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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

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Chapter 3: (Not-So) Normal School Day

As a girl of a youthful age, Ria should not be happy that someone was watching over her as she slept. Especially if that someone was a guy.

But while she had reasonable issues with this situation, she found her slumber to be somewhat less tedious than usual. Not like she had a dreamless sleep, but it was quite something as she remembered everything and yet not. It all started in a most unusual setting, the dojo within the compound.

It was night, she was just wearing her nightgown and... someone had intruded her private session.

"It's a quiet night today, isn't it?"

Ria couldn't see his full face, but his smile was familiar.

"Just wandering about. Wanted to practice with my sword to clear some of my thoughts."

"Who... Who are you?" Ria asked, feeling somewhat restrained in her reaction.

"A guest to this house. What about you, young lady?"

"The owner of this house!" She replied with an irked tone, growing annoyed by this exchange. "And why would you need to be there to clear your thoughts?"

"Same thing you're doing here? Like I've said, I just want to be alone and train a little bit," He answered swiftly, surprising the girl on the spot. "But since you're here… I guess it would be asking too much to spar. I don't wish to sound too much disrespectful and straightforward, which is why I will leave you to your own businesses and I will train away from-"

That should have been the end of it, yet what he said rekindled a need to have someone around. It's been ages since Ria had a sparring partner, and this one, albeit mysterious, carried no ill intent towards her. So, her instinct took over and spoke for her.

"W-Wait," She muttered in a mix of confusion and surprise. "I mean, I wouldn't mind to spar with someone right now- you're also correct to say that it would be odd if you offered now and like this..."

"But?"

The woman sighed. "But I really need to vent on a live target," She admitted without hesitation. "A-And don't give me that look. I can tell that you wanted something like that too."

A nod, and a wooden sword, similar to the one she was using for practice, appeared in his right hand's hold.

"How about we make a bet?" He suggested calmly, Ria staring at the odd sparring partner with a mix of confusion and minor irritation as she did not like how distracting his words were. "I win, you tell me your name. You win, I tell you mine."

"Sounds rather unfair..." The blonde commented with a nod. "For yourself."

She was so excellent in sword-fighting that she couldn't herself be beaten by someone that she couldn't even see their face.

He looked quite heated up at the comeback "Then you will find no issue in accepting this, correct?"

A small smirk appeared on her face. "Only if you promise to not whine once I'm done with you."

That was it, no more banter and both rushed at each other. The excitement, the eagerness and then the-

"Wakey Wakey!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Ria had never screeched any louder than this, not even her worst nightmare getting her so terrified and... yet her 'Servant' spared her a smile that defied the glare she threw at him. As her mind took its time to wake up, Ria started to remember her current situation and eased down a bit- but refused to drop the glare.

"W-Why did you wake me up so loudly!?"

"You were not waking up when I tried to shake you. And I didn't want you to turn up late for school."

Her eyes widened at that last bit. "W-What time is it?"

"Six thirty."

Her shoulders sagged, Ria sighing in relief at that. "I... I always turn up late."

"I had a feeling about it. You sure have a rowdy slumber," Saber remarked, offering her a hand to help her stand up. Ria took it and, once up and fully standing, took a moment to stretch her arms. "So, do you wish for me to cook you something for breakfast?"

"Please do," She quietly conceded, making her way to the bathroom to get herself fixed for the day while Saber happily strolled to reach the kitchen and get her something ready.

Twenty minutes later, Artoria blinked at the delicious looking English meal sitting on her plates.

"That's... better than Merlin could do."

"A King I may have been in my life, but cooking was a skill I mastered because my beloved wife loved to cook delicious things," The man replied jovially. "And you should definitely give a look into learning this too. Out of the fact that you need to be self-sufficient now that you are old enough to deal with those responsibilities."

She groaned, knowing that, deep down, it wasn't a bad idea. She was too dependent on others when it came to food and that made her easy to manipulate at times.

"And are you going to teach me?" Ria asked sarcastically, but failing to see how this easily opened a door she hadn't expected to deal with.

"Do you want me to? If yes, I would be more than happy to train you as my beloved Padawan."

And now she was regretting offering that. Still, it was an issue to endure later on as she had school to attend and... her Servant was walking beside her, wearing a peculiar formal outfit he got from Merlin's wardrobe. To a stranger, he looked like a potential replacement to the... deceased guardian of hers, and in a way that was what the plan was all about.

Well part of it.

While she would go through a normal school day, Saber would check with the principal and make clear the new situation: Merlin had to be relocated as the complaints had reached Uther's ears, Joseph had been asked to help since he was quite familiar with Ria's issues and worked as her therapist at times, and that he would visit frequently to make sure that some of her medical assistance is properly applied.

Ria wasn't there to see the discussion, focusing more on not showing any suspicious behavior after her Servant gave her a rundown explanation of what she was meant to do to avoid issues. There could be Masters at school, hence why she had to wear some bandages over the bit of her hands where the command seals were imprinted on. Both hands were covered, the excuse being that she tripped and hurt her palms while working the day before after hearing odd noises coming from the school's courtyard.

Thus Ria engaged in quite the simple path she would take to go to class, ignoring the fact that, with her wandering unfolding much earlier than usual, she was bound to find people along the way. Which is why, as she turned the last corner to reach her classroom, she ended up tripping on a leg or two.

