A/N: I was supposed to update last July 9 but was delayed due to internet problems (again). I'll start introducing new characters here, too.
Warnings: This is chapter 7. In case my story interests you, go ahead and read from the very beginning. I also have to switch POVs until in the later chapters.
Emiya Kiritsugu is a man of his word. A few days back, he announced to the committee of the teachers that the kendo club and lancing team will be having a sparring session this day, thus, the gym will be occupied. Of course, no one opposed him. He may be wearing a poker face all the time but deep inside he's a loving man for his family but also a dangerous one.
At first, everyone always questioned his wife, Irisviel Von Einzbern, how she kept up with such a harsh and aggressive man.
"Because I love him, and I'm the only one who changed him." She said. The white-haired woman would always accompany the answer with a meek smile plastered on her face.
Kiritsugu is the P.E. teacher of Fate academy and the best one the school got. Aside from being one, he is an exceptionally good shot. He has a wide range of firearms and bombing weapons displayed at his house in a secret basement that only he knows.
Today, with some of the lancing team's members and kendo club's rookies, they waited for Diarmuid and Arturia to show up. The tension around the room was unbearable. Let alone, if the actual fight starts. After about a minute or so, the two showed up. Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes towards Arturia. The girl seems odd. She's paler then usual and she's too calm and collected that it made almost everyone in her club uneasy. Sure, they believe in their Captain's abilities, but still… It's Diarmuid they're talking about here.
'Something must've happened.' He thought.
On the other hand, he glanced towards Diarmuid's direction and as usual, the boy looks like nothing will happen today. Kiritsugu proposed this activity to the heads because he always found their matches amusing.
The two positioned themselves at the center and faced each other. Diramuid smiled and winked at Arturia.
"Saber. This will be the second time we'll fight. I hope it will get in a good and unpredictable result." He greeted. Saber just smirked in annoyance, much to his confusion.
"Hmm. Lancer, don't get too cocky. You must be thinking right now that all will go the way you planned it. I'm not the Saber you fought last year. I'm different now." She scoffed defiantly.
Diarmuid just raised his brow at this. Arturia's response took him aback. She's right; she is different. She emits a different aura today that it suddenly struck to him that it must be her. He took a quick glance at her hair and found that her ahoge is gone and that could only mean one thing.
Before he gets to voice out his thoughts, Emiya Kiritsugu's voice boomed throughout the whole gymnasium, silencing all noise.
"Students, today we will witness the two captains of the top 2 strongest clubs here in Fate academy clash. This is a sparring session but take note that this is also a demonstration for you rookies. These two students here also took the same step as all of you here. So watch the different techniques and moves used by Diarmuid and Arturia."
He nodded to the direction of the two as they got ready. Arturia took out her katana; a real one at this point. Diarmuid also had his two spears, Gae Buidhe and Gae Dearg, in hand. Kiritsugu had much confidence that these two will not injure themselves for he have constantly reminded them that this fight will also be a demo and no such thing as bloodshed will be needed.
"Players, face each other!" He ordered.
Diarmuid and Arturia faced each other, both with neutral expressions.
"Fight!" As Kiritsugu said that, the gong boomed, signaling the start of the fight.
The gymnasium fell into an even quieter state as Arturia made the first move. She quickly lunged towards Diarmuid's direction. Lancer easily dodged the first attack, but he gotta admit, he was taken a little aback by her sudden aggressiveness. He haven't even properly landed his left foot yet when Arturia spun around and advanced again. She tilted her katana with a light sound and forcefully thrust it to Diarmuid.
Diarmuid dodge it again with a light jump. Arturia rested first while surveying her enemy. She had her katana ready in case of a surprise attack. She eyed Diarmuid and for the last minute, they caught each other's eyes. He stared deep into her hollow, emerald orbs.
'It must be her!' Diarmuid thought, 'She's acting odd today, and no other explanation can convince me.'
