hear anything inside, like a heartbeat or something, or maybe a sound of breathing going on, and thankfully, much to my relief, there was still a heartbeat being heard inside; faint, but still there. Plus, his chest was slowly rising up and down, which meant he's still breathing.

"If he's out like this, then he must be unconscious." I said as I laid him back down, "What about the others?"

I went to check another body nearby, a woman, and I turned her around and lifted her up and, just like the man before, she was limp and had her eyes closed. I picked up her hand and checked on her pulse, and luckily, it was there. I then checked on her breathing by placing my finger close to her nose, and thankfully, there was air coming in and out of there, which meant she's still breathing. Which means, she's unconscious, too. If that's the case, then it must mean it's the same with everyone.

I heard Sayaka already running towards me with her guns out before she slowed down to walking as she looked around the place while I went to pick up a nearby metal rod for me to use as a weapon for a while.

"Everyone around here seems to be unconscious." I said, "Which is really strange. It's like the whole building had suddenly fallen asleep and they never woke up."

"Yeah." said Sayaka, "It must be because of the air around here. This shadowy smoke that's going on in here must be causing people here to fall asleep. It doesn't seem too dangerous, though if left here like this for a long period of time, people here will eventually die in their sleep and become sleeping corpses."

"Damn." I said, "Well, can we dispel this whole thing?"

"If we can find what's triggering this, then yeah, we can." said Sayaka, "Though it's gonna be difficult since this is a ten-story building, which means it's really huge. The trigger could be anywhere in this building by now."

"Dammit." I cursed.

"Well, we're lucky that we're still mages since this air doesn't affect us. Otherwise, we would've already been falling asleep like the rest of them here." said Sayaka, before she looked at me sternly and said, "But still, don't just go rushing in here without even thinking first! What would've happened if this air here was completely poisoned?! You would've already been dead the moment you came in here, you stupid idiot!"

I flinched at her telling me that before I said apologetically, "Uh…sorry."

Sayaka sighed and said, "Well, no use dwelling on that now. Anyway, we should be careful around here from now on. There's no telling what kinds of things that could hap-"

Suddenly, I saw something coming from behind Sayaka as the figure prepared itself to attack her, before I quickly ran to her as I yelled, "SAYAKA, LOOK OUT!"

I quickly caught her and made us dodge to the floor in time before the figure attacked horizontally. I quickly got myself up and attack with my metal rod but was parried by the figure, creating a spark for a brief moment, and knocking me back to the floor. I managed to recover quickly and got myself back up, though, just to see who our assailant is right in front of us, and to my shock as I gasped, it was a shadow figure familiar, the same one that Saber and I had encountered and fought. Sayaka and I quickly got up from the floor and looked around the place.

Suddenly, me and Sayaka were surrounded by those shadows; the same shadow familiars that Saber and I had encountered back at the school. They were all suddenly appearing and coming out from every shadow of the building we were in, forming into human-like beings.

"Those things...!" I said, shocked.

"What?!" said Sayaka, confused.

"Those shadow familiars!" I said, "They're the ones' that Saber and I had encountered back at school and the ones that have been causing trouble around the streets during the night! I think they're related to Caster and his Master!"

"WHAT?!" Sayaka shouted before she hit me in the back of my head with her gun, which hurts like hell, and then yelled at me, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING SOONER, YOU STUPID IDIOT?!"

"OWWW!" I said, rubbing the back of my head, "Hey, don't blame me, I was busy trying to survive from you guys that time, I didn't think they were important!"

"Augh, Goddammit!" Sayaka cursed, as she readied her guns, "Well, we better deal with this now! Let's try and take out this mess!"

"R-Right!" I said, as I held up my metal rod, readying myself to fight.

The shadows were already beginning to grow closer and closer to us. Me and Sayaka were back-to-back with each other as the shadows surrounded us, and we waited for the right moment to strike.

"Okay, listen!" Sayaka whispered for me to hear, "The moment they attack us, we'll split up and fight them off on our own. It'll be much easier if we took them out individually rather than as a group. We'll only be easy targets if we tried to stick together."

"Right, okay." I whispered back, "Sounds good to me. While we do that, let's try to find the trigger that's causing this smoke and take it out, where it is."

Sayaka nodded with a smirk and whispered, "I'll see you when you find that trigger."

"You, too." I whispered back, "Good luck."

"You're the lucky one here, not me." Sayaka whispered before she turned back to the shadows and said with confidence on her face, "For now, show me what you got!"

"Right!" I said, readying myself to fight.

As soon as the shadows suddenly began moving fast and began to attack, Sayaka and I split up and dashed forward towards our enemies on opposite sides and began fighting them off.

---

Sayaka's POV:

I raised both my guns up and began rapidly firing at the shadows that were charging right in front of me. I took out ten of them with headshots before I turned to my left and slide sideways, and shot four of them in their legs. I then tripped one of them and fired at the shadow's faceless face before I got up on my feet and shot the two that were coming at my side, before I quickly turned and shot the ones coming from my front and my back. I turned my head to see a shadow incoming with a metal rod to strike before I quickly turned and took him out with a roundhouse kick to the face, aimed at the rod and fired it, making span around and forward before it hit a shadow, stabbing the rod at its chest, and then jumped and flipped backwards from and incoming shadow holding a knife before I landed on its back before I fired with my two guns at a shadow from the front, and the fired at another from the back.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I swung at a shadow and took it down with my metal rod before I turned and parried at an incoming attack from another, before I then dashed forward and stabbed it in the chest, destroying it. I then quickly turned around and blocked an attack from an incoming shadow before knocking its weapon away and striking from above at its shoulder, taking it down. I turned my head to see three of them coming down to attack me before I quickly rolled over to the front to dodge them just in time, before I quickly blocked their attacks as they dashed towards me. I managed to knock their weapons away and swung my rod and took them out one by one. I then went for another one coming at me.

---

Sayaka's POV:

I kicked one shadow to a room, breaking the door in the process, and went into that room before I turned to the door and fired at the shadows that intended to come in. I managed to take out sixteen of them before some of them came in to attack me. I slap kicked one in the face before turning around and side kicked another in the stomach, before I turned around again and crossed my arms forward and fired at two incoming shadows, and then jumped up and span around and rapidly fired in circles, shooting down the shadows. As soon as I landed on the ground, I looked up and saw it was all cleared before I pointed my gun behind me and fired at the shadow without even looking.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I parried a shadow holding a rod before I stuck it down with mine before I quickly blocked an incoming shadow holding another metal rod and then pushed it back and swung my rod at the side to take it down. I quickly crashed my way into another room through the wall and rolled over forward before getting up and turning and around and quickly got into my fighting stance. More shadows loomed in and went to attack me with knives in hand before I quickly managed to block and parry all of them and then swung at their sides and took them out before I quickly turned around and blocked the ones from behind me and knocked their weapons away before I swung and struck them down one my one until they were gone. I then got out of the room and went running to find the trigger for the shadowy smoke.