"O-Omph," She blurted out, tripping between the two fellow students and slamming head first on the ground. "Ghh."

"Oh- I- I am so sorry!" A familiar masculine voice muttered apologetically, and she looked up to see the very individual that had her heart do somersaults all those times he was around her.

Emiya Shirou, the nicest guy at school. Despite his lacking self-esteem, his gentle nature had enamored half the female population at school, students and teachers. Ria was not immune to that genuine kindness, with her cheeks flushing red and her throat tightening as she couldn't muster any words to reply to that but-

"I-It's alright, I... I am fine."

He helped her up and took notice of the bandages. "Artoria, right? Your hands- what happened to them?"

"Y-Yesterday. I was cleaning at school for detention and-"

"Why are we even pausing at this, Shirou? She is clearly fine and we are missing precious time that could be employed elsewhere." Another familiar voice called, this one irking Ria from within.

The dark-haired girl wore her hair in twin-tails, blue glacial eyes narrowed at the blonde in a protective fashion towards her... brother.

Emiya Rin was someone that Ria saw as a rival, mostly because she was eligible to have a relationship with her sibling. Shirou may legally be her older step-brother, but they shared no blood in them. And Ria had seen enough 'curious stuff' to know that this sort of idea was not that far off from possible.

"Rin, there's no need to be this rude," The redhead remarked, turning to Ria with a sheepish look. "I am sorry. Yesterday she tripped on some rocks and the injury has her irritated a lot-"

"Stop being so open about it. It's a private matter, Shirou. And you, Ria-baka, should get on track to reach your classes. You're earlier than usual, but you will miss it if you waste time by boring my brother." The twin-tailed tsundere remarked strongly, not an odd sight but... the fact her azure eyes flashed red for a moment confused Ria.

Still, the blonde nodded. "I suppose Rin is right. I wouldn't want to steal more precious time she would use to pester Shirou-kun."

Shirou sighed tiredly, while Rin looked absolutely irritated by this. No exchanges ensued from this as Ria was not in the right mindset to engage in the usual sparring. Something about Rin felt different today and... she felt her glares being deadlier than those used to be. Much to her relief, school went by quite swiftly, and she found no issue whatsoever as she went through classes without any disturbance.

In fact, she even had the chance of once more learning proper Art History through Medea-sensei's nice ways of explaining things. Out of all teachers, Medea-sensei was somewhat the kindest and the one Ana felt the closest to since she took care of her the few times she had panic attacks.

Plus, she was also the kind of individual that loved to be close to her students, and Ria tied this behavior to the fact Medea was a widow as her husband died while driving his sports car and hitting a truck coming from the other lane. It was quite dreadful news from what she heard, and Medea took months to get back to teaching. Still, she was up and happy as she used to be as the students loved her a lot as a professional tutor.

...And then there's her fascination for foreigners. She had a thing where she would paint or make collection models built on students with exotic origins, such as Ana, who loved to model with pretty dresses and... Ria that was quite confused why she had to wear a masculine armor at times. Still, she would get paid a bit and also get help with some notes to make up her absence during her lessons.

It was around lunchtime that something quite unexpected happened. Just as Ria left the classroom, a familiar young girl reached out and grasped at her hands.

"Senpai!" Ana greeted her happily. "I have to show you something important."

"A-Ana? Isn't it a bit sudden that-"

"Pleasepleaseplease!"

One would easily mistake this as normal behavior due to how young Ana was, but Ria knew Ana well enough to know this excitement was unusual for the girl. And soon she was led to the storage room where the two would meet at times. It was there that the blonde got a proper look of how excited the bespectacled girl was and... it felt odd. And then she got a glance of her raised fists she held both up to her chin in a giddy pose. One of those had command seals.

"Ana, you are a-"

"Master? Yes! I-I mean, like you!" She squeaked mirthfully. "Ria-senpai, a Master too- we have to be allies against those others trying to kill us."

"...How did you notice?"

"Oh, Parva- I mean, Rider and I were walking up to school and we coincidentally ended up trailing behind you and your Servant. He is so tall, Senpai," The plum-haired girl remarked. "Senpai, do tell... what is his Class?"

"S-Saber?"

"My Servant's Rider. And she is super nice. Right, Rider?"

It occurred to Ria just now that it wasn't just the two of them in that room. And just as she said that, a figure appeared out of floating sparkles of gold and stood over Ana. Tall, beautiful and wearing what looked to be Indian clothes. The purple-haired woman could easily pass as Ana's mother if she wanted and- she giggled, violet eyes shining as a tiny star showed amusement within her irises.

"Greetings, Master of Saber. It is an honor to meet you and... I hope we can achieve a proper alliance out of this."

"We definitely are!" Ana announced, pulling a very perplexed Ria in a hug that felt a bit tighter than a normal friendly one should be. "Ria and I shall win this competition together~!"

...At this point, Ria felt extremely confused. And somewhat annoyed as she could hear a familiar Saber-ish laugh coming from nearby, almost mocking her current situation.

AN

Schooltime, and I brought to you three Masters and two Servants, one of which is, quite simply, hidden in plain sight.

Ana is a lovely gal that may have deep feelings for Ria, much to the girl's density. And yet, Shirou is indeed here- him, his sister, and his... parents.

Argh, there's so much to unravel and, trust me, this story leaves me giddy every time I check the general plans for it!

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

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The First Oracle: It's going to get awkward, yes.