05
Day Two: Morning
Matsuo
"Katerina Lebedeva... Lebedeva... Ah, here we go." The receptionist tapped the name in the book and nodded. Matsuo tried to peek over the counter, but the book was promptly shut before he could even get a glance at the name on the page. "She's in room fifteen, just by the indoor onsen."
Matsuo cleared his throat and nodded. How the hell did this widow from overseas afford a ritzy place like this?
"Thank you," he said. "I'll be back if I need anything else."
"Happy to assist, detective."
The room is across the building, Lord Matsuo, Assassin reported. Matsuo sighed under his breath and started on his way. Despite how promising the lead was, he really hoped that Katerina had nothing to do with the Oshiro murders. That there was someone else involved with the family who summoned Caster. But, he thought with a long-suffering groan once the clerk was out of earshot, it would never be that easy for him.
Room 10, room 11, room 12... Matsuo counted them down as he passed them, and the closer he got to room 15 the more he felt something was off. He no longer felt Assassin's eyes on him, which meant he was going in alone. If he was lucky—well, half-lucky—he'd be able to run back to a public area and avoid a fight. Discretion was a big mage thing, right? That was one of the very first things Saizou had crammed into Matsuo's rushed, two-day education.
He was not looking forward to whatever paperwork would come from this if Katerina turned out to be involved in the murders. Especially if she'd gotten that Servant to do it for her.
Room 15. Matsuo stared down at the door as he straightened his posture. Do or die time, he thought. Who knew how many other lives would ride on this?
He knocked twice on the door, just below the peephole, and called out, "Ms Lebedeva?"
There were very distinct voices on the other side of the door—one male, which startled him as the other, female, approached. Two seconds passed, three, and then Katerina Lebedeva opened the door barely an inch.
"Yes?" she asked, and she sounded as though she'd barely been awake for ten minutes.
Matsuo reached for his badge and held it up for her to see. The door opened just an inch further. "Pardon the intrusion at this hour," he said. "Detective Matsuo Ueda—I'm here investigating an incident that occurred last night."
Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. Matsuo persevered. "May I come in and ask you a few questions?"
The male's voice called out again, more demanding than earlier, and Katerina rolled her eyes as she opened the door for Matsuo. He was right about her barely being awake—she still had large tangles in her hair and had lazily tied up her dressing gown, barely fit to see the outside world.
Matsuo knew the feeling.
"Come in, Detective," she yawned. As she stepped back to let Matsuo in, she called over her shoulder, "Gil, we have a visitor!"
A growl echoed through the room. This Gil person didn't seem to have any other complaints, though, and Matsuo walked inside to a rather quiet, well-decorated room. He knew hotels like these were basically apartments for vacationers, but it was almost staggering just how much it felt like he was walking inside the Oshiro mansion again. White walls, barely tarnished, and a shiny wood floor greeted him in the entryway. To his immediate right was what appeared to be the living room, the end of a felt couch visible around the doorway. Further ahead, possibly where Katerina had come from, was what looked like the entrance to a kitchen.
Matsuo let out a low whistle before he could stop himself. He was given a swift reprimand in the form of Katerina ever so subtly slamming the door behind him.
"Make yourself comfortable in the living room, Detective," Katerina said dully. She gestured to the doorway that led to the felt couch. "I believe it'd be rude of me not to be a little more presentable."
"Ah, thank you." Matsuo went to walk forward, but stopped when he realised there were a set of shoes at the door. "Should I...?"
Katerina waved a hand dismissively. "No need. I just put them at the door out of habit."
The living room looked like something straight out of a home deco magazine. Matsuo had to wonder just how many people came over to stay in this part of Miyama, especially with how expensive it all looked. He wasn't going to complain or make faces at the setup, especially since it wasn't in the vacationer's power how the room looked, but it sure did give off an otherworldly experience. He may has well have left Fuyuki once he'd stepped inside.