---

Sayaka's POV:

I shot down a shadow in front of me before I turned to see that the stupid idiot was already going ahead of me by going up the stairs.

"Heh." I smirked, "Don't think you'll be getting ahead and beat me to it yet, you idiot."

I then ran forward towards where the elevators are and quickly went up to one of them and pressed the up button and waited for the elevator to come down. And I waited.

… … … … … … … … … …

And I waited.

… … … … … … … … … …

And I waited.

… … … … … … … … … …

And I waited.

… … … … … … … … … …

And I wai-Okay, you know what, this is ridiculous!

I quickly and repeatedly pressed the up button again and again and waited for a response from it…which never came.

"Okay, what the hell?!" I shouted frustratingly, "How the fuck is this piece of shit not working?! It should've already-! Wait…" That's when I noticed something in the elevator and suddenly, I realized…it was broken. It was broken. It was broken! This was broken! THIS PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT IS FUCKING BROKEN?!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed out loud angrily, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH! AUGH, GODDAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIITTT! AAAAUUUGGGHHH! JUST MY FUCKING LUCK!"

Suddenly, I heard some noises, and I turned to see that more shadows were coming out from the shadows on the ground.

"Augh, dammit!" I shouted, as I reloaded my guns and readied myself, "This is JUST my fucking luck!"

I then charged at them with an angry yell to fight them.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I ran up some stairs and ran around on each floor to find where the trigger could be hiding while taking down shadows on the way. I couldn't find one on the second floor, so I went for another flight of stairs to go to the next floor. The third floor didn't have the trigger either, so I went for the fourth floor. Then to another floor, and then another floor, and then another floor. I kept on going up the stairs and searching through each floor until I made it to the top floor, the tenth. Unfortunately, like the rest of the floors, the tenth floor didn't have the trigger as it couldn't be found anywhere in either room or offices. But there was one thing that was different; there was a sudden strong pressure that's so strong that it felt like it was trying to push me down, making my body feel heavy, and it was all coming from above.

"Damn…!" I said as I was feeling the pressure, "I…I feel so heavy…!" I managed to look up at the ceiling before I said, "And it's all…it's all coming from the above…! Then, that means that…the trigger…must be coming from the roof…!"

I struggled but managed to keep myself back up and slowly started moving back to the stairs to go to the rooftop. I had to go to the roof and make it, to stop the trigger. I have to make it!

Luckily, I managed to have made it up to the rooftop, and I took a look around to find where the trigger is. On the rooftop, all I could see all around me were lots and lots of dark shadowy smokes covering everywhere, making things difficult to see. What was worse, was that the dark shadowy smoke was slowly growing and growing, and it was slowly seeping out of the building, spreading and about to reach out towards all of Shinto Town. Dammit, if this whole smoke spreads throughout the whole town, then…! Dammit…! I gotta find that trigger…!

"W-Whoa…!" I suddenly almost tripped, as my legs suddenly began to feel like jelly, before I quickly managed to hold my ground and stood strong. I was suddenly feeling weak as I felt myself getting heavy and I had to use my metal rod to hold my balance. Dammit…the effects of this smoke…it must be kicking in already…! Dammit, I have to hold on…!

I slowly tried to move my now tired body as I slowly began walking over towards the shadowy smoke to hurry and find the trigger. I couldn't let the effects of this smoke get to me. I had to hold on as much as I can. I slowly walked and walked through the smoke and looked around to find where that damn trigger is located on this roof. But the smoke was already too thick for me to even see anything, and the effects of the smoke were already starting to kick in, and I was already starting to become really, really tired.

Then suddenly, I fell down to the ground, dropping my metal rod, as I was now starting to become really sleepy, so much that even when I tried to reach my hand out, I just…I felt like I…I really…really want…to go…to sleep…I just…can't…seem to…move…on…any…more…

BANG!

WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

I quickly opened my eyes and gasped as I finally woke up and clear air was starting to come back into my lungs, and I finally quickly got up off the ground to look around to see that the shadowy smoke was mostly gone and that everything around me was finally clear for me to see around now. How did…? Then, I remembered hearing a sound of a gunshot, and I turned around behind me, and I saw Sayaka had finally arrived just in time to save me, as I saw her gun was out; she must've taken a shot fired to clear out every shadowy smoke in the way. And…oh, my lord, she does not look good! Her hair was a complete mess and she had dirt and bruises all over herself, and she looked really angry like she had to go through hell to get here.

Sayaka angrily stomped her way over to me before she grabbed me by my arm and picked me up before she said angrily, "You know, in hindsight, you should've just waited for me to come over, you dumbass!"

"Sayaka?!" I said, surprised, "W-What happened to you?! What happened to your hair?! And how did you-?"

"I FOUGHT MY WAY OVER HERE, YOU DUMBASS!" Sayaka yelled out angrily, making me flinch.

"Oh." I said, "Well, that answers all my questions."

"Anyway, here." said Sayaka, as she brought out a yellow gemstone from her pocket, "Swallow this. This'll prevent the effects of the smoke from affecting you."

"Uh…okay." I said, as I took the gemstone and looked at it nervously for a moment before I decided to just do it and placed the gemstone in my mouth before I swallowed it, which by the way, was very, very hard, so it's really best NOT to try this at home. As soon as I did so, my body began to glow yellow for about a few seconds before it was gone, and I could already feel the effects of the smoke already wearing off.

"Huh." I said, amazed by what just happened, before I looked at Sayaka and said, "You know, frankly, I'm just glad that you're here right now, Sayaka."

"Yeah, damn right you should be." Sayaka scoffed, "You'd have been dead already and I would've already lost my good luck charm and suffered the worst fate because of my bad luck."

I sighed and said, "Well, I'm just glad that you kinda care for and worry about me."

"I don't care for you because I want to, you stupid idiot!" said Sayaka, "I only care about you because you're necessary! Don't get any wrong ideas!"

I chuckled and said, "Sorry."

"Well, anyway, take a look over there." Sayaka pointed, and I turned to where she was pointing at. Right in front of us, at the center of the rooftop, there was what looked to be a giant smoke machine that was producing the dark shadowy smoke, spreading it out everywhere and leaking it out slowly into the city.

"You think this is it?" I asked, "That's the trigger?"

"Most likely." said Sayaka, "If it's that powerful enough to produce this much smoke, then it's likely that it'll create more of these shadowy things we fought, and they'll likely go out and kill people in their sleep at night."

I gasped before I looked at Sayaka and asked, "Wait a second, you knew that already? You knew the connections between them?"

"Yeah." said Sayaka, "I only heard about the rumors while I was out searching for other Masters and Servants and just figured it out now. You, too, I assume?"

"Well, yeah, I…had a feeling, but I just wasn't too sure." I said, "But, while we fought against those shadows, I noticed that there were some who attempted to kill people in their sleep, and I was certain; they're the ones causing the murder around Fuyuki City. And I know only criminals would be the ones pulling out plans to steal things and money, and murder people, and there's only one criminal in Fuyuki that could be doing murdering spree and stealing shit."

