Story Vocabulary
(May update as the story progress)
Aruji-sama = It means Lord, Chief, and Master.
Banzai = Japanese's battle cry.
*Touken Danshi = AKA Sword Warriors, gods of swords created from ancient spirit and techniques that are given human form. They are the summons under Saniwa. (Touken Ranbu)
-Sword Types : Wakizashi, Uchigatana, Tachi, Ootachi, Yari, Nagitana, and Tsurugi. (Touken Ranbu)
*Sage = The power used by Saniwa to assist and summon new Touken Danshi (Touken Ranbu)
*Jikan sokōgun = AKA Time Retrograde Army and Historical Revisionists, antagonists and responsible of traveling back in time to alter historical events. (Touken Ranbu)br /
*Honmaru = Also known as Citadel, a Japanese-castle-like establishment where Saniwa and the Touken Danshi lives. (Touken Ranbu)
*Heroic Spirits = AKA Legendary Souls, are spirits of heroes who achieved great deeds in life, having become objects of worship after their deaths. (FATE)
*Servants = are Heroic Spirits that the Master of Chaldea commands. (FATE)
-Classes of Servants : Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Assassins, Caster, Berserker, Ruler, Avenger, Moon Cancer, Alter Ego, Foreigner, Pretender and Shielder. (FATE)
*Majutsu = AKA Magecraft, is the artificial reenactment of Mystery, which is ordinarily possible only by inhuman beings. It is the ability to bring about what is possible through science with supernatural means. (FATE)
Chapter 3 : The Clever Cage
"Hoy! Wake up! This is not the time to continue sleeping! Yasusada! YASUSADA!"
"GWAH!" Yamatonokami Yasusada stalely work up and found himself in a place he does not recognize.
Looking around it was really dark and the room is pretty much empty. Another thing he noticed was his hands were tied in his back, what's going on!?
"Yasusada your finally awake!" He heard the voice called him. Finally realizing the owner of that voice, he immediately turned around and found himself smiling in relief as he called him, "Kiyomitsu your alive! I'm glad I found you."
The owner of the voice that kept calling him was none other than Kashuu Kiyomitsu who grunted and seeing him, he too had his both hands tied behind his back and he's on the other side. Also, Yamatonokami Yasusada was late to realize that they were in prison.
"Where are we?" Yamatonokami Yasusada asked. Kashuu Kiyomitsu sigh loudly, "Obviously in prison, the last thing I remember was that I'm fighting against a girl who holds you, by that I mean you as a sword, and called herself Okita Souji before losing consciousness. Looks like I lost against her."
"What!? Okita-kun but female!?" Yamatonokami Yasusada was truly shocked when he heard that. "You're pulling my leg, right?"
"I wish but do you really think I would joke about that?" Kashuu Kiyomitsu grumbled which immediately made him back down, "No you won't… still a girl version Okita-kun… I really could not expect that."
"Same here but the fact that she could do Okita's perfect move, much less actually vomit blood while fighting is really like him and definitely no one could copy him than himself."
"I see…"
"I was here for two or three days already, so how about you? I was forced to be knockout a while I go and by the time I woke up, your there."
"Huh… well… AHHHH!" As if remembering what happened, Yamatonokami Yasusada could not help but stand in panic despite his both hands were still bounded, "Izuminokami-san! Is Izuminokami -san here!?"
"Huh? Izuminokami-san is with you?" Kashuu Kiyomitsu asked in surprised.
Before the two could talked more, they heard a familiar voice far from their location.
"I'm here, I'm so glad you finally remembered me." The voice of Izuminokami Kanesada echoed.
Yamatonokami Yasusada sigh in relief while Kashuu Kiyomitsu asked, "Where are you?"
"By the looks of it, three blocks away from your location. Both my hands were tied and I don't have my sword with me." Izuminokami Kanesada replied before asking him, "Kashuu I heard you're here for two or three days, do you know who's guarding us? Are you also hurt?"
"Thankfully no but they do give a punch if they want you to forcibly sleep. They kept asking me about the Jikan Sokōgun, about us Touken Danshi, my companions and why are we here. I did not provide them any information about us and our reason of being here but I provided them the basics about the Jikan Sokōgun. It maybe because of that, they're not giving in to torture." Kashuu Kiyomitsu answered as he leaned his side to the wall.
"Well, what's important is that your alive and well…" Yamatonokami Yasusada said in relief which Izuminokami Kanesada quickly agreed before telling him what happened to them. "For us, we are facing with Jikan Sokōgun, which by the way are abnormally strong than they used to, before encountering the Chaldea's commander and called himself Hijikata Toshizo."
"Wait, Hijikata-san!? The vice commander of Shinsengumi?" Kashuu Kiyomitsu asked in shock because there's no way for the person who was loyal to the Shinsengumi would join to anyone's army.