He scanned the living room as he made his way over to the couch. Very few things were set up to give the room a personal flair—but there were a few things. He'd be a poor detective to miss the photo frame put on display on the other side of the sofa, displaying a face that he'd seen just the night before when reviewing a case from last year.
Photo of the husband, Matsuo listed as he picked up the frame. It was reminiscent of the altars installed for deceased family members some homes had.
He resembles young Daisuke, came Assassin's voice. Matsuo held back his flinch as best he could. So he wasn't alone. Thank God. Be wary, Lord Matsuo. The man she spoke to sounded like Caster.
"Detective, I presume?"
Matsuo did flinch this time, but he was careful to hold tight to the photo and keep from breaking it. He looked to his right, to the entrance to a bedroom, and met the cold gaze of the man he'd heard earlier. Speak of the devil, Assassin muttered.
He set down the photo and nodded. "Yes, Matsuo Ueda. I can assume you're Gil?"
The blond sneered, almost seeming to resent the fact that Matsuo had called him by name. He strode past and flopped onto the couch, taking all the space for himself while Matsuo waited for a reply. He wouldn't quite get one, though, when Katerina walked back in from the hall—fully dressed and looking ready to go downtown if Matsuo requested.
Prepared for the worst, he wondered? Or was she simply being polite? He was sure Assassin had similar theories as Katerina adjusted her glasses.
"Please forgive my friend," she said in that same dull, but still polite tone. "He's not used to the cultural differences over here yet."
And Gil sneered again, this time at Katerina.
"You had questions, Detective?" she went on.
Matsuo nodded. "Just yesterday we received a call about an incident at the Oshiro family mansion—"
"Oshiro?" She furrowed her brows. Slowly she began to grow pale, horror slowly dawning on her face. "Oh no..."
"I—I'm afraid so, Ms Lebedeva. I cannot give full details, but I'm afraid a number of your in-laws have passed." He watched as Katerina staggered past him, over to the couch. He waited patiently as Gil tucked his legs over the back of the couch and watched the woman with a bored expression. He'd seen some unique reactions to hearing about a loved one's death before, but this felt too generic to be real—especially with Gil acting like a nonplussed spectator. It was the reaction people thought cops expected when given bad news.
Katerina lifted a hand to her face and hiccupped into it. Perhaps he would've believed her act if it wasn't the hand with crimson command spells displayed over the back of her palm. Matsuo almost saw it as ironic that they would take a form of a stylised expression of anguish. He blinked as the details slowly began to form in his head, a mock-case being built against the fellow Master.
No spells used, assumed decent relationship between Master and Servant. Glasses, vision problems? Loose clothing, safe to assume chosen in the event of a fight. Overall lithe build, possibly focuses more on magic than physical strength.
His earlier thoughts on discretion flickered through his mind again. If Katerina was Master—which was far from debatable by this point—then Matsuo's best bet was to isolate them from the public. He was a cop. Cops were meant to protect civilians. If Matsuo couldn't keep a mage fight from breaking out in a hotel full of innocent lives, what good was he as a cop?
He checked his watch and scrunched his nose up at the time. There weren't many places this early in the morning that would be empty, save for a few parks and warehouses, but he needed to be careful. There was every chance that Caster would be an absolute beast in a fight, and Matsuo wanted to minimize the damage to the buildings and people around him as much as possible. But if he was smart about it, he could definitely confine a possible fight to an isolated area.
Assassin, he instructed slowly, I want you to head to the harbour and wait for me there. If this gets ugly we can at least keep as many people out of it as possible.
Without waiting for a reply, Matsuo lowered his watch and focused on Katerina again.
"I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly, Ms Lebedeva," he said, "but could you and your friend please come with me to the station to make a statement?"
Katerina
This was most definitely not the route to the police station in Miyama. This was most definitely not some standard request to give a statement.
Katya chewed her lip as the detective made another turn, following road rules like an upstanding lawman. Silence filled the undercover car while she and Caster sat impatiently in the backseat. She should've seen it coming in retrospect. This man had immediately moved for Hiroya's picture—and he knew about Katya's marriage into the Oshiro family. He would've had access to information regarding her sudden departure once she'd been released from hospital.
