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)

14. Chapter 8

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!

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Chapter 8

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Yuzuru's POV:

Today was Monday, and I was in my classroom, having lunch with Minna, Saber, and all my friends in class, saved for Asada-san who was apparently still absent from school. Everyone was conversing with each other about different things together while they were eating their lunch. Even Hiiragi was being funny while playing with her food, making everyone laugh. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't paying attention to what was going on, and I didn't really feel like eating my lunch today, or even throughout the whole week, after I…well, what I just saw last week. The image was still burning inside my head. And I tried so hard to forget about it, to get that image off my head.

"Hey, Shindou-kun!" I heard someone say, making me look up to see it was Yukitsuki-san who was looking at me with a concerned look on her face.

"H-Huh?" I said as I snapped myself back, "Y-Yeah? What?"

"Are you…feeling alright?" Yukitsuki-san asked, concerned, "You've been spacing out a lot since last week. Did something happen?"

"Uh, no!" I said as I waved my hands around, "No! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing happened! Uh…n-nothing at all! Hehehehe…yeah."

"Hmm…" said Yukitsuki-san, as she looked at me for a moment, before she shrugged and said, "Well, okay. If you say so."

She went back to eating her lunch, making me sigh in relief.

"Oh, thank God…" I thought to myself, "I really can't tell anyone about what happened last week…Sayaka would've killed me if I'd told anybody…"

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Last week:

After their little…uh…moments of…uh…entertainment was over, Sayaka was already looking at me with an angry look on her face and literal fire in her eyes with her gun pointed at the top of my forehead as she screamed at me angrily, "YOU DARE TELL ANYBODY JACK SHIT ABOUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE AND WHAT YOU JUST FUCKING SAW TODAY, I WILL SHOOT YOU IN YOUR GODDAMN FUCKING HEAD, YOU HEAR ME?!"

Panicking, as I could tell that she was dead serious, I panickily and quickly said to her, "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-YES, MA'AM! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I WON'T TELL ANYONE, I SWEAR!"

---

Now:

I sighed at that memory. God, I just couldn't believe that just happened to me. Well, on the plus side, at least I managed to work on my fighting style with Sayaka throughout the whole week, although…because of what happened, I just couldn't really look at her the same way as I did for a while, which sadly does lead me to get beaten up by her most of the time during breaks. Hell, even Saber could feel it that time.

Oh, and speaking of Saber, yeah, she knows about what Mirai-senpai did with Sayaka already. Apparently, she had already felt what I had just witnessed through our pact together, which was why Saber was always looking at me as if she was showing pity to me throughout the whole week, and even now, she still does that. Well, at least it was just Saber and not Minna or any of the others. It definitely would NOT have been my day.

"Yuzu-kun." I heard Minna say, making me turn to look at her as she was smiling at me, "You should eat your lunch, or it'll get cold soon."

"Huh?" I said, confused for a bit, before I realized what she meant and said, "O-O-Oh! Right! Right. Uh…s-sorry." I then took a piece of food before I put it in my mouth and began chewing before I swallowed and then went for another piece for another bite.

"Is it good?" Minna asked while smiling, "I've worked really hard on making that lunch for you today."

I swallowed and said, returning a smile to her, "Yeah, it's good. Thanks, Minna."

Minna giggled before she said happily in German, "Das freut mich zu hören, Yuzu-kun (I am glad to hear that, Yuzu-kun)!"

I simply smiled at her, happy that she's happy before I went back to eating my lunch, feeling much better now.

"Good afternoon, class." We heard Matou-sensei greeted, making us stop eating to turn to see her entering class.

"Good afternoon, Matou-sensei." We greeted back to her.

"So, how is everyone doing today?" Matou-sensei asked.

"We're doing fine, sensei." said Yukitsuki-san, "Thanks."

"Yeah, just enjoying our lunch this afternoon." said Kurosawa-san lazily.

"Yes." said Saber, "Quite."

"Well, that's good to hear." Matou-sensei smiled, before she looked as if she remembered something, and then turned to me and said, "Ah, that's right! Shindou-kun, I received a notification from the student council that you'll be coming over to their office to help them with their work after my class, so as soon as class is over, you can leave to head to the student council's office."

"Huh?" I said before I realized, "O-O-Oh! Right! Right. Right. Uh…thanks, sensei. Thanks for letting me know."

Matou-sensei giggled before she came close to my ears and whispered, "I heard from everyone that you've become really good friends with the student council recently. If you ever have the time, come over for counseling sessions to tell me about them, okay?"

"Oh, um…sure." I whispered back, "I'll be sure to do that."

Matou-sensei smiled at me before she moved away to turn to Hiiragi and said to her, "Anyway, as soon as everyone is done with their lunch, we'll be starting our lecture for today. Hamasaki-san, you should return to your class soon. You can't be late for the next lesson."

Hiiragi suddenly gasped in shock with her funny reminded expression on her face as said, "Ah, you're right! I almost forgot!" Then, she quickly and comically ran out of the classroom door while shouting, "I GOTTA GO!" She ran out the hall to return to class, and we all just stood there and listened to her running footsteps until it faded and she was gone.

What that said and done, Matou-sensei turned and walked away to her desk, and we continued eating lunch until we were finished and then our class with Matou-sensei began to start.

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Class with Matou-sensei was over, and me and Saber left class to go to the student council's office. Once I was at the door where the student council room is, I knocked on the door and waited until there was a response to the door. Then, out of response to knocking, the door was opened, revealing to us that it was Aimi who had opened the door to greet us.

"Greeting, Shindou-sama." Aimi bowed with a smile, "We've been expecting you today. Please, come on in."

"Parton our intrusion." I said, as me and Saber let ourselves in.

We entered the student council room saw Mirai-senpai sitting at her mahogany desk having her tea, while Ishikawa-san stood next to her and Sayaka was sitting at the couch with her arms crossed.

"Good to see you again, Yuzuru." said Mirai-senpai, as she set her cup of tea down on the table, "I take it that you know why we've called you here?"

"It's about the Masters and Servants, isn't it?" I guessed.

"Correct." said Mirai-senpai, "Thanks to you and Sayaka, we have learned that the Master of Caster is the serial killer that's been going on around Fuyuki City, Killer Clown. While the identity of the killer is unknown, we do know that the killer is a mage that can summon the shadows as foot-soldier type familiars, and has been using them to kill innocent people in their sleep while also stealing away whatever valued properties that they could find."

"Yeah." I said, "Though thanks to learning that, Sayaka and I did manage to end an attempted robbery last week. But, it's weird, the news says that the shadows didn't steal anything yet even when we got to that building, nor did they kill anybody in there. I wonder why?"

"That, I believe, may have been some sort of trap set for any Masters or Servants that would dare come across to that building." said Mirai-senpai, "It's likely that Killer Clown had intended to trap the Masters and Servants and kill them from within as that gas slowly takes effect on the victim until they fall to their sleep and then kill them, likely one by one. Had you and Sayaka not intervened nor foiled the plan, you or any one of the Masters would've ended up becoming a victim."

"I see." I said.

"Well, if that's the case, then that clown sure did a pretty half-ass job on that one." Sayaka scoffed, "Honestly, the magecraft the killer made was complete third-rate, even a professional mage could've easily stopped that."

"Quite true." said Aimi.

"Well, at least we know that Killer Clown is part of the Holy Grail War." I said, "Good thing we got the info and clues on Caster's Master in time before that happened."

"True." Mirai-senpai nodded, before she asked, "Speaking of, Yuzuru, how did you manage to gather info and clues on Caster's Master quite so easily?"

"Oh, um…from an acquaintance of mine." I said, "She works as a private detective working alongside the Fuyuki City Police Department in order to look into cases that are considered unusual to the people's eyes. Her name's Nanoha Takamachi-san."

"I see." said Mirai-senpai, "So if that's the case, then does she know anything about the mage world or the Holy Grail War?"

"No, she doesn't." I said, "Well, at least, I don't think so. If she did, she probably would've exposed it to the world already, and that would've caused a huge problem for people in the mage world."

"Hmm." Saber nodded in agreement.

"If anything, I think she's more or less really less of a threat to finding out about things regarding the Grail Wars and the mage world and all that." I said, "I mean, hopefully, she is."

"Hmm." said Mirai-senpai, as if thinking to herself, before she said, "Well, we shall let that aside for now. At least we know that this Takamachi person is quite useful in giving us information on certain things regarding the Masters and Servants in this Grail War, whether she knows that or not. In the meantime, we shall continue with our usual routine and focus on what we should do best; scouting for other Masters and Servants, and…"

"Getting myself ready to fight anyone on my own." I finished for her.

"Precisely." Mirai-senpai nodded, "Now then, tomorrow you will be working with Hiroko on your training as Sayaka and I will continue our search for other Masters and Servants. Hiroko will be working with you on your magecraft for this whole week, so you should listen and follow her instructions on what you shall be doing. I expect that you will not disappoint her?"

"I'll try not to." I said.

"Good." said Mirai-senpai, before she turned to Ishikawa-san and said, "Now, Hiroko, I expect that you get along with him as you train him in magecraft. Understood?"

"Yes, milady." Ishikawa-san bowed to her.

"Good." Mirai-senpai nodded, "Then, me and Sayaka will continue with our search along with Assassin tomorrow."

"Right." I nodded before I turned to Ishikawa-san and brought my hand out to her to shake as I smiled and said, "Well then, Ishikawa-san, let's try and get along."

Ishikawa-san remained silent for a moment as she looked at my hand before she looked at me and said, "Hiroko."

"Hmm?" I said, confused.

"Just call me Hiroko." she said, "I'm used to first name basis anyway, so you can just call me Hiroko if you want."

"Oh, uh…I see." I said, "Well, okay…if you want me to, uh…H-Hiroko-san?"

"Just Hiroko is fine." she said.

"Oh…uh, okay." I said, "If you say so…Hiroko."

Hiroko gave a small smile and nodded before she said, "Good. Now, we're all on a first-name basis."

"Hmm?" I said confused, "What, you…felt left out from me calling you by first name or something?"

"No, not really." said Hiroko, "I just had a feeling you would keep calling me by my surname formally all the time, so I had to tell you."

"Oh, I see." I said.

"Anyway," said Hiroko, "We shall be starting with your training with me tomorrow first thing in the morning, so don't be late."

"I won't." I said, before I realized something, and asked, "Uh…by the way, Mirai-senpai, what will Aimi be doing for the whole week? I didn't hear you mention her name with you and Sayaka, so does that mean she's not gonna come with you on your search?"

"No, she's not." said Mirai-senpai, "Instead, I'll be assigning her to be with and watch over Minna for the rest of the week along with Saber. Apparently, Minna wishes to hang around with Aimi more ever since they've both formed a friendship together and wishes to get to know Aimi better."

"Yes." Aimi smiled, "Quite."

"I see." I smiled at that, "Well, that's good to hear."

"I figured that it would be best if I sent Aimi to be with Minna for the week." said Mirai-senpai, "Plus, it is also quite beneficial to watch over and protect Minna from other enemies that we may not know of." Then, Mirai-senpai's face slowly turned serious before she said, "And besides, after what had happened last week when you and Sayaka were out, we're going to need to place more protection on the people you care about more than ever, because there's no guarantee that everyone will be safe from the Grail War, nor do we know when the same incident will happen again, and we cannot know which Master or Servant will strike their next victims. We have to be cautious now, and if dangerous people like Killer Clown are out there in the Holy Grail War, causing disruptions and chaos throughout Fuyuki, we must be prepared for anything, or else no one will be safe."

I softly gasped at that, as I took in what she was telling me—that if anyone or everyone will get caught, they will all die—before I took a deep breath and sighed, before I said, "Right. I got it. I'll try and keep my guard up."

Mirai-senpai nodded before she said, "For now, we must do whatever we can in this Grail War: gather any and all information and whereabouts about the other Masters and Servants, and prepare you for any battles that are to come."

"Right." I nodded.

"Well then, that's all for today." said Mirai-senpai, "Head back to class, and be ready for your training with Hiroko tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

"Right." I said, "I will."

With that, Saber and I bowed to the student council before we turned around and began leaving to head back to class.

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Archer's POV:

I had returned to our base of operation as I landed on the floor lightly before I slowly began standing up to see my Master standing in front of the table at the center, book in his hand, and reading it in French, and I knew it was prayer words.

"Notre Père, qui es aux cieux, que ton nom soit sanctifié; Que ton royaume vienne; Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel. Donne-nous aujourd'hui notre pain quotidien; et pardonne-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons à ceux qui nous ont offensés; et ne nous induis pas en tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal. Amen (Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen)!"

I stepped up and said to him, "That was a very good French prayer, Father."

Upon hearing me speak to him, he closed the book and turned around to face me, though the shadow covered his face entirely so no one could see what he looked like, as he said, "Archer, I was in the middle of my prayer here. I hope that you did not mean to interrupt me while I was in the middle of my prayer."

"Forgive me, Master, I did not mean to." I bowed to him, "But I came to tell you the reports about the other Masters and Servants as well as the Masters and Servants you told me to report about."

"I see." said Father, "Well then, speak, Archer. What is your report?"

"Yes, Father." I said, as I rose to face him, "The Masters and Servants are currently becoming more cautious with each of the Masters and Servants in the Grail War, more specifically the small faction that is led by the Master of Assassin, Tohsaka. Apparently, one of their members as well as the Master of Saber had a sort of run-in with the Master of Caster, who is suspected to be the serial killer, Killer Clown."

"I see." said Father, "Anything else about them?"

"It would seem that they had put a stop to one of Killer Clown's plans to eliminate the other Masters and Servants." I said before I corrected, "Or rather, they had stopped Killer Clown's plans to involve the people outside of the Grail War."

"Hmm." said Father, "So, they're the selfless type of faction, I see. How interesting. Continue on observing them from the shadows. I'm interested in learning more about them."

"As you wish, Master." I bowed, before I asked, "Is there anything else you wish to know about the other Masters and Servants?"

Father turned away from me with his hand on his chin as if thinking to himself, before he answered, "No, none at all. I have no interest in any of the other Masters and Servants, only the Master of Assassin and the Master of Saber and their faction. Continue with your observation of them. That is all. You're dismissed, Archer."

I stood in silence for a moment, looking at my Master, before I sighed and bowed to him as I said, "Very well, Father."

And with that, I turned away from him and walked away as I began to dematerialize to spiritual form, leaving my Master to do his prayers or whatever matters that he has that he would not tell me of. Whatever he's not telling me is making me suspicious. But I shall play along with it, for now.

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Unknown's POV:

With Archer gone out of my sight, I turned to my left and called out in French, "Olivier Augustin, entrez (Olivier Augustin, come in)!"

From my call, one of my Frenchmen subordinates entered the room, revealing himself a bald man with a large scar on his right eye, the color of his right being white while his left his blue, and is dressed as an Executor which is in simple dark blue vestments with a long white shirt underneath it, brown shoes, and a golden cross around his neck. He came in before he bowed and said in French, "Oui, Père, tu m'as appelé. Comment puis-je vous être utile (Yes, Father, you have called for me. How can I be of service to you)?"

I turned to him and said in French, "Je veux que vous et Shou Tokisaki rencontriez nos revendeurs au sein de Shinto. Nous allons acheter les belles propriétés qu'ils nous vendent pour l'argent que nous avons pour eux, et je veux que vous vous assuriez que cet accord ne soit pas perdu. L'accord a lieu vers le milieu de la semaine, alors assurez-vous qu'il n'y a aucune interférence de personne en dehors de cet accord. Est-ce bien compris (I want you and Shou Tokisaki to meet up with our dealers within Shinto. We're going to buying the fine properties that they're selling to us for the money that we have for them, and I want you to make sure that this deal does not go down to waste. The deal is at around the mid-end of the week, so make sure there are no interferences from anyone outside of this deal. Is that understood)?"

"Oui, Père, compris (Yes, Father, understood)." Olivier bowed and said in French before he turned around and began leaving to prepare for the end of the week.

I smiled and said to myself, "Good. Everything we have is going according to plan." I then turned to the cross and said in French, "Après tout, vous ne pouvez pas avoir une entreprise sans d'abord la mélanger avec plaisir (After all, you cannot have a business without first mixing it up with pleasure)."

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Yuzuru's POV:

The next day:

Everyone at home had already left the apartment complex, leaving me to be with Hiroko as we begin our training together. I was facing her while Hiroko was facing me with a metal rod in her hand.

"Today, we shall be focusing on practicing your chanting and incantations on magecraft." Hiroko instructed, "And we shall be starting by practicing on enhancement magecraft, starting with this metal rod right here."

"Chanting and incantations?" I asked.

"Also known as Aria," Hiroko explained, "It is an activity necessary for the activation of magecraft. Procedure-wise, incantations would be the "application" part in a system of application, acceptance, examination, and issuance. Aria is employed by types of spellcasters, including some Psychics, but is most closely associated with magi like ourselves."

"I see." I said.

