The soft sound of a paper sliding door opening echoed amid a silent home as two figures made their way in from the patio entrance. One was determined while the other, a young woman, appeared hesitant before the other glared at her, and ushered her in with a coaxing push to the back.
The girl dared not speak to not alert the others already sleeping in the house. Acknowledging her efforts, the boy followed suit.
Walking on tip toes, the two reached the boy's room and entered before the girl's tension finally began to ease.
"Are you sure about this?" Arturia asked again.
The question was met by a flat stare. Evidently, this wasn't the first time Arturia had asked and Shirou had long since given up answering when he insisted his answer would not change.
"I have a shower and bath connected to my room. You can use it if you like?" Shirou offered, taking off his school bag and setting it beside the bed. He then took Arturia's bags out of her hands and laid them down on the side counter where she could see them.
"No, it's fine. It's late," Arturia meekly rejected the offer of a warm shower and bath.
Everything about her right now was screaming 'reserved.'
Naturally, it was her first time imposing on someone's kindness, no; more accurately, it was because of the butterflies making a mess of her stomach. She feared she'd faint if she sat too long in the bath tub.
Shirou didn't press Arturia and instead gestured for her to take the western bed while he pulled out a spare futon from his closet.
Arturia opened her mouth to protest, but barely got a single "I" in before she was interrupted.
"Uphm!"
A pillow hit her face, causing her to splutter as she hastily caught it and glowered at Shirou who grinned at her.
"No protests. I was raised with guest hospitality, so take the bigger bed." Shirou insisted.
A fleeting dolefulness choked Arturia, but she finally decided to just accept the situation and the sincerity Shirou was showing her.
She sat on the offered bed, her figure sinking into the soft cushioning and eliciting a comfortable sigh.
Hugging the pillow to her chest, she buried her face into it such that only her eyes were peeking up from where she sat quietly watching Shirou.
For a moment, he'd left the room and then came back with a wrapped cloth that was cold to the touch.
"There's an ice pack beneath," he explained before moving over to Arturia and gently placing it on the bruised side of her face.
Struck dumb for a moment, Arturia did nothing as Shirou lifted one of her hands, and then carried it over to her cheek for her to hold the ice pack to her face on her own.
"The swelling should be gone by the morning," Shirou explained, not wanting Arturia to attract any odd stares in the middle of the school day. "That Celt Academy woman sure gave you a good wallop."
Arturia's expression soured from vexation.
"She cheated." She insisted, pouting. "There no honour, no righteousness in her fighting style."
"She punched you in the face."
"She threw dirt in my eyes first!" Arturia blushed, protesting in a fluster.
"She was also part of the Grail War thing," Shirou revealed, frowning. He still had no clue over the specifications of such a violent event. "I noticed she had one of those fliers in her school bag when they ran away. Mind filling me in now? I mean on everything."
Shirou crossed his arms, and sat down on his futon across from Arturia.
Hesitating, Arturia reluctantly began explaining her circumstances while Shirou remained stone-faced, neither judging nor showing disapproval. Instead, the empathy Arturia could see in his eyes was doing funny things to Arturia's body, heat and tingling sensations spreading from head to toe focused on key areas.
She squirmed, nibbling on her lower lip.
Flushed, she moved away from her circumstances and towards what mattered to win the money, secure her financials, and correct her wrongs.
"I'll go over the rules." Arturia put on a poker face while Shirou listened intently. "The Grail War is a hidden event that must remain concealed from the general public. Official fights are prohibited during the day, and the reward for victory is any wish money can buy."
Arturia paused realizing her explanation made her sound like a woman who would go to any lengths for money, but that wasn't true! She just wanted to use the wish to correct the mistakes she'd made in the past by erasing everything from the public records to make her time in Britain no longer exist.
"Money aside, there are seven pairs of contestants marked as a Master and a Servant. We get to choose who is who, but what matters is the Master's survival. If the Master is eliminated, the Servant is also eliminated assuming they aren't of a special Archer class with independent actions, giving them a time frame to work alone or find a new Master." Arturia lectured.
Shirou focused on what was most important beyond the Master in the explanation.
"What do you mean by class?"
Arturia wet her lips. "Archer, Lancer, Saber, Berserker, Rider, Caster, and Assassin. Each Master can only have one Class of Servant, and the sooner you participate, the sooner you can choose that class of Servant before others select it for their Servant. Each Class has a unique privilege in the Grail War, but the point is I want to make you the Master, and I'll be the Saber Class Servant."
Shirou's expression hardened. "Doesn't that mean you have to fight on behalf of the Master? You're putting yourself more at risk."
"It's my war," Arturia muttered.
Shirou disagreed. "It's ours, and from the looks of it, we'll need spare money."
"Huh?" Arturia's features scrunched up, brows creasing.
"It's a secret war, right? I don't want to involve my family so we'll have to rent a hotel room for the time being."
"Ah…" Arturia realized she hadn't considered that perspective and grew embarrassed. Shirou continued problem solving.
"I'll get the stuff needed and cancel the term deposit from work." Shirou decided. "In the end, we'll sort things out to get ready for this mock war."
Arturia's stomach rumbled at the mention of deposits and the implications if they spent most of their funds on housing.
