The girl approaches the window, peering through it with curious eyes. Sitting across her is a man. His hands gently comb through the locks of her hair as he smiles.
"Now then, Hakuno, what have you learnt today?" The girl slowly turns her head to meet the man's eyes, her vision masked with a white distortion of static. "...That...war is bad...for mankind?"
The man quietly laughs at her answer. "Well...not quite." His voice somehow feels distant to her ears, ringing like chimes against the wind, before slowly fading out as white noise.
The girl now sees herself in darkness, a black void, falling towards the never-ending abyss below.
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Hakuno's eyes flutter open, her ears greeted by the sound of a ticking clock. Slowly turning her head, she eyes the source against the wall across the room with a neutral expression, having now fully woken up. Sitting up, she allows the edges of the blanket to fall off her shoulders, greeting the cold air with a shiver.
Her pupils dart along the room, before they stay fixed at the man quietly resting on the throne of chairs. Hakuno watches him sleep, noting how his eyebrows eould knit together every now and then before they relaxed after a few seconds. That's right, yesterday she awoke to find that she was now a participant of the Holy Grail War...and this man was her servant.
It didn't take long before she saw him stirring, his eyes slowly opening before he properly sat up. The man, now awake, stares back at Hakuno, before a smirk appears on his features. "Good morning Master. I didn't know that you had a habit for staring at people while they slept."
A light tint appears on her cheeks as she realized her actions, looking down at her hands in mild embarassment. "Ah...well...I mean...," she stutters. The man lets out a chuckle at her reaction. "I'm kidding. You don't need to get so worked up over every little thing I say, Master."
Hakuno doesn't reply, and instead chooses to bit her bottom lip as she gets off the bed, not making eye contact with him. "I'll...be taking a shower now," was all she said as she brisk-walks into the bathroom, hearing the sound of Archer's chuckles behind her.
After getting ready, the two exit the room and make their way towards the cafeteria. Though Hakuno wasn't particularly hungry, she just felt like eating something at the moment. Reaching her destination, she sees a number of students either getting more supplies from the commissary or also getting food from the several food stalls that were open.
Taking a seat, Hakuno eyes the plate of chicken cutlet with curry and rice that she had just taken. Not the healthiest option to start the day but...it seemed filling enough. Grabbing a spoon, she barely manages to scoop a spoonful of rice when somehow takes a seat across her, setting down their tray of food. Looking up, she blinks in mild surprise at the person who had appeared before her. "Rin...??"
"Good morning Hakuno, hope you don't mind me sitting here," was her reply. "Ah...no...well...I'm just surprised that you're here." "Well, in here, even if you don't eat, your health is still maintained by the system. But I guess it's still a custom for quite a few of us." Eyeing her tray, it seems that Rin chose the omelette rice along with a cup of coffee, which seemed...slightly uncharacteristic of her.
"Huh, so you like curry? I do as well...though I can't see why you'd choose to eat something so spicy at this time of day," Rin comments, staring at Hakuno's food. "Oh...that's-" "No way, Hakuno...you actually survived?! And...Rin Tohsaka?! Don't tell me, you're both teaming up?!" came a voice behind her. Turning her head, she barely manages to register the being walking up to them angrily before the person slams their hand on the table.
Looking at the person's face, she recognizes his familiar, short but wavy blue-purple haircut, his violet dress shirt worn over the school's brown blazer...and his arrogant gaze. "S-Shinji?! You're a master as well?" she asks in shock. "I'm surprised Hakuno. To think that a moron like you could actually get through to the main tournament...it's a miracle at this point," Shinji says, his eyes glaring daggers at Rin.
Hakuno knew Shinji Matou back during the preliminaries, and while they were known as 'friends', most of their conversations revolved around Shinji boasting about how great he was, with Hakuno half-listening. In fact, it was funny how their relationship managed to even evolve into 'friendship' in the first place, possibly one of the 'Seven Wonders of the World' if she were to exaggerate it.
"Why...if it Asia's most prominent hacker? A little timid aren't we, Shinji Matou?" Rin asks, smiling. "H-How do you know who I am?" Shinji questions. "Simple. During the prelims I had a feeling and marked you in advance. But you participating in the war seemed oh so trivial. Hope that explanation puts you at ease," Rin replies, taking a bite out of her food. Hakuno watches the exchange awkwardly, even more surprised from finding out Shinji's status.