"When making use of a Thaumaturgical Theory stabilized by a first-rate school, one has to go through a pre-established process." Hiroko explained, "For a large-scale system like these, incantations are just a part of said process. For a personal style of Thaumaturgy, however, they play the important role of self-hypnosis: to place the mind of the magus in a state in which it can effectively control the Magic Circuits. Spells have predetermined capabilities; so, the powers of a particular spell will always remain the same, no matter which magus uses it. The incantations, however, may differ. Regular incantations are something chanted not towards the outer world, but to one's inner world; they are actions that activate the thaumaturgical process inside one's body and reflect one's nature. As long as the incantation of a spell possesses a specific meaning and/or a set of keywords are included in it, the particulars of said incantation are left to the caster's personal tastes. Therefore, it is only natural that they differ from magus to magus. Also, don't be surprised that magi that boast a great ego usually have long incantations for their spells. The greater the meaning behind the contents of an incantation to the caster, the better the final result will be. The stronger the self-hypnosis, the more the magus can optimize the use of his Circuits. Changing the words of an incantation does not mean much; what matters is the meaning behind them. Incantations chanted towards the outer world are called Grand Incantations and are related to Greater Rituals. Performance of one of those alone is said to be impossible. When they are done, it is always in groups. Note that for spells with long incantations, an observable effect on the outer world will usually appear before the process is fully completed. The exception being the cases of the activation of Reality Marbles."

"Got it." I said.

"And remember," said Hiroko, "Spells are classified accordingly with the length of their incantations: Single-Action – Instantaneous spells. The requirement for activation is only to pass energy through the Magic Circuits. For example, Lady Mirai's Mystic Eyes. One-Line – Spells that the incantation is made of a single phrase composed of one word at the very least. A thaumaturgical process is very well stabilized and easily activated. Five-Line – Spells with incantations made of five phrases. Ten-Count – Instantaneous Contract, and an already considered a simple ritual. The minimum step necessary to activate High Thaumaturgy, which is spells with power ranked A or above. Consisting of ten phrases or more. A fully trained magus can perform them in about a minute."

"Wow, damn, that's a lot." I said.

"Indeed." said Hiroko, "And, more than the power of the spell, this particular classification seems to be related to how smoothly a mystery can be reenacted: the easier a miracle can be actualized the shorter its incantations will be."

"I see." I said.

"There are also two known incantation-related skills." Hiroko explained, "High-Speed Incantation, which is a skill of modern magi that allows chanting of incantations at a faster pace. Activation of thaumaturgy is done in half the normal time. For example, Ten-Count spells are done in 30 seconds. And High-Speed Divine Words, which is a skill to activate thaumaturgy using Divine Words. They are languages from the Age of Gods, back when words played a heavy role in spellcasting, and that modern humans can no longer pronounce. The users can do High-Thaumaturgies in one second because they give the World orders directly without connecting their Magic Circuits. In the other words, Divine Words are newer than Unified Language spoken when it was still the only one language in the World."

"I see." I said.

"And with every practice that we mages make on magecraft, we can also work and develop on the spells that we can use, depending on what spells that fits the mages best." Hiroko explained, "There is Alchemy, one of the Thaumaturgical Systems that aims at the study and manipulation of the flow of matter. The Einzbern family is the one who focuses on Alchemy. In fact, the Thaumaturgy of the Einzbern family is based on this school and focuses mostly on the creation and use of matter. Known applications of their magecraft include coining, creation of the vessel for the Holy Grail, and Transference of Consciousness spells. As such, the magi of the Einzbern are not actually fit for direct combat, although that does not mean that they are necessarily weak. One of the Alchemy spells is Flash Air, which is a displacement magecraft that substitutes something for something else. Derived from Alchemy, the system has a fundamental rule that the replacement will always suffer from degradation. Thought of as basic and low-level, there are very few who use it, limiting to only those who can, and those who can specialize in it allows them to switch a multitude of things. Then there is Memory Partition, an ability used by the superior alchemists, which is the ability to partition their thoughts to form multiple independent thought processes. While normal people can only have a single "room" in their brain and focus on one thought, partitioning adds partitions to the one room to create multiple rooms. It is different than having multiple independent machines in their heads because, while there are multiple processes, they work toward one goal. They manage different problem sets but work together to generate one overall solution. While machines can calculate on the same level, nothing else compares when used for problem-solving. The limit of an average alchemist is one thought into multiple rooms, but superior alchemists can perform first−order tetration of their thought into rooms. The rooms are synergistic, so four partitions allow for 256 thought processes. As they work towards one goal, it does not allow for 256 separate calculations. Paired with it is Thought Acceleration, the main magecraft of superior alchemists. Fast thought is only a prerequisite to it, and it is truly the ability to multi−expansion diagrams. Thought Acceleration is the proof of an alchemist, while Memory Partition is proof of their facilities. Then finally, there's Transmutation, the field in which the Einzbern truly specializes in, to do things like manipulating the configuration of noble metals."

"I see." I said, as I tried to take it all in, before I asked, "Is there any other spells? Like curses or something?"

"Actually, as a matter of fact, yes." said Hiroko, "There is a curse spell called a Geis, which the practice of establishing it is forming a curse over a target that imposes a mystical restriction over one's action with the consent of both parties. It is mostly described as something that cannot be used readily as it is one of the worst curses, according to our Madam of the Tohsaka House, that is."

"Mirai-senpai's mom?" I asked.

"The very same." Hiroko confirmed, before she continued, "Now as I was saying, depending on the Geis, the verses of the incantation that travels through one's nerves to become infused into one's body and mind, and the binding of the spell, described as a "second heart", is placed right next to the heart. It is similar to a Command Spell used on a Servant, but it is not almighty in its applications. For example, say that you are under a Geis spell by Lady Mirai; it cannot be used to command anything to do with your own life, but it can be used to bind you at her own command. Once you plan on going against Lady Mirai's wishes, you'll find yourself that you cannot move your own body at all to stop her until you're immediately freed by it once there is no longer any reason to bind you."

"Wow." I said, "That sure sounds like one hell of a curse."

"Indeed." said Hiroko, "However, there is one even more merciless version of a Geis which is called a Self-Geis Scroll."

"Self-Geis Scroll?" I asked.

"It's a powerful magical item used to form an unbreakable contract between one mage to another." said Hiroko, "By placing a written contract upon a scroll of vellum that would appear as only meaningless figures and well-made patterns to those who are not magi, it is a curse that directly binds the Magic Crest of the target. The signature of the declarer is signed in blood and infused with Magical Energy to show that the spell has been established and activated. The contract lists the target of the binding magecraft, an oath from the target, and the conditions to accept the contract. Once the conditions are fulfilled, the target will give up part of their free will, and the contract will be confirmed as an unbreakable curse. It forcibly uses the functions of the targets' Crests upon themselves to enforce the contract, and it is a power unable to be erased by any method in theory. Even if the caster's life is lost, the Crest would bind the soul of the dead man and not pass it down to future generations. It is a very dangerous magecraft made for the treacherous society of magi where a contract involving offering a maximal concession that absolutely cannot be disobeyed is required."

"Whoa!" I said, almost shocked to hear that, "That sounds…really harsh."

"Truthfully, yes, but it is part of the deal." said Hiroko, "Anyway, let's continue on. The Flowing and Transferring of Power spells are those that deal with the transference of energy or information from an object to another. Magical energy cannot be kept free-flowing outside of the body because it immediately disperses, so its only usage is normally to be used for spells before it disappears. Some can store their own magical energy, magical energy of others, and "other things" inside other objects, allowing them to be kept for later usage. For the Tohsaka family, the family that Lady Mirai is part of and the family we serve, jewels provide great storage efficiency for magical energy, while storing other things is more difficult. Healing Magecraft is the type of thaumaturgy involving recovering the flesh of injured people and of detoxification. The Einzbern family knows healing Magecraft, but as alchemists, this is used not for the sake of helping people, but rather to lessen the great burden felt by a subject who received an organ that was tempered with magical power and help his body get used to the newly transplanted organ. And, as you already know, Aimi is very efficient in Healing Magecraft. Jewel Magecraft is the type of thaumaturgy involving transferring magical energy into jewels to use as limited use Mystic Codes, and the Tohsaka family are capable of this magecraft. Compared to other mediums, the most compatible storage space for the Tohsaka family is jewels. It is said that they are able to act as "prisons that stop flow", easily accumulating and storing the thoughts of their owners. Among the jewels of the world, there are those that have spent years under the ground having contact with the spirits of nature and have been stained with their power, allowing them to act as a simplified type of Magic Crest when filled with energy. The only downside of the storage medium is that they break upon the release of the energy, so they must be replaced with each use. Once Magical Energy is embedded into a jewel, it will be tinted by the mystical properties of the stone, and the magus can then use that power whenever and in whatever way, they find necessary. A specific example would be the topaz, which has properties that makes it optimal for anti-spirits tasks. Within a few limits, is possible to modify the properties of a jewel so it can be used for different purposes, but as a consequence, its efficiency will not be optimal. By releasing all the energy of the jewel at once, it will produce the effect that is most tuned for at maximum power but at the expense of burning out the jewel to ashes. Depending on the amount of Magical Energy stored inside the jewel, it is possible to cast a High Thaumaturgy-level spell instantly. The same rules apply if the magus decides to use the jewel as a single-use explosive. It is possible to preserve the jewel by simply removing the power stored from inside of it and use that to strengthen a spell cast by normal means, but the overall effect will be decreased."

"Wow." I said, "The Tohsaka family must be pretty amazing if they could do that."

"Quite." said Hiroko.

"So, what other spells are there?" I asked, "Is there maybe, like, I don't know, reincarnation or something?"

"Actually, yes." said Hiroko, "Though, unlike what you believe, or perhaps as you can guess, Reincarnation is the ability to be reborn into another body while retaining characteristics of the past life, so far presented more along the same lines of Transference of Consciousness Magecraft, but in which the magus takes over the control of the body. Usually used when the target is still a baby, known examples are all imperfect since past traits are not fully retained. In this case, what the magus is really doing is repeatedly recreating imperfect copies of himself, each copy potentially being far inferior and having no guarantee that the new child will have all the abilities as the original. To transfer one's mind and soul completely onto a familiar with a soul and take control of its body also falls within the domains of Reincarnation Magecraft."

"Huh." I said, "So, in other words, even if your soul does manage to survive and be part of another life form, you wouldn't be the same person as you were anymore."

"Precisely." said Hiroko, "There have been a few who did so by becoming Dead Apostles, and that cost them everything, even their own personalities."

"Damn…" I said.

"Anyway," Hiroko continued, "There is also another spell that is called Shared Perception, which is a spell that allows a Magus to share the sensorial inputs, such as sight, hearing, and so on, of a creature that one has a pass of Magical Energy with, such as the one established in a contract between Master and Servant. Approval from the other party is a requirement. Uses include monitoring of target's activities at distance and it is especially effective if said target is trained for scouting operations. Then there is the Transference of Consciousness, which is to transmit one's consciousness into another object to acquire information from a different perspective. Widely used by magi on their familiars or dolls to remotely control them at a distance and as well as to perform spiritual possession of inanimate objects. If the target has their own soul and personality, the body control will remain with them. If the magus' own body is disturbed, the spell will be immediately canceled and his consciousness will be forced back. Likewise, no matter how complete the transference is, once the body of the magus dies his consciousness will fade away with it. The Einzbern is particularly proficient with this magecraft."

"I see." I said.

"Material Transmutation involves spells that interfere with the properties of an object. These include Reinforcement and Gradation Air Magecraft." said Hiroko, "Reinforcement is the most difficult magecraft with the purpose of pushing a basis to the utmost limit. It is the foundation of all Magecraft that enhances the existence of the target by pouring Magical Energy, but has no clear expression of how much it can be ehanced is defined, almighty reinforcements are rare. It is the same as adding something to an object that is already complete, in case of failure the target will receive it as a poison. Success requires a good grasp of the inner structure to fill openings with Magical Energy. Reinforcing the purpose of existence would be increasing the sharpness of a knife, the nourishment of food, or in the case of a living creature, physical strength, and durability. It is impossible to reinforce something vague. As living things will resist the invasion of Magical Energy, reinforcing someone else is the hardest. In fact, enhancing your weaponry is actually Reinforcement Magecraft."

"H-Huh?!" I said, surprised, "W-Wait, what?! Really?!"

"Yes, you didn't know that?" Hiroko asked.

"Uh…n-no, not really." I said, "I'm…rather surprised, though."

"Well, don't be." said Hiroko, "We shall be practicing on it once the explanations are over, remember?"

"O-Oh, right…" I said, "Got it."

"Anyway," Hiroko continued, "We also have Mental Interference, spells that cause some sort of effect on the target's mind. One of them is Memory Manipulation, an alteration of the mind's records to make a person forget about a certain event, effectiveness is limited by the number of deviations between what the target remembers and what the people around them remember. A magus that has been discovered by normal people is expected to at least cast this on his witnesses. For example, you can use that spell to make that someone or some people you are who they believe you are for a long duration of time. Then there's Command, which binds the target's will to the caster. The subjugation lasts for success levels in rounds, but during that time the subject will do anything the caster wants as long as it does not contradict his basic nature. It can be cast and recast as necessary. For example, you can use that spell on a criminal to learn what crime he had committed, even if he doesn't want to."

"Huh." I said, "That's cool."

"There are also Runes Magecraft," Hiroko continued, "Which is one of the Thaumaturgical Systems that originated in Scandinavia during the Age of Gods, and are symbols that, once inscribed, automatically realize mysteries accordingly with the meaning that they represent. Composed of only straight lines and possessing mechanics similar to the Magic Crests, the usage of modern runes is unpopular within the mage world. It is possible to affect a target with a Rune inscribed at distance, but the rate of success is low with a target that possesses Magic Circuits due to the effect of Resistance, in this case, the Rune must be inscribed directly onto the body. If used in combinations, it is possible to create Bounded Fields with them. Gandr, which is one of the Runes Magecraft, is a simple curse originating from Scandinavia, which decreases the physical health of the target. Because the curse properly said is released from the caster's index finger and the target must be within the field of vision to be aimed at, it is dubbed Gandr Shot. A Gandr with so much Magical Energy concentrated into it that it becomes capable of physical interference is called Finn Shot. Lady Mirai's Finn Shot, as well as her mother's Finn Shot, has roughly the destructive power of a pistol bullet and while a single hit is not enough to kill someone, it is still capable of knocking out a normal person. Though not using any Rune letter, it is of Rune Magecraft."

"Wow." I said, "I'll bet Mirai-senpai's good that taking a shot with that."

"Indeed, she is." said Hiroko.

"So, what else is there?" I asked.

"Well, let me think," said Hiroko, "There is also Necromancy, Onmyoudou, Spiritual Evocation, Counter Magic, Elemental Magecraft, Formalcraft, Time Manipulation-Oh, right, Time Manipulation is the result of a certain family spending generations researching and seeking the magecraft that controls time. It is the ability to separate the passage of time inside a designated space from the "flow of time" in the outside world. It is classified as High-Thaumaturgy in the form of a Bounded Field that can be regarded as a type of Reality Marble in a way, but still not something extraordinarily difficult to utilize like other time-related magecraft or something on the level of the True Magic that is unable to be replicated. It allows for "time adjustment" that can only stagnate the time which has passed and accelerate time in the future rather than something more advanced like "time modification", which has the ability to reverse cause and effect and change the past. It is generally used with large-scale rituals that require a large amount of Magical Energy and planning in order to activate it. However, it hasn't been researched for a long time since the family mysteriously died out, and the majority of their family's Magic Crest was confiscated. Anyway, there is also Spatial Transportation, Witchcraft, the list goes on, really."

"Wow, that must be a lot." I said, "It sure is gonna take me a long time to take in."

"You'll get used to it as time passes, eventually." said Hiroko, "But for now, let's focus on your Reinforcement magecraft so that we can improve on your enhancement magic." She handed the metal rod to me as she asked me, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." I said as I took the metal rod, "Let's do this." But then, suddenly, I got confused as to how to do this, before I asked, "Uh…wait, how do we do this?"

Hiroko looked at me in somewhat bewilderment look for a bit, before she closed her eyes and calmly said, "First, sit down, with your legs crossed."

"O-Oh, uh…o-okay." I nervously said as I did what she told me to do.

"Good." said Hiroko, as she sat down with her legs crossed, "Now, place the metal rod in front of you horizontally, like this."

Hiroko pulled out her sword and placed it right in front of her horizontally. I took the metal rod and did exactly what she told me to do.

"Good." Hiroko nodded, "Now then…" She placed both her hands on both ends of her sword, her left on the sharp steel blade and her right on the grip before she slowly closed her eyes and said, "…Close your eyes and chant your words and concentrate on the reinforcement magecraft, like this." Hiroko closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she chanted in German, "Stärke meine Klinge (Strengthen, my blade)." By her chant, Magic Circuits began to glow from her arms before they flowed through to her sword, hinting that she's enhanced her weapon. Now, she just stood where she is as if she was staying focused and concentrating.

"Well, guess I should do it, too." I thought before I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before I said, "Enhance." Though my eyes were closed, I could already feel my Magic Circuits appearing in my arms until they began to flow through to the metal rod that I was touching.

"Now, stay focused." said Hiroko, "Concentrate. Listen and feel. Let the Magic Circuits flow from your body. Place your mana onto your weapon."

I nodded and did just that. I stayed focused and concentrated and felt my Magic Circuits flowing with mana from my body into the metal rod. It felt…like surging electricity surging into my body, and my Magic Circuits really felt like circuits traveling everywhere around my body, like it was constructing itself. But then…the more I tried to concentrate, the harder it was suddenly becoming for me, as I was beginning to sweat as I was now struggling to keep this up, and I felt like I was about to lose it. I tried to hold on until-

ZAAAP!

"OOOOOWWW!" I screamed in pain, as I felt a sudden shock of electricity, startling me and making me fall on my back, as I didn't expect that, before I slowly got back up with groaned and said, "Oooww…damn…that surprised me there…damn, how is this so hard…?"

