"I can't believe this is happening," I mutter more to myself than anyone else. Berserker's unusually sharp ears hear me however, and he inches closer to my face as he peers at the cereal box I'm fixated on. "What? What is happening that is so false?"

Should I even bother with answering him? I roll my eyes at him and frown; he smiles wearily and slides back to his place two boxes away from me, his eyes bright with curiosity. With how he dresses, he "didn't feel the inclination" to change for our trip to the convenience store. I picked up a heavier jacket abandoned on the wooden bench out in front of the store and zip it up all the way, as if to avoid everything going on around me. Dr. Jekyll, a mysterious murderer (or so I'm assuming, if he even justifies 'serious creep' as 'serial killer'), caresses the many boxes of cereal, oatmeal, and pre-packaged coffee bags, keenly eyeing the ingredients of each.

That's to my right. To my left is some asshole kid – blonde, tall, the arrogant face smudgly fixed on glaring at us like a real four-eyed creep – and some gay-looking black-haired guy with freckles. He's less intimidating by a landslide, and he's got some sort of weird anxiety bubbling over; I can practically feel my skin crawling with their questions. I think they were looking for the sugary-toaster crap, but they've been following us around now and I can't help but glare back every now and then.

When we hit the groceries isle, a brown-haired kid my age jumps and drops everything as Berserker throws the concept of "personal space" into the last decade: He leans over this poor, four-eyed chump, Berserker bending over him, the boy bending backwards. The poor guy's freaking the hell out.

… then again, I probably would too if a foreigner was on top of me.

But it wasn't the guy Berserker was interested in. His hand holds his chin as his eyes drop to the ground. "And what do you call that, that atrocity you just dropped?"

The guy's sweating through his orange sweatshirt. "Uhhhhhh, sorry?!"

"That." Dr. Jekyll's eyes drop to the roots the boy left rolling on the ground.

The kid realizes his mistake, drops to the ground, and scuttles back a few paces before I arrive on the scene. "I-i-i-i-i-i-it…. it's a…. Taro root. They're good for fiber and Vitamin B-6."

"What a fascinating thing!" Berserker's voice rises a decibel with each syllable. "And what on heaven or on Earth is B-6?"
"Its better known as pyridoxine." The guy gets his grove going and expands on his crap knowledge of plants. "Its also full of magnesium, copper, iron, and potassi-"
"Glorious. I will purchase twelve." Berserker spins around and snaps to me, pointing at the Taro roots (Its not like I don't already have some Veetios, cough drops, sleepy-time tea, and chicken from the butcher stand, but whatever). I hastily bag up 12, apologize to the crap-tastic plant nerd, and hurry after the slowly departing Berserker.

If shopping were fun, I'd be in to it. I figured getting to waltz around with a bunch of hot dudes with be a great ego boost, but this?

Berserker tosses another thing to me… wait, is this flea medicine for cats?

This is too much.

"I do say, this generation has the world in the palm of its under-worked hand!" he clasps his hands together in glee as he spins around the dairy products. "O diem praeclarum!"

"Stop flaunting," a reassuring growl demands from behind me. It's Arche- oh, hot damn.

He's ditched the red silks for a slightly tighter-than-it-probably-should-be black dress shirt and matching slacks. He avoids my gaze as he marches next to Berserker, head and shoulders above him.

Sweet.

I can roll with this.

"I thought you were waiting outside with Lancer?" Berserker sounds slightly irritated.
"I was, you were taking too long." Archer's eyes flicker back to me, face barely visible behind the small mound of crap. "We should act quickly here to avoid involving outsiders."

Fair enough. Berserker shrugs and wanders off down another isle way as Archer waits for me to catch up to him.

Uncharacteristically, he takes some of my burden into his own arms. He seems to know what each thing is too, unlike Berserker – he places each item carefully in his arms, lining up boxes and bags with the tops, well, topside.

"Uh, thanks."

"You looked like a fool carrying all of this crap."