"…Does that mean we'll have to live off just eggs and rice for a couple days?" She flinched bitterly, holding back tears. "Its okay. I'm used to it. M-Maybe even just rice and soy sauce?"
Silence.
"Dammit Arturia," Shirou scratched the back of his head in frustration. "No wonder you're so thin. It's because you're so stubborn."
"Hey!"
"Ask for help when you need it. Do you think you have no friends or that people are heartless?"
Arturia fell quiet, wincing as her eyes danced away from Shirou's to focus on her feet. "I didn't want to intrude."
Shirou gave her the deepest look before sighing in resignation. "Here, pass that over. I'll get a new one."
Arturia blinked, only then realizing that Shirou was pointing at the ice pack she'd been using. It had already warmed and the ice within had melted under the soft rag he covered it in.
Tentatively, she gave it back before Shirou snatched it, inwardly fed up with her lack of common sense and stubbornness, but it was a warm type of anger. Arturia could not fault him when he was being sincerely angry for her sake and as a result of her own decisions.
"Here. A new one," Shirou said, coming back with a new wrapped ice pack which he placed over Arturia's cheek.
She hissed, the heat on her face causing her complexion to redden. "Thank you."
"Now go to sleep. We've had a long day."
"Okay."
.
.
.
"You still awake Shirou?"
"Hmm?"
"I was wondering," Arturia tossed and turned on the bed. "Do you not have a wish as well?"
"…"
"Shirou?"
Arturia shifted to glance in Shirou's direction and noticed that he was staring softly at her with a fond expression. Her eyes grew into swirls, not wanting to assume and get it wrong.
"F-Forget I asked," she muttered, turning her back to him.
Fuyuki had a hidden darkness. In a tragedy that happened in 1994, a great inferno covered the land, burying with it the secrets of a prior war unknown to the world.
Kiritsugu Emiya.
One name continued to dwell in the thoughts of a priest praying at the altar of an abandoned church. His voice, his prayers seeking out salvation were pure in that the priest pursued his own version of happiness.
His name was Kirei Kotomine. Wearing the garbs of a priest, his hair was parted back and swept behind his head to give the impression of a saintly ideal hiding the devil within.
"Rejoice, for the time of reckoning is at hand." Kirei murmured, lips spreading into a small smile.
He intended to repeat the events of the prior Grail War on a much grander scale such that it would affect the entire world. Markets would crash and pandemonium would ensue as mankind would fall to their baser urges and true desires without law or financial stability to maintain order.
Such was the nature of the winner's wish. A monkey's paw with none the wiser.
"I grow bored, Fake Priest."
A voice called out to Kirei in the dark of the church's pews.
Seated with his legs crossed, an imperious man with golden hair and piercing red eyes stared at Kirei with scorn. He too was a former participant of the last war that raged in Fuyuki several years before.
Kirei hardly batted an eye, already used to the man's presence and aggravating personality. If not for the man's background and power, Kirei would not have put up with the man for so long, let alone cooperate with him. It was just that Kirei owned the man a small favour for pointing him in the right direction in the prior Grail War.
"How unfortunate," Kirei drawled, foregoing his prayers and standing up to face the other man.
"Hmph." The man narrowed his eyes, the droning noise of various spinning blades echoing in the space. "I indulge you only at the prospect of entertainment."
It was a threat.
Kirei glanced up at the obscure flying objects surrounding the golden-haired man at his whims.
Drones, and an overwhelming amount of wealth and power.
Kirei sighed.
"Come now Gilgamesh, what's a little more waiting?" Kirei reasoned without a change in expression. "Do you not already possess the world in your hands as the owner of the Babylon Gate's Treasury Institute? Do you not seek new stimulation as I do?"
There was a pause, before a reluctant sneer and grimace sounded.
The sound of numerous flying drones equipped with guns, blades, and weapons gradually ceased as Gilgamesh craned his neck up and put his thumb away from the 'fire' button on his cellphone.
"Very well. How many more classes are yet to be registered?"
"Saber and their Master will be the last," Kirei spread his arms out in reverence. "Rejoice, there are no meaningless things. Only outcomes. So, take pride in your chosen path. Even that foolish girl is still trying to discover the mystery of her father's death."
"Hehahaha, you snake," Gilgamesh laughed at the irony. "I shall judge the worth of this coming entertainment."
Kirei smiled, something he'd never been able to do in the past. Yet his smile was only apparent when undergoing acts of cruelty or malice as he imagined the faces of those involved.
Kirei Kotomine was the overseer of the coming Grail War and he had eyes all over Fuyuki.
Shirou Emiya and Arturia Pendragon, he was more than aware of their coming participation.
"Yorokobe Shounen," he laughed.
Would he follow in the footsteps of the father, or carve his own path?
Thanks for reading!
Free web novel :[The Apostate in Grim Fantasy] (For those that asked, the web novel is available on webnovel and the patron main page, leave a review if you'd like! New goal is 20 reviews)
Next update: To be announced
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
Book links:
Fatedlegacydark
New Book: Out on Amazon (Remove dash on link)
Survivor's Log Reflection: Amazon.c-om/dp/B08VDDGN7Z?