"Your body is not used to the feeling of using the Magic Circuits." Hiroko answered, not opening her eyes to look at me, as she was still concentrating on placing her Magic Circuits on her sword, "Nor is it used to the feeling of being able to use magecraft. It takes time and practice for you to be able to handle the Magic Circuits before you are capable of using magecraft, hence why we're practicing. Eventually, it will become second nature to you, just as it has for us. You just need to take time and stay focused, for Reinforcement is actually the basics of magecraft."

"Wait, seriously?!" I said, surprised, "Oh, man! And I just had a hard time trying this basic stuff!"

Hiroko chuckled and stopped what she was doing to look at me before she said, "Well, you're not the only one who has a difficult time learning magecraft. Apprentice mages under the tutelage of an experienced mage can and have difficulty in learning the basic spells of magecraft before moving on to a more advance magecraft. Why, even Ojou-sama, Sayaka, Aimi, and I had a difficult time when we first started learning magecraft at a young age and under Madam Tohsaka's tutelage."

"Wow." I said, surprised, "I didn't know that. It must've been hard for you guys."

"Grueling, yes." Hiroko nodded, "But as I said, in time, it would become second nature to you, just as it did for us when we continued practicing our magecraft as well as trained our bodies and mind to become stronger."

"Huh." I said before I asked, "It wouldn't have involved doing push-ups, sit-ups, and drinking juices, would it? I mean, what exactly does that have to do with-?"

"In any case," said Hiroko, cutting me off, "Let us continue with practicing Reinforcement Magecraft. If you continue to practice improving your enhancing ability, you should be able to use Reinforcement Magic without any problems, and we shall move on to the next magecraft that you might be capable of."

"O-Oh, uh…r-right." I said, "Uh…okay."

And with that, we continued on with me practicing on Reinforcement Magecraft for the rest of the day, only taking breaks when we need to until time went by and reached night time.

---

The next day:

Me and Hiroko were continuing on what we were doing yesterday, only this time were practicing in the living room at my place. Everyone else was already out again, so it was just me and Hiroko again. We were continuing on practicing Reinforcement Magecraft until I was fully able to improve it. Although, I feel like I'm getting a little sore at doing this thing. Focusing so much was feeling like I was putting too much pressure on my body, and I was struggling so much and sweating like hell. Still, though, I do feel like I'm getting the hang of it all, and I'm managing to handle the Reinforcement Magecraft.

Right now, instead of the metal rod from yesterday, I'm focusing on my Reinforcement Magecraft on a purple vase that Hiroko got for me to use on. I was focused on putting everything that I had on Reinforcement Magecraft, until-

ZAAAP!

"OOOOOWWW!" I screamed in pain, as I felt a sudden shock of electricity again, causing me to flinch and pull my hands away and rub them both to settle the pain down before I looked at the vase that I was testing it on and I sighed in both frustration and disappointment.

"Shit…!" I cursed to myself, "I think I'm doing it wrong…"

"There is nothing wrong with what you do." said Hiroko, "Your mind is just not cleared and focused enough for you to handle Reinforcement Magecraft."

"Huh?" I said, confused, "But…it's not like I'm distracted or anything."

"Distractions can occur during any given situations that you are in." said Hiroko, "Whether it is inside your own thoughts or outside of your surrounding areas. Hence, why you need to set your mind calm and free. Don't get me wrong, you are getting a hang of it, but you need to set your mind free of what you are thinking about, what is distracting your thoughts, not just what's happening to you outside. In other words, don't focus on what you think about, such as the pain or the struggling thoughts of what you are going through. Clear your mind of that to stay clear and focused, let your mind be free, and you'll be able to hone your skills and master magecraft more easily."

"Uh-huh." I said, now understanding what Hiroko is trying to say, "I see."

"Let's take a break for today." said Hiroko, "I suggest we go out to take a walk around the city, just to clear your head from training for now, until you're ready."

"Oh, uh…okay, sure." I said, as I got up and put the vase away, "If it helps, then I'm up for it. I could use a breather."

Hiroko puts on a black trench coat and picked up her sword before she said, "Then let's go out."

"Right." I said as I put my blue jacket on before the both of us left the apartment, locked the door, and began leaving.

Me and Hiroko were already at Shinto Town to take a walk around the city, with people in town passing by us as they were minding their own business with their everyday lives. It was a bit crowded, but Hiroko and I managed to walk on through the crowd.

"So, uh…what should we do?" I asked, "You wanna do something in town? Like, you wanna see a movie, or…?"

"No." Hiroko answered simply, "Not into movies."

"Oh." I said, "O-Okay. Then…uh…wanna go to arcades and play video games, or…?"

"No." Hiroko answered simply again, "Not into video games."

"Oh." I said, "R-Right. Uh…then, where do you wanna go, and what exactly do you wanna do?"

"To the forest, outside of the city." said Hiroko, "I plan on going to the forest and practicing my skills with my sword there, where there is clear space and is quiet, free from any noises."

"O-Oh." I said, "I-I see. So, uh…do you…like, I don't know, always carry that sword with you?"

"Most of the time for protection, yes." Hiroko answered, "Unless I'm being told not to bring my weapon around if it is not necessary."

"Aren't you worried about people seeing that sword of yours around or worried what people might think of you when they see that in your hand?" I asked, "I mean, no offense, but…you really look like a Yakuza member."

"I'm not." said Hiroko, "If they did, they would just leave me alone and not bother me, keeping their distances from me, which is favorable to me. I don't really like the attention of other crowds; it's an annoyance to me."

"O-Oh, uh…I-I see." I said.

"And don't compare me to those disgraceful and psychopathic thugs!" said Hiroko, sounding hateful, "I hate being compared to those disgusting people who do terrible things for their own profits, selfishness, and desires! I'm not like those fools who're criminally insane."

"Oh, uh…s-sorry." I said apologetically, "I-I'm just saying, though, just because…uh…w-well, your looks."

"That's just how I normally look." said Hiroko, "Because I simply like the way I look. It brings out my certain…coolness, you might say."

"Oh." I said, "Well, you do look pretty cool with the way you dress and the way you look."

"Although I admit, it is somewhat troubling." said Hiroko, "Because of my face and my hair, to everyone else, I look like a man. I was born this way, and it's the fault of how I was born." Hiroko sighed before she added disdainfully, "Mostly the fault of my bastard father…!"

"Uh-huh." I said as I looked at her, as I could see that she likely has a bad relationship with her dad, before I said, "Yeah if I'm honest, you do kinda look like a guy instead of a girl."

"Though I admit that I like the way I am now," said Hiroko, "And I do dislike getting attention from people, but…I just thought that perhaps I would like for people to see me more as…feminine."

"Feminine, huh." I said.

"Yes." said Hiroko, "Something more feminine, like my beloved mother."

"Oh, I see." I said, and I thought about it for a moment, before a thought came to mind, and I suggested, "Hey, uh…Hiroko, if you wanna look like a girl, then…why not maybe just start by dropping your mohawk hair?"

"Hmm?" said Hiroko, "My hair?"

"Yeah." I said, "I mean, there's not really anything wrong with it. I just thought…you know, instead of having that mohawk hair, why not just drop it to like a slightly long, medium-length straight, or maybe even wavy hair? That way, maybe people will see you as more like a girl."

"Hmm." Hiroko thought for a moment, as she brushed her mohawk hair, "Change my hair…"

"Well, I mean, you don't have to do that now." I said, "It was…just a suggestion. I mean, if you don't-"

"I'll think about it." said Hiroko.

"Huh?" I said, confused.

"After the Holy Grail War is over, I'll think about changing my hair." said Hiroko.

"Oh, uh…okay." I said, "Cool."

"Thanks for your suggestions, Yuzuru." Hiroko smiled, "But, for now, let's focus on the task at hand. We shall continue on with your training once we're done with breaks and get back."

"Right." I nodded.

"Let's hurry on to the forest we shall be going to." said Hiroko, as she turned around and continued walking, "I wish to practice with my sword skills before we head back."

"Oh, right…okay." I said as I followed her along and continued on walking.

Out of the city, we were in the deep forest where it was mostly dark with some bit of sunlight shining around through the trees, and it was pretty quiet around the forest, if not eerie. Hiroko was at the center of clear space with her sword drawn out and held in her two hands, while I sat on a rock a bit far from her watching her practice while holding onto a bag of towels and water bottles that I bought at a nearby store, just in case.

Hiroko held her sword up straight and in front of her face as she had her eyes closed, as the soft wind blew by, making the leaves fall from the trees and blown by the wind. Everything was in complete silence as I watched Hiroko stand and did nothing, as a big leaf blew by and began to fall towards Hiroko, until the leaf was slowly right in front of her, before Hiroko opened her eyes and, in a blink of an eye, she quickly drew out her sword and swiftly swung at the leaf and cut it in half. She swung her sword so fast that even I could barely even see what she did, or what she was doing at all. Then, the wind blew again, causing more leaves to fall from the tree. Hiroko saw the leaves falling towards her and, with quick speed and precision, she swiftly swung her sword around, aiming for the leaves that were all around her. It kept on going until Hiroko stopped and, for some strange reason, the fallen leaves stood floating where they were. Hiroko swung her sword to the side before began placing her sword back into her scabbard and sliding it in until she stopped at mid-end before she placed her sword completely in with a sound of a click, and then the leaves suddenly burst into millions of pieces, so small they couldn't be seen with a normal eye and fell to the ground.

"Whoa…!" I said, surprised and astonished by what just happened.

Hiroko turned and walked over to me before she brought her hand out and said, "Water, please."

"Oh, sure." I said as I went for the bag of water bottles before I picked up one and said as I handed it over, "Here you go."

Hiroko took it and opened the lid of the bottle before she began drinking from it until it was halfway gone. She sighed in relief before putting the lid backhanding it back to me, which I did take back and placed it at the side.

"That was really good, what you did there." I said, "I couldn't even see you moving fast at all. How'd you even do that?"

"Practice." she said simply.

"Huh?" I said, confused for a bit, before I realized, "O-Oh. Uh…how long?"

"For as long as I can remember, even before I was brought in by the Tohsaka family." Hiroko answered.

"I see." I said before I thought about what she just said and asked, "Then…you're just like Sayaka, then?"

"Hmm?" said Hiroko, as she looked at me.

"Well, I mean…" I tried to say, "Well, what I mean to say is that…you're like Sayaka who…well, lost everything…like that."

Hiroko just looked at me in silence, her eyes looked as if she was asking me, and I could tell.

I sighed before I answered, "During my training with Sayaka, she told me about her childhood, how she lost her dad and how she had to survive on her own before she was found by Mirai-senpai. I just…kinda assume that you were the same."

"I see." said Hiroko, before she sighed and said, "Well, your assumptions are not wrong. In a sense, yes, I am similar to Sayaka…and Aimi. Though our circumstances differ, we've all lost everything that was dear to us in the past; our innocent lives, our loving family members, everything. Everything we had was lost to us until the Tohsaka family took us in."

"I see." I said, "So, then…how did yours' happen?"

Hiroko was silent for a moment before she sighed and said, "It's a long story, but…right now, I cannot talk about it. Or rather, I do not want to talk about it. At least, not yet."

"Is it that hard to talk about?" I asked.

"That's…one of the reasons, yes." said Hiroko, "But also because…I cannot fully trust you with it. Not yet."

"Oh." I said, "You…don't trust me?"

"Not entirely." said Hiroko, "I have…quite of a big trust issue, so I have trouble in placing my trust with people, so I hope you can understand and forgive me for that. I'm…not as open with my past to you as much as Sayaka is."

"Oh, uh…I see." I said, "W-Well, I mean, it…it's okay if you don't wanna tell me about it. I mean, maybe, you can just tell me when it's the right time. You know, whenever you feel like it."

Hiroko looked at me in silence for a bit, before she looked away and said, "Sure. When I feel like it…" She got up on her feet and said, "Anyway, I shall practice with my sword some more. Afterward, we shall go back and continue your training."

"Right." I nodded, "Gotcha."

"Oh, and, while you're here, why don't you take a walk around the forest for a bit?" Hiroko suggested, "This forest is quite calm around here, so I'm sure having a walk around will help clear your mind of what's in your thoughts."

"Oh, uh…okay." I said, Sure, I'll try and do that."

With that, Hiroko nodded with a small smile before she went back with her sword practicing while I sat and watched her before I decided to get up and walk around the forest as she suggested.

As I walked, I took a look around the forest. Aside from almost how dark and deep it is, save for the sunlight shining through the forest, the area around it was actually quite calm and relaxing. The air around here feels…really nice and calm. The wind that was blowing feels breezy. Hearing the sound of trees and watching leaves gently falling looked…very peaceful. It was as if I was watching nature showing me how calming and peaceful the forest was as if showing a sense of calmness and tranquility. It looked and felt…beautiful. In fact, seeing this forest around me, it feels like my worries are being gently blown away. I took a deep breath of the air of the forest before I breathed out with a calming sigh. I felt so…relaxed.

"Do you feel relaxed?" I heard a voice say, and I turned around to see it was Hiroko, who was walking towards me.

"Hiroko." I said as I turned to face her, "Yeah. Pretty calm now. Better than usual, in fact."

"I see." said Hiroko, "Then, have you cleared your mind of everything in your thoughts?"

"Huh?" I said, confused for a bit, before I answered, "Uh…w-well, yeah, I…I think so…"

Hiroko stepped upon a nearby stick, causing it to fly up and spin around before landing in her hands, before she handed it to me as she said, "Prove it."

I was confused by what she was suggesting for a bit, before I quickly realized and said, "O-O-Oh! Uh…r-r-right! Right. Uh…okay. Here goes."

I held on to the stick as tightly as possible. I then closed my eyes as I began concentrating as I chanted, "Enhance." By my chant, I could already feel my Magic Circuits appearing in my arms until they began to flow through to the stick that I was holding. I stayed focused and concentrated and felt my Magic Circuits flowing with mana from my body into the stick. Just like before, it felt like surging electricity surging into my body, and my Magic Circuits really felt like circuits traveling everywhere around my body, like it was constructing itself. This time, however, I felt calm and relaxed, and completely focused, and I wasn't sweating or struggling like I was before. This time, I felt like I was able to handle it.

"Yuzuru," said Hiroko, "You should open your eyes now."

I nodded and did as I was told, and I looked at the stick in my hand, and I gasped in surprise. I had already stopped concentrating, but the Magic Circuits were still flowing in the stick, and it was glowing bright bluish-green. And somehow, it felt really natural now.

"Wow." I said as I looked at my Magic Circuits glowing in amazement.

"So, how does it feel to you now?" Hiroko asked, "Does it feel completely natural to you now?"

"Yeah, it does." I said, before I let out a chuckle while I swung the stick around, "You know, looking at it now, it actually feels like I'm holding onto a lightsaber. It'd be awesome if this can cut through anything! Though, then again, it's just a stick in the end. It'd probably break in an instant."

"It's good that you are confident enough to be able to use your Magic Circuits naturally now, but you mustn't be too confident of that." said Hiroko, "Reinforcement Magecraft can truly indeed enhance and improve whatever equipment that you have when you are in battle, but there is only so much that even that magecraft can do to help you. Such magecraft will not always be you're ally and by your side to save you, and sometimes it will instead go against you and will cause greater pain into not only your body but your mind as well. Even a Servant is more than capable enough to destroy Reinforcement quite easily, however way they may do so. Hench, why we must also continue practicing and to learn to rely on other forms of magecraft to help us in any situation, even in battle; Necromancy, Onmyoudou, Spiritual Evocation, Counter Magic, Elemental Magecraft, Formalcraft, Time Manipulation, Spatial Transportation, Witchcraft, Rune Magecraft, Healing, anything that fits any of us mages in the mage world. Don't ever forget that, Yuzuru."

"Right." I nodded in understanding, "I got it. Thanks."

Hiroko nodded before she said, "I believe we've done enough practice here in the forest today. The sun is already setting, so let us head back home now. We cannot let the others be worried about us for too long."

"Right." I nodded before the both of us began walking back to get our stuff to get ready to leave the forest.

---

It was already evening when we left the forest, as we were walking on our way back to head home in silence while the sun was setting behind us. It was a bit awkward since I tried coming up with something to start a conversation, and all Hiroko mostly did was just give out small talks and weird looks, which lead us to absolutely no conversation at all. In the end, I just gave up and walked with her in silence. I didn't think it would lead us to anything anyway. Hiroko was walking and looking straight forward while was just looking at my left side, silently following her while looking at people on my left side. It was mostly normal from where I was looking, people minding their own business.

But then I quickly stopped as I suddenly noticed something off.

"Huh?" I thought, as I stopped myself and turned to look, "Hold on…"

Right from where I was looking, I saw and noticed something, or rather someone, a girl, being dragged by a middle-aged man who looks to be a molester, because he was holding onto the girl by the shoulder, making her look uncomfortable, and was dragging her to the alleyway. That girl…the way she dressed, she looked like a student from our school; her female uniform was just like our school's uniform! And, maybe I was wrong, but I could've sworn that I saw her hands were tied up or something? Maybe she's being blackmailed into doing something with the man? Whatever it is, I don't think it's good!

"What is it?" Hiroko asked as she came over to me after noticing that I stopped, "Is something wrong?"

"That girl…!" I said before I turned to Hiroko and said while pointing at the alleyway that's far ahead of us, "That girl comes from our school! I think she was being dragged by a molester! She was dragged into an alleyway; she was probably being blackmailed or something! We gotta help her!"

"Huh?" said Hiroko, as she looked to where I was pointing at, "A girl from our school? Dragged by a molester? Are you sure of what you saw?"