Izuminokami Kanesada nodded in solemn despite the fact he would not be seen while Yamatonokami Yasusada voiced his agreement, "Yeah, we're in shock as well when he introduced himself as Hijikata-san, not only that he also holds Izuminokami Kanesada sword, he also holds a firearm, clearly showing it's really him but… his appearance contradicts from what I once remember."
"That's not the only problem, Hijikata-san's power strength is far too overwhelming that it could not be compared to a normal person." Izuminokami Kanesada added, "It may have something to do with the way he introduced himself, Berserker Class Servant or something."
"Class Servant!" Kashuu Kiyomitsu could not help but react to those words. Before the two could asked, he immediately explained, "When I fought against the girl version Okita, she said she's a Saber Class Servant. What's a Servant? How many classes are there?"
"We don't know… still Okita-san calling himself, no herself a Servant huh… I wonder why Servant?" Yamatonokami Yasusada said in contemplation while Izuminokami Kanesada asked, "The person who's interrogating you, was it Okita-san?"
"No, he never introduced himself but he acts as a well-mannered samurai yet… if ever I have my sword with me, I don't think I would be able to defeat him. It's my guts feeling that's telling me that." Kashuu Kiyomitsu admitted and there's a clear frustration in his eyes that Yamatonokami Yasusada could not help but worry, "Kiyomitsu…"
"In any case, we have to find a way to escape this place and warn them about the Chaldea forces. Everything about them is not normal and I'm not sure if they should be seen as ally or not." Izuminokami Kanesada concluded and the two nod in agreement.
Now, how to escape the prison.
In Echizen Ono Castle, a female shinobi appeared behind the Master who's currently busy studying the current map with Nobunaga, Nobukatsu and Kagetora.
"Master a report from Sakamoto Ryouma, targets had taken the bait and were now on the way to Azuchi Castle." The female shinobi reported. Master turned around before asking her, "What is Ryouma-san's assessment?"
"They may look like trustworthy to make connection and as far as he could observe, they are not part of the Demons Army. Not only that, he said that their group and ours may be similar in a way." The female shinobi answered.
The Master crossed his arms as he thinks while Nobunaga voice her disdain, "Huh? What does he mean by making a connection with them? If they are foot soldiers then good but there's no way they could actually help us."
"S-sister wait! We're talking about Sakamoto-san's assessment here, he may not be wrong." Nobukatsu contradicts but his voice was far too shy and low to make his statement strong for everyone's ears.
"Hey, are you really siding with that guy than me?" Nobunaga glared toward her younger brother who shook his head, "No, of course not! I'm in your side sister."
"Hahaha you two are always funny." Kagetora laugh which now in turn was glared by Nobunaga, "We're not being comedians for you freak!"
"Now now both of you." Master said which immediately calm the two. He turned back to the shinobi before giving an order, "Please tell Ryouma-san that if that's what he thinks then he should do the negotiation with them and whatever he decides will also be my decision. Just in case, have Inshun-san and Izou-san be on standby for his protection."
"By your will Master. I will relay your order to Sakamoto Ryouma, Okada Izou and Hozoin Inshun." The female shinobi replied.
The Master smiled toward her, "Thank you for all the hard work, Danzo-san, you and Kotaro work truly hard for me."
"It is natural to serve you Master and if I will borrow someone's words, to serve you is our great pleasure." The female shinobi identified as Kato Danzo smiled in warm toward her Master before disappearing on site.
The Master sigh in relief before turning back to the three, "Sorry for the interruption, shall we return back to our topic?"
"Its fine Master, being interrupt while in the middle of the planning invasion is very natural." Nobunaga said with a laugh followed by Kagetora, "That's right Master so there's nothing to worry."
He smiled as he nodded before his eyes turn serious as he stared at the map. As of now the Demons Army had lots of occupied land than Chaldea, they need to fix that, for the sake of fixing this Singularity.
Next three days when the group of Touken Danshi with Saniwa and Konnosuke finally arrived at Azuchi. The Azuchi Castle stand firmly, which made Heshikiri Hasebe pause as he stared it. The rest pause as well to stare both him and the Castle ahead.
Horikawa Kunihiro asked him, "Does the Castle feel nostalgic for you? It was built by your previous master, Oda Nobunaga."
"Not really." Heshikiri Hasebe replied, "Just that its strange to see this castle standing despite knowing it. For what I remember, the Castle was burned before it reached Edo period."
"He does bring out a good point." Konnosuke voiced his agreement, "To see this Castle standing is very strange."
"Which gave us the more reason to investigate the Castle." Saniwa turn toward them, "Konnosuke and I will talk to the locals about Chaldea and make a map about this city, I want the three of you to investigate the Castle. Avoid conflict as much as possible and don't sneak in, we will do that after gathering information from the outside."
