ARC 1.5 Chapter 1: "A Normal Person"

November 11, 2030

15:02

Mare Regalius; District 2

3rd Person's POV

"Do you want to hang out?" Hakuno said with a smile on her face. Ritsuka raises his eyebrow.

"You? Want to hang out? With me?" Ritsuka asks not to be sure of what she just said.

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that I thought you have, you know, work?"

"I have some free time, so I thought I'll visit you once in a while. The last time we talk is when you are being judged, you know, so what do you say?" Hakuno said with a smile, Ritsuka looks at her with a dumbfounded smile, but he gives up and just sighs.

"I actually plan to rest after my work, but sure I have nothing else to do right now, so I'll take up your offer." Ritsuka said while Hakuno did a little hooray.

"But first, would you please not leave your coats on the floor?" Ritsuka said, standing and picking up the brown coat on the floor before throwing it in Hakuno's face.

"Oof."

After throwing the coat Hakuno takes the coat that was thrown at her face, before seeing Ritsuka picking up her pantyhose using his thumbs and index finger.

"Oh my Ritsuka! Picking a girl's worn pantyhose so casually, OH! Don't tell me you are planning to do that!?" Hakuno covers herself with her arms acting dramatically, while Ritsuka isn't affected by this and just scoffs.

"Yeah yeah yeah, that's for sure what I'm planning to do, also who would leave their pantyhose just laying on a guy's bed, are you really that freaky Kishinami?" Ritsuka questioned her again while raising his eyebrow.

" Wait so you're really gonna do it?" Hakuno ask

"Of course not, I'm not that kind of person!"

"Okay, then get ready already. We wasted so much time already, there's a food stand I want to try today."

"Alright alright, I'm going to change for a more proper outfit, the ones I wear right now smell like food from the shop. So wait here and I'll get change for a second okay?"

After Ritsuka said that he goes to his drawer and gets new clothes before entering the bathroom to change. While Hakuno puts on her pantyhose and coat. After some time, Ritsuka came out and now he wears a blue jacket with a hood, open collared long sleeves and a black shirt underneath that. He also wears a black pants and blue shoes.

"Wow, nice fit." Hakuno gave him a thumbs up of approval.

"Thanks, yours too." Ritsuka said, also giving her a thumbs up,after that he asked her, "So shall we go now?"

"Gladly" Hakuno said before the two of them went out of the apartment, and after Ritsuka locked the door, they went out to the city.

Mare Regalius; District 3

15: 36

After getting out of his apartment, the two of them walk towards the nearest teleportation waypoint but realise that Ritsuka can't use it, so instead they just decided to hangout in the district 3 of the kingdom. After 30 minutes of walking they finally arrive.

"Oh wow, this is my first time going into another district in Mare Regalius." Ritsuka said, admiring the view.

The District 3 of Hakuno Kishinami's Kingdom is nothing special as it looks the same as the District 2 that Ritsuka Fujimaru lives in, the main difference is that there are more people here compared to District 3. Wizards, NPCs, Male, Female. Kids and adults, and numerous shops, cafes, and stands are all over the place.

"Really? I thought that since, you know…your job is literally you going from place to place, that you would at least once explore the kingdom." Hakuno said as they walked down the road.

"That's good and all, but I have a job, and little money right now so I can't."

"Huh, I can't relate to that." Hakuno said that but her eyes are full of smugness. Ritsuka upon seeing this grew a thick mark and just gave her the middle finger.

Hakuno took the victory, looked ahead, and saw something.

"Hey, I love that stand, hey, hey come on, Fujimaru." Hakuno excitedly said before taking Ritsuka's hand and dragging him towards the food stand.

"H-hey! Stop pulling my hand so roughly, I can walk, you know!" Ritsuka complained. As the two of them walk towards the stand Ritsuka checks what's on the stand.

"Yakisoba and Curry Bread?"

"Boss the usual please!"

"Oh it's you again, young lady? Then leave it to me, how about your companion?" The shopkeeper asked.

"O-oh, uh, two curry breads please." Ritsuka ordered.