"Yeah, I'm serious!" I said, "I know what I just saw! A girl from our school was being dragged by a molester! And, I think she was being tied up, but I'm not sure about that! He was taking her into an alleyway!"

"Hmm…" said Hiroko, as she looked at the alleyway for a moment, before she said, "Alright, if that is what you believe. I'll go and see for myself to confirm, while you stick behind me. If it's what you truly say, then we shall deal with it and help the girl, swiftly and quietly. Understood?"

"Right!" I said before I found and picked up a strong stick for me to use as a weapon.

"Right then, let's go!" said Hiroko, as the both of us began running to the alleyway on the other side from where we were.

We both got into the alleyway to where I saw the girl was being dragged into and tried to find them. The alleyway was dark and eerie, and there was almost no light to help us see, and the night sky was not helping at all, saved for the moonlight and the stars. I stayed behind Hiroko and followed her as we hurried walk to find that molester who had the girl with him. We continued on walking until-

"Wait, STOP!" Hiroko suddenly stopped me and then abruptly pushed me back, surprising me as I fell back from the push, as we both stopped at the corner of the alley wall.

"Ow!" I said, as I rubbed my bottom from the fall, then my chest from that force of the push, "What was that?!" I slowly got back up and looked at Hiroko, who was hiding behind the corner and looking out as if she was watching something going on, before I went up to her and said, "Hey, what's wr-?"

"Shhh!" Hiroko suddenly shushed me, as if telling me to stay quiet, while continually looking at what she was seeing.

Huh? Wait, is something going on?

I went up to her and whispered, "What is it? Is something going on? Wait, hold on, is that molester doing something to her?! C-Could he be…raping…?"

"No." Hiroko whispered, "Worst."

"Huh?" I whispered, confused.

"You should come to see this." Hiroko whispered as she motioned for me to come over and see what was going on, "Look at what's happening with your own eyes."

I was confused by this, but I did as she told me to and I went over to the corner where she is and slowly brought my head out, carefully not all the way so no one would spot me, and took a peek at what was happening and what Hiroko was seeing. And, what I saw was…well, it was not a really good sign at all, and it made me quietly gasp at what was going on.

In front of us from where we were watching at the corner of the alleyway, we saw that there were actually more girls there, including the girl I just saw, all wearing school uniforms from different schools, all hands in front tied up, their mouth gagged, legs tied up so they wouldn't get up to try and run away, and surrounded by more men almost dressed the same way as the guy I saw earlier, some of them having metal rods as weapons, and they were giving them nasty grins making the captive girls either crying while looking away or looking at them with wide eyes in fear.

"Oh, no…" I whispered, "That…doesn't look good, does it?"

"No…" Hiroko whispered, "It doesn't…"

"So, what do you think is going on, right now?" I asked in a whisper, "It doesn't look like molesting. Maybe kidnapping?"

"Worst." Hiroko whispered, "It's human trafficking. Specifically, it seems they are trafficking teenage girls from different schools, with one of them being from ours, some of the others not likely from Fuyuki."

"Huh?" I whispered, "Trafficking girls from different schools? Why in the world would they do that?"

"I'm sure you're familiar with human trafficking; an illegal action and practice of transporting people from one country or area to another, no?" Hiroko whispered, and I nodded, "There are a number of reasons why people like them would use human trafficking and placing these girls where they are now: typically, for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may also encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and oval removal. Traffickers, like those people there, use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims into doing such purposes. If those men have the girls here from human trafficking, then it's likely they're putting those girls there for the purpose of sexual slavery."

"Damn…" I whispered, "That doesn't sound good…! Maybe we should help them…!"

"Hold on a moment!" Hiroko whispered as she stopped me, "We cannot just rush in and attack without knowing the situation first. We need to be mindful and think about what possibilities we can do first before we act out on our plan."

"Yeah, but-"

"And besides," Hiroko added in a whisper, "We don't know the amount of how many of the captive girls there are over there, and they are weak and likely incapable of defending themselves, so we cannot fully guarantee their safety when we go in to attack. They will get caught in the crossfire. We have to think of how many girls there are and how we can save them without them getting hurt."

"Oh…" I whispered, as I took a look at how many captive girls there are, "Okay, yeah, you got a point. There's no way we can just straight up go in there and save them. So, then, what do we do?"

"For now, we wait, and we assess the situation." Hiroko whispered, "I shall count how many of these men there are, you count how many captive girls there are. Can you count how many of them there are by the color and the style of their hair?"

I took a look back at the captive girls and saw that they did have different hair colors and styles, before I nodded and whispered, "Yeah, I think I can." I looked at each of the individual girls as I began counting them by hair.

I first started with the girl that I saw earlier. Aside from the school uniform that she wore for our school, as well as the fact that she was tied up, she had fair skin, long wavy brown hair with two hair clips on both sides of each strained hair, and hazel eyes. If I remember right, I think her name was Chouko Inaba, a 3rd-year student of Homurahara Academy, the same grade as Mirai-senpai, and is in charge of the library. I know her because I've helped her out on carrying books to the library at one point. How she even got into this situation, that's honestly beyond me, and really, I probably don't even wanna know.

I then went for another girl. This girl had pale yellow skin, flushed cheeks, orange-amber eyes, and her bright orange hair is worn in two slightly curled pigtails, which is kept up with ruffled pink and white polka-dotted scrunchies and a purple ribbon, a white and navy-blue sailor uniform shirt with a red mini scarf, a matching navy-blue skirt, and black shoes with loose socks. She looked scared and terrified from what was going on, so much so that she wanted to cry and scream out for help, but couldn't because of the gag in her mouth, and she was staying close to one of her fellow captive girls. From her expression, it's likely she's experienced a lot of terrible things because of them.

The girl with her, who was holding onto her hands in a protective manner while glaring at their captors, had orange eyes and long orange hair, which is tied into twin-tails that reach her knees, with the ends of her hair fade into a small yellow gradient, and like her friend, her hair is kept tied with thin salmon-pink scrunchies with white polka dots and wears a small red bow on the right side of her head. Like her friend, she also wears a white and navy-blue sailor uniform shirt with a red mini scarf, a matching navy-blue skirt, and black shoes with matching stockings.

Another girl next to them was facing her head down while doing nothing but be in tears as if she was accepting her fate. She had air skin, light purple eyes, and a very large bust, much to those captors' delight, and her hair is a light purple color and is styled into twin-drills with right-swept bangs and rounded locks that frame her face. She also wore the same uniform as the two, with purple thigh-high socks, a red rose accessory in her hair, and a purple friendship bracelet on her right wrist. From the look on her face, it looks as if she's already experienced this before, probably for a longer time than the others.

The next girl next to her was struggling on her binds to break herself free, with little to no results at all. She had short blonde hair with an ahoge and bright blue eyes. She wears the same school uniform as them, with black and yellow shorts under her skirt and black wristbands with horizontal yellow stripes. She has tanned skin and a black and yellow jacket tied around her waist. The four of those girls must go to the same school together if they wore the same uniform.

The girl who looks to be a slightly older woman next to her was giving out a worried and scared look as she looked around her surroundings. She had short, light brown hair pulled back by a light mint green bandana and she has mint green eyes, and was wearing a uniform that consists of a white blouse, a red bow tie, and a light blue dress that exposes the chest.

The two girls were staying close together as they tried to give each other comfort in spite of the situation they were in. Those two girls must be twins because they both looked identical by facial features and their similar makeups. One of them had long, purple hair with bangs parted to the right. She also has yellow catlike contact lenses, lavender and red eyeshadow, and hot pink lipstick, and has a mole on the left side of her chin. She wore a uniform that is a high collared white blouse worn under a yellow vest and red bow, with a tan skirt lined with maroon and brown shoes, and well as wears a golden ring with three pink jewels. The other had hot pink hair in two long, thick pigtails held together by fluffy black scrunchies. She has turquoise, catlike contact lenses and wears light blue and light pink eyeshadow. Her lip-gloss is light pink, and she has a mole on the right side of her chin. She also wore the same uniform as her twin sister.

The girl next to the twins had her hands all tied to her back and was struggling desperately to get herself out as she was screaming on her gag in fear, afraid of what was going to happen to her and the girls with her. She had dark, shiny tyrian purple hair styled into four large spirals and light pink eyes. She wore a uniform that had almost the same principle design as the twins, but with a red-lined tan blazer instead of a vest, as well as a rose on the right side of her hair.

Next to her was a girl, who appears to be about a year younger than the rest of them and was struggling just as desperately as her, panicking for her life. She had fair skin, cyan-colored eyes, and cyan hair, which was styled into long, thick, twin-tails that spiral at the end, straight-cut bangs, and layered face-framing locks. She wore a school uniform which is a dark grey skirt, a light grey blazer, and a neon blue bow tie, black stockings and shoes, and a cyan-colored bracelet on her right wrist.

The girl who was with the struggling and panicking girl was doing whatever that she could to calm her younger friend down while giving out a brave and reassuring face, despite the situation that they were both in. She had dark blue shoulder-length hair with darker blue tips at the ends, and wore blue and green clips on the right of her fringe, and yellow and purple clips on the left, and emerald green eyes, and wore the same school uniform as her panicking friend with her, who also a black beret on her head.

Next to them was a girl who was giving out a worried look as she looked at the girls who were captured with her. She had blonde, shiny hair tied back into a half-up, messy, ponytail with orange tips at the front. Her eyes are orange and fade into yellow. She wore a long-sleeved navy school uniform with a red mini scarf, navy skirt, and black shoes, as well as orange and yellow makeup and gold stockings that fade to orange.

The next three girls were staying close to each other, with two of the older girls holding and placing their hands onto the younger girl, giving whatever comfort that they could give to her, while they were crying together. One older girl had medium length, dark brown hair that reaches her shoulders, caramel eyes, and has a long strand of hair around her left eye. She wore a variety of pink and green hair clips in her hair bun, with a large yellow to pink gradient colored flower in front that connects to a pink floral headband. The other older girl had dark, blonde hair that is a long side ponytail to the left, with a blue lotus resting on the left side of her hair, and straight bangs with one strand of hair on her forehead, and blue eyes. The younger girl had red hair and green eyes, with two red strands of hair coming down both sides of her face, secured with dark brown bands. She has a strand of hair at the back of her head, secured by green leaves, and has parted bangs with a wide strand in the middle of her forehead. She wears frangipani on the left side of her head. They also wore the same school uniform that is a high collared white blouse worn under a black-lined sky-blue vest which exposes the chest and a red tie, accompanied with a dark blue skirt.

Finally, there were the last five girls who are all gyarus. I can tell because their hairs are dyed blonde and styled in different ways, along with make-up which at this point is mostly ruined, tanned skins, and have either loose or revealing clothes or uniforms and shorter skirts that exposes pretty much every skin and sexy parts of their bodies that they show, which also included their…uh…ahem…big assets. Anyway, the first gyaru had long, wavy blonde hair with a very messy half-ponytail and a salmon pink streak on the right side of her fringe, and a light blue butterfly hairclip, pale blue eyes, and salmon-colored makeup. She wears three light blue earrings, one on her right ear and two on her left ear. She also has three colorful scrunchies around both of her wrists, one blue, one orange, and one teal, a light blue jacket is tied on her waist, and turquoise acrylic nails. The second one had dark blonde hair that gathers around the back of her head in a wavy fashion, and her hair fades into purple. She has a split fringe with a light purple streak on the right side and a clip shaped like a purple candy on the left, and purple eyeshadow. She also has scrunchies in two shades of purple and one in pink around both of her arms and has a light purple jacket tied around her waist, and has purple nail polish and round pink earrings. The third one had dark blonde hair that gathers around the back of her head messily, along with two, long pieces of dark pink and yellow fringe at both sides of her forehead with a side-swept piece in the middle, a pink and yellow flower at the top of her head, dark blue eyes and very faded pink eyeshadow. She also wears three colorful scrunchies around both of her wrists, has a bright yellow jacket tied around her waist, and wears dark reddish-pink acrylic nails. The fourth one had a large, polyester blonde ponytail and large bright pink bangs that curl down the sides of her head, a heart bow and two flower clips on top of her head, caramel eyes, and pink makeup. She has scrunchies that are colored light pink, purple, and light blue around both of her wrists. She has a bright pink jacket tied on her waist and uses dark magenta nail polish. The fifth and last one had a dark blonde ponytail that fades into turquoise near the ends, as well as one long, curly strand that goes from her head to the back of the ponytail, along with two pieces of fringe at the left of her forehead that fade into neon green and cyan, green eyes and very faded green eyeshadow, along with that, she has blush on, or at least used to. She wears a dark green star clip, and a yellow star clip on the right of her fringe, colorful scrunchies in different shades of green around both of her wrists, and has a light green jacket tied around her waist, small blue star-shaped earrings and she wears green acrylic nails.

"Looks like there are twenty girls being held captive." I whispered after I finished counting them, "That's about as much as I can count. So, how many of those traffickers are there?"

"Good count." Hiroko whispered, "As for me, there are currently about fifteen of those men, including one who appears to be the leader; he's the one with black hair that wears a pair of sunglasses, a black suit, and a purple scarf. Do you see him?"

I looked around a bit to see where the leader she mentioned was before I finally saw him. He had slicked-back, long, black hair, and facial hair. As Hiroko said, he was wearing sunglasses, a black suit, and a purple scarf. He looked like he was waiting for someone to come by while having a smoke.

"Huh." I whispered, "You know, for a trafficker, he sure doesn't look like the rest of the guys who're dressed as crooks. Maybe he's the boss?"

"Doubtful." Hiroko whispered, "Although, he doesn't appear to be around the bottom either, considering that he commands the rest of them. Likely, he's somewhere around in between the middle."

"Huh." I whispered, as we continued watching what's happening, "I wonder what's going on…?"

The leader grumbled at the sound of the girls panicking before he turned to one of his men and shouted, "Hey, shut those two bitches up!"

Two of his men nodded before each of them went for the girls who were panicking, then roughly grabbed them by their hair to make the girls look at the men before they slapped the girls really hard while they shouted, "SHUT UP!"

I gasped at what I just saw, as the captive girls suddenly flinched at what they just saw and/or heard, while the girls who were panicking suddenly became silent as they quietly began crying, bruises now showing on their faces from that slap the men made. Seeing what just happened right in front of me, made me want to just…!

I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me turn to Hiroko who was giving me a serious look while shaking her head no, before she whispered, "Whatever it is you're thinking, don't."

"B-But-"

"We need to assess the situation first before we do anything that would put others into danger, not just ourselves." Hiroko whispered, "We cannot rush in and attack without knowing anything. Let's keep watching, for now, then we'll decide what to do next."

I looked at her for a bit before looking back at the captive girls surrounded by those men, before I sighed and reluctantly stood where I was and nodded, as we continued watching while we listened to them.

"Ah, thank sweet merciful God, that's over!" said one of the men, "They were being noisy!"

"Still, though, we sure have gotten ourselves some fine young bitches here." said the second one while he was ogling them, "I mean, just look at all their big titties! I bet they feel really good to squeeze and to fuck with!"

"I damn agree with ya!" said the third one, "And I'll bet their pussies are the best, too! Hell, we could have a fucking fuck-fest, and fucking rape these bitches to submission all we want!"

"Yeah!" the rest of them hollered, making most of the girls even more frightened.

"Enough!" their leader silenced them, "I know you all want to do whatever you want to those girls, but the last time we all did that, one of you already accidentally killed one of those girls!"

"Aww…!" the men groaned at that.

"It wasn't my fault, though!" the last one said.

"Besides," said their leader, "We're selling these girls to our clients that's coming here on their way; we're making a deal with them. They'll be here any minute by now, so no one touches them until the deals have been made."

"A deal?" I questioned in a whisper, "So they're selling the girls to whoever it is that's buying them?"

"Most likely." Hiroko whispered, "It makes sense since they're human traffickers who sell people for whatever wrongful reasons. The question is who's their client?"

Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming from the other side of the alleyway, and we quickly moved back and only stopped to where our eyes are to see who it is that's coming. Much to our surprise, it was a tall foreigner that was coming out to meet the traffickers. He was a bald man with a large scar on his right eye, the color of his right being white while his left his blue, and is dressed in simple dark blue vestments with a long white shirt underneath it, brown shoes, and a golden cross around his neck. Judging by his appearance, he must be from the Holy Church. He was carrying a large metal briefcase, which likely contains a large sum of money, before setting it down nearby the boxes as a table.

"He's definitely not Japanese." I whispered, "And the way he's dressed and with that cross around his neck, he's a member of the Holy Church?"

"More specifically, he's an Executor of the Bureau Agency and is from France, a Frenchman." Hiroko whispered, "Which means, he must be one of Albert's men."

Then, another man dressed just like the Frenchmen appeared behind him, although instead of another foreigner, he was a complete Japanese man with black slightly spiky hair and red eyes. He was probably around the same height, or maybe even a bit taller than Mirai-senpai.

"A Japanese." I whispered, "I wonder who that guy is?"

"No clue." Hiroko whispered, "Though judging by the fact that he's with that Frenchman, he must be the translator."

"Huh." I whispered, "So then, if they're here, and if they're the ones who're here to buy those captive girls, then…"

"Yes." Hiroko whispered, "They're the ones the traffickers are making a deal with, which means whatever it is or however much money the Frenchman is giving to them for those girls, it must be a big deal. It would seem that those French holy men are not so holy as they believe themselves to be, after all; mixing business with their own pleasure."