"Killer Clown." Sayaka guessed, "Yeah, I've heard about that criminal, but I honestly didn't wanna believe it."

"Yeah." I said, "And if he could pull off things like magic like what's going on right now, then he must be a mage somehow, and if he's connected with Caster…"

"…then Killer Clown is the Master of Caster." Sayaka finished.

"Yeah." I nodded.

Sayaka sighed in frustration before she said, "Augh, Goddammit! So, now we have a fucking psychopath that's lurking in the Holy Grail War! Just great! Just my luck!"

"I don't think luck has anything to do with it." I said.

"Well, whatever." said Sayaka, "Anyway, let's hurry and destroy this trigger before it spreads out through the whole town. It may not stop Killer Clown's plan completely, but it should at least throw a wrench in the work."

"Right." I said as I began to move forward before I quickly stopped as suddenly, more shadows started to appear from the shadowy smoke, and I cursed, "Shit!"

"Of course, they're not gonna make that easy." said Sayaka, as she readied her guns, "Okay, Yuzuru, I'll deal with these shadows and distract them, you go on and destroy that machine."

"Are you sure?" I asked, concerned.

"Trust me, I have more experience in dealing with this situation than you do." said Sayaka, "And you're the only one with a strong enough weapon that can wretch shit. It only makes sense."

"Hmmm." I said as I looked at my metal rod, before I said, "Yeah, you do gotta point. Alright, we'll go your way."

Sayaka smirked as she rose her guns up at the shadows and said, "Alright then, let's do it, my lucky charm!"

"Uh…right!" I said as I readied myself to run, "Here goes!"

The shadows brought out their weapons and then launched themselves to attack us. As soon as Sayaka fired her first shots at them and took them out, I began running as fast as my feet could carry me, running fast enough so that I could reach the smoking machine to stop the shadowy smoke.

---

Sayaka's POV:

Once Yuzuru got a head start after taking out two of those shadows, I was suddenly surrounded by more of those damned shadows as they all brought their weapons out.

"Alright, then." I said as I reloaded my guns, "Let's do this."

Few shadows came charging towards me before I quickly shot them down, then twirled around and fired at the one behind me before I ducked down from a weapon swung at me and then, in slow motion, did a backflip while I shot the weapon with my right gun, knocking it away before I shot the shadow with that weapon with my left gun. Then, back in normal motion, I began backflipping to gain distance from several shadows that intended to get me, before I fired rapidly at them and took them down. I landed on my feet before I quickly unloaded my magazines and then reloaded my guns with new ones before I took a fighting stance ready for close-range combat at the one coming at me with a metal rod.

It went up from above to strike, but I quickly used both my guns to block it before I moved away to the left side and elbowed it to the face with my right elbow, then I brought my left-hand gun and shot it at the leg before I moved my right arm around its head and used my right-hand gun to shoot at its arm, forcing it to drop its weapon, then I quickly used my left-hand gun and shot it at the chest, killing it, and making it disappear. Another one came with two knives and went to aim for both my head and my left side, before I quickly blocked the shadow's attack, locked both its arms with mine, and then shot it at both its armpits, breaking both its arms out and then kicked it away. Another one came at me with two metal rods and tried to hit me wherever it could before I quickly turned my guns around and used the hammer grip to deflect and parry all of its attacks before I turned my gun on my right hand back to its proper hold and then shot the shadow in the head. A few more shadows began to surround me before I began twirling around in circles and rapidly fired my guns at all of them until I stopped twirling and saw that all of the shadows were gone, taken down to nothing.

"Haha!" I cheered, "And that's how Sayaka gets the jo-!"

Suddenly, before I could even finish, more shadows began to appear out of the smoke, making me bewildered from what I just saw before I screamed out angrily, "AAAAARRRGGGHHH! MOTHERFUCKER!"

Frustrated, I reloaded my guns as I prepared to fight again before I cursed, "Just my worst luck…!"

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I managed to take out a shadow that was in the way before I finally made it to the machine that was producing those shadowy smokes. Looks like I can break this thing with several swings at it and destroy it completely. Good, this could be my only chance.

"Well," I said, as I looked at my metal rod, before I looked back at the machine, "It's now or never!"

With a yell, I raised my hand with my metal rod held up in the air before I began to swing it down for a downward strike at it and hit the machine with every strength that I had. That was one, and from that one hit, the machine was beginning to break. Good, I can finish this! I raised my metal rod again before I swung it down and hit it again as hard as I could before I then raised my metal rod and hit it as hard as I could again. I kept repeating the process of raising my rod and hitting the machine and breaking it with everything I had until I reached my eleventh one. I raised my metal rod again, about to hit the machine again really harder to break it down the machine for good, until-

"KYAAAHHH!" I heard Sayaka scream, making me stop and turn to look at what was happening, and what I was seeing was that Sayaka suddenly had been knocked out onto the ground as there was suddenly another gunshot that was not Sayaka's, and it had shot her gun held at her right to fall off from her right hand.

"Oh no!" I gasped, before I shouted, "Shit! Sayaka!"

---

Sayaka's POV:

I slowly struggled to get myself back up after that sudden surprise gunshot seconds ago before I noticed that the gun that I held in my right hand was gone and I gasped in shock and fear. Oh, no! Desperately, I quickly tried looking around desperately to look for it as it was very dear to me. Then, I gasped as I had found it, my dearest gun that I held for so long, but it was too far away for me to even reach.

I gasped and screamed out, "NO! MY DADDY'S GUN!"

Desperately, I got myself back up on my feet and started running to try and get to my father's gun, as it was the only thing that I had of my father, and I needed to get it back. But before I could even get to it, a gunshot was heard and I was nearly hit in the left leg, scratching me and making me trip over to the ground.

"SHIT!" I screamed in pain, "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"

Before I could even get myself back up, I was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and I was turned around, and I was now facing the faceless face of the shadow, who suddenly mounted on top of me in the stomach to pin me down, making me screamed in pain. I then tried to use my gun in my left hand to shoot it off of me, but the shadow had quickly already knocked my gun away, making me now defenseless.

"No!" I shouted, before I gasped, as the shadow was now pointing its gun at my face, ready to shoot me down for good, and all I could do was look in shock and fear as I was defenseless and there was nothing that I could do.

"No…!" I thought fearfully, "No, no, no, no, no…! Is this it…? Could this be the end for me…? No! No, I can't die to this…! I can't…!"

I had my eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see my fate coming to an end.

BANG!

I flinched from the sound of a gunshot. But…nothing happened to me. I didn't feel anything. Wait, am I…am I still…? I looked up and gasped in shock to see that the shadow on top of me had its head blown off before it began to disappear into nothing, making me able to move as I rose my legs up and I backflipped and landed, but not properly enough as I was still injured in my leg, and I tripped over a bit. Some more shadows started to approach to attack me before suddenly they were shot down by gunshots.