"Wha...how dare you speak to me like that?!" Shinji yells, earning the attention of those around them as several heads began turning to watch the conversation unfold. "Please look around you. This is a sufficiently large turnout for the Holy Grail War, and we aren't the ones here. I suggest you get off that high horse of yours and acknowledge the fact that there may be others with power equivalent or perhaps...stronger than yours, Matou-kun." Rin says all this calmly, without even flinching or blinking an eye despite all the stares she was getting, in which Hakuno had to silently applaud for her ability to do so.
Even so, as Rin said, all these people were here for the Holy Grail as well, to have their wish granted. "Um...not to interrupt anything but...regarding the Holy Grail, what exactly does it look like?" Sure, Archer mentioned the Holy Grail taking several forms in the past but, what form would this Holy Grail take then?
"I haven't seen the real thing, so I can't give you all the details, but its existence and the fact that it can grant any wish is something anyone would desire, right? At any rate, Western Europe has signed plutocrats to participate in the war and retrieve it, since the Holy Grail has an unfathomable amount of power lying dormant...that its own existence could shake the very fabric of this world," Rin explains.
Hakuno gulps; so everyone was fighting for this frighteningly powerful object. Somehow, it felt as if she had been thrown into a den full of lions, predators with their eyes set on claiming the grand prize, with nowhere to run but to face them head on in order to survive. That was the cruel, harsh reality that she was now living in.
"That's right. Which is why the Holy Grail has been placed here for us to control, Rin Tohsaka." Rin's eyes widen at the voice, as those in the area turned towards the one who spoke. Hakuno's eyes also widened at the person who was approaching their table. "L-Leo?!"
The young man gives a pleasant smile, bowing slightly. "Good day everyone. I hope you are all well and doing fine," he greets. Hakuno is dumbstruck at the sudden events that were occuring. She was already shocked at the fact that Shinji was a master and a high-ranked magus but...who would've thought that Leo would end up as a master in the war too! Leo looks over towards her, his beaming smile never leaving his features before he focuses his gaze onto Rin.
"Hmph, I knew that there would be people sent by the Europe's Plutocracy but...it's surprising even for me that their future leader would show up...Leonardo Bistario Harway," Rin spats, her voice full of venom. "Ahaha. Call me 'Leo', Tohsaka-san. It is a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. Your actions with the Harway's Asia branch puts me at a loss for words," he speaks.
"And here you are at the front lines. Isn't that nice? I hope you can repay your debt in heaven. I'm also having fun. And as for your servant just standing there, you think you got some sort of superiority complex?" Rin demands, pointing towards the tall man standing behind Leo. With short blond curly hair and white, shining armour, the man looked as though he was some sort of dashing knight in shining armour.
"Ah...I see, so you've taken interest in my servant. Gawain, why don't you introduce yourself?" Upon Leo's orders, the man walks forward and bows. "I am his servant, Gawain. Henceforth, you are all acquaintances of my master and seem like worthy opponents."
At this moment, practically everyone including Rin Tohsaka was shocked. Revealing your servant's identity was considered suicidal to a master as one could exploit that servant's strengths or weaknesses and use those against him, yet here was Leo, telling everyone his servant's true name as if it was common knowledge, and he was even still smiling!
"And as for you, Kishinami-san, I've taken great interest in you." Hakuno's body tenses up greatly upon her name being mentioned. "Huh? W-Who me?" she asks meekly. "Yes. In what state of affairs were you able to survive and make a contract? From what I was told, you possessed no knowledge of magecraft during the preliminaries, yet here you are, now a master in this Holy Grail War. Why is that?" he questions, drawing closer towards her. "Erm...well...that's-"
"Why you...don't ignore me!" Hakuno is pulled out of her thoughts as she turns to see an angry Shinji, now fuming with irritation to a point where she could almost see smoke coming out of his ears and his hair ablaze. "You interrupted me! I don't know who you Harways are but don't get cocky! The person who's gonna win this war in the end is me!" By then, all the commotion was enough to earn of the attention of everyone in the room. "...Well, how rude of me. I am terribly sorry, for I did not know that our conversation would make you that upset. What is your name?" Leo questions.