I looked at the captive girls, and already I saw that they were being scared of being sold away, worst of all, to a foreign man that they don't know. Granted, a lot of the girls must've already been through a lot of hell from what those guys might've done to them, harsh sexual things or not, but for them to become slaves and to be sold to people who'd use them for their own needs, it's just…wrong. I just can't stand here and do nothing but watch and let it happen!

"We gotta help them!" I whispered, "We can't just let those girls be sold by that Frenchman!"

I was about to go out there and put a stop to this, before Hiroko quickly grabbed by the back of my shirt and pulled me back before she turned me around to face her as she whispered with a stern look, "Don't even think about rushing in there without a plan, you idiot!"

"But-"

"Look, I understand how you feel about this!" Hiroko whispered, while continuing to give me a stern look, "Believe me, I wish to end this madness that is happening out there, as well! But we need to come up with a plan first that'll allow us to save those captive girls and get out of there before we even go in there! If we don't have a plan, then we'll stand little to no chance at all! Besides, we're the only ones around here, there are men with weapons out there, as well as members of the Holy Church with them; we're outnumbered and you're outclassed! And what's more, if we want to stop those men and put an end to this without any problems, then we'll need to put them down for good and by any means necessary, and that would include taking away another life!"

I gasped at that, at what she just said. Wait, does…does that mean that…?

"Y-You mean…we have to kill them…?" I asked in a whisper.

Hiroko sighed and whispered, "If deemed necessary, yes. Which is why we have to think about what we should do before we take action and if it is right to kill them. However, that's the problem for you; you can handle yourself in a fight, but can you even deal with killing people? Can you even handle taking away another life, with your own hands? Can you even raise your weapon and deal with a finishing blow, and end a life? Can you even kill anyone?"

I took in the words that she told me and I looked down to think about it for a moment. I thought about trying to kill someone, trying to take away another life, and…the thought of it is…terrifying and haunting…it…it was something that I knew and…felt that I couldn't do. I just…I can't kill anyone…

I sighed and shook my head no, to which Hiroko responded in a whisper, "My point exactly. You're too kind and soft to even try to take away another life, and your hesitation would be your downfall, so what good could you possibly do in a fight if you cannot will yourself to kill? Besides, you'll only just get in the way of the battle."

I sighed and whispered, "Yeah, you're right…okay, fine. So, what's the plan, then?"

"I'll go in and take these men on and take them down." Hiroko whispered, "And while I distract them, you take that chance to try to sneak in there and free those girls and then quickly get that briefcase. We can't let these Frenchmen try to use that money for their own deeds."

"Are you sure?" I asked in a whisper, in which she nodded, before I said in a whisper, "Well, okay. I'll try and do that. Just…Hiroko, if you can, please try not to kill those guys. I know they're bad people, but I don't wanna see them dying, nor do I wanna cause anything unnecessary to the public."

Hiroko smirked and whispered, "Don't worry, I have no intention of killing these men; I shall only give them wounds and injuries so that they may not be able to move for a long time. Besides, those traffickers are not worth dying by my sword, anyway." Hiroko looked at me and added in a whisper, "You should focus on being careful to not get caught by any one of them. Understood?"

"Got it." I whispered and nodded, "I'll try not to. You be careful, too."

Hiroko nodded with a small smile before she went off first. I watched her for a moment seeing her approaching those men before I began to quickly and quietly sneak my way around, being careful not to let anyone see me.

---

Hiroko's POV:

I began approaching my way over to where those trafficker men and their dealers are, my sword sheathed in my hand ready to attack, while those buffoons hadn't noticed me yet. I smirked, and only by the click of my sword as I pushed out the handguard with my thumb, pulling my sword out by a short amount. Upon hearing that clicking sound, all of those grunts turned around and faced me, alerted, surprised, and confused, as I continued to approach them with my sword in hand ready to be drawn out of my sheath.

"What the hell?!" said one of the men, shocked to see me, "Who the hell's that?!"

"What in the-!" said the other, just as shocked and confused, "Who the hell are you?!"

The leader turned to look at me with a glare as he said, "What're you?! A yakuza?!"

I scoffed and said as I began drawing out my sword, "A yakuza? No, you're wrong. Don't compare me to a bunch of criminal scumbags that do nothing but horrible misdeeds to all." With my sword fully drawn out, I said with a serious look, "I'm here to take you all down."

The leader clicked his tongue and said, "Okay, missy, yakuza or not, since you're asking for it…" He then commanded his men with a shout, "GET HER!"

With weapons out and ready, the trafficker men charged at me to attack. I merely stood and gave out a smirk before I swiftly parried the first person who tried to attack me from the side and then swiftly disarmed him by cutting the back of his hand, making him scream in pain before I quickly went down and swiftly slashed around his legs to make him fall to the ground. I turned to the next one that was about to attack from above before I quickly parried him and knocked him back and then swiftly slashed him in the side of his abdomen before he fell down. I went for the next two and blocked both of their attacks before I kicked one of them in the stomach and pushed them both to the side, twisted and turned, before I slashed one in the shoulder, disarming him, and then kicked them both down, knocking them both together on the ground. I sensed another one behind me about to attack, so I turned my sword around and, without even needing to look, stabbed him in his right leg, specifically around his knees, before I twisted and turned my blade, breaking and shattering his bones, making him screamed in pain as he dropped his weapon, before I pulled my sword out and swiftly turned around to slash him in the chest from his bottom right to the upper left, making him fall backward onto his back. I then swiftly ran up to the one on my left and cut his hand to make him drop his weapon before I used my right leg to kick the weapon up and then kicked it away to the side, aiming it at the one that was charging at me, before the dropped weapon hit him in the head knocking him out and making him fall onto his back, landing on a pile of trashes, before I kicked the one in front of me with my left leg to the side of his face, knocking him down. I then blocked the one that tried to aim for my side behind me, before I pushed him back, turned around, and quickly disarmed him by knocking it away to the side before I slashed him in the chest from above, putting him down to the ground. I looked up to see that there were six of them left, and I smirked as I placed my sword back into my sheath before I got into my stance and closed my eyes to concentrate. Those six men continued to charge at me to attack me as I stood where I was, not even moving an inch of my muscles, before I opened my eyes with a sharp glare, ready to attack, and then with my incredible speed, I charged up and quickly drew out my sword as it shined with blinding light, before I swiftly slashed them all with multiple blinding slashes so fast that no eye could even see, before I stopped to the end with my sword held horizontally in front of me, with the men behind me stopped and stood where they were, not moving their muscles nor their bodies. I then stood straight as I swung my sword to the side before I slowly began to place it back into my sheath until I stopped at the near end, and I held it as it was with a moment of silence before I fully placed my sword completely back into my sheath with a sound of a click, and those goons behind me began to fall to the ground one by one as blood began to splatter from the wounds that I had inflicted upon them, from their arms to their legs, and to either side of their abdomens. Granted, though, none of their wounds were that very deep nor dangerously severe, so none of them will die, only suffer from blood loss and pass out eventually, if not sooner.

The only one left standing now was their leader, who was having mixed expressions; shocked from what just happened right in front of him, angry from what his men failed to do, rage from what I had done to his men, and foiling the deal, and frustration that he had to deal with the situation himself by taking me on himself rather than letting his now useless men do the job. He grumbled before he drew out his sword and readied himself to attack and charged at me.

I smirked at him before I threw my sword out up into the air, not needing it for someone like him before I then swiftly drew out my hidden short swords underneath my skirt behind my thighs and then quickly ran up to the leader and swiftly parried his attack from above me with my short sword on my left before I then went up and stabbed him in his left side of his chest. He staggered in pain as he tried to step back, letting his left hand go of his sword, but my short sword that stabbed him kept him from getting away from me. Swiftly, I pushed his sword back with my left short sword to give me quick time to turn my short sword around then went up wrapped my left arm around his right arm before I stabbed him in his right shoulder to keep his hold and with full force, I bent and broke his entire right arm, making him screamed in pain and forcing him to drop his sword on the ground, and then I tripped him over to make him fall backward before, while still holding onto his broken right arm and with a swift motion and full strength, I threw him over to the farthest trash can where he crashed, causing trashes to burst and dust to form everywhere. I put my short swords away as I began to approach the leader who was now covered in dust, mud, and trash everywhere, and I reached my left hand up caught my sword that had fallen back down from the sky.

The leader struggled to try to get himself back up but almost couldn't because of the injuries that he had sustained and was slipping around the trashes around him. As soon as he looked at me, his eyes became wide in sudden fear as I was already right in front of him.

"Y-Y-Y-You…!" said the leader, fearfully, "Y-Y-Y-You're not h-h-human…! You're NOT HUMAN AT ALL! J-J-Just...w-w-w-who…w-what the hell are you?!"

I smirked at him, amused with the fearful look in his eyes before I answered with a dark look to him, "Your demise…!" And, in a swift motion, I raised up my right leg high above him before I brought it down and hit him with full force into his stomach, crashing him further into the trashes and causing a large erupted crater to be made and dust of smoke to blow everywhere. Once the dust was cleared, the leader was found lying motionless on the ground, and his eyes were completely rolled back, signifying that he has lost consciousness. I scoffed and said, "Pathetic…"

Just then, I heard the sound of hands slowly clapping, and I turned around to see it was that Frenchman slowly clapping his hands together as if he was impressed with the performance that had happened.

"Pas mal du tout, petite dame." the Frenchman spoke in French, obviously, while he rolled up his sleeves as he began approaching me, "Alors que diriez-vous de moi et je joue un peu?"

"Heh!" I smirked, "I do not have any idea in what the hell you just said, fool!" I turned to face him and said as I slowly began to draw out my sword, "However, if it's a fight that is what you want to have…" Once my sword was completely drawn out, I shouted, "Well then, it's a FIGHT YOU'RE GOING TO GET!"

With that, I readied myself and charged at him as he charged up at me to attack as he drew out Black Keys held in his right hand in a "fan formation" between the fingers of each hand before we clashed our weapons together and stood where we were as we pushed our weapons against each other, sparks flying in between. We stood as we were until he drew out another set of Black Keys from his left hand and tried to thrust towards it to me to stab me, but I quickly managed to kick him back away from me as I took several steps backward until I stopped myself. I looked up to see that he was smirking at me as he held his Black Keys close to his sides while crossing his arms. I growled at that before I readied myself again and charged at him to attack. The Frenchman threw his Black Keys as boomerangs at me to hit me, but with quick speed and swift motion, I used my sword to deflect all of the Black Keys that were aimed at me at ease.

They were too easy to deflect. I just now needed to-

Suddenly, I stopped and gasped as the Frenchman was suddenly right in front of me with his fist ready to strike! WHAT?!

I managed to react and cover myself in time to block the incoming punch that the Frenchman attacked me with, but I was unable to hold myself from the force of the punch that he hit me with as I covered myself, and so the force of that punch sent me flying backward until I crashed into a nearby wall of an empty building, destroying it and causing dust to cloud everywhere. I was lying on the ground before I managed to get myself back up as I coughed out the dust that was blinding me, using the nearby wall to hold me back up. That…force of that punch earlier…I…had not anticipated that he would be this strong…! As soon as the dust cleared out and when I looked up, my eyes widened as the Frenchman was charging at me with his fist ready to punch me again. I quickly reacted and dodged his punch in time before he could hit me, having only hit a nearby wall and destroying it, and raised my sword and swiftly went to strike him from behind him, but he somehow saw this and drew out his Black Keys from his right hand and blocked my incoming attack, before he pushed my sword away, turned around to face me, and used his left leg to try and kick me to my side. I quickly blocked that kick in time, but the force of that kick pushed me to the side and I was sent flying again until I was on the ground rolling over, but I quickly managed to catch myself and got back on my feet again, facing against the Frenchman.

"Damn…!" I thought, "He's strong…! To think that someone like him could be this strong for me to face…I suppose that it's no joke when they say that these Frenchmen are veteran Executors of the Holy Church…! But…something seems wrong…! He shouldn't be this inhumanly strong, much less this difficult for me to handle in this fight…!"

The Frenchman smirked as he drew out another set of Black Keys from his left hand and got into a fighting stance.

"Well, whatever the case is…!" I thought as I got into my stance, "I won't let that stop me! I will take him down!"

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I was hiding behind one of the large cloth-covered boxes that were around the alleyway and watching the fight that was happening between Hiroko and the Frenchman, and judging from what's going on, it looked like she was having some hard time beating the guy. Dammit, I…I really wanna help her stop this guy, but…I need to focus on saving those captive girls first. Besides, with the way they're fighting, I don't think I'd be able to keep up, and I'll only just get in the way.

I took a deep breath before I focused on the captive girls that I was getting close to, before I started moving stealthy, making sure that I was moving as quietly as possible and making sure that no one could see me. Thankfully, I managed to get close to the captive girls in time and I quietly moved closer to the senior of our school, Inaba-senpai. As soon as I was within reach, Inaba-senpai opened her hazel eyes and saw me with wide eyes and was about to make a noise through her gag.

"Shhh!" I quickly shushed her, before I whispered, "Stay quiet. I'm gonna get you girls out of here, so just stay calm. I'm gonna try to untie these ropes, so try to relax."

I put my stick down and got to work on trying to untie the ropes. I held onto the ropes that were tied around her hands and tried to loosen up somehow so I can release her, but…the ropes couldn't loosen at all. Urgh, dammit! These ropes are too tight! Dammit, those trafficker guys must've tied them good! Okay, maybe trying to loosen them to untie won't do. Maybe I'll try finding something sharp, something that'll cut these ropes. Maybe a knife, or-

"MMMMMPPPHHH!" I heard her muffled scream, startling me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!" I shouted in a whisper, "Inaba-senpai, I said calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"MMMPPPHHH!" Inaba-senpai desperately shook her head no while she continually made muffled screams, "MMMPPHH! MMMPPHH! MMMPPHH!"

"Inaba-senpai, please, just calm down!" I shouted in a whisper, "I said I'm not gonna-! AAAUUGGHH!"

Suddenly, Inaba-senpai pushed me away from her and I land on my butt far away from her, but when I was pushed away from her, I suddenly heard there was a sound of a fast wind flying past us, like a speed bullet that was aimed to hit us. I looked around a bit to see what it was that was aimed at us until I saw what looked to be a thin sword stuck to a wall.

"WHOA!" I shouted, shocked to see that sword; Jesus, that thing would've killed me! That's when I suddenly realized…wait a second…that sword looks like what Aimi described, that's a Black Key?! Then…Inaba-senpai wasn't panicking out of fear of me, she was trying to warn me!

"Heheheheh…" I heard someone chuckle, and I turned around to see the Japanese member of the Holy Church that's with the Frenchman, approaching me with Black Keys held in his right hand as he said, "How interesting…so that swordswoman was a diversion, I see."

I grunted and cursed while picking up my stick, "Dammit…!"

I quickly got myself up and got into a fighting stance, before I glanced back at the Black Key stuck on the wall; that looks to be sharp enough to cut the ropes free, so I turned to Inaba-senpai said to her, "Senpai, take that sword on that wall! I'll distract him, so use it to cut yourself and the others free, and hurry!"

The Japanese Executor smirked and said, "Oh, so you plan to fight me on your own? How brave of you, young man."

I turned back to him with a glare as I held my weapon tightly, as he began charging at me as he shouted, "But also VERY FOOLISH!"

"ENHANCE!" I shouted, and my Magic Circuits appeared in my arms before it quickly flows through to the stick I'm holding, making the stick stronger enough to handle the blades, and I quickly blocked his incoming attack, making us stand where we were while grinding our weapons against each other.

"Ohh…" he said, sounding impressed, "So you're a mage, aren't you? How interesting…how fortunate, to think that some nobody like you is capable of this feat of magecraft."

I growled while struggling to hold him and push him back, before he said, "However…" He suddenly kicked me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me and forcing me to loosen my grip on my stick, allowing him to push me back while pushing my weapon away and then twirled around to give a sidekick, knocking me down to the ground.

"You lack the necessary need of a strategy to fight back against your opponents in front of you." he said to me as I slowly tried to get back up while grabbing onto my stomach, before he stepped on me in the stomach to keep me down and added, "And you're far too opened for your opponents to take the advantage of. You're too soft."

I groaned in pain before I growled at him as he smirked and said, "Well, that no longer matters now, does it? You'll be dead soon enough once I finish you." He tilted his head to the side and added, "Besides, it looks like your friend won't be coming to save you anytime soon."

I looked to where he was tilting his head at and saw that he was right; Hiroko was having trouble, struggling to win against that Frenchman who was holding her back down on his own with ease, not even bothering to struggle against her. He looked to be too strong and too fast for her to handle.

"Don't worry, though." he said, making me look back to face him, "I'll make sure that your death will be as quick and painless as possible. Now then, try not to struggle…" he rose his right arm with his Black Keys in his right hand up, readying to strike me down, before he finally said darkly, "…And die!"

My eyes widened from what's about to happen to me next! Oh, SHIT!

But before that could happen, someone suddenly moved in and stabbed the guy in the side of his abdomen, forcing him to get his legs off of me and move over to the side, and much to my shock and surprise, it was Inaba-senpai, who was free from her binds and was stabbing the guy to the side, to save and protect me. I slowly got myself up and turned my head around to where the captive girls are, and I saw that almost every one of those girls were now free from their binds and their gags while they quickly try to free the others who were still tied and gagged.