"Wait!" I said, confused, "What in the-?!"

"Sayaka!" I heard Yuzuru shout, making me gasp and turn to him as his metal rod was already completely broken in half while he was holding…I gasped again, as he was holding my gun; my father's gun!

"Here, catch!" he threw the gun to me, and I caught it in time, before he shouted, "Shoot the machine! Finish it!"

Shoot the machine? I turned to where the machine is and saw that Yuzuru had almost already done a number on it, and then suddenly I understood what he meant, and I quickly got myself up and began running with a strong yell as I held my gun up and shouted in German, "Entzünden (Ignite)!"

Then, I pulled the trigger, and I fired my shot, and my bullet became a giant fireball that was as big as a basketball and aimed at that nearly destroyed giant smoke machine before it came into contact with it, and then, it exploded with a loud 'BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!', destroying the machine for good.

With the machine gone, the shadowy smoke suddenly began to vanish from the rooftop to the whole building itself, and all the shadows were all suddenly beginning to dissipate into nothing now that they didn't have anything to support them to keep on spawning again.

"Oh…" I said, shocked at what happened, "Oh, my God…we…we did it." I smiled, "We did it!" And then I jumped up cheered, "WE DID IIIIITTT!" Before I landed back and suddenly felt a slight pain again, making me fall back down to the ground, "OOOOOWWW! Ow, ow, ow! My leg!"

"Sayaka!" I heard Yuzuru shout as he came over to me with my other gun before he made it and knelt down to check on me as he asked worriedly, "Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?! Do you need any help?!"

I was kinda surprised by him worried about me for a moment before I said, "Ah, no, no, I'm fine! I'm fine. I'm fine."

"But, your leg…" said Yuzuru.

"Ah, don't worry about it, it's just a scratch." I said reassuringly, "I'll manage."

"Are you sure?" Yuzuru asked.

"Yeah." I said, "Positive."

"Well then, can you still stand and walk?" Yuzuru asked.

I chuckled a bit, before I slowly got myself back up, ignoring that slight injury, until I got myself on my two feet proudly, before I said with confidence, "Compared to what I had to go through, this is nothing."

"Huh." said Yuzuru, as he got up, "Well, alright, then. That's good."

I sighed and said, "You know, it's kinda surprising that you'd worry about me so much. I mean, after all the shit that I put you through."

"What do you mean?" he said, "Of course, I'd worry about you, you're my friend!"

I gasped at what he just said and I looked at him with a look of surprise. Wait, what?!

"R-Really?" I said, surprised, "S-So, y-you mean to say…even after all that, you…you consider me a friend, even now?"

"Well, of course, I do." said Yuzuru, "I've always considered you a friend since we started becoming one, and of course I would worry about you and make sure that you're okay, not because we're in an alliance, but because…because we're friends."

"Yuzuru…" I said.

"Well, I mean, sure, you do treat me like crap all the time, and you can be a total pain in the ass all the time, but…that's just who you are." said Yuzuru, "And honestly, that's just what I like about you, as a friend. And, really, in a way, I…I actually rely on that, because you're…you're like a sister that I never argued with."

"Oh." I said, "R-Really?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

I looked at him for a moment as I took in everything that he just said, before I gave him an angry look and looked away with my arms crossed and said, "Hmph! Well, flattery me will get you nowhere, and it's not like I appreciated everything you did for me just now, so don't think that I'll show you any gratitude, you stupid idiot!"

"Ugh!" he said, stunned before he brought his head down and sighed.

I took a look back at him a bit before I formed a smile and began, "But…"

He looked back up at me as I turned around and said, "I will say this to you: thanks, for treating me like a friend, and for putting up with lots of my shit, even my attitude. And…I hope you'll keep doing so as I keep treating you the way I treat you in the future."

He looked at me for a moment, before he smiled and said, "Yeah, Sayaka, I will."

I smiled back and nodded at him. But then, this moment had to be cut short, as there was a sound of police sirens coming this way.

"Aw, shit!" I cursed, "We can't stay here any longer! We need to get outta here now! Quick, hold my hand!"

"Uh, right!" said Yuzuru, as he did so.

"Okay, here goes!" I said, before I began chanting in German, "Es ist gross. es ist klein. ¡Vox Gott Es Altas! (It is large. it is small. ¡The Voice of God is the World!)" Then, just within complete seconds, I sprinted and moved at top speed, making me move as fast as lightning and I held on to his hand much tighter trying not to let him go, as we went off to get out of here as fast as possible.

We'll let the police deal with this mess now!

---

Normal POV:

The mysterious figure made a 'tsk' sound after witnessing everything that had happened before the figure decided to leave the scene as the sound of police sirens was already getting close.

Having just arrived at the scene, the Fuyuki City Police Department, as well as detective Nanoha Takamachi, had entered the building with their guns armed and ready as they searched around the building and looked to see what was going on and what had happened. As they looked around, they saw that there were people lying on the ground and the interior walls and doors and windows smashed and broken into pieces, making everything look like a complete mess.

"Aw, damn…!" said one police officer, "What a mess around here…!"

"Jesus Christ, what the hell happened here?!" said another police officer.

"There are people in here, we gotta help them!" said the third police officer.

"Right." said the fourth police officer, "Let's go!"

As the police officers took a look around the building while helping out the people who're lying on the ground unconscious, Nanoha Takamachi and the captain of the Fuyuki City Police Department, Captain Hayato, stood at the center and watched as the policemen searches around the area to see what had happened here.

"Well, damn." said Captain Hayato, as he dropped his cigar down and stepped on it, "This place sure is one hell of a crime scene." He looked at Nanoha and asked, "You're the detective here, what's your take in this, Detective Takamachi?"

Nanoha looked around for a moment as if analyzing the situation, before she said, "Well, this building is an office working building that just got up and started working this morning, and from what I can tell, judging by how people here are lying on the ground and haven't gotten up, it looked as if they had suddenly fallen asleep and never woken up."

"People fell asleep suddenly and never woken up, eh?" said Captain Hayato, "So, what? Did they get all just get drowsy or something because they didn't get any sleep last night?"

"No, I don't think lack of sleep is the case." said Nanoha, "If it were, then they would've already just closed this place and canceled work so people can have a day off. I believe something must've happened that caused people to have suddenly fallen asleep."

"You think so?" Captain Hayato asked, "But, what exactly could've-?"

"Captain Hayato, Detective Takamachi!" a policewoman called out, getting their attention, "I found someone and I think she's waking up!"

"She's waking up…?" said Nanoha, before she looked at Captain Hayato and suggested, "We should check on her for questioning, she might be able to tell us what happened!"

"Right." Captain Hayato nodded.

Both Nanoha and Captain Hayato went over to where the policewoman is, watching over a businesswoman who was about to wake up. As soon as they got to them, Nanoha was the first to knelt down and lifted the woman up as she said to her, "Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me? Hey!"