"Understood Aruji-sama." Heshikiri Hasebe said in full conviction before turning to the other two, "You heard Aruji-sama's order, now you Matsunokami will investigate the current status of Chaldea's Army within this City while you Horikawa will act as a person who is interested in joining the Chaldea Army and get as much as information as you can but avoid asking about Izuminokami and Yamatonokami to avoid suspicion."
Horikawa Kunihiro looked trouble for a moment before nodding, "Okay."
"How about you?" Matsunokami Yoshiyuki questioned toward the captain. He answered, "I will investigate the outer castle and memorize the Army's patrol time."
Matsunokami Yoshiyuki frown, "Isn't that dangerous?"
"I know but between all of us, I am more familiar with the Azuchi Castle's blueprint so I know exactly where I could do my observation and of course I will avoid sneaking in as Aruji-sama's order." Heshikiri Hasebe assured.
Convinced, none of them voiced their objection and immediately went out to do their own assignments. Unknown to them, there are two men watching them secretly.
One of them twitched as he grunted, "So those are the newcomers, they're nothing worth mentioning about. If Master would only order us to kill them it would have been done a long time ago."
"Be at ease Okada, they may turn out to be a good ally you know." The other reasoned. The person identified as Okada Izou, Assassin Servant, twitched in irritation. "As if! There's no denying they're weak Inshun, you're not blind right?"
"Of course not, but the fact remain that they don't feel like humans at all, meaning they are special in a different way like us." The other person identified as Hozoin Inshun, Lancer Servant, argued back before smiling towards them. "Well now that we have seen them, let's meet up with Sakamoto to learn the plan and remember Okada, no fighting against ally and even to them unless told by Sakamoto."
"Geez I know that! You, Ryouma and Master are far too soft." Izou grumbled as he walked away. Inshun chuckled as he followed him from behind, "Yet you had never turned yourself back against Master, Okada."
Izou gave a loud 'Tch' and never looked back. If anyone saw his eyes, there's actually a warm gaze when their Master was mentioned. He will never speak about this freely but Izou actually develop a soft spot towards their Master and he will not hesitate to kill anyone who will dare to harm his Master. That is a fact that resounds not only to him but all of the Servants that had made a contact with him, much less get a time to know him.
It was sunset when Saniwa and Konnosuke went to the inn to rent a room for them. Now that their room is assured, both decided to go to one of the tables and ordered some snack then wait for the Touken Danshi to come back with news in hand.
While the two silently talked, someone approached them.
"Excuse me, may we sit here for a moment?" A foreigner asked.
Turning to the person, it was a young man wearing a white military cloth, holding a cup of coffee. Beside him was a girl wearing a long black dress, gazing at them with disinterest and very much clingy towards the man. The two unknowingly met the Rider Class Servant, Sakamoto Ryouma and his assistant, Oryou.
Konnosuke and Saniwa wasn't actually sure if they should I allow these two strangers to sit with them and was about to decline when they noticed that all the tables were full and only their table had some free sits. Since the Touken Danshi won't be coming soon, they decided to allow them to have a sit with them.
The two gave their thanks and sat across them. Ryouma began to drink his coffee while Oryou stared at them so intensely that made Saniwa bit uncomfortable.
"Umm… is there a matter?" Saniwa finally asked toward the girl.
The girl remained silence but eyes still gaze intensely toward him. Ryouma chuckled before turning to his companion.
"Hey, that's not nice you know. They allowed us to sit here." Ryouma said which only made the girl humph. He sighs before turning to them in apologetic expression. "Forgive my companion's attitude, she actually preferred being alone with me but as you can see, no sits are free for the two of us."
"I see… you two are a lovely couple." Saniwa commented. Ryouma blinked for a moment before chuckling, not confirming or denying it. Ryouma leaned to him and asked, "So do tell young man, why are you, a person who's not from this time, doing here?"
The questioned shocked of Saniwa and Konnosuke because this unknown person actually know they're not from here. Konnosuke had secretly gazed towards Saniwa, actually noticed by the two but did not show it, and silently asked what should they do. Saniwa was personally not sure before turning his gaze towards him and asked.
"What made you think we're not from here?"
"Quite simple, your dialect was like you're from the 20th century. I who was born in time could never make a mistake from it." His answer brought alarm towards Saniwa and Konnosuke. Saniwa narrowed his eyes, fully on guard as he asked. "Who are you?"
"As of the moment I have no obligation to tell you my name so I will not ask your name as well. But if you need a name to address me, call us Rider." Ryouma answered.
'Rider? Wait, us? Does that mean…' Saniwa glanced toward the girl whose eyes returned back from him and intensely so. He immediately realized that if he made a move, this girl would do it first.