"Thanks." He turns to the isle way that Berserker disappeared down as my ears burn in rage. "Is he almost done?"

"I think so. We've hit almost everything on his list."

On the walk down the hillside, Berserker wrote down every freaking component under the sun that would be 'of unmistakable essence' to the spell. His list took up an entire page in Takao's journal, and its safe to assume he's had to make some variations based on the store's limited options; yes, I say limited, because how many people can find some raw magnesium iron in a place like this? Not many.

Yet he makes do and we're almost out of here.

Not close enough, however: a kid with absurdly white hair stops in Archer's path, mesmerized by the man towering over him. I can see Archer look down at the kid, sidestep, and continue forward, clearly irritate that the child was in his holy presence.

Behind the boy jogs up another – he's almost sporting a bowl-cut, an atrocity on its own – and he's flagged down by some guy sporting a black ponytail.

"Arslan, you know its rude t-"

"He had white hair like me." The child muses, cutting off the man with wonder in his little voice. He turns, youthful face full of awe. "That's… really neat. Do you think he's my daddy?"

The man takes a moment before he responds, head whipping back and forth to make sure the boy wasn't heard. "Yeah, but-"

My heart leaps up my throat.

I have to mumble excuse me as I rush past, ears burning. Why the hell am I so damn upset about them talking about Archer? The kid was genuine enough… Did Archer hear them?

There's no way they're actually related. That kid was nothing short of… a turnblossom. An insolent fool. An accident waiting to happen.

Unless he was an accident in the area a few years ago.

I nearly drop everything as Berserker suddenly tops off my arms with an apple. He must have been on a rampage again - he stops with his mouth partly open. But his eyes catch mine and his brow furrows slightly. Not in a pissed-off way like Archer's eyebrows are glued together, but more like a… I don't know, I guess a brotherly way?

"Miss… Hashimoto? Are you well? You're pale as Hamlet's ghost." I don't respond, so he inches his face closer to mine. "Miss?"

"Wh-? Yeah no, yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Wait, sorry." I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment to regain composer. "Sorry, did you ask me something?" Berserker turns slowly around to watch the man and children; his deliberate movements catching every infinite detail with his sharp, beastly eyes. "No." He turns back to me, suddenly realizing the burden he's leveled me down with. Impishly, he staggers so he's just below my level and tries to force everything out of my hands.

"Jeezus Christ Berse- I mean, Dr., give a girl a warning!" I pull back before everything falls on his unexpected face.

Seriously. Berserker? This white cracker? This little shit?

He steps back and scratches the back of his head, blushing slightly as he reclines. "I apologize, it is wrong of me to burden you as such."

"Dude, this isn't a burden." I focus on the apple, as it rocks too and fro on the peak of my little mountain. "Don't worry about it. Are we done here?"

"We better be. This is taking too long." Archer appears, extending an arm to take the apple from me. He frowns as he inspects the red fruit. "What's this for? It has no properties for any sort of spell."

"Nay, it's not for the incantation. It's for me. I'm hungry."

"Jeezus Doc, you could'ov said something." I look at Archer as he throws the apple at a surprised Berserker. "Are you hungry too?"

"I'm fine."

"You say that, but-"

"I'm fine." He turns around and starts walking to the checkout. "Besides, we only have a day left." Berserker follows, unaccustomed to the shopping process unlike Archer, and yet unphased by the horrific and suddenly-dropped truth.

Oh yeah.

My face drops down, messy hair blocking my view.

They only have a day left to live.

"Excuse me? Miss?" A man with poorly-dyed blonde hair peeks over at me from the counter. "Are you with these men?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting." I can see Archer over the checkout stand and various, flavorless gum, the corners of his face falling to extreme measures as I test his patients. The man keeps eyeing us awkwardly as we stand in silence, him sliding various things across the scanner. He smells like smoke. He sounds tired. There are lines under his eyes. He was probably a highschool drop-out, back in his day. I subconsciously rub my check and feel around my eyes, praying the same dead-beaten look hasn't corrupted my face like this day has damaged my personality. I find that I can't look at Archer, not after what that kid said.