The woman groaned for a bit before she slowly opened her eyes and woke herself up to see Nanoha, Captain Hayato, and some policemen, before she slowly looked around and said almost in a whisper, "W-Wha…w-what…what happened…? W-What…time is it…?" She slowly looked at Nanoha and asked almost in a whisper, "And…who…w-who are you…? And…w-what's going on…? Why are…the police here…?"

Nanoha carefully and slowly brought the woman up to a comfortable sitting position before she said, answering her questions, "I'm Nanoha Takamachi, a detective working alongside the Fuyuki City Police Department. We're here because we've noticed there was a strange disturbance going on around your area, and have reasons to believe that your area had been through an attempted robbery as well as strange phenomena going on here. Your working building had started working in the morning at 8:45 A.M. until you and your workers suddenly had fallen into a state of unconsciousness. Today's time is currently 11:00 P.M."

"W-Wha…?" said the woman, surprised and confused, "W-Wait…we've been unconscious for that long…?"

"Ma'am, I understand that you're in a state of confusion as to what had been going on with you since this morning," said Nanoha, "But right now, I need you to tell me exactly what had happened here before you suddenly fell into sleep. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I-I…I…I-I…I-I don't…I-I don't know…" said the woman, "A-All I remember was that…we started working this morning, and…I was doing my job, working on a project my boss assigned me to…a-and then, I…I suddenly saw smoke…"

"Smoke?" Nanoha asked.

"Y-Yes…" the woman nodded, "I-I thought that…that there was a fire going on, so I-I thought…I should let the people here know that and…call the fire department…a-and…"

Nanoha and Captain Hayato looked at the policewoman as if asking for answers, only for the policewoman to shake her head as she said, "No, ma'am. No, sir. There was no sign of fire going on in this building when we first came here."

"I see." said Captain Hayato, as he strokes his beard while thinking, "Strange."

Nanoha looked back at the woman and asked, "Ma'am, did anything else happen?"

"N-No…not that I know of…" said the woman, "B-Because, well…t-the next thing I knew, I…I suddenly felt tired, and I couldn't move my body properly…and then, before I knew it, I…I suddenly started falling to sleep, and then…then I blacked out…and now, all of the sudden, I wake up, and I find that it's already night, and I learned there was an attempted robbery here, and I...I…"

"Ma'am, it's alright." Nanoha soothed and reassured her, "It's alright. Everything's okay now. Don't worry. Thank you for telling me whatever you could. For now, just follow the police as they take you outside for safety. Listen to them and do exactly what they say, understood?"

"A-Ah, yes, yes, of course…" said the woman, as she got herself up on her feet, "T-Thank you, detective…"

The woman then began to walk out the door, escorted by the policewoman, while Nanoha and Captain Hayato looked on before she was out of their sight. Then a policeman came over to them and saluted before he said, "Sir, we've looked into their building's safes to find any signs of robbery going on. Thankfully, there has been nothing in the safes that's been stolen nor have there been any signs of robbery."

"I see." said Captain Hayato, "Thank you for your report. See what else you can find. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" the policeman saluted before he turned away and went to do as he was told to do.

"Hmm." said Captain Hayato, "There's been an attempted robbery here, yet there are no signs of robbery. And what's more, there's been so signs of anyone breaking into this building, but there have been signs of things going on in the inside: walls breaking with debris around, doors broken down into pieces, and windows broken." He looked at Nanoha and asked, "What do you think this means, Detective Takamachi?"

"I don't know." said Nanoha, "It's likely either there was no robbery at all, or there was a robbery that happened on the inside without anyone here knowing." She then looked around where there were lots of places in the building destroyed as she added, "And there was no way that any of this could've happened since people had already fallen asleep before this happened. It's possible that there may have to have been someone or some people who had come here and stopped the attempted robbery."

"So, then, what?" Captain Hayato asked, "You're trying to say that there was someone or some people from the outside that got into this building and somehow caused a ruckus like this just to stop a robbery?"

"Well, that IS what I'm saying, and it is what I'm thinking as a possibility." said Nanoha, "And besides, the doors at the front were already unlocked before and when we even got here. So, it's likely that they got in when the doors were already unlocked."

"Hmm." said Captain Hayato, "True, you do have a point there."

"Captain!" a policeman called, getting his and Nanoha's attention as the policeman approached them, "Captain, we found security footage that shows us what happened here!"

"Security footage?" said Captain Hayato, "But the cameras were all down before we got here."

"That's my point, sir!" said the policeman, "We found footage that had happened during the attempted robbery before the cameras were already down! We've only got the parts where it started from when people starting falling asleep to when the cameras were down, but it should be enough to help!"

"I see." said Captain Hayato, before he looked at Nanoha and said, "Well, Detective Takamachi, I say we should check it out. It might be able to help us, even if barely."

"Good idea." Nanoha nodded.

"Alright, then." said Captain Hayato to the policeman, "Take us to the security room."

"Yes, sir!" the policeman saluted before he escorted them to the security room.

As soon as they got into the security room, Nanoha got onto one of the computers and typed in the password that she got from the security team, and then went to look into the security footage that was taken by a security camera before it was taken down, and Nanoha and Captain Hayato began to take a look at what happened in the footages as it began playing.

In the security footage, Nanoha and Captain Hayato saw at the beginning, where it began at 9:00 A.M. on the first floor, there was this strange smoke that started to appear out of nowhere, and then all of the sudden, people began falling onto the floors and started falling asleep.

"Okay, we know that's where it started." said Nanoha, "The rest was probably just like this on every floor, so let's fast forward it a bit."

Fast-forwarding towards 10:50 A.M., everything in the footage was exactly the same as it was at the beginning. Nanoha and Captain Hayato took a look at the footage for a moment, waiting to see what happens next. Then, suddenly, at 10:51 A.M., something strange and unnatural had happened, making Nanoha and Captain Hayato looked at the screen in complete and utter shock.

"W-What in the hell?!" said Captain Hayato, shocked.

Nanoha got up from her chair and merely looked and gasped in shock at what she and Captain Hayato was seeing.

Within the security footage, a black shadowy figure began to appear and rise from the shadowy smoke, taking on a human-like shape form. Then, more human-like shadows began to form and rise from the shadows, this time coming from the shadowy smoke that surrounded the area, appearing and manifesting throughout the entire building completely. The first shadow then looked at a camera before it manifested a handgun and then aimed at the camera before it fired and destroyed the camera, causing the screen to suddenly go blank. The footage ended around 10:55 A.M.

Nanoha looked at the screen in silence as she took in everything that she just saw, before she slowly sat back down in her chair as she said, "I knew it…so, they ARE related somehow…"

"Huh?" said Captain Hayato, confused, "What do you mean, detective?"