No longer, Arturia ran again with her sword in hand, she gave an overhead strike but this time, Diarmuid knew better than to dodge again. He quickly unleashed Gae Buidhe from its cloth and used it to block Arturia's attack using his left hand. He barely made it on time. The spear's color flashed an eerie yellow light that battled against the katana's white one. He eyed Arturia again with satisfaction. He had always dreamt on fighting her.
Taking her business with Gae Buidhe an advantage, Diarmuid quickly gave a breathtaking blow using Gae Dearg from his right. Arturia then noticed the attack and quickly drew out her sword to duck and roll to the back. She readied again.
It was a quiet battle but the recent scene earned several gasps and not too shortly, the whole gymnasium fell into a betting place.
"Woo! That's our Captain Diarmuid! He will definitely win this match!"
"Yeah! Using those two spears will give him an advantage!"
The kendo club heard this and starts rooting for their captain, too.
"Captain Arturia will surely win this one!"
"Her swordsmanship skills are astoundingly perfect. Everyone will pale before the sight of her!"
From each corner of the gym, the mixed members of the two teams all made noise. Kiritsugu maintained his poker face while continuing to watch. True, anyone will pale at the mere sight of these two, but today will be the day he will get to know who's stronger.
Arturia and Diarmuid continued their brawl. Arturia has gone tired with the whole attacking and dodging system so she decided to use the technique she learned from all her years studying kendo.
"Strike Air!"
Those were the first two words Diarmuid heard ever since the fight started and he failed on realizing it on last minute. Before he got his handsome face scarred, he dodged it at the last minute but the sharp end of the katana still hit Lancer's left cheek. He somersaulted backwards and flinched as he touched the cut. Arturia chuckled a little as she eyed the ugly gash with glee.
"Oh? Where's the confidence you've got a while ago? Eh, Lancer?" She asked with a hint of malice clearly heard in her tone.
Diarmuid only smirked at this, but inside, he's a little bit troubled by what will be the outcome. He eyed her for a second and noticed that she didn't even break a sweat.
'She's clearly enjoying this.' He thought, considering the current circumstances.
Arturia may be small but surprisingly, the strength she got now is beyond human. As he thought all of this, he didn't notice the stillness and sudden tranquility of the place. The whole arena fell quiet again as late realization hit them.
"Oh no…"
"It can't be!"
At the far corner of the arena, Tsukiko scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. She nudged her seatmate and asked the only question that's been clearly bothering her.
"Hey, what's with Captain today? And why is everyone making a big deal out of what Diarmuid got?" She asked.
The boy beside her looked at her like she's from another dimension of the world and sighed when he realized she's still a newbie to the club.
"Oh yeah, you're Ikeda right?" Tsukiko nodded.
"Hmm… It's kind of tiring for me to explain, but I've heard several rumors that when Captain had a bad day or is angry, she becomes a sadist herself. Her malevolency is immeasurable and in the past she beat guys down using her inhuman strength and sent them flying to the hospital." He continued, "Some say the best feature she have when she's like this is that her usual ahoge is gone. Just so you know, ahoge is like a small tuft of hair sticking ou-"
"I know what ahoge is!" She replied, annoyed at the sudden lecture.
"Okaaay." He shrugged indifferently. They continued to watch the fight with unbearable silence.
"Ummm. Hey. You still haven't answered my questions." Tsukiko sweat dropped as she reminded her club mate.
"Oh, sorry." He sighed again, "That just meant one thing…"
Tsukiko counted up to ten and gulped when she heard her club mate's reply.
"Captain Arturia is in her Saber Alter mode today. And she won't hold back until one of them perishes." He grunted, "Or so I've heard."
A/N: Sorry no Gil again, LOL, but I hope you enjoyed this chappy! Actually, this fight will last for two chapters (this one and the next) and that only happens for 1 day in the actual story line. One thing, ahoge is like uhh. Just search it up. Some of you may understand better if you watched Carnival phantasm (episode 8, specifically) or Fate/hollow ataraxia. So be patient and review. Who do you think will win? Why do you think Saber Alter mode is activated? Byebye!~
Thanks for reading the 7th chapter of Yoki shinai!