The guy who was stabbed at the side of the abdomen growled and looked down at Inaba-senpai, who was struggling to stab him further and hold him in place, before he raised his right arm up, Black Keys in hand, and shouted at her, "WHY, YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

I gasped with wide eyes in shock, as I saw that he was about to attack and harm Inaba-senpai with those Black Keys, before I quickly reacted in time as I quickly got up and used full force to tackle him, pushing the bastard away from Inaba-senpai as she lets go, before we both crashed and broke into a wall, making us both fall and roll all over the floor. I coughed as the dust was now everywhere while I tried to slowly get myself back up. I coughed a few more times as the dust began to clear before I looked up to see that the guy had already gotten himself up, a little beaten up as he was holding onto his injury, but still able to move, and I saw him draw out his Black Keys again and was about to walk out straight to Inaba-senpai, who was getting herself back up head over to the girls. I quickly learned right away what he was about to do, so I hurriedly got myself back up and quickly ran to him and grabbed him by the waist and held him where he was, not letting go of him for even a second while he was beating me to get me to let go of him.

I looked over to see the girls with startled and scared looks on their faces as they were watching me struggle to hold this guy off, before I yelled at them, "GO, RUN! HURRY! RUN! RUNAWAY, NOW! HURRY AND RUN AWAY FROM HERE! RUN! RUNAWAY!"

Upon hearing that, the girls did exactly what I told them to do and ran away from here as fast as they all could until they were all gone from sight. Good. Now I don't have to worry about-ARUGH!

Suddenly I was hit in the stomach by the knee, forcing me to let go of him before he abruptly grabbed me by the back of my shirt and threw me away with full force all the way to the pile of steel beams where I crashed on. I groaned in pain and then I coughed several times and then groaned again before I slowly turned back to see him approaching me, now with a look of anger on his face, giving out a deathly glare as he said angrily, "You're starting to annoy me, you pest…!"

---

Hiroko's POV:

I landed my back against the wall as I was pushed back by the Frenchman before I quickly moved to my right and dodged his incoming punch, making him break the wall instead, and I rolled over the ground before I got up on my feet and stopped to breathe. Dammit, he's tough! I can barely keep up with him! But…I mustn't quit now. There has to be something I can do to take him down!

Suddenly, I heard the sound of rubble breaking, and I turned my head to see that the girls were finally free and were running away as fast as they could away from here as Yuzuru was inside another broken building, fighting off the Japanese Executor. However, he was struggling to get himself back up as he was lifting himself by the pile of steel beams as the Japanese Executor was slowly walking straight towards him. Oh, no…!

"YUZURU!" I shouted before I suddenly saw an incoming attack of the Black Keys thrown at me and I swiftly deflected them all with my sword, before the Frenchman was suddenly in front of me with Black Keys held in both his hands and went straight forward, crossing them together to try to stab me, until I held my sword vertically and block them in time and pushed them back, sparks flying as our blades ground against each other again.

"Allez, petite fille!" said the Frenchman as he tried pushing his blades to try and stab me, "Pourquoi tu ne te dépêches pas et tu meurs déjà pour me faciliter les choses?!"

"Tsk!" I thought bitterly, "I don't even know what the hell he's even saying! But I've had enough of this fight already! This is starting to PISS ME OFF!"

I pushed back with full force until I slashed, vertically to push him and his weapon away from me, before I slashed horizontally as I shouted, "JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY, DAMN YOU!"

Once I was free from that Frenchman in the way, giving me enough distance as possible, I turned around and quickly ran to try and get to Yuzuru, but then I was suddenly stabbed in the back of the left side of my shoulder, causing me to scream in pain as I fell on my left side on the ground. I held onto my left shoulder in pain as I felt the Black Key stab into my flesh before the blade suddenly vanished and blood started to flow out, causing me to grunt in pain. Then I turned my head to my right and my eyes widened to see the Frenchman jump up, about to land in front of me with his Black Keys held in his left hand, ready to stab and kill me where I was. With my sword still held in my right hand, I quickly turned around with my back on the ground and held my sword up horizontally to block him just in time before he could finish me off, and we struggled against each other as we pushed our weapons against each other; him pushing his weapons trying to stab me and kill me where I stand while I pushed him back trying to prevent him from doing so, sparks flying between our weapons once again as we pushed against each other.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I slowly tried to get myself back up, with my left arm holding onto my stomach in pain and my right hand on one of the steel beams using it as a means to lift myself back up on my feet, while I watched the Japanese Executor guy slowly approaching me with Black Keys in his hands and an angered look on his face. From the look on his face, I could tell right away that he was dead set on killing me right here and now.

"Dammit…I gotta do something…!" I thought, "There's gotta be something that I can use to beat this guy…! But…w-what can I…?" But then, it suddenly hit me; I took a glance back at the pile of steel beams, before I thought, "Maybe, I can…if I can use one of these metal beams…the beam's pretty heavy to lift, so it's a long shot, but…maybe with my Magic Circuits…I…I have to at least try!" With my right hand still on top of the steel beam, I moved my right hand back a little so that he doesn't see my Magic Circuits appearing on my right arm before slowly flowing through to where my hand was holding onto the steel beam and waited for the right time. Not yet…

"You worthless little worm…!" he growled, as he brought his hand that was holding his Black Keys close to his side of his face.

Not yet…

"Just who in the hell…"

Not yet…!

"…do you think you are…"

One more second…!

"…TAKING ME ON, YOU WRETCH?!" With that last part shouted, he began charging up at me to attack and strike me down. This was my chance…!

NOW!

With this only chance that I had; I gave out a strong yell of "ENHANCE!" as I further activated my Magic Circuits as the circuits now flowed from my hand to the steel beam that I was holding onto, Magic Circuits now appearing and flowing around the steel beam to strengthening it to make it stronger. Once I did that, I then placed and wrapped both my arms around the fully enhanced steel beam as, with all the strength that I had, I gave out a yell as I began to lift the thing up with everything that I had. I looked back and saw that he had suddenly stopped and looked shocked from seeing what I was doing, and that just gave me enough chance as with all I have, and with all my strength, I started lifting the steel beam up from the piles and, surprisingly, I was able to lift and carry the steel beam with my arms around it in what felt like almost little effort. Maybe it was because of my magecraft helping me, maybe it was because of desperation of getting myself out of this, maybe it was determination to beat this guy, or maybe it was something else. Well, it didn't matter to me, either way. This is the only shot that I have! It's now or never!

"TAKE…THIIIIIIIIIISSSSS!" I yelled out loud, as I began to turn my body around, lifting the steel beam around my arms and moving it horizontally, aiming the longer end of the beam straight to him at his side until I hit him on contact, really, really hard, causing him to be knocked off flying backward to crash into buildings after buildings until he was out of sight, with the last thing heard was his screaming. I stood where I was and watched on where he was last knocked away to, and…well, if I was honest, I was actually amazed and awestruck at what I just did to the guy, so much that all I could ask myself, "Did…did I just freaking do that to that guy? WHOA!"

Suddenly, the steel beam that I was holding onto felt heavy I felt I couldn't hold onto it any longer and nearly dropped it at my feet, and I held onto it for dear life while gritting my teeth so that the steel beam wouldn't crust my feet, and I held onto it as much as I could until I moved it to where it wouldn't crush my feet and then I dropped it, and then I sighed in relief and said, "Whew! Oh, man, that was close." I looked at the steel beam and saw that it didn't have the Magic Circuits that I cast onto it anymore and I said, "It must've run out of power before I even knew it. Damn." But then I gasped as I quickly remembered, "HIROKO!"

I quickly turned around and quickly picked up a nearby metal rod to use as a weapon before I started running out of the building to go and help Hiroko, and I stopped to see that Hiroko's sword was knocked away from her to where I was standing close to, and she was defenseless without it as the Frenchman was about to finish her off with his Black Keys. Oh, shit…!

"HIROKO!" I shouted, before I started running, and quickly picked up her sword, to hurry and go help her.

---

Hiroko's POV:

I was on the ground with that Frenchman on top of me, his Black Keys in hand ready to finish me off, and my sword, my mother's sword, has been knocked away from my hand! Dammit! I can't defend myself! I'm finished!

The Frenchman on top of me chuckled before he rose his arms with his Black Keys up, readying to stab me, as he shouted in French, "MAINTENANT MEURS!"

SHIT!

"HIROKO!" I heard someone shout, and I looked up to see that it was Yuzuru running towards us, holding onto my mother's sword in his hand.

Yuzuru…he must've beaten that Japanese Executor on his own.

Yuzuru threw the sword blade first at the Frenchman to strike him, but the Frenchman used his Black Keys to knock my sword away, making the sword only stab at and stuck by the nearby wall. However, it seemed that it was just what Yuzuru needed for him to do as he didn't stop running, and he charged up towards the Frenchman and tackled him off of me, and I was freed from that Frenchman on top of me. I get it now. Yuzuru must've thrown my sword at him as a means to distract him. I got myself back up and turned to where my sword was stuck on the wall before I quickly got on my feet and went to go and grab it. As soon as I got close to it, I held onto the grip of my sword and started pulling it, trying as best as I could to get the sword off the wall. I have to hurry, though. The sooner I can get my sword off the wall, the sooner I can help Yuzuru because I doubt that he can hold himself on his own against that Frenchman any longer.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I quickly got myself back up after tackling that Frenchman away from Hiroko, and then I looked up to see the Frenchman was also getting himself back up using the Black Keys to help himself get up before he looked up at me with anger on his face, his eyes already glaring with rage as if he was dead set on killing me.

"Ah, shit…!" I cursed before I got into a fighting stance with my metal rod held in from of me.

"VOUS ÊTES UN HOMME MORT MAINTENANT, VOUS MORCEAU DE MERDE!" the Frenchman shouted angrily, as he readied his Black Keys in both hands to attack me with, "PRÉPAREZ-VOUS À MOURIR!"

The Frenchman charged up at me to attack as I enhanced my metal rod and we clashed weapons against each other, causing sparks to fly everywhere with each clash we made. He was focusing on attacking me while I was on the defensive, blocking as many attacks as he could throw at me. The way he attacked was aggressive, so I had to be careful not to let him get to me anywhere. There's no way that I'll let-

SNAP!

H-Huh?! Wait, WHAT?!

Suddenly, my enhanced metal rod was caught in between the Black Keys as the Frenchman twisted and turned his blades and bent my metal rod with full strength until it was snapped in half, and the Magic Circuits that was flowing in the metal rod disappeared, making me now defenseless as I fell on my back and started crawling back away from in fear.

"OH, SHIT!" I shouted, crawling back away from him as far as I could, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!"

There was nothing that I could do to fight back, and there wasn't any other weapon I could use to fight back. I was a sitting duck. I kept crawling back as much as I could until the Frenchman had caught me by grabbing me by my shirt with his left hand and starting lifting me up off the ground until I couldn't get my feet to touch the ground, and I was struggling against his grip to get out, but he was just too strong I just couldn't get him to let go of me. All I could do now was watch as the Frenchman towered over me with his Black Keys in his right hand, ready to finish me off, as the Frenchman shouted at me in sheer anger, "MAINTENANT, VOUS MOUREZ!"

SHIT!

I had both my eyes shut tight, afraid of facing what's about to come for me, and I wait for my inevitable end. This was it! This was the end for me! I'm-

STAB!

…H-Huh?

Suddenly, I heard a sound of a loud stab noise, but I didn't feel anything had happened to me before I felt the grip on me was weakened as I was let go of and I fell on the ground landing on my butt. I groaned in pain a bit before I slowly opened my eyes and I gasped as I looked in utter shock, as right in front of me, a sword was pierced through his chest from behind him, his expression shown with complete shock from what he's seeing, his body twitching from both shock and pain, before the sword was pulled out of him from behind and blood began bursting and splattering out everywhere from his chest, and the Frenchman stood where he was shaking, and I just stood where I was and watched in complete shock, until eventually the blood stopped splattering and his eyes rolled to the back of his skull, and before I knew it, he was beginning to fall down to his front. I screamed as I quickly moved away from him so that he wouldn't fall on top of me. He fell limply on his knees until his whole body fell in front, landing in the now puddle of blood, and he stayed as he was, not moving…or rather, no longer moving his body. The Frenchman…was dead now.

I looked at his dead body in shock for a moment before I slowly looked up to see who did it, and I saw that it was Hiroko who stabbed the Frenchman in the back and killed him, as I saw blood was dripping down from the tip of her sword before she swung her sword and removed the blood off of it. She then placed her sword back into her sheathe before running over to me.

"Hey, Yuzuru." she said to me, "Are you alright?"

I didn't say anything to her as I was looking back at the dead body of the Frenchman, still shocked from what just happened, that she killed him before he could kill me.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Hiroko shook me, "Yuzuru!"

I remained in shock for a moment before I managed to snap out of my shock and I managed to say, "Uh…y-yeah! Yeah, I'm fine! I'm fine…I'm fine."

Hiroko looked at me with a concerned look for a bit before she sighed and whispered, "I'm sorry you had to see that…" She then said to me, "We should go now, the police will be here any minute by now. Grab the briefcase and let's get out of here, now."

I didn't move for a moment as I looked at the dead body for the Frenchman, even though I was out of shock from what I saw, that Hiroko killed him, the sight of the dead body in front of me after what she did was still…unsettling.

"Yuzuru!" Hiroko called me, "C'mon!"

"Uh…right!" I said, snapping out of it again, "Right. I'm on it."

I looked at the dead body of that Frenchman one last time before I sighed and turned away as I went and grabbed the briefcase and quickly followed Hiroko out of the alleyway before the police would show up to find us.

---

Normal POV:

Waking up and groaning in pain inside of an empty building, the Japanese Executor, Shou Tokisaki, got up on his feet with his left hand on the right side of his abdomen in pain as he slowly walked over to the opened broken wall to see what had transpired after he was knocked out, only once he got close to give out a look of shock of what happened as far away from where he was, he could see the dead body of the French Executor and fellow member of the Holy Church.

"Olivier…" said Shou, "No…!"

Shou gave out an angered look before he heard the sound of sirens in the distance, and he clicked his tongue before he slowly turned away to quickly leave and get out of the scene as much as possible to get back to his base of operation.

---

Thirty minutes after the polices' arrival, the policemen were out in the alleyway investigating the crime scene while some of them, mostly the policewomen, were attending to the victims, the former captive girls of human trafficking, while others were handcuffing the now awakened human traffickers as they were putting them all into the police truck, placing them under arrest. Captain Hayato and Detective Nanoha Takamachi were looking around the alleyway and what had transpired around the alleyway.

The police officer that stood next to them reported, "The incident of what had happened here or how it happened is currently…uh…unknown. We do know, however, is that the girls that we've found in this very alleyway were the victims of illegal human trafficking, and the men that we've found knocked out in the alley unconscious were the suspects of illegally kidnapping and trafficking those girls, though the way we found them was…surprisingly shocking to say the least. The human traffickers that we've arrested were found to have stab wounds and cuts of slashes everywhere around their bodies, mostly from their arms and legs to some of them even having them around their chests and their backs, though thankfully, it seemed that the wounds that they received weren't that very deep enough to kill them. We've also discovered a dead body of a Frenchman, going by the name of Olivier Augustin, where he was found stabbed in the back, likely to have been killed by something sharp, possibly by a sword, since the stab wound that he received from his back goes through to his front."

"Well, I'll be damned." said Hayato, as he puffed out smoke from his cigar before he looked at Nanoha as he asked her, "Well, whadaya think, Detective Takamachi? What's your take on this?"

"Well," said Nanoha, as she looked around the crime scene that is the alleyway, "From what I can tell, it looked like these men that had placed the victims for human trafficking were probably here to make a deal of trading the girls for money, and considering the terrified reactions the girls made when I mentioned it to them, it seemed very likely, and I've confirmed that the traffickers were going to sell them when I went to interrogate those men, and surprisingly, the Frenchman, Olivier, happens to be the one they were making a deal with. However, judging from what had happened around here, it looked like a fight had ensued before the deal could be made. And it's not from each other, since I highly doubt, they would try to attack each other since they work together, even if they didn't like each other, and because they have a leader with them, but likely from the people outside of this deal."

"Hmm." said Hayato, as he puffed out smoke from his cigar again, "So, what? You're saying that someone from the outside came in here by chance and took care of things when they were passing by or something?"

"Correct." said Nanoha, "And considering what happened here, signs of fights that had occurred with some things that are in the alleyway broken into pieces, as well as signs of struggles with the destroyed wall that's far over there, and of course, this Frenchman right here…" Nanoha looked down at the dead body of Olivier and added, "He doesn't look like one of those human traffickers that we've arrested, more like someone from a religious group, from the church of some sort. And as I said earlier, and if I'm right, this man must've been someone who those traffickers were planning on making a deal with before the interference had happened." She looked back at the police officer with them and asked, "Am I correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." said the policeman, "As you've stated, this man, Olivier, was the dealer that the human traffickers were going to meet and have a deal with, but as you've stated, several witnesses have confirmed that these men had experienced a setback with their plan, and caused all this mess, and were able to free the girls that they were holding captive."

"Uh-huh." said Hayato, as he puffed out smoke again from his cigar, "Well, I'll be damned. Whoever this religious group that this guy's in, sure seems like they weren't so much of holy men after all. Probably mixing business for their own pleasure, and they were gonna use those poor girls."

"Yeah." said Nanoha, "Still, at least it was all stopped before it would happen. Speaking of which, can you get any information on who had put a stop to the deal or who was involved in this incident?"

The policeman sighed and answered, "Well, aside from the translator who was with Olivier at the time before the intervention, unfortunately, both the traffickers and the victims don't even know who it was that suddenly came in and put a stop to the deal that they were going to make, and for some strange reason, the victims don't seem to remember who was involved during that time after they were freed from their captivity; it's possible either it was because they were too shocked, scared, and frightened to even remember what had happened during that time, and they remained very fearful and silent ever since. But even if they knew, due to their past fear and past trauma from what they've all been through from human trafficking, they wouldn't share anything with us willingly."