Nanoha sighed before she said, "The house invasions and the robberies, as well as mysterious murders that's been going on around the Fuyuki City, and those shadows roaming around the streets within the nights, and what's already happened now, they're ALL connected. The reason as to why there were no signs of anyone breaking into any houses or building or any signs of anyone who placed their marks on the murder scenes, it's because those strange shadows have been doing all of these things all along, and without us even realizing it at all. These shadows are the ones that have been causing murders and robberies throughout the entire city of Fuyuki."

"What?" said Captain Hayato, "S-So, then…they're the ones doing all the dirty works? You're telling me that those things magically appear out of nowhere and do all this shit to mess around and steal shit? But, if that's the case, then why haven't these weird shadow things killed the people here in this building, and why didn't they rob the place yet?"

"Hmm…that's a good question." said Nanoha, "I think it's likely that these things are being controlled by someone and they were told not to do anything. At least, not yet. Possibly, they were waiting for the right timing to do something that someone wants them to do."

"Huh." said Captain, "So then, whoever it was controlling these creepy shadow things, they were setting up a trap."

"Yes." said Nanoha, as she rewinds the security footage to 10:52 A.M., before she said, "And I think there's only one criminal that could plan such things. Take a look at the screen."

Nanoha pointed at something that was on the screen for Captain Hayato to see, and on the screen around 10:52 A.M., there was a shadow marking of a clown face that appeared next to the shadow figure before it vanished around 10:53 A.M., and then both Nanoha and Captain Hayato looked at each other as they realize who that clown mark belongs to.

"Killer Clown…" said Captain Hayato, before he grumbled and punched the wall in sheer anger before he shouted angrily, "DAMMIT!" He then sighed as he calmed down a bit before he said, "To think that this clown is doing all of this, and since we now know who it is behind all of this, things are about to get worse than I thought."

Nanoha looked back at the screen and said, "Yeah…really worse."

Captain Hayato looked back at Nanoha and said, "I'll tell my policemen what I've learned. Now that we know that Killer Clown is behind all of this, we're gonna need a lot more manpower than we have now and increase more security throughout Fuyuki. Detective Takamachi, you should take that security footage and bring it back to the police department so that we can go over it with my men."

"Got it." Nanoha nodded, "I'll be sure to secure it in a flash drive."

Captain Hayato nodded before he sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said in frustration while leaving, "Dammit, this is gonna be a long work…!"

As soon as Captain Hayato left, Nanoha took out her flash drive and inserted it into the computer to take the security footage with her. Before she could move the footage in the flash drive, however, something on the screen had happened, making her stop to look as it got her attention. On the screen, though it was a complete blur and completely vague, it was all happening around 11:00 P.M., thirty minutes before the police department's arrival. On the screen and through the blurriness, there was someone there, a boy, holding onto a metal rod of sorts, fighting and fending off the shadows in the building. Because of the blurriness, his face wasn't able to be shown on screen, but it did catch her interest as she gave out a small smile and said to herself, "Hmmm…"

After the police were done with investigating, they were prepared to return back home to go over their report on what happened. Nanoha had just finished her job and got out of the building and went over to Captain Hayato who was waiting for her to finish while smoking his new cigar.

"Took you long enough." said Captain Hayato, as he took out his cigar and puffed out smoke from his mouth.

"Just finished off with my work here, captain." Nanoha smiled, as she showed a flash drive in her hand before she tossed it over for him to catch, which he did.

"Well, looks like we're done here." said Captain Hayato, "Let's head back to our department and go over our reports."

"Right." said Nanoha.

Captain Hayato opened up the door of his police car and was about to get in, before he stopped for a moment and turned to Nanoha and asked, "Hey, Detective Takamachi, if there was an attempted robbery but nothing happened here, then…doesn't that mean that a robbery was stopped by somebody? If that's the case, then…who in the hell do you think had the guts to pull that off?"

Nanoha looked at Captain Hayato for a moment, before she gave out a knowing smile as she then turned around to look in the direction of the other buildings as she said, "Who knows, Captain Hayato? Who knows…?"

---

Yuzuru's POV:

Me and Sayaka had already made a stop to the other side of Shinto Town to take a breather as we had already gotten as far away from the scene as possible, and we were already tired as hell.

"Well…" I said, as I finished catching my breath, "I think…we might've lost them…"

"Yeah…" said Sayaka, as she finished catching her breath as well, "I think we did…"

"Man," I said, as I got myself up on my feet, "That sure was a close one."

"Yeah." said Sayaka, "We're lucky to have gotten outta there on time. Otherwise, we would've been caught and be brought for questioning."

"Yeah." I said, "Still, I'm glad we managed to stop whatever Killer Clown is doing. I think we might've foiled the killer's attempt at robbery."

"Yeah." said Sayaka before she looked at me and said, "Still, I didn't think you could pull it off at shooting down those shadows with ease. I thought you had a bad shot."

I chuckled before I said, "Well, I guess it looks like I really DID learn a thing or two from you."

"Heh." Sayaka chuckled, "Yeah, you sure damn did. You were still off by a centimeter or two, though."

"Yeah, I figured." I said.

"And, hey," said Sayaka, "Umm…I-I just wanna say thanks. For getting my gun back."

"Oh, you mean your dad's gun?" I said, "Well, I figured that it was really important to you, so I thought I'd get what's precious to you back before you lost it. I mean, you did say that it was yours and your dad's favorite gun, right?"

"Well, yeah." said Sayaka, "But…it's actually more than that." She took out the handgun that was her dad's, which had a red-painted star that was in the center of the brown grip, before she said with a sad look on her face, "You see, this gun…that I have with me…I've had this gun held with me for a long time…because, it's…it's all that I have left of my father…"

"Huh?" I said, confused, "W-What do you mean?"

Sayaka sighed before she turned to me and asked with a sad look, "Do you really wanna know?"

From the look on her face, I could tell that it was not going to be a good story, so I said, "No, I mean…you don't really have to…if it's too hard to talk about then-"

"No." Sayaka cut me off, before she sighed and said, "I'll tell you…"

"Uh…o-okay." I said, as I began to listen.

Sayaka took a deep breath before she began her story, "It all began with my childhood, before the incident that happened years ago…"

---

Sayaka's POV:

Flashback:

My father was a veteran medical doctor for the wars that was going on around the world, and I lived and traveled with him as a child. I was originally born in Japan, but due to my father's work, I was forced to travel around the world with him, and because of that, I never went to any schools, I never made any real friends or any meaningful relationships, and I never had any fun as a child. All throughout my childhood, all I had seen were fighting and sickness that was going on in the wars. They were…things that even I couldn't explain it myself. All I knew was that it was sad, scary, terrifying, horrible, or even worse. My father worked hard as a medical doctor for the people who were involved in the wars while leaving me, his own daughter, to see the horrible things in the wars that I shouldn't be seeing, all the while doing nothing but watch.

Eventually, though, my dad decided to retire from his work as a veteran medical doctor, and we both went back to Japan so that we could live and have a normal and happy life. And I could finally go to school and make lots of friends, something that I could never do throughout my travels around the world with my father, and I could finally grow up, living in a normal world and in a normal life. Unfortunately, that time for me…it…it never came for me.