"The usual for the young lady and two curry breads for her companion, coming right up." The shopkeeper enthusiastically said before preparing the order.

"You often come here Kishinami?" Ritsuka asks.

"Yeah, sometimes I just want to eat something from the stand you know, instead of something done by a high class professional chef." Hakuno answered him while she eagerly waited for her order.

"Yeah, I can kinda relate to that."

"Hmm?" Hakuno looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

Feeling that he is beings stared at, Fujiamru looks at her and ask:

"What?"

Hakuno in response just looks away, close her eyes and answered:

"It's nothing."

After their short conversation the two of them patiently wait for their food.

"Hey Fujimaru." Hakuno out of nowhere called out to him.

"Hmm, yeah?" Ritsuka responded to her.

"You are going to be the one paying this, right?" Hakuno ask

"Huh? I thought you're the one paying?" Ritsuka answered her question with another follow up question.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

""...Huh.""

…

….

…

…

…

…

After that long awkward pause Hakuno speaks.

"Between the two of us, you're the guy right? So you're the one who has to pay, right?" Hakuno made her case.

"Never once have I said that I'll be paying for anything we buy, before and after we leave my room." Ritsuka argued back.

"Even still, it's tradition that when a boy and girl go out, it's the guy's obligation to do those things." Hakuno argued again.

"That's stereotyping."

"But it's still done to this day, no?"

"That only applies to dates."

"Aren't we on a date?" Hakuno said that with a straight face.

"No, we're not, we are only hanging out." Ritsuka rejects that idea with a straight face.

"Umm, Young Lady? Young Man?"

"So you didn't think this is a date?" Hakuno retorted.

"No, of course not, Did you?" Ritsuka denied.

"No, God, I just officially met you like a week ago."

"Then, why did you think this is a date though?"

"Uhhh, no comment."

"...Do you like me?"

"What, no! I barely know you." Hakuno denied.

"...Wow, for some reason that hurts." Ritsuka suddenly shed a tear. "What the hell, why am I tearing up, and why does that actually hurt?" Just as Ritsuka thought that to himself, a flash of unknown memories spring up coming from the back of his head.

"Eh? What…"

"Uhh, Uh sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Hakuno immediately apologised to him and tried to console him.

"No, no it's ok, it's just that for some reason that hurts." Ritsuka wipes away the tears and smiles at her trying to reassure her, Hakuno seeing that worried that she might actually hurt him, but once again Ritsuka reassures her that it's nothing.

After wiping away the tears, the two of them finally notice the shopekeep, carrying two paper bags.

"Uhhh, since I technically won again, that means you're going to pay right, Fujimaru?" Hakuno looks at him with expectant looks.

"Huh? What do you mean? I won that argument, you can't even make a comment right?" Fujimaru retorted.

"Huh, I won tha–"

"Young Lady, Young Man, If I give you these for free, will you please go and have your lover's quarrel somewhere else you're holding a line." The Shopekeep with a thick mark on his head, smiles at the two of them. In response, Hakuno and Fujimaru look behind them to see a line of people patiently waiting for them, some of them even muttering about them.

"Her Highness is here?"

"Who is that boy that she's with though?"

"I don't know, maybe a new lover perhaps?"

"Really another one? But he doesn't seem like a Heroic Spirit though"

"You fool, just because her other lovers are heroic spirits doesn't mean he can't have a romance with normal people."

"Right, oh and I just noticed, it's a boy, her other lovers are girls, so I just assume she swings the other way around."

"I guess her highness swings both ways."

"Stop it, we don't want this to spread who knows what the Fox Priestess will do to us."

Two people on the line muttering to themselves and giggling. Seeing that Ritsuka and Hakuno's faces become red, looking around, it seems like the other people also have a teasing smile directed at them.

"Uhh thanks Boss, next time again alright!" A blushing Hakuno said, while Ritsuka took the bag, and both of them ran away from the scene.

"So uh, where now?" Ritsuka asks while running.

"I know a place!" Hakuno said and Ritsuka followed her.