"Ah, I see." said Nanoha, as she nodded in understanding.

"There was, however, one thing that the leader of the traffickers says who it was that got in their way." said the policeman, getting Captain Hayato and Nanoha's attention, "He said that the one who got in their way of finishing their deal and to selling the girls away to their dealer, was a young woman who looked like to them a member of the yakuza, though she said she wasn't associated nor affiliated with them, and she was carrying a katana in her hand and two short swords. If I'm right about this, she must've killed their dealer here, too. And, judging from the way she took down those human traffickers, as well as the way she took this French church guy down, she was definitely a pretty damn good swordswoman."

"Hmmm." said Nanoha, as if thinking to herself, "So a yakuza-look-alike did all of this, huh…hmmm…no, that doesn't seem right…"

"Hm?" said Captain Hayato, as he dropped his used-up cigar and stomped on it, "Something wrong, detective?"

"Something doesn't add up about this." said Nanoha, as she looked at the destroyed wall that was far from where they were, "Don't get me wrong, it's an impressive feat with what she's done with them with her sword skills, but I have a feeling that there was no way she could've done all this all alone. I mean, think about it, why and how would she be able to save those girls while she was busy dealing with those traffickers and the dealer Olivier? If she was busy fighting them, then there was no way she would have time to save the victims when she could. What's more, the person who translates for the Frenchman was still around, so he would've helped him if and whenever he chose to, which means she would've happened to have fought two of them at the same time, and it would've become two-on-one, but didn't, none of that happened, either because the translator was told not to or he was distracted by something else; and that broken wall over there at an empty building, there's no way she could've done that when she was fighting off Olivier. Someone else besides that swordswoman must've been here to save the girls and cause that destruction of the wall, which means…"

"…That swordswoman must've had an accomplice or something." Captain Hayato finished for her.

"Exactly." Nanoha nodded before she went over to the broken wall as the men followed her before she knelt down to the ground and added, "And, considering the damage of the building, as well as whatever's left of these traces of these footprints, the fight probably didn't last very long. And considering what happened to Olivier, I think it's possible that whoever this accomplice is must've won the fight, and the translator must've retreated and gone away, and wherever he went, only God knows where."

"Hmph." said Captain Hayato, as he brought out a new cigar, "Well, I'll be damned. I guess whoever these damned heroes are, they must've done a pretty damned good job before we even showed up. The girls are free, safe, and sound, the human traffickers are under arrested and are locked up at the truck, and the dealer's dead. Still, that doesn't explain the briefcase filled with money being missing."

"That's true." said Nanoha, as she got back up, "I think whoever the victims' saviors are, they must've gone and taken it with them long before we even arrived here. I guess since they stopped the deal from happening, they probably decided to take the briefcase of money with them, likely either so they could keep the money or so that the money wouldn't fall into the wrong hands."

"Hmm." said Captain Hayato, as he lighted his cigar before he puffed out smoke and said, "Well, I'd say all's well end well either way. At least, it saves us the trouble of dealing with those shitheads of those human traffickers. Plus, the French guy, if he was still alive and we arrested him, then brought him in for interrogation, we probably most definitely wouldn't understand what the hell he's saying."

"Hmm." Nanoha nodded, as she looked around the scene one last time.

"Well, I think we've done enough around here, so it's time for us to head back now." said Captain Hayato, before he turned to his squad of policemen and commanded, "Alright, squad, pack it up and get ready to leave now! We're done here for today!"

"Yes, sir!" they saluted, before doing as they were told.

Nanoha stood where she was and kept looking around before something caught her attention, before Captain Hayato called out to her, "Hey, Detective Takamachi! We're about to leave now! You coming?"

"You go on ahead." Nanoha responded without looking, "I'll catch up."

"Oh." said Captain Hayato, "Well, alright. I'll wait for you at the car, just don't take too long." With that, Captain Hayato leaves the alleyway, leaving Nanoha where she was as she was looking at what got her attention, the pile of steel beams. Or rather, something left on the steel beam.

Nanoha walked over to where the pile of steel beams is until she stopped once she got close to it before she knelt down and looked closely at the damage that was made.

"Hmmm." said Nanoha, "This trace of damage that was made into these pile of steel beams is…relatively new, as are the other evidence we found in the scene…hm?"

Nanoha then noticed and looked at what she was looking for; it was a fabric of blue that was ripped off from clothing. She took the blue fabric off the steel beam and took a good look at it.

"This ripped blue fabric…" said Nanoha, "It looks like it came from a jacket of a sort before it somehow got caught in the steel beam and was ripped off at some point. Let me think, if this blue fabric came from a jacket, then the jacket that was worn must've been blue. I wonder…" Nanoha thought about the only person who would wear a blue jacket for a moment before a small smile was shown as she hummed, "Hmmm…"

As soon as Nanoha was finished with what she was doing, she left the alleyway and walked over to where the formerly captive girls were being treated by some medical officers; some were checking their post-medical treatments, while others were trying to calm down the former victims from what they had gone through. One of the medical officers noticed Nanoha was approaching them before she came over to Nanoha and then asked, "Can we help you, Detective Takamachi?"

"Actually, yes." Nanoha smiled, "I was wondering if there's anyone among the girls who could tell me something I needed to confirm. Is there anyone among the girls that are still mentally stable and are able to speak to me for a moment?"

"Well," said the medical officer, as she looked back at the girls, before she answered, "Actually, yes, there is perhaps one who can." She looked back at Nanoha and said, "Please, give me a moment. I'll go get her."

Nanoha waited for a moment as the medical officer left to get one of the girls, before the medical officer came back with one of the victims with her and introduced her to Nanoha, "This young lady here is named Chouko Inaba. She's a 3rd-year student of Homurahara Academy and was a recent victim of human trafficking. She seems to be the only one who's slightly mentally stable enough to have known what had exactly happened during the trafficking deal, so she may be able to answer whatever questions you may have for her. But you'll have to finish quickly because we'll be taking her and the girls for medical treatments, therapies, and rehabilitation to get them back to society and then take them back to where they originally came from."

"Thank you." Nanoha nodded, "And don't worry, I only need just a few minutes with her before she goes."

The medical officer nodded before turning away to leave them be to talk.

Nanoha looked at Chouko and smiled at her warmly as she said to her, "I understand that what you've gone through must've been hard on you, whether there was a reason for your situation or not, and I won't ask about what had happened to you during that time, and I promise the police won't let something this happen to you again. So, try to trust people as much as you can once you recover from that trauma, okay?"

Chouko looked at Nanoha smiling at her for a moment, before slowly nodding and saying quietly for her to hear, "Uh…y-yes, ma'am…I'll try to…"

"Good." Nanoha nodded, before she said, "Now, Inaba-san, there are a few questions that I need to ask you regarding the incident that had happened before our arrival. Don't worry, I just needed to confirm something."

"Umm…o-okay…" said Chouko, "W-What do you…w-want to confirm…?"

"There was this yakuza-like swordswoman that came in the alleyway from the outside to save you and the girls from those human traffickers who were planning to make a deal, correct?" Nanoha asked, and Chouko nodded, "Well, please tell me this. Did that swordswoman look familiar to you in any way? Do you recognize her from anywhere? From your school?"

Chouko took in what she asked and tried to think about it for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head as she said, "N-No, ma'am, I-I…I don't…think so…I've never…really…p-paid much attention to people…if I knew who she was, then…I-I would've already…r-recognize her…"

"I see." said Nanoha, before she then asked, "Well then, tell me, was there anyone else that was with her? Did you see anyone that you believe might've been her accomplice of sorts?"

"Uh…u-umm…w-well…" Chouko said while she tried to think before she remembered and said, "A-Actually, I…I-I think I remember…t-there was a boy that…u-uh…s-somehow snuck in and was…w-was trying to h-help set us all free from…our binds…b-before he had to f-fight someone in the way…I-I-I don't know if h-he was affiliated with t-the swordswoman, but…I-I do know him somewhere from m-my school…b-because he h-helped me out once…I…I don't…r-really know what his name was, though, b-because I…I didn't ask him f-for his name…"

"I see." said Nanoha, before she asked, "By any chance, did he happen to wear anything that's colored blue? Anything at all?"

"U-U-Ummm…I-I think so…" said Chouko, "I-I think he wore a b-blue jacket o-or something, b-but that's all I know…"

Nanoha smiled and said to herself, "Interesting…"

"Hmm?" said Chouko.

"Ah, it's nothing." said Nanoha, "Anyway, thank you for your cooperation, Inaba-san. That's all I need to know. You may go now."

"O-Oh, uh…o-okay." said Chouko, as she bowed to Nanoha before turning away to walk back to where the victim girls were being cared for by medical officers, about to be transported for treatments.

Nanoha stood and watched as the transporting van began leaving with the girls inside, before she turned to look at faraway buildings as she gave out a knowing smile and said, "Well, I'll be damned…who would've known…"

---

Yuzuru's POV:

Me and Hiroko ran farther away from where we came from until we stopped to catch our breath as we were complete far away enough away from reach. We stopped somewhere around a nearby park and I sat at the bench to rest, half of it was to catch my breath from running, the other half of it was so I could try to clear myself from shock from what I had just witnessed back at the alleyway. Hiroko…s-she killed a man…just to save me…it was…shocking and horrifying, how that man had just laid there, dead…I…I would've ended up like that if it wasn't for her…

"Hey, Yuzuru." Hiroko called me, and I looked up to see that she had a concerned look on her face as she asked me, "Are you alright? Do you feel well? How are you holding up right now?"

"O-Oh, uh…um…I-I'm okay." I managed to say, "I-I'll…I'll be alright. A-At least, I'll…I'll try to be."

"Are you sure?" Hiroko asked.

"Yeah." I smiled a bit to reassure her, "Positive."

"I see." said Hiroko, before she sighed and said, sounding regretful, "I'm sorry that you had to see that, truly. To see a man be killed right in front of you. It must have been very…terrifying for you to see, was it?"

I looked at her a bit before I sighed and said, "I won't lie, it's the first time I've ever seen someone get killed, and yeah, it was…frightening and shocking. And, to see someone not moving at all after being stabbed like that, it did feel a bit haunting, watch that lifeless body. But, really, it's okay. I'm fine. I mean, I will be. I mean, if you hadn't done that to stop him back there, I definitely would've already been dead by now." I smiled a bit again and said, "So, I…I just wanna say thanks, for saving me back there, Hiroko."

"I merely did my job as a servant of the Tohsaka Family, following Lady Mirai's orders to protect you." said Hiroko, "Nothing personal."

"Oh." I said, "Still, I owe you one, thanks."

Hiroko nodded before she paused for a moment before she suddenly said, "Well, perhaps it was a bit personal. You were the one who saved my life, and I wanted to at least repay the favor. If anything, I should be thanking you for saving me, and it is I who owes you."

I shook my head and said, "I just did whatever I could to help out, that's all. You don't really have to repay me anything."

"Hmm." Hiroko smiled a bit, "Still, I believe I can trust you now, even if just a little bit, now that we truly see each other as comrades in this Grail War and we can work together."

"Yeah." I smiled back, "Comrades…"

Hiroko nodded before she paused a bit as if thinking to herself, before she said, "Yuzuru, I believe I can…trust you enough to at least tell you anything you wish to know about me, that is if you wish for it."

"Hmm?" I said, "Are…are you sure?"

Hiroko nodded and said, "I'm sure. So, ask me anything, anything you wish to know."

I looked at her for a moment, before I said, "Well, okay. If you say so." I took a deep breath before I started by asking, "Okay then…so, Hiroko, this isn't the first time you've actually killed someone, is it?"

"Oh?" said Hiroko, sounding impressed, "You could tell?"

"Yeah." I said, "From the way the expression that you made. When you killed that Frenchman back there, I didn't see any signs of shock or fear or any signs of other negative emotions from you. It was…expressionless, it looked as if you were used to doing it, that you were used to killing people."

Hiroko nodded as she said, "Yes, I thought you noticed that." She looked back at me and answered, "Yes, I won't deny it. This is not the first time I've killed people, that I've taken away another life of someone, and what happened back there was certainly not the last I've done so. However, what I did to kill people, I did so out of survival for myself, so I could live and survive."

"Oh, I see." I said, "That…must've been rough on you, huh?"

"Indeed." said Hiroko, "Since I was an orphaned child. I didn't have any other choice but to survive. I couldn't trust anyone, and I couldn't believe in anyone, because whenever I did or tried to, I always end up stabbed in the back by the people I thought I could trust. I did what I could to survive, and I never trusted anyone who would dare plan to stab me in the back. That is until I met Lady Mirai and Sayaka. I trust them because…they didn't stab me in the back, they valued me as their companion, and they give me a reason to live."

"Huh." I said, "I bet." I then asked her, "Hiroko, you…said that you didn't wanna be compared to the yakuza and that you hated them. Is there…I don't know, like maybe a reason why you do?"

Hiroko remained silent for a moment as if thinking about what she will say to my question, while looked troubled and uncomfortable with what she was about to say as if what she would tell me would be hard on her. And I could already tell that this might not be a really good story for her to talk about.

"W-Well, I-I mean," I began to say, "I-If you don't wanna talk about-"

"My mother was a yakuza." Hiroko suddenly answered.

"H-Huh?" I said, confused for a bit, before my eyes widened in shock as I said, "W-Wait, what?! Y-Your mom…a-a yakuza member?!"

Hiroko nodded and said, "That's right. My mother was a yakuza, for a long time, you could say. As for me, I…" Hiroko sighed as if the last part was going to be something hard to say before she answered "…I was born in prison."

I was shocked from what I was hearing what Hiroko was telling me as my eyes widened in shock, as all I could say was while in shock "…W-What?"

Hiroko remained silent before she sighed and said sadly, "It's…not really exactly my fondest childhood days, let alone my fondest childhood memories."

"I-I see…" I said, "S-So, then…d-did she got caught for getting into trouble, or…?"

"No." Hiroko answered, "She let herself be arrested. At least, that's how I remember what I was told."

"Hiroko…" I said, "H-How did that happen…?"

Hiroko remained silent for a moment as the silent wind blew past us before she took a deep breath and began, "It all happened about years ago, long before I was even born…"

---

Hiroko's POV:

Flashback:

My mother was a member of the yakuza, and the Japanese gang was led by my father, the man that my mother was in love with, and she did everything she could in the yakuza to gain his love and affection…or so she thought. One day, the yakuza that was led by my bastard father was out on a so-called "mission", attacking the harbor in an attempt to steal the ship that contained goods inside a large ship that was stationed at the said harbor. Among those who came along to the harbor to steal that shipment of goods…was my mother. Supposedly, the plan was to sneak in and to take the ship without the need of violence or the need to kill anyone, they'd take the ship, and get out of the harbor with it as soon as possible before the police could catch them. Or, that was what my mother thought the plan was. She was wrong at that time. The yakuza that was led by my bastard father…they were all too violent and blood-thirsty, so much so that they would even plan to kill people who would dare get in the way…including the bastard father of mine. And so…they started to kill the innocent people that were at the harbor…even my own mother, who killed six innocent bystanders at the harbor, who also happened to be an innocent group of family, a family that she herself thought that she could make with the man she loved. She was wrong, that bastard father of mine…he never cared about love or family or anything about what my mother wanted, only to gain whatever he wanted for the yakuza and for himself. He never cared about anything. He was a murderous psychopath, a monster, and my mother was a fool for falling for a bastard like him, and she became disgusted with what she was doing as a member of the yakuza.

Soon, the police had arrived, and the rest of the yakuza members and my father escaped with the stolen ship, and my mother was caught by the police and was arrested for robbery and murder. No…rather, she allowed herself to be arrested. She had…two reasons why; one was because after what she had done killing the innocent bystanders of a family, my mother grew disgusted by her and her gang's own antics and allowed herself to be arrested, not wanting to be any part of what the yakuza was doing anymore, and allowed the others to escape. The other was because, at the time, she was pregnant with me, her yet to be born child, so she was unable to catch up with the other yakuza anymore, and didn't want to risk hurting me, or else she would end up having a miscarriage, and I would never be born into this world.

After her arrest by the police, and by the time her trial was made and was sentenced to prison, my mother had soon given birth to me. After my birth to the world and seeing me as a baby for the first time, my mother was happy and she had changed since then, from being a gang member to a loving caring mother to me. However, I could not be with my mother to be loved and my mother could not be with me to care for me as a parent, due to the fact that prison was not a very good environment for children such as an infant child like me, so they needed to have someone to take me somewhere safe and to care for me in my mother's stead. Unfortunately, my mother had no other relatives to help take care of me, her child, and she had already cut ties with the yakuza since she knows that the yakuza gang would not be good for me. Luckily, however, there was a police member that was in charge of my mother, as well as a fast friend of my mother, that was willing to take me and to care for me in her stead as a substitute parent, and would have me visit my mother whenever I wanted, which I did almost every day, and that placed a great relief for my mother.

One of those days when I came to visit her over the years was at the age of six, as I was growing up into a well-grown child when my mother showed me her sword that she used during her time in the yakuza; the same sword that I have today, that I would someday use in the future.

"Hiroko," she told me, "This sword that I have here with me is the sword that has my heart and my soul in it. It is the sword that I used to do bad things to the world, very bad things that I know I can never be forgiven for. But now, I want this sword, my heart and soul, to be used for the good of the world, to be used for good things." She looked at me lovingly and said giving me her sword for me to hold, "Hiroko, one day when you grow up big and strong, I want to give my sword, my heart, and my soul, to you, so that one day, you can do good with it and make the world better."