One day, there was a giant earthquake that happened which caused a giant flood to occur, and everyone around me was caught in the middle of the flood…including my father. And… along with everyone else caught in the flood that day…he died. And, I was the only one who had survived, as I was the only one that was never caught in an earthquake and the flood.

As a child who saw what just happened, and as the rain poured down everywhere, I tried looking for my father, hoping that he survived and made it out of that flooding, hoping he was still alive, as I searched and searched while crying out to him, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

I must have searched for hours for him in the rain, calling and crying out to him, hoping that he could hear me, hoping that he could find me. I had searched desperately for him, hoping that he was okay. But…

"Daddy…?"

The one thing, and the only thing that I ever found…was what was left of him, his right arm, an arm that was holding onto a gun that I recognized it as my father's, all while all of my father…was crushed within the rubbles from that flood, and blood was flowing out of that rubble that crushed and buried him. I was…I felt…shocked…scared…horrified…sad…heartbroken…the only parent, the only family that I had left…was crushed, buried, gone…dead, right in front of the little me.

"D-D-Daddy…!" I began to cry, cry in pain and sadness, before I screamed out loud while crying in sheer sorrow, "DAAAAADDDDDDDDDDYYYYY!"

Flashback End:

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I looked at her in shock from hearing that story, as Sayaka looked down with shadows covering her eyes, remembering that memory.

"Oh…" I finally said, "S-Sayaka, I…I-I didn't…I-I didn't know that…I…" I sighed and said, "I'm…so sorry for your loss…it…must've been hard on you…"

Sayaka looked up and back at me with a sad smile as she said, "No, don't be. I'm…kinda over that loss. Besides, I still have my dad's gun with me. To be honest, whenever I hold onto this, it's like…his soul is inside this gun, like he's there for me, to keep me safe."

"Sayaka…" I said, before I asked, "So…how did you survive? You know, after what happened?"

Sayaka sighed before she continued, "Well…"

---

Sayaka's POV:

Flashback:

With nowhere else to go to, and with the gun that my dad had carried during our travels throughout the world, a memento that he left for me to carry, I walked away from what had happened without ever turning back, and I kept on going, I kept on walking, walking and walking, never even stopping for a break, never stopping and kept on moving forward, until eventually…I found myself in Fuyuki City.

I was a street orphan, and I was cold, weak, and hungry, all while wearing nothing but rags of what was left of my clothes and was walking barefooted. I was scared and lost, and I didn't know where to go in this big city. I was probably hallucinating too, because I thought I saw my father, smiling at me with a warm smile while reaching his hand out for me to grab onto. I was smiling in my hallucination as I saw my dad and thought he was here to save me, and I tried to reach out my hand, hoping that I could take it and he could pull me up into his arms. But I suddenly began feeling losing the strength to go on, and I was already exhausted, and before I knew it, I passed out from exhaustion. I was so sure that I was gonna die in the middle of the streets. But…

When I woke up, I found myself in a bed, and I got up to see that I was alright somehow. And, right next me was food for me to eat, and the one who was my savior, Lady Mirai. Hungry, I quickly took the food and ate as much as I could, all the while Lady Mirai looked at me as if she was glad that she found me and was able to save me.

After we introduced ourselves and told each other about ourselves and about our past, she said to me, "Let's stick together. We'll stay together until the very end. That way, we don't have to worry about anything else."

I was surprised when she said that to me before she smiled kindly at me and said, "Don't worry, Sayaka. As long as you stay with me, you'll have as much as you need to survive, and you'll never have to be hungry or alone again."

Hearing her say that to me, I was…happy, happy that she would take me in to be with her, all the while shedding tears of happiness and joy as I said to her while crying, "Thank you…Mirai-sama…thank you…" I then looked at her as I vowed to her, "I'll stay with you…I'll follow you wherever you go…until the very end…"

That was how I became Lady Mirai's first companion.

Flashback End:

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I looked at her in astonishment after Sayaka concluded her story, before I then said in amazement, "Wow. So, Mirai-senpai found you and took you in after saving you. You really must've owed her a lot, didn't you?"

"Yeah." said Sayaka, "She was the only person that came to me to help me when no one else could, and I owe her my life for it, and I would happily serve her as one of the servants of the Tohsaka family and her first companion since childhood."

"Wow." I said, "You really do care for Mirai-senpai a lot, I can tell. And you really must've admired her a lot for doing lots of amazing things because of her Mystic Eyes of Precognition and Retrocognition."

"It's a lot more than that, actually." said Sayaka.

"Huh?" I said, confused.

"Lady Mirai, she…she means so much more to me, she means everything in the world to me." said Sayaka, as she smiled and placed her hands on her chest where her heart is, "She's the only one true person that…I would always cherish in my heart. I…I love her."

Huh? Wait…love?

Then suddenly, Sayaka began shaking her body a lot before she began grumbling before she gritted her teeth and began growling in anger as if she was mad about something. Then, all of the sudden, Sayaka abruptly turned around to face me with an angry look with her face beating red as she then yelled out at me, "YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, I'M A LESBIAN, YOU STUPID FUCKING IDIOT! I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH LADY MIRAI SINCE THE DAY WE MET WHEN WE WERE LITTLE KIDS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES I FANTASIZE ABOUT LADY MIRAI ALL THE TIME, OR EVEN HOW MANY TIMES I LOOK AT HER ALL WHILE THINKING ABOUT DOING ALL THE LEWD THINGS WITH HER?! HELL, I EVEN FANTASIZE ABOUT HER MAKING OUT AND HAVING SEX TO ME ALL THE WHILE MASTURBATING EVERY FUCKING NIGHT, IN MY FUCKING ROOM, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE FUCKING RIGHT NEXT TO HERS! HELL, I EVEN MASTURBATED TO HER WHILE I WAS IN HER ROOM WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING CLEANING UP HER ROOM! IT'S HILARIOUS, ISN'T IT?! GO AHEAD, LAUGH IT UP! LAUGH IT THE FUCK UP, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" She turned away from me as she brought the back of her hand close to her face and began laughing out loud like a filthy rich girl would, "AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA! AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA! AHH-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

I looked at her in complete bewilderment while she laughed before I said, "Uh…you're…a lesbian?"

"AHH-HA-!" Sayaka suddenly stopped laughing when I said that, before she quickly turned around to look at me with a bewildered look on her face as she asked me, "Wait…you…y-you…you didn't…you didn't know that?! Like, at all?!"

"Huh?" I said, "Oh, uh…no, sorry. I just…I just thought because you're a mage and all, I didn't really think you were into romance and all that stuff. Like, at all, really. W-Why?"

Hearing that answer from me, Sayaka dropped down on her knees and looked down on the ground, as if she was feeling ashamed of herself again, as she said, "I can't believe it…I actually made a fool out of myself, again…god, just my fucking luck…!"