Mare Regalius; District 3 Outskirt of the town

15:58

After Running for 5 minutes the two eventually ran out of breath and agreed to walk there. After a 20 minute walk the two arrived and Ritsuka saw a big tree on the side of a cliff, and a big forest and lake on the centre of it. As Hakuno stands at the very edge and looks at Ritsuka.

"Welcome to my secret place!" Hakuno proudly declares as the sunlight shines on her and along the beautiful scenery in the background, there's only one thing that Ritsuka Fujimaru can say at the moment.

"So beautiful…"

Hearing this, Hakuno's cheeks turn red as ash giggles at him.

"Hehe, what's beautiful? Me, or the View?" Hakuno teasingly asks.

"Both." Ritsuka answered that with a straight face, no lies, no even teasing her back like the two of them usually do, he just wanted to say that with full honesty as he admired the beautiful scenery in front of him.

"Ummm ahhh. Thank you…" Hakuno with a blush on her face and a sheepish smile, scratches her face with her finger, not expecting his answer, but appreciating it anyway.

"Uh, Sorry, suddenly saying that makes me sound like a creep right?" Ritsuka, with his own sheepish smile, scratched the back of his head, embarrassed with what he just said.

"O-oh it's nothing really, It just caught me off-guard, but thanks for the compliment." Hakuno smiles at him.

""...""

A long awkward pause emerges from the conversation, trying to think of something to say, Ritsuka brings out the paper bags.

"S-so uh, let's eat, before they get cold." Ritsuka said with a blush on his cheeks offering her paper bag.

"U-uh yeah, let's eat, let me get the picnic mat." Hakuno said before going to the side of the tree.

"A Picnic Mat? How often do you go here?" Ritsuka asks Hakuno as she brings the mat from a buried box on the side of the tree.

"When I feel like it. Here you can sit now." Hakuno answered as she sat on the mat, hearing this, Ritsuka also did the same.

""Thanks for the food.""

After giving their thanks the two of them take out their individual food on their paper bags, Ritsuka takes a bite on his Curry Bread.

"Wait Fujimaru, let's heat this up first. With a code cast."

"Hmm? Oh yeah here." Ritsuka gives her his paper bag. Hakuno upon receiving it starts to use her Code Cast, her regalia glows as codes and 1 and 0s appear around the paper bags after 30 seconds the code disappears, taking Ritsuka's paper bag he hands it over to him.

"Careful, it's a bit hot for the hands." Hakuno warns Ritsuka while he takes it carefully. Pulling the curry bread from the paper bag and unwrapping it, Ritsuka blows to cool it off and finally takes a bite of it.

"Mhmmmhmmm, this is so good I must get this at least once a week." Ritsuka as he enjoys his curry bread.

"Isn't it! I'd even argue that it's better than what the professional chefs are making. If you want I can take you to another good food stand." Hakuno excitedly said.

"Really?! Then thanks, I want to eat more of this." Ritsuka excitedly said as he munched down his curry bread.

"Oh right, what did you get?" Ritsuka asks.

"Oh I got this." Taking out the food from the paper bag, it was revealed to be yakisoba bread, but something is wrong with it. The colour of the yakisoba itself is crimson red, the bread is also a bit red and is covered with pepper and the aura and smells is so strong that it teared up Ritsuka, even the smoke of it is colour red.

"Uhhh, Kishinami, what is that…?" Ritsuka reluctantly asks.

"Oh this? It's the 10x Extra Yakisoba Bread!" Hakuno proudly declares while Ritsuka only looks at her weirdly. Ritsuka takes a closer look at it, and even gets a whiff of it, and immediately backs off, as his eyes teared up.

"Are you sure it's even edible?" Ritsuka asks as he wipes away the tears forming from his eyes.

"Sure it is, why would I buy something that is inedible?" Hakuno said as if eating the food she held in her hands is a fact, which it actually is.

"Well then, once again, thanks for the food!" Hakuno said before taking a big bite off of her yakisoba bread. Upon eating it, her face seems to lit up in joy as she munch the food down. Seeing this Ritsuka seems bewildered.

"I-is it really that good?" Ritsuka asked himself as he continued to watch Hakuno eat her food.