"I wonder if you will be able to answer my first question young man." Ryouma said as he sipped to his drink. Saniwa glanced toward Konnosuke who's not moving but he was pretty sure he's contacting the Touken Danshi to get their aid. Now all he has to do was buy time for them. "I'm here for a mission."
"And that is?"
"I will answer if you answer my questions."
"Hmm… very well…" Ryouma made a sip to his drink then spoke, "Ask away."
"Are you part of the Chaldea Army?"
"Yes. My question, what is your mission?"
"To fix the flow of history." Saniwa was expecting him to be perplex from his answer but all he did was hum, as if understanding what he's talking about.
"I see… well, your question young man." Ryouma simply said. Saniwa mentally sweat as he asked, "Do you understand our goal?"
"Of course, after all our mission aligned actually." Ryouma said which made Saniwa's eyes widen in disbelief as he immediately asked, "What do you mean!?"
"Oops, it's my turn young man." He grinned which made his eyes narrow before forcing himself to calm down. "Well, what's your question this time?"
"I heard this information from a young man who called himself Kashuu Kiyomitsu," Upon hearing that name, Saniwa's eyes widen and Konnosuke would have reacted too but forced himself to remain unmoving. Ryouma continued, "He called those foot soldiers from the Demons Army a Jikan Sokōgun, an evil force that wants to alter historical events. Then he mentioned about himself as Touken Danshi, when we asked him about it, he never spoke so here is my question. What's a Touken Danshi's purpose?"
Saniwa remained silence, contemplating what to answer from his question. He cannot say the truth because it's their mission to fix time as such should never interact with anyone in the past, questioning the locals is their limit, having a person know about them would be too much as such cannot be done.
As if he could read his mind, the man commented. "If you're worried about your existence here will change history, I assure you now that once the cause of Edo era's abnormalities is erased, everything we have done from this timeline will not be remembered by locals of this time. As such whatever you reveal or do will all be forgotten."
"I-Is that true!?" Saniwa's eyes widen in shock and Ryouma chuckle, "Well, I will answer if you answer my question now."
Saniwa glared the man before calming himself once again, reluctantly he replied. "Their purpose is to prevent the Jikan Sokōgun from alternating history."
"I guess as much." Ryouma nodded to himself, "For your question a while ago, yes anything we do here will not be remembered so as much as you can, interact with the locals more. Not only to get information but also experience some life that you will not be able to do so once your back young man."
He unknowingly clenched his fist. It's been on his mind this whole time, the fact that they need to talk to the locals and be part of their memories was against the rules but to fix this crisis he had no choice but to do that and face the consequences once he reported this to the higher ups back to his time.
"My question young man." Ryouma spoke, returning Saniwa's attention back to him as he continued. "Will you become an ally with Chaldea and assist us in overthrowing the Demons Army and fix the Edo time period in your term while ours, this Singularity or…" His gazed narrowed as he continued in serious tone, "You will become an enemy?"
Konnosuke wanted so badly to jumped in front of Saniwa and answer back but he can't. He's the only one who could do something in case these two do something towards him. He made a telepathy towards the three Touken Danshi.
'Hey! Where are you three!?' Konnosuke shouted in hurry. The reply from them was not something he did not expect.
'My apologies Konnosuke-san but there is a guy wielding a nagatana who won't let me get pass through and no matter how much I fight back, I could barely touch him. He's too strong!' A respond from Horikawa Kunihiro.
'There's also a guy who attacked us like crazy.' This time it's from Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, 'Me and Hasebe are already working together yet we can't pass through him and our attacks also barely scratched him. This person is definitely not human!'
'Konnosuke, I feel shame to say this but I don't think we'll be able to be there for Aruji-sama. It's all up to you, no matter what, protect Aruji-sama while we fight against this bastard until our last breath if necessary.' A respond from Heshikiri Hasebe.
Konnosuke could not believe what he's hearing. He gazed toward the two who was waiting for Saniwa's answer. 'They set this up. They waited for a chance for us to be separated from the rest, why didn't I think this possibility!?'
It can no longer be helped, what's done is done. All he can do now is do what Heshikiri Hasebe had told him to do, that is to protect Saniwa even it caused his life. He gazed toward Saniwa in firm gaze and immediately Saniwa understood. His companions were occupied and this plan had planned it well to corner him.
This person in front of him is without a doubt, a schemer.
I do not owned Fate Grand Order and Touken Ranbu!
This is inspired by a mobile game Fate Grand Order GudaGuda 4 event. For the flow of story, please note that this author had not played the Touken Ranbu game so the author's only knowledge base was from the anime series. If ever you the readers had noticed something that your author may have missed, please let this author know so this author could either rewrite them or add them to the story later on. Thank you for reading this story and please forgive this author if there's a lot of grammatical errors as this author's English language is only average and not English citizen.