"Oh, c'mon!" I said, "I don't really think it's that bad! I mean, you're human, you should be falling in love with someone, even if you can't say that to someone you love! And honestly, I don't really see anything wrong with you being a lesbian, as long as you really in love with someone! I mean, I know I'm one to talk, but…well, you know what I mean!"

Sayaka looked up at me with comical teary eyes and asked, "R-Really…?"

"Yeah, really!" I said, "I mean, if you love Mirai-senpai that way, then I think you should just try and go for it and see where it goes. I mean, you did grow up together with her for a long time, so I'm sure she feels the same way about you. I mean, if she knows about your feelings for her."

"Huh." said Sayaka, as if thinking about it, "Yeah, you're right." Sayaka then smiled before she got up on her feet and said, "You know, Yuzuru, for once, you're actually quite helpful!"

"Really?" I said, "Well, I'm glad."

"I'm still gonna beat the crap out of you and have you do my shit, though." said Sayaka.

"Oh." I said, "Uh…sure, okay."

"Well, anyway, let's get back for now." said Sayaka, "Today we couldn't find you a weapon you want, so we'll just have to try again tomorrow."

"Hmm." I said as I thought about it for a moment, before I said, "Uh, actually, Sayaka, there is one thing I can use."

"Hmm?" said Sayaka, confused, "What?"

---

We were back at the apartment complex, in my room, where I was on the ground searching for something under my bed while Sayaka watches. Minna, Saber, and Yukitsuki-san were out shopping at the supermarket, and they left the note to let me know, so they won't be back home for a while yet.

"Where is it…?" I said, while searching under my bed, "I know I have it here somewhere…"

"What exactly are you looking for?" Sayaka asked.

"Hold on…" I said before I felt something and said, "Ah, got it!"

I grabbed onto it and pulled it out of my bed, and I looked at it and got just what I needed, and Sayaka looked at it with an astonished look on her face.

"Wait," said Sayaka, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup, the sword of the stone, Caliburn." I smiled, "Although, really, it's just a prop, so it's not really a real thing. But I think this thing could be useful for me as a weapon, even if it's just a fake sword."

"Huh." said Sayaka, before she smirked and crossed her arms as she said, "You know, I think you're actually right. I think it might be a good weapon for you to use in a fight."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yup." said Sayaka, "And thanks to that, we have a change of plans. Starting tomorrow, we'll be working on your fighting style with this sword after school! We'll see how much good it will do you and how much practice we'll be doing on your fighting style, so look forward to that!"

"Ah, right." I said as I held on to Caliburn, "Let's do it together."

Sayaka nodded and said, "Yeah."

We heard a door opened and someone said, "Well, looks like you two are starting to get along already."

We turned to the door to see that it was Mirai-senpai who had just come back along with Ishikawa-san and Aimi.

"Mirai-senpai." I said.

"Ojou-sama!" said Sayaka.

"I take it that today's assigned training has gone well?" Mirai-senpai asked as she came over to us.

"Uh…yeah." I said, "We did well together today."

"Well, that's good." said Mirai-senpai, "I'm glad to see that you two are already getting along with each other."

"Well, I just had to put up with whatever crap she's put me through." I said.

"And I had to make sure that this idiot here did exactly what I say!" Sayaka smiled, crossing her arms with confidence.

"I see." Said Mirai-senpai, "Good to know. Then, I suppose you two will continue training together tomorrow."

"Yup!" Sayaka smiled.

"Absolutely." I said.

"Good." Mirai-senpai nodded, "Well, for now, Sayaka, Hiroko, and Aimi, return to our quarters and rest up for tomorrow. You will need much energy."

"Yes, ma'am!" the three of them said before they began leaving my place, leaving me and Mirai-senpai alone.

"Yuzuru," said Mirai-senpai, "I meant what I said that I'm glad you two are getting along. Thank you for putting up with Sayaka and her attitude, even if you may not like it."

"Ah, no, not at all." I said, "I just…did what I was told to do and followed her instructions. Plus, I really see her as a good friend. I mean, sure, she can be a pain in the ass, but…she's really a good person once you get to know her."

"Well, I'm glad you think so as I do." said Mirai-senpai.

"Oh, uh…by the way," I said, "About Sayaka…I think you should know that she-"

"No need to tell me." said Mirai-senpai, "I've already known that."

"W-Wait, really?" I said, surprised, "You knew?"

"We've grown up together since we were kids, and I've known Sayaka for a very long time, so of course I knew." Mirai-senpai smiled, "Oh, and…before you ask, yes. I, too, feel the same way. Even more so than a family."

"I see." I said, "So then, a-are you…are you gonna…like, I don't know, confess?"

Mirai-senpai chuckled and said, "Oh, Yuzuru, my friend…far from that."

"Huh?" I said, confused, "What do you mean?"

Mirai-senpai looked at me with a smile and asked, "Do you wish to know?"

"Uh…yes?" I said.

Mirai-senpai chuckled with that same smile, before she answered, "…divine…punishment…"

"Uh…" I said, confused and uneasy, "…t-the…the implication being…?"

---

15 minutes later:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh, my God…!" I said, horrified.

I stood where I was in Mirai-senpai's room and watched as Mirai-senpai was…d-doing one of two or three things to Sayaka, I'm…not really sure if I can even describe it.

"OH, GOD! OH, GOD! OJOU-SAMA! OJOU-SAMA!"

"Well, my dear Sayaka? How's this? Do you like it, my sweet pet?"

"OH, GOD, YES! YES, OJOU-SAMA! IT'S SO GOOD! IT'S SO GOOD! IT'S SO-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Yes…! Yes! Scream for me! Squeal for me! Scream like a good little pet you are! Cry out for me more! COME FOR ME!"

"AAAHH! AAAHH! OH, GOD! OH, GOD! OH, GOD! OJOU-SAMA! OJOU-SAMA! I'M…! I'M…! I'M…! I'M…! AH-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Oh, my God! This image is definitely gonna burn into my mind!

---

Saber's POV:

"EEEEEuuuuuggghhh!" I said as I felt a sudden chill coming down my spine, and I knew exactly where it was coming from and I knew exactly what was going on, as I said with a shocked expression, "Oh my God…!"

"Hmm?" Minna looked at me with a confused look and asked, "What's wrong, Elaina?"

"A-Ah, no, no!" I said panickily, as I waved my hands around, "I-It's nothing! It's nothing! Nothing at all!"

Minna just looked at me with a confused look on her face, before she shrugged it off and turned around to continue walking while happily humming to herself, as she couldn't wait to get back home to Yuzuru.

I sighed, relieved that it was a close call, before I whispered, "I now pity you, my Master…"

---

So, what do you guys think? Please, be sure to leave a review for me on what you guys think of the story! I hoped you all enjoyed it. Don't be shy and don't just read the story, REVIEW and tell me what are your thoughts of the story!