Matsuo Ueda had sought out Katya with a purpose.
Shit, she thought. What kind of luck did she have, being caught by a mage, possibly even a Master, who was part of the police force?
They passed another set of traffic lights, turning in the direction of the harbour. Katya watched the road carefully. Who knew how this would end? Moreover, who knew if this mage would do something to eliminate her?
"I read about your husband's death," the detective said out of nowhere. He sounded almost sympathetic, though she was sure it was just a result of the job. He would've had to tell plenty of people about tragedies before Katya. "I'm... I'm sorry about what you had to go through."
Her hand settled over her stomach before she could stop herself. The scarring was still there, not entirely faded. Normally she could ignore it—but that was if no one else reminded her they were there.
"Hm," she grunted. She and Caster exchanged glances. They had to come up with a plan, to make the most of the situation. If they could turn the tables at some point, maybe they could get away and eliminate a witness. But he hadn't seen anything yet, Katya thought with growing apprehension. As far as he knew, Katya was maybe involved in the Oshiro incident yesterday.
The car entered a near-empty road, and it was apparent that he was heading for the parking lot behind the harbour. They passed the shipping containers lining the fence, hardly any workers on the premises to witness their confrontation. Katya leaned her head against the window and placed her hand against the door, hidden from the detective's sight.
Whatever he has planned, we're going to be in for some fun, Caster decided. Katya glanced over at him dryly, finding an equally dry glare trained on her. He was barely even giving her time to express her distaste before he gave her his disapproving, kingly stare.
Speak for yourself, she retorted.
Mongrel woman, he snapped back.
"Mongrel" is still a weak insult by modern standards. Didn't the Grail teach you anything more painful to say?
You will take whatever insult you're given—
The car came to a halt, snapping the duo from their conversation. Katya watched as the detective pulled the keys from the ignition and let out a long sigh. He seemed reluctant to go on with this.
"This isn't the station," she said innocently.
"It isn't," Matsuo agreed. "I wanted to keep as many people out of this as possible."
Well that was very Master-like of him. Maybe she was in a worse situation than she'd initially thought.
Matsuo looked at her through his rear-view mirror. "You were at the Oshiro residence yesterday," he stated.
Katya nodded slowly. Her fingers started moving slowly against the door, tracing a rune into the plastic.
"You already knew there'd been a murder," he went on. She nodded yet again. Caster slowly unfolded his leg from over his knee. They were both ready to move at the drop of a hat. "Maybe you even know who played the role of... assassin."
The rune blew the door off in a show of heat and pressure, Caster tackling her out of the car just as the knife flew through the windscreen. It whizzed past Matsuo and buried itself deeply into the seat she'd been sitting at, a fatal blow if she'd stayed put. Katya wasted no time gathering her bearings as Caster stood over her, tome in hand and axe at the ready; she projected a rapier as best she could under the circumstances, crouched low to the ground as the smoke slowly dissipated.
A small gap in the smoke revealed a pale, white mask staring back at them, and Caster wasted no time sending a barrage of magic its way. Flashes of light flew past them, straight at the car, and Katya watched intently for any sign of victory. If he was a novice Master, maybe this was enough to end the confrontation entirely. It would make her life, and perhaps even her quest for the Grail, a whole world easier.
But that would be too easy, and nothing was ever easy for her. Heaven forbid something be simple for Katerina Lebedeva.
The smoke cleared at last, Caster's onslaught halted, and all they found was a destroyed car without a dead detective inside. Katya gritted her teeth and rose to her feet. "How in the world...?"
Harsh, pained coughs rang out from above. Katya whirled around on her heel, peeking over Caster's shoulder at the containers behind him. How did they not hear, let alone sense the movements over there? She held her sword at the ready, taking on a practiced stance, as she took in the sight of the detective hacking up a lung behind the cloaked Servant.