I looked at the sword presented to me before I, as an uncertain child that I was, looked back at my mother who nodded with a smile, telling me to hold it, and I did. The first time I held my mother's sword, it…it felt heavy, yet at the same time, it felt strong for me to hold onto.

"My sword that you hold onto, your heart and soul will be reflected clearly in it." my mother said to me, "And, wielding this sword's shine is the sign and proof of a strong and proud woman who has done all the good for everyone. Hiroko, please, don't ever forget that."

Back then, as a child, I didn't and couldn't understand what my mother meant with her words. But nonetheless, despite my lack of understanding, I took her words to heart, as I said to her with a smile on my face, "Yes, mother!"

A year after that time of my last visit, I came to visit her at the prison once again, happily ready to see her again, because I heard from the officer that was caring for me that my mother was finally going to be released from prison to allow her to go back to me, her loving daughter, to take care of me, and to finally be together with me. My mother and I…were finally going to be together, finally as a happy family. But unfortunately, that day that I thought we could finally be together as mother and daughter…it never truly happened.

Suddenly, a break out had happened, and chaos had broken loose at the prison, as dangerous prisoners were set free and were causing disasters, and destruction in prison was being made, causing panic and confusion to the police officers there. The cause of it was…the yakuza, led by the same leader, my father, who along with the other yakuza members, were attacking and killing people there, prisoners and police officers alike, as they were all looking for my mother because she betrayed the society and wanted to kill her for her betrayal.

During the ensuing chaos, while the officer that was looking after me had left to deal with the situation that was happening, I was hiding around the corner, hiding from the chaos that was happening around me. Of course, I was still a child back then, so I was scared, frightened, and confused, I didn't even know what was going on anymore. I was just so scared and frightened that I wanted to just see my mother, hoping she would find me and save me, to get me out of the nightmare that I was in. And just when I thought that I was safe, a yakuza member found me and attempted to kill me where I was with a crazed look on his face, and all I could do was close my eyes in fear, not wanting to see the look on his face, and not wanting to face my end. Just then, though, my mother had found me and came to my rescue after killing the yakuza who tried to kill me.

"Hiroko!" my mother cried, as she came and hugged me, "Oh, Hiroko, my dear girl! Are you alright?! You're not hurt, are you?!"

"Mother…!" I hugged her back.

"It's too dangerous for us to stay here now!" she told me, as she looked at me worriedly, while holding onto my hand tightly, "We have to go and run away from here, or we'll die! Let's hurry and run, now!"

And ran away to get out of prison, we did. We managed to escape the prison that was being destroyed by the yakuza and got out to the outside world. We were finally free from the chaos that was happening back in the prison, away from the yakuza who were looking for my mother. However, my mother…

"Hiroko, you have to go and run!" she told me, "Run away from here, run far, far away from here without me! I'm staying behind!"

"Eh?!" I said, shocked from what I was hearing from her, "But, mother-!"

"It's me that the yakuza wants to find, dear!" she said, "And if they find you here, they will certainly try to kill you as well, even if none of them know of your existence! As your mother, I can't let that happen to you, my loving child, my everything. That's why…Hiroko, you have to go and run, run as far away from here as possible, by yourself, alone without me." She placed both her hands on my cheeks as I began to cry in sadness, as she smiled warmly and lovingly one last time to me and told me, "Dear, I know this is hard, but no matter what happens, don't ever look back, and be strong for me, be strong for your mother. Be a big and strong girl, a strong woman, no matter how hard life may be. Run far away from here, forget about this past of yours, and start finding a new life for yourself, find a purpose in life, and make yourself a new beginning, so that you can do good for new people that you love, for the world."

I cried in sadness as my mother told me her departing words to me, as if I could tell that it would be the last moment that I would have with her, as her daughter, and as a family, and all I could do as a child was sob out to her, "M-M-M-Mother…!"

My mother hugged me lovingly for the last time as she said to me for the last moment that we had, "No matter what happens, I'm proud you, Hiroko, proud of who you are, proud that you've came into my life, proud that you came into this world, proud that you are my daughter, proud that we're family, and I love you very much, my precious dear daughter…"

Then, my mother sadly let go of me, before she gave me away her sword, the same sword that she used to fight over the years for, the same sword that had her soul in it, as a memento for me for safekeeping.

"Now go, Hiroko!" my mother said, as she turned me around and started pushing me, forcing to go and run away, "Hurry, go! Go, run away! Runaway, now! GO!"

I…I didn't want to leave my mother, not after she was finally going to be free, but…I had no other choice but to do as she says, and so, with all of the chaos and confusion that was going on behind me, reluctantly, I ran…I ran away, ran as fast as I could, as far away as I could, away from prison as much as possible, without ever turning back to see my mother again, scared because I didn't want to die, and sad and crying because I had to separate from I mother, and we could never be a happy family. I didn't want to leave my mother, I didn't want us to be separated, but I didn't have any other choice but to run away. I never looked back again…I could never look back again. That was the last time I ever saw her, and I never saw my mother again.

Flashback End:

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I looked at her in shock from hearing that story, as Hiroko looked down with shadows covering her eyes, remembering that memory, and the only word I could make was, "Oh…"

Hiroko sighed before she looked up at me as she then said with a cold look on her face, "Over the next following years ever since then, I became a street orphan in Fuyuki, spent following years trying to find food and shelter along with others, by stealing and robbing stores and markets that had food and water and supplies, doing everything that I could to survive, no matter what I had to do, even if it meant hurting and killing a lot of people. During those times, however, I was always turned on and betrayed by the other street orphans and was taken in for stealing. Every street orphan that I go to, and when tasked to steal some things, I would always get stabbed in the back. Ever since, I grew cold, distant, distrusting, and detached to those who would use me and then turn me in after stabbing me in the back. Hell, I even went on to hunt down those who had betrayed me and then kill them all in cold blood, all for the sake of my survival, caring for no one but myself. Those days for me became my very rough and difficult childhood."

"Whoa…" I managed to say after hearing that, "H-Hiroko, I…I'm…really sorry that…that happened to you…your story is…is just as sad as Sayaka's…it must've been very hard for you…doing the things you didn't like, and…"

"It's alright…" said Hiroko, "You don't have to apologize for what happened to me…I was just a scared and frightened child then…but, you're right, I did not enjoy it. But even so, I had no other choice…besides, those who had used me and then stabbed me in the back, betraying me, they were all beyond forgiveness, just as much as I was…or rather, I am still beyond forgiveness…even after my meeting with Lady Mirai and Sayaka…"

"Oh, that's right." I said, "So, how did you meet them?"

Hiroko looked up with her eyes closed and said, "Well…"

---

Hiroko's POV:

Flashback:

I met them one day when I stool their money that they had from the people wanting to have their fortunes told, taking it from them in order for me to survive. But I was caught up by them and cornered in another alley. I was wearing nothing but ragged clothes and I was barefooted. I still had my sword my mother given to me, and I had multiple bruises around my body, because that I had been through fights before, and I had a look of a cold and distrusting face, showing that I didn't show any trust to anyone. Because of that, Mirai Ojou-sama and Sayaka had to be cautious and approach me peacefully.

"What?!" I said, angrily, "Who're you?! What're ya looking at?!"

"Please, calm down." said lady Mirai, calmly, to assure me they were not hostile, "It's okay. We won't hurt you. We're just here for our money back. Please, put the bowl down and come to us peacefully."

"No!" I said, angrily, still being stubborn, "I'd rather run and die!"

"We're not going to hurt you." she said, assuring me as best as she could, "We're friendly, we won't do anything to hurt you. We're street orphans just like you."

"You don't have to worry." said Sayaka, "We won't do anything bad."

"Liars!" Hiroko shouted, angrily, "You're just saying that so you could trick me and then turn me in, just like everyone else! Well, I'm not falling for it again! Especially not from you!"

Hearing me say that, Sayaka was about to retort and run up to me, but lady Mirai held her arms up to stop her and shook her head no, as if telling her not to attack. Sayaka saw this and obediently stopped herself and stood there. She then turned back to me, as I still had a look of anger and distrust, and slowly, she began to approach me. Lady walked up to me until she was where I was pointing to where the sword was at; her chest where her heart is. When she was approaching her, I…I suddenly became frightened, as my expression changed from anger to somewhat scared, scared of what she would do to me. We stood there, completely silent, letting ourselves look at each other in the eyes for a few moments. Then, that was when I saw her do it; she activated her powers and looked at me with bright red eyes, looking into my past that I didn't know she could do, much to my surprise.

After that, she closed my eyes as her eyes slowly began to stop glowing red and then opened them again, to show her normal eyes to me, much to my shock and surprise.

"W-Wha…w-what did you do…?" I asked, nervously and fearfully.

Mirai Ojou-sama simply smiled and said to me, "I looked and saw your past. I saw everything that happened to you in your past."

I gasped at what she just told me; my face expression full of shock as I thought, "S-she saw…? She saw everything…?"

"That's why you don't trust people who takes you in." she said, "I know how you feel, losing a parent and being used as a means to be taken in and be blamed all your life. Even to the point of taking away another life. But, me and Sayaka are not like those people at all. We would never do anything like that to you."

Hearing what she said to me made me slowly lower my weapon until it touched the floor, as I looked at her in pure astonishment, both from what she did and what she was telling me, before I had to ask her, "Who…what are you?"

"My name is Mirai." said Lady Mirai, "And I am someone who has the power to see the people and the events, both the past and the future, just as I have seen your past. My eyes allow me to see just about everything. It's both a gift and a curse that I carry all my life."

"And I'm Sayaka Tsukuda." said Sayaka, "I was a lost street orphan just like you before Mirai-sama took me in. And you are?"

I was quiet for a moment as I was looking at them both to see if they were trusting enough. After a few moments, I said, "Hiroko. Hiroko Ishikawa."

"Hiroko." said Lady Mirai, as she smiled at me, "A wonderful name. Tell me, do you want to be taken in and be one of us? We would like to have someone like you on our side."

This surprised me for a moment before I asked, "Can…can I trust you?"

"Of course." she smiled.

"You won't betray me and turn me in?" I asked.

"We won't." she said.

Then, as I thought about what my mother told me long ago, I asked her, "Then…will you…give me purpose, if you take me in?"

"You wish to have a reason to live?" she asked.

I nodded, and she smiled as she understood what I meant.

Lady Mirai nodded back and said, "Yes, we will give you a purpose, a reason for living. So, that's why…come with us, Hiroko."

Upon hearing her words to be true, I dropped my sword and the bowl of yen, and I began to have tears in her eyes falling down from my face, as I was crying because I was happy, believing and knowing that there was someone who I could trust and someone who could give me a reason for living. Before I knew it, I…I just broke down crying, as I was happy that found someone who could give a reason to keep on living, no longer needing to fight in order to survive, and she and Sayaka went to embrace me to comfort me, as all I did was repeatedly cried out while sobbing, "Thank you."

And that was how I became the second companion of Lady Mirai.

Flashback End:

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I looked at her in astonishment after Hiroko concluded her story, before I then said in amazement, "Wow…"

"Since then, I've been stuck with them for a long time." said Hiroko with a small smile, "And being with them, I knew I was doing good, not just for them, but for everyone else, perhaps even the world." Her smile then faltered and said as she looked at her right hand, "However, even still, it doesn't change what I had done, not just to myself, but to the people around me. I had done terrible things in the past, most of which I knew I didn't like but had no choice, committed sins of taking away lives, all for the sake of my survival. And because of that, because of everything that happened to me, because of everything I did, I am beyond forgiveness. And even if my mother was still around, I…I just know she would never forgive me for what I did. No one will forgive me, and…I'm fine with that, because I ask no forgiveness, because the sins and burden of killing others is mine alone to bear."

"Hiroko…" I said.

Hiroko looked at me and asked, "So tell me this, Yuzuru, after learning everything that you know about my past and after learning the terrible things I've done over the years, are you still willing to place your trust on a cold-blooded murderer such as I? Can you trust me, even as a killer?"

I remained silent for a moment as I took the time to take in what she asked me before I sighed and said, "Well, I won't lie to you, Hiroko. After hearing about your past and the things that you did, it was all terrible. And…it's pretty saddening, too. But…I honestly don't think that makes you anything like a bad person at all."

"Hmm?" said Hiroko.

"If anything," I said, "You were only a victim to all the bad things that had happened to you in the past, and I'd say just about as much as Sayaka is. You're not a bad person, you just didn't have a choice but to do the bad things you didn't like. Deep down, I know that there's good in you, because you didn't just protect me, and you didn't just save me back in the alleyway, you showed that you care for everyone, just as much as Mirai-senpai and the others do. You protected everyone because you're good. That's why, I'm not trusting you as a cold-blooded murderer, but as a friend who's good and cares, even if you don't show it. And I'll keep trusting you, since…no, even if you still don't trust me."

"Yuzuru…" said Hiroko.

"And, I know I don't know much about your mom," I said, "But I do know this; your mom would've still loved you and would've been very proud of you, regardless of the wrong things you did, and the right things you're doing now."

Hiroko made a surprised look on her face for a moment, before she sighed with a small smile and said, "Honestly, you truly know how to word the right things to people."

"I'm not really saying it to cheer you up." I said, "I mean every word."

Hiroko nodded and said, "I know. And I'll trust your word on that."

I smiled and said, "Thanks."

"So," said Hiroko, "Is there anything else you like to ask?"

"Well, actually," I said, "I do have a couple more questions since you're close to Mirai-senpai-"

"And before you ask them," said Hiroko with an amused smile, "No, I do not harbor any romantic feelings for Lady Mirai, and no, I am not into S&M, either."

"I wasn't thinking of asking that." I said.

"Yes, you were." Hiroko smirked.

"Well then, in that case, I have no more questions." I said.

We both laughed at that, before Hiroko said, "Yes, while it is true that I'm quite fond of Lady Mirai, and that my relationship with her is quite as close to that as companionship like with the other two, my fondness to her is not, however, close to that of love like Sayaka's fondness is. While I admit, I am quite close to her in terms of relationships, I'm afraid romance is not one of them, much less do I share the same interest in…certain activities as her and Sayaka."

"Oh, okay." I said, feeling a little relieved, "Then, what type of lover are you into?"

Hiroko chuckled a bit and said, "Well, I am straight, and as of now, no one quite major nor someone quite thrilling. But if I were to choose a type of person that I like, I would say that I'm into the shy type of men."

"Hmm." I said.

"But in any case," said Hiroko, as she picked up the briefcase, "I think we should head back home now. It'll be dark soon, and we cannot risk dealing with another enemy Master or Servant right now after our last battle. It would be bad enough that we're too tired to fight we'd be brought to a disadvantage. We should head back and get some rest."

"Right." I said as I got up from the bench, "Let's head back."

"And, Yuzuru," said Hiroko, "Thank you. Thank you so much for placing your trust in someone like me, even if I don't trust you back."

I looked at her for a bit before I smiled and said, "Yeah, don't mention it. We're friends, after all. I mean, yeah, you can be a bit…really cold, and you can come off as cold, sure. But, overall, you aren't a bad person at all."

Hiroko smiled and nodded at me, before she said with what looked like a teasing smile, "Oh, and just a fair warning, when we get back, you probably don't want to go and come into our apartment room."

"Huh?" I said, confused, "Why not?"

Hiroko smirked and said, "Remember what you saw last week? You really don't want to see that again now, do you?"

I was confused about what she meant before…oh…oh, my God, NO! Suddenly, I thought back from last week and my face became deeply red from that memory, forcing me to shake my head furiously to try to get that image out of me. God, why did Hiroko have to remind me that?!

Hiroko chuckled at the expression I was making and what I was doing before she told me, "That's what I thought."

"God, don't remind me…" I groaned, "Last thing I want is to be shot in the head by Sayaka…and I don't wanna talk about that again…"

"Sorry." Hiroko chuckled, "I'm normally not the teasing type of person. But anyway, you already understand what I mean. So, don't come over to our apartment for…well, pretty much every night. Who knows what kinds of activities that Lady Mirai is doing with Sayaka if you know what I mean?"

"Ah, yeah…right…" I said, "Got it."

Hiroko looked at me with a small smile before it faltered as she became silent, until she said to me, "Yuzuru, don't ever change who you are. You're a good person with a good heart, and you should stay that way. And, no matter what, don't ever become what I became when I was a child."

"You mean, being a killer?" I asked.

She nodded and said, "Believe me when I tell you this; you don't ever want to become what I am, and you don't ever want to take the path that I took as a murderer. So, whatever happens, don't ever take the path of taking away another life, even if you do have a good reason to. If you do, if you end up taking that path, you'll fall to complete darkness and you'll lose everything you hold dear, and it will lead you to the point of no return and you'll never come back. You'll become beyond forgiveness. So, just don't ever take that path, not just for your sake, but for everyone that you care about as much as they care about you."

I looked at her as I took in her words for a moment, before I smiled and said, "I know. Don't worry, Hiroko. I promise I won't."

Hiroko nodded before she began walking off with the briefcase in hand to go back to our home, and I followed her afterward.

---

Normal POV:

As Yuzuru followed Hiroko to go back home, a Servant appeared and materialized into physical form, watching them leave behind a nearby tree. The Servant was female, and she was smiling at them as she watches them leave, before she said quietly, "Très bien (Very good)."

Then, she began disappearing and dematerializing into spiritual form.

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