I can't believe I'm rattled by something like this.

It was just some kid.

But still.

" 'This everything?"

"Yes." Archer pulls out a red leather wallet (of course, what other color would it be?) and unveils a gold credit card. In his black-trim slacks and dress shirt and hair slicked back, he looks like an actor buying a girl in the red-light district; then again, with cheeky little Dr. Jekyll at his side, maybe he's more of a desperate millionaire uncle trying to please his nephew. A bestranged nephew to say the very least, but shit... I can feel my cheeks roasting under sudden heat. No wonder everyone's watching us. We look like a freakband or something.

Wait, where the hell did he get a wallet? How long has he had that?
Don't tell me he stole that from someone, that shit.

Berserker greedily hoists several bags to his side, nearly dropping two in the process. Archer storms out without a second look once he's done paying for Berserker's crap, and the weak monster obediently chases after his master – leaving me to take the last three plastic bags.

The cashier leans on his elbows as he watches me struggle.

"Want the receipt?"
"I guess not."

"Need a hand?"

"No, no thanks."
"Hey, kid-" I look at him, his deadbeat face, his lifeless eyes.

Or, at least I thought they were lifeless a minute ago. A spark of worry lights up his eyes in a form of… angry concern. As if he's my dad or something. We stare at each other in silence, neither yielding to the other's exhausted expressions.

"How long have you known those guys?"
I didn't realize I was holding my breath.

"Uh, what time is it?" He arches a brow and looks down at his watch as I take my leave. "Uhhhh, quarter 'til eleven…?"

I pause at the door. "About five hours, then."

As the three of us start walking back up the mountainside to our base of operations, Lancer lands silently beside me, instantly reaching down to take my bags.

I catch myself blushing for the millionth time today as our hands touch. His face lingers near mine as he reaches down, and he smiles.

"Of all the Servants, you are trapped with three men, to which but one is a gentleman. You truly are an unlucky young woman tonight, aren't you?"

I smile as Berserker stumbles over his emotional reaction, jaw dropped and finger raised to teach us all a lesson. I cross my arms over my chest in the bitter cold. "I will have you know, kind knight, thy am but one of history's greatest gentlemen!"
"Please, a member of the Berserker class, a gentleman?" Diarmuid Ua Dibhne rises to full height as he taunts Dr. Jekyll more. "I doubt you even know the definition of chivalry… but I trust your endeavors have paid off?"

Berserker lingers over the idea of continuing to banter, but his eyes fall on me as I trudge up the hill quietly. "Well, yes… but of course." Several moments pass in silence before he fishes around in his grocery bags, revealing an apple with a single bite in it. Dr. Jekyll bounds over to me, gentle smile on his gentle face. "Miss, I believe tho needs this more than thy." I don't look at him; I keep my eyes on the path in front of me. "No, you're hungry. You take it."

"If you do not eat, you will be extremely depleted of energy. We cannot allow that if the incantation is to work." I finally look at him hesitantly, Archer continuing to trample up the hill, Lancer waiting beside me.

I watch his back melt from black to red. His clothes evaporates, leaving in place his warrior's silks.

"No thanks. I'm good."

Lancer and Berserker walk behind me as we continue in silence.

"See? Indeed thy knows chivalry!"

"Hush."

"Berserker." I try tentatively. Archer stops walking as the two behind me catch up. As the lights from the city fade away, the only illumination comes from the vibrance in each man's eyes.

"Yes?"

"How ready are we to try the spell?"

"We could do it any time now." His voice is soft, humor gone. All three face me as I switch between looking at each. "Then let's do this. The sooner, the better."

Berserker smiles as he takes a bite of his apple. He offers it to me as he speaks. "Then, we shall make haste to march forward."

.

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This was originally fluff to pass the time at the airport, but I found a way to factor in a few elements I've left unspoken. Pretty happy about how this turned out.

Anyone recognize the cameos? XD