Another knife was thrown by a bony arm. Katya prepared herself to move, only to be stopped by Caster's axe swooping down and stopping the dagger in its path.
Matsuo climbed back to his feet, standing beside his Servant, and he wasted no time pulling his gun from its holster. Instead of the careful gaze he'd considered her with in the car, he now stared down at her and Caster with newfound awareness and self-assuredness. Katya gripped her sword tighter. He was expecting this, she realised.
"What a pathetic Servant," Caster sneered, filling the silence. Matsuo aimed the gun at the duo.
"Shiro Katayama!" Matsuo called out. Katya blinked at him, thrown off by the statement. "Have you fought a Master named Shiro Katayama?"
What kind of demand was this? "You're the first one I've encountered," she said evenly. Matsuo furrowed his brows at her. As he considered her words, she looked over at the Servant by his side. They had to be none other than Assassin—the cloak, the Presence Concealment, the skull mask hiding their face. Hell, the fact that Matsuo had said "assassin" like it was some sort of codeword for a Servant was a pretty good indicator.
Katya sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself. She wasn't all too familiar with historical assassins. No matter who this may have been, they had the advantage of absolute anonymity over Caster.
Think, fool.
She glanced at Caster briefly. What?
This is a Fuyuki Grail War. What assassin is usually only ever summoned here?
Fuyuki Grail War... That was right, only one kind of Assassin was ever summoned here. She'd even learned the name of the Assassin from the Fourth War. What was it?
Her brows shot up to her hairline. Katya's eyes flittered in the direction of Assassin, just in time to see him shoot in her direction. "Hass—" she barely managed.
A collection of jewels scattered along the ground around her. Katya watched, stunned, as they all burst and cast a wall of bold, fiery red around her. Assassin collided with the wall, tripping what must've been a defence mechanism; the wall fell apart, combusting and throwing Assassin back in the direction of the container with the power of the explosion. She shielded her eyes from the fierce heat. Caster said he only had staves—how the hell did he overlook mentioning jewels?
Caster clicked his tongue as he advanced on Assassin. Light flashed as magic was thrown at the cloaked Servant, and it soon moved away from the destroyed car as Caster gave chase to the fleeing Assassin. Katya looked back up at Matsuo—but he was gone. No longer atop the container, and her mind went into overdrive. Where? Where did he go in the middle of all that? She took off in the direction of the container, rapier ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Two days. Two days and she was already having a hard time with someone. What the hell was the point of all the training she went through as a child to be better, to be good enough, if this was all she could amount to? If she was on par with some detective from Miyama?
"Shit," she hissed. She approached the corner, slowing her footsteps to a quieter pace, and rounded in a position fit to strike.
He wasn't there.
Katya was barely allowed a moment to wonder where he'd gone before one of her feet flew out from under her. Katya yelped, shocked, as she dropped her sword and scrambled to keep her balance. She kicked out behind her in an attempt to push the man away, but Matsuo was apparently just as skilled in hand-to-hand as she was. Firm hands gripped her boot, twisting her around to face him. Katya snarled and forced herself up with her other leg, launching it in Matsuo's direction. The kick was sloppy, probably not all that powerful, but it worked in making the man release her in order to defend his head. Katya landed on the ground with a grunt and wasted no time backing away—but not without placing a small amount of mana in the ground beneath her, hoping to at least buy some time if the man triggered her makeshift trap.
It was absolutely exhausting, keeping up with that plan. Whatever Caster was doing, he was absolutely devouring her energy to get it done—and Assassin was still moving about, if the wait for his return was anything to go by. All the while Matsuo did his best to avoid her little mana mines, gun drawn as they maintained a distance that was more than obviously suitable for him. Bullets rang out, barely missing Katya or colliding with hastily reinforced clothing. How many times had he shot at her shoulder and legs, she wondered as he replaced his bullets, in an attempt to incapacitate her?
Despite the distance, they were still close enough that Matsuo had every opportunity to aim for the heart. Perhaps even the brain, Katya reasoned grimly. Why wasn't he taking the lethal shots? Why just something like a shoulder, which could easily be operated on and repaired?
