Fate/School Days - 10

Sato was somewhat surprised to still find his friend still alive the next day. He was even more surprised to find him wearing a large grin on his face. He looked around cautiously as he walked up to the other boy standing in the middle of the hallway.

"So?" he asked. "How did it go?"

"Didn't" Harima replied easily. "Couldn't find her after lunch at all. But~" He pulled a small envelope out of his pocket and waved it. "I found this in my locker today."

Sato looked at the the small paper, then glanced out the nearest window. Nope, the sky was not falling. "So... that's-"

Harima nodded. "She must have heard about me! She wants to meet me... right here! She's so cute, she's got this whole cloak and dagger thing going on too."

Something about that raised the hairs on the back of Sato's neck and he looked around nervously some more. "How so?"

"Oh she's got this weird sign/countersign thing going on. Like, according to this letter, I'm supposed to say 'Emiya-Jack' out loud and then I wai"

There was a sudden rush of air and Sato spun back around, only to find an empty corridor. Eyes wide, he nervously backpedalled, trying to keep sight of everything at once. Nothing, no signs of movement. No signs of life. No sign of Harima. Not even a scream.

Terrified, he turned and ran for the safety of homeroom.

It was dark.

It's a cliche phrase, but it really was. He shifted around a bit; yep, he was tied down to a chair. All that was left was for-

*click*

Ah, there's the spotlight. He squinted against the glare as his eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden light. He still couldn't see anything but there was a faint whisper of movement, and then a voice - female - echoed from behind him.

"He doesn't look that bad." A flurry of sounds, the sounds of somebody getting slapped and fighting back.

He coughed to grab their attention and grinned for his audience. "Ladies, there's no need to fight. There's plenty of me to go around."

There was a sudden silence, then another voice from in front of him. "That was terrible."

"Does he ever think of anything else?" asked third voice.

"Unfortunately, no," said a fourth. "Harima-kun is unfortunately fairly single-minded. He has.. a reputation in the class."

"Really now~" drawled the first voice. Slow, measured steps stalked around him just outside of the circle of light until they sounded from in front of him. "Hm, he's a bit younger than I normally go for, but if you don't want him, Little Sister, then I could always-"

"No." That was voice three, from directly behind him. He craned his head back to try to get a glimpse but winced as he accidentally stared directly into the spotlight above him.

He blinked his eyes as Karin Emiya walked past him and spun around to stare closely at his face. She tilted her head to one side, then the other as her eyes roamed over his body. Finally she straightened with a small sigh.

"Nothing," she said as she spun around to leave the lighted area.

"You shouldn't give up that easily," voice number one said reproachfully. "You hardly know him."

"I know of him," Karin replied.

He stared back and forth into the darkness, trying to pick out signs of the people involved. "Um, what's going on? I have a note...?"

The fourth figure stepped into view, revealing a girl he recognized as one of his classmates. "Harima-kun," Sakuya greeted him. "What are your intentions towards our sister?"

"Sakuya-chan?" He gaped, then blinked. "Wait, Karin-chan is your sister?"

"When did I suddenly become 'Karin-chan'?"

"Hush."

Sakuya simply stared at him and he began to sweat slightly. "Well, um, she's... cute?"

His classmate smiled sweetly at him, but otherwise didn't move. "And?"

"And... she's got a great personality?"

There was a sudden spout of laughing from voice number two. He watched as Karin crossed the lit area to the opposite side and there was a renewed sound of catfighting.

Sakuya was still smiling. "And?"

"And... uh..." he tried to ignore the sudden yelps and shrieks from the two girls. "...she's cute?"

"Wow, you really do have a one-track mind," snorted voice number two, a bit breathy after laughing so hard.

Sakuya frowned slightly and something about her expression sent off warning bells in his head. "I expected better... even from you, Harima-kun," she said sadly. She thumbed a switch in her hand and the lights clicked off again.

...

He jolted, "Hey, what poked me?"

Koyuki idled outside in the hallway, pretending to watch the PE classes outside through the window. She studiously ignored the sudden unmanly shrieks and cries coming from the room behind her, keeping most of her attention for any movement at the open end of the corridor.

There was the sounds of whips cracking, more screaming, and what sounded like a buzzsaw from the door, but she paid it no mind.

She perked up as she felt the thin layer of ice she'd laid down be tread upon and she took one step away from the wall to rap on the door in a short pattern. The noise quieted down into silence and she was back at the window just as a member of the school staff turned the corner and walked past. Koyuki nodded respectfully as the teacher made his way to the other side and disappeared into the cross-traffic.

She leaned back again to tap out an all-clear signal, and the room behind erupted into chaos once again.

She paid it no mind.

Harima slumped in the chair. That... there... such things were not meant to bend that way...

The lights clicked back on and he flinched.

The handle of a whip was tucked under his chin and lifted his head up, he flinched away from the smiling face of voice number one; the school's idol, Fuuko Emiya. Emiya, Emiya... how had he not made the connection earlier?

Fuuko hummed in approval and stepped back again. "He held up pretty well, actually. Are you sure you don't want him?"

Karin threw an annoyed glance to the side, where Keiko continued smirking. "Quite sure," she growled. "He's even useless as a minion... But still." She stepped forward and made sure Harima was looking her in the eye. "I probably won't be using you fairly often, but when I do, you do exactly whatever I say. Got it?"

He immediately nodded.

She leaned back and crossed her arms. "You're now Nameless Extra #18. And in case you didn't quite realize, I'm turning down your confession."

"That's... perfectly fine!" Harima said quickly. "Completely understandable!"

Karin stared down at him a few more moments then spun on her heel and walked over to the door. She tapped on it twice, and stepped out without hesitation when it opened. Sakuya and Keiko trailed after her; the former waving happily, the latter still trying to hold in her laughter.

Fuuko stepped back into view, a catty grin on her face. "So," she chirped, hands on her shapely hips. "You think of yourself as a ladies man, hmm?"

Harima squirmed nervously.

Koyuki closed the door again as she watched her sisters heading back to their classes. She leaned against the window to watch the fields again, her back to the closed off room.

She paid it no mind.