"Munch Yeah munch would you like some? Munch" Hakuno offered her food to him, Ritsuka seeing the food oozing with red smoke as if death is calling into him, cuts a portion of it. Nervous and sweating, he looks at Hakuno who is looking at him waiting for him to eat the bread, looking back at the bread he takes a massive gulp.

"T-thanks for the food(?)" Ritsuka said before taking a bite of the yakisoba bread. When suddenly he stops moving, 10 seconds later the next thing he did completely caught Hakuno off guard.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ritsuka shouts at the top of his lungs as imaginary fire is bursting out of his mouth, after screaming he immediately coughs and tries to spit the bread out of his mouth.

"It'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospiceyIt'ssospicey!" Ritsuka repeatedly said as he gulped down the water he brought earlier when he and Hakuno walked in the tree.

After emptying the bottle, Ritsuka takes a deep breath and exhales repeatedly. Hakuno, seeing this, can only make dumbfounded faces at the absurdity that she just witnessed, feeling awkward, so she decides to ask him.

"SOOO, I take it that you don't like it?"

"YOU THINK?!" Ritsuka shouts at her as he coughs due to the extreme spiciness of the food he just consumed a minute ago.

"It's not that bad though." Hakuno said while taking a bite off of her yakisoba bread as if it's just normal food.

"And here I thought Artoria has a monster of a stomach, at least she knows that some food can't be eaten or that some food is too far gone." Ritsuka mutter to himself

"Heh, maybe you're just not too strong for this." Hakuno jokingly insults him, while Ritsuka just glares at her, before taking a bite off his curry bread.

Silence occurs as the two of them eat their food in peace as they only enjoy the beautiful sight in front of them. Ritsuka enjoying the scenery gets startled as the Hakuno suddenly speak.

"This feels nice."

"Hmm? What's nice?" Ritsuka said before taking the final bite off of his curry bread.

"Here, relaxing, just relaxing, and not worrying about any kind of stuff." Hakuno explained to him while her face felt at peace. She continued.

"Because sometimes despite being the sovereign, hell I even chose to be in this position in the first place, it feels likes I don't know, what I mean to tell is that it feels nice to just be a–"

" To be just a normal person, right?" Ritsuka finishes his sentence, Hakuno hearing this look at him only to see him looking at the distance with a longing look. Seeing this, Hakuno also looked at the view.

"Yeah…" Hakuno quietly answered.

Another wave of silence is between them, but not with awkwardness like earlier, and as if a replay happened, Hakuno decided to speak up.

"It must be hard, right?"

"...Yeah." Ritsuka answered, fully knowing what she meant by that question.

"Hey, can I be selfish for once and listen to my ramblings?" Ritsuka asked, to which Hakuno nodded.

Stargazer's POV

"All my life, I've always been in the background, if this reality is a show, I would probably be, at best just, a side character, but despite that I never complained, because I thought that if I were a side character then, I'll do my best in order to support in who would be the main character…" As I began to rumble, a particular memory of mine sprung up.

"You and I are nothing but bystanders in her story."

An old companion of mine says that to me, and I don't know why that's stuck to me even though her story is already complete, until I remembered why, back then I was and always a bystander.

"...but that all changed 2 years ago, suddenly I need to step up in the spotlight. I don't know what to do but I still do it in the end, no matter how terrified I am, no matter how much I want to live, I still did it, after all I'm the only one left. And countless hardships I've gotta endure and in the end we did it we finally reached the final battle."

But even if we did win, I still lost him, he who always has been in my back, giving me courage, and guiding not only me, but also Mash.

He is lazy, sarcastic, but he never gave up on us, and I who already gave up and accepted my role in the world, he never gave up on me.

That's right, one of the reasons I want to continue and finish this is because of him.

I didn't give up on humanity, I truly did not, simply because he, that one person, never gave up on me.

But…

But… even still…

"But even with that, Once a month, no, not even a month, but a week, I always think to myself, "Why me?" Why did I have to be the one who never got bombed that day? Why did nobody like me need to carry this burden? There are other more capable people that were supposed to do this instead of me, so why should I have been the one to never get put into a coma? I'm very grateful for this journey I've had, I met a lot of wonderful people, but even with that, that idea and thoughts never leave my mind even to this day."