A large amount of energy suddenly drained from her, and Katya stumbled just in time to witness the large pillars of fire erupting in the distance. Matsuo faltered for a moment as well, shock evident on his face, but he recovered much faster than Katya did. She could only defend herself sluggishly as he advanced, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of the harbour. One step, two steps—and then the ground disappeared under her, Katya left in a freefall heading straight for the water.
She broke through the surface, submerged before a second could even pass.
It was cold and everything hurt, her body so tired that she almost gave up right then and there. Was Assassin truly so slippery that Caster had needed to exhaust her, especially on such short notice? Or was Matsuo more powerful than he looked, supplying his Servant with enough mana to keep up with the King of Heroes? If she had enough air in her lungs she would've scoffed. Knowing her luck, it would probably turn out that Assassin was just a pest that wouldn't sit still long enough to die. She'd dealt with plenty of those, after all.
The water become colder, like winter had arrived in the few seconds she'd spent submerged. Katya looked up, prepared to swim back to the surface, but found herself stopping short as, before her very eyes, a thin sheet of ice began to cover the surface. Katya pushed and pushed, kicking her legs as hard as she could, until the palms of her hands collided with the ice. She could barely make out a form standing over her through the ice, but she had no doubt it was Matsuo watching over her.
He'd done this.
Katya scowled. She was better than this. She was better than this.
Despite all the pain that numbed her fingers and the ache in her lungs as her time slowly ran out, she scratched as long as she could against the ice. She had the image in her mind, the rune that would give her just enough of an opening to breathe; she just had to carve it into the ice and pray. Sowilo stared back at her once her hands, frigid and slowly blueing at the tips, fell away from the ice. She waited and waited, even as the last of the air in her lungs forced its way out of her mouth—
The eruption was weak, barely enough to cause any harm to someone on the other side, but it did the job. Katya's heart, though fatigued and ready to give out, leapt for joy as the cracks rippled through the ice and have her an opportunity. One hand shot out, pushing at a shard with just enough force to upend it. Black spots crept into the corner of her eyes, but she didn't dare stop. Not when she was so close. Oxygen was right above her, waiting to be breathed in.
Both her arms broke the surface, and her head didn't take long after. Katya had never felt so relieved to breathe, to feel the harsh pain of overexerting her lungs, as she had in this moment. She dragged herself weakly up onto the ice, and once her waist bumped the edge of the hole she'd made she collapsed atop the sheet with a wheeze.
Matsuo had his gun drawn, aimed at Katya as he waited for her to make her move. It was rather pointless, she thought; after all that, she was ready to rest for at least three days, maybe four. Katya coughed and wheezed some more, and she waited for the man to finally realise she wasn't a threat in this state.
The gun dropped to the ground just a moment later. Katya stared at it, amazed it had happened so quickly, but soon listened carefully to the detective. The pained grunts as he stood frozen in place were as good a sign as any that her own Servant was on his way back. Though barely able to move, Katya wasted no time stopping Caster from executing his new plan.
Wait! she called. In a flash she saw Caster appear behind Matsuo. His axe was raised, ready to strike the neck of the detective, and there was nothing but rage in the Servant's eyes.
"What?" he snarled. Matsuo tried to look over his shoulder at Caster, but the runes that circled him—slowly becoming more and more visible—held him fast. It looked like it all rested on Katya now.
She sucked in a deep breath and cleared her throat. If Caster was back, then Matsuo wasn't a threat. Assassin was gone. One Master had been eliminated. Unless Matsuo Ueda was part of her revenge plan, there was no point in killing him now.
"Assassin," she wheezed. Caster scowled down at her.
"Dead," he said with a short tone. "And soon his Master will join him."
"Not a threat," she tried, louder this time. Talking felt like such a chore when compared to the pain of just breathing. "No point."
Agonising seconds passed them by. For a moment she was sure Caster would disobey her, taking advantage of her exhaustion to finish the job. But then the runes vanished, Matsuo visibly relaxing, and Caster dismissed his axe with a venomous glare.