Straw meets camel's back. Enraged, Hakuno could see from the corner of her eye that Shinji's command seals were glowing red. "Damn you! You'll pay for messing with me!" As soon as those words were said, a flash of light appears from the ground as Hakuno winced, shutting her eyes.
She could hear collective gasps around her as she opens her eyes a moment later, her eyes coming into contact with a tall woman who had appeared from nowhere. With messy, long pink hair and sea-blue eyes, the woman wore a matching long pink button-up coat which barely covered her chest, with light grey tights and dark brown boots, a long scar over her facial features. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was a servant, judging from the raw power that was emanating from her.
Upon being summoned, the woman clicks her tongue in annoyance. "I hope you have a good reason for summoning me Shinji, 'cause I'm in a foul mood," she says, frowning. "It doesn't matter! You'll get your reward later, so just hurry up take care of him! Thrash that servant already!" Shinji roars, pointing at Gawain. "Hmph, I'll remember those words!"
With a smirk, the servant raises her hands in the air, summoning what appears to be a pair of old-fashioned pistols. Alarmed, Rin stands from her seat. "Idiot, in a place like this...!" Her cry is completely ignored however, as Shinji's servant comes charging at incredible speed towards Leo's servant.
Gawain barely has time to summon his own sword before he deflects a few bullets fired by the servant. "Hoh, not bad! You've got good reflexes!" the servant grins as she fires a few more rounds at him. Everyone continues to watch the battle unfold before them as Gawain continues to deflect and slice apart the bullets with his sword.
Hakuno lets out a yelp, backing away as a stray bullet lands on their table by her plate. Staring at the two servants worriedly, she quickly turns to Rin for help. "Rin, we've gotta do something to stop them!" Rin gives Hakuno a sideways glance, before looking onwards towards the two servants, making no motion to intervene.
Bewildered, Hakuno begins to look around, noticing how the other masters around them weren't doing anything. Instead, all she saw were their intense stares, as if they were gathering intel on the two servants who could potentially become their next opponents.
Meanwhile, Shinji's servant had jumped atop one of the tables, firing a few bullets towards Gawain's exposed back. However, almost as if Gawain had anticipated this, he twists his body and deflects the bullets back towards her. Jumping to the side, the woman barely manages to intercept Gawain as he runs towards her and rams his blade towards her shoulder.
Distancing herself, she eyes the wound calmly. "Well well...aren't you feisty for a mere knight," she cackles, dashing towards Gawain before giving him a good kick towards his torso, sending him back by a few feet before she begins shooting once again. "...It's useless Master. There's no merit in going between these two. In fact, I'd recommend that you watch them and try to get as much intel while you still can," Archer quietly says, while still in astral form. "But-"
"That is enough. Stop this fighting at once, you two." A firm voice resonates throughout the cafeteria as everyone turned their heads to the source. "F-Father Kotomine?" Hakuno chokes out in surprise, feeling sort of relieved that he had arrived as her tensed shoulders relaxed. The two servants, upon noticing his presence, quickly withdrew their weapons and returned to their servants side.
Kotomine quietly walks towards their table, his shoes clicking against the floor. "I've already allowed you to have your fun during the preliminaries. Now that we're in the main tournament, players must show self-control and not get into prohibited brawls outside of real fights," he says firmly. "Butt out of this!" Shinji yells, earning a cold glare from him in return. "...And what do we have here? A young man who simply cannot hold back his bloodlust?"
Walking towards Shinji, Kotomine continues to stare at him with those dull, dead-looking eyes of his. "I am Father Kotomine, this Holy Grail War's supervision officer and facility NPC. You and your opponent's decisive battle has not approached yet. When that day comes, you may kill each other to your heart's content," Kotomine replies.
Hushed murmurs were heard as Shinji glares at Leo. "Tch! You just escaped death by a hair! Remember that Leo!" With that, his servant dematerializes as Shinji storms off upstairs.
"Ah...before I forget, Hakuno, your opponent will be notified this afternoon," Kotomine says after a moment. "O-Oh...ok." Hakuno could've sworn that Kotomine was giving her a creepy glance as he too begins walking back upstairs a moment later, not another word to be said.
"Hmph, gotta give it to that old man for disrupting a good fight," Rin curses under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest. Hakuno doesn't know how to react at this point, with so much already occuring that morning, instead choosing to let out a sigh just as her felt her terminal vibrate in her pocket with a notification that classes were about to start in a few minutes.