I let out some of my true thoughts that I keep at the back of my head. I don't even know why I'm saying this?

Ahh that's right it's been so long since I met a normal person.

Mash, Da Vinci, and the others, I still see them as very special to me, but for some reason I can't speak to them like this.

Simply because they are not normal people. I 'm not saying that as a insult, it's just sometime they don't feel real or its because in the back of my mind someone is whispering to me reminding me that this is still people from the past, they lived an entirely different life compared to someone like me who is born on the modern age. That's probably why I can't say stuff like this to them.

…But even with all of that…

As I was about to continue Kishinami began to speak.

"Yeah, I can kind of know that?"

Sovereign's POV

"If I'm being completely honest, I actually think this is a bit too much for me. Before any of this I don't even know who I am, I mean I am literally made from the record of someone like me back on earth, so back then I even began to question who I truly am. But even still I've gotta move on, because I want to survive, and along the way good things happened to me, I met Nero and Tamamo, but even with all of that, I still killed the people that I once called friends."

That's right many things have happened since then, and for all of the horror I witnessed, I'd move past that, that was a chapter of my life I can say is already closed.

But…

"And when I thought it's all over, when I thought that I can finally rest, suddenly I'm now the ruler of this world I barely know? How crazy is that, but feeling that as the winner of the grail war, I have the responsibilities to keep this world running, and frankly, I sometimes feel like I'm going to die from the sheer pressure everyone expects from me."

I think even Nero and Tamamo caught on to this, as they for once agreed to split the work and managing of the world but even with that pressure and expectation of the other people now living in this world for me, is too much…

...But even with all of that…

3rd Person POV

After the rumbling the two remained silent not disturbing the peace of each other and just letting it sink down.

"It's almost evening now, shall we go home?" Ritsuka said to her with a smile as he stood up and offered his hand to her.

"Yeah." Hakuno smiled back and accepted the hand, as Ritsuka pulled her up, before cleaning up.

Mare Regalius, District 2; Teleportation Waypoint Site

17:27

"Thanks for walking me to the waypoint." Hakuno said.

"Well, if anything else you actually walk me closer to me home, there's already a teleportation waypoint on district 3 you know." Ritsuka scratches the back of his head.

"Well, we don't wanna get you kidnapped, right?" Hakuno teases him with a smile.

"Oh, don't get me started on that one." Ritsuka warned, before chuckling which was followed by Hakuno's giggling.

"I had fun this afternoon, wanna hang out again next time?" Ritsuka asks?

"Hehe, sure, when I have time, also about the issue of your registration that will probably get fixed in another day, so you won't have to travel long distances." Hakuno said.

"Really? Thanks."

"It's nothing really, oh also let me register to your terminal." After saying that, Ritsuka gave his terminal to Hakuno, and she registered her number to him.

"There, now I can call or message you if anything comes up." Hakuno said before offering her hand to him, before saying;

"Thanks for the fun afternoon Fujimaru, next again, okay?"

Ritsuka in response shakes her hand and nods.

"Yeah next time."

After separating their hands, Hakuno walks into the waypoint before inputting the location of where she wants to go.

"Oh yeah, also on December 24th we're having a Christmas celebration at the castle. You can come if you want, okay?" Hakuno said

"I'll think about it. Bye!" Ritsuka applied. And as he said that Hakuno disappears.

Seeing her gone Ritsuka began to walk towards his apartment, and as he was walking he remembered what happened earlier in the tree.

In Mare Aurum, Hakuno steps out of the waypoint before walking towards Nero's castle, and as she walks she remembers what happened earlier.

"That's right…I've been through so many things…" Hakuno said to herself.

"I've seen countless hells, but…" Ritsuka said as he continued to walk.

"...But even with all of that…" She stops walking, and looks up to the sky.

" That's right, even with all of that ,I'll do what I do best. And that is.." He stops walking and also looks up to the sky.

And simultaneously they continued and finished with a smile on their face.

""...to give everything I've got..""