"Don't expect me to protect you if you're wrong, mongrel."
Archer
"Done already?" Rider leaned back against her chariot. "I was expecting something... grandiose, I suppose."
The man who looked so much like Shiro Katayama crouched down next to the woman, already shrugging off his jacket to warm her up with. Archer tugged at his cloak with a frown.
"Maybe," he agreed half-heartedly. The fight between Caster and Assassin had been interesting, the sheer amount of power that Assassin avoided impressive until Caster snapped, but he was more interested in the two Masters before them now. It was by this point that a dedicated, calculating Master would eliminate the competition, prevent the loser from contracting a remaining Servant.
From what he'd seen, both Masters were thoughtful of both their actions and each other. They adapted as fast as they could to the other's reactions, and even the woman's plunge into the harbour had shown desperate resilience. Despite the fight for survival, though, neither seemed to want to deliver the killing blow. It was like the moment Assassin was eliminated—for good this time, Archer reminded himself—they both gave up killing each other on the spot.
This was certainly something they had to be wary of. With any luck, maybe they'd try to take out Berserker next and get themselves killed. It would definitely save Archer and Bram the trouble.
"Let's get out of here before they notice us," Archer sighed. Rider gawked at him. She barely made a move to comply.
"We're so far away!" she argued. "I can barely see a thing!"
Archer gave her a dry stare. He couldn't believe how much of a child she could be when he told her what to do. It must've been a royalty thing, he told himself. "What's the point of a discreet observation if you don't keep up with the discretion?"
She smiled as though he hadn't said a word. Rider leaned back against her chariot, crossing one leg over the other. Archer didn't particularly like the sadistic glint to her eye as she took in the sight of the two Masters and Caster at the harbour.
Already they'd climbed back up on solid ground, standing near the blazing car wreck to dry the woman off sooner. They were talking—of course they were talking, what else would they do?—and Archer had to put all his focus on them just to read their lips. All the while Caster stood dutifully to the side, returning to his civilian clothing and crossing his arms like a scorned child.
"Who's Shiro Katayama?" the woman asked. Archer clenched his fists tightly in his lap.
The man seemed to hesitate before replying. "My brother," was his response. A flicker of sympathy passed the woman's face, but the sneeze she let out wiped it clean in an instant.
Rider hummed thoughtfully.
"What?" Archer sighed.
"Caster is a man, correct?"
Archer furrowed his brows. "Aye?"
She grabbed the reins and cast a smug, sidelong glance at Archer. The kind of gleeful glance that hinted at only the most disastrous of plans. He didn't like where this was going to lead.
"One of my noble phantasms," Rider explained, "works exclusively on men. How simple would it be if I just..." She slowly wrapped the reins around her finger, giving it a small tug. Her bulls let out loud snorts, rearing to move at her order. "Snatched Caster up for myself?"
"And if he attacks before you can use it?" Archer watched her carefully. Rider barely even flinched at the question.
"Then I'll make him offer himself to me."
Well, she was ambitious, he'd give her that much. But the fact that she was prepared to go to such lengths out of her own self interest gave him a bad feeling. If Archer wanted to make it to the end, going on as little scouting trips with Rider as possible was a must.
"Another time," Archer reasoned. "Our Masters would likely punish us for acting on our own. As far as we know, these two represent the Association as well."
Rider relaxed her expression, going back to her childish pout. "Fine," she groaned. She steered the bulls in the opposite direction, and her chariot began its return trip to Takuya's home. "I can wait for the fun part, I suppose."
A paragon of queenly patience, he thought sardonically. Archer didn't bother to make a comment on the change of pace, though; he was thankful enough that she agreed in the first place, and he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Or a gift Rider, in this case.
"At least we have some interesting news to share," she went on. "I, for one, didn't see the little truce coming once she surfaced."
"Aye," Archer agreed. "Let's hope it doesn't prove troublesome in the long run."
