Special Chapter 3. Continuation from the events of Chapter 8, listed as Chapter 10 for convenience.
Spoiler Alert: This chapter occurs somewhere between the completion of Lostbelt 6 and before Lostbelt 7.
You have been warned.
Chapter 10 – Familiar Faces, New Enemies
"Die."
Boom.
Swords. Spears. Axes. Daggers. Halberds. Maces. Hammers. All kinds of weaponry rained down upon Humanity's Last Master following the King of Heroes' order.
It was a one-sided assault on a scale that no ordinary human could possibly survive in.
"Huh… He didn't even resist…" Yumiko wondered while slowly approaching the area where her arrows mercilessly impaled a lone individual but when she ended up being unable to spot any sign of another person's body, she went full alert. "Come out, you creep!" the Fire Queen of Sobu looked around her vicinity with bloodshot eyes, irritated at the fact that she didn't squash off that intruder in one shot, like how one would usually deal with a bug.
So she noticed… That was much faster than I anticipated.
Hachiman Hikigaya restrained himself from retorting you should've said mongrel instead of creep and prioritized keeping himself hidden. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't a little impressed with the girl's intuition. Then again, because the only side he's ever seen of Yumiko was the hopeless romantic one by virtue of her one-sided crush, he would be surprised with pretty much anything she showed him now.
Although he managed to get away earlier, he couldn't afford to sit still for so long as keeping a low profile carried with it a lot of risk.
If, in a fit of rage, Yumiko decided to just demolish the entire parking lot in one shot, he would just end up as collateral damage.
Seriously, who the heck thought it was a good idea to give a card as powerful as Gilgamesh to this trigger-happy Miura of all people?!
Hachiman picked up a piece of concrete and threw it towards the opposite direction that his hunter was facing, with its trajectory obscured by the dead bodies of countless monsters.
Hit.
The sound was faint but given that there were only two living bodies in the area, it was loud enough to stand out.
"There!" Yumiko exclaimed while simultaneously launching a sword in the same direction.
Boom.
The sword easily ripped through the cadaver and gouged the ground but once the dust settled, it became clear that what was behind the corpse…
Was a whole load of nothing.
"Argh! Where are you!?"
This Gilgamesh seriously thought that she was capitalizing on her prey's misstep when she was the one who was falling into a trap herself. The instant he saw the blonde take the bait; Hachiman immediately moved to hide behind a different corpse without pushing his luck too far.
After waiting for a few seconds, he tossed a piece of concrete at Yumiko's blind spot once again, forcing her to do another 180.
"I've got you now!"
Weapons flew out once more, butchering yet another dead monster. While Yumiko was occupied with this, Hachiman quickly scurried away to a different carcass.
The same kind of scene repeated until such time that most of the nearby corpses ended up turning into kebabs, which meant that there were now fewer things that Hachiman could use as cover. Nevertheless, he still thought that it would be manageable if he played things correctly…
"…I see you!"
The cynic's confidence was instantly doused when he heard Yumiko make this exact remark.
Turning around, he ended up making eye contact with the blonde. The strange thing about this though was that her emerald-like irises which stood out just as much as her blonde curls were gleaming ominously. Being the Master of so many other Heroic Spirits, Hachiman had an idea what kind of skill that was even though he has never seen Chaldea's Gilgamesh use it himself.
Clairvoyance!?
It was a visual ability that is a common skill not only among Archers who use ranged projectiles but other Servants whose powers revolve around sight as depending on the Heroic Spirit, what they can see with this skill varies.
That being said, there was not enough time for Hachiman to confirm his suspicions as multiple swords were once again coming towards him at high speeds.
He lowered his center of gravity to the absolute limit and put his strength not only on his legs but also on his hands that were now touching the ground.
Each Servant may be powerful in their own way but they all share a common weakness... They needed a Master.
For Chaldea, no, for Humanity, it just so happened that the only one left was a Magus of the lowest level, Hachiman Hikigaya.
Given his inadequacies, the only way for him to survive in a battlefield composed of superhumans and demigods was to be absurdly good at evasion and running away.
In order to accomplish such a thing, he had to develop his agility, stamina, jumping power, flexibility, balance, speed, quickness, kinetic vision and coordination to the absolute limit by subjecting himself to the harshest of training. All of that suffering has paid off immensely however and Hachiman could not imagine himself getting this far without going through all of it.
The moment the swords were halfway between Yumiko and Hachiman, he immediately unleashed all the stored power on his legs and leapt backwards.
Boom.
Several swords pierced through the ground, enough to form a cavity on it despite being tools tailored towards severing instead of breaking. The formation of this small crater caused a dust cloud thick enough to impede one's vision.
Hachiman couldn't afford to waste his time to glance at the aftermath of the attack. The important thing was that it missed him. When he jumped backwards, he landed on the ground with both of his hands and catapulted himself even further, finally landing on both feet. After regaining his footing, he immediately broke into a run.
By the time the smoke cleared, all Yumiko caught was his back.
"You're not getting away!"
Yumiko opened the gate once again and unleashed various Noble Phantasms to chase after the persistent bug.
Hachiman briefly glanced back while maintaining his running form in order to have a better estimate of just how threatening the coming attacks are. At that instant, he also kept in mind the positions of the dead monster bodies close to him.
When the weapons began to move, he kicked the ground and leapt towards one of the smaller corpses before using it as a foothold to quickly jump towards a different carcass.
The projectiles were one beat slower than Hachiman and all they ended up hitting was the singular corpse that he used as a platform. Needless to say, said monster ended up getting shredded to pieces.
"Stop moving and just drop dead!" Yumiko screamed as a new cluster of Noble Phantasms rained down on the dead body that Hachiman hid from. It didn't even take a second for it to be eviscerated albeit it was only the cadaver that suffered that poor fate. "He's not here again?!"
As it turns out, Hachiman not only used the large body as a shield but also as a cover to prevent Yumiko from immediately seeing where he was heading to next.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't emulate the same hide-and-seek strategy that he tried to use earlier.
"The same trick won't work twice on me, you creep!"
Clairvoyance.
Yumiko saw no more reason to hide this card of hers when she already revealed that she could use this skill a while back. It was fine so long as she can make sure to kill all witnesses, although that was taking a little more time than usual.
A new batch of weapons were then unleashed from the Gate. This time around, instead of going after their target in the horizontal plane, they were shot upwards before they nosedived to the ground like a falcon diving for its prey.
Even so, they still weren't at the level where Hachiman would have trouble avoiding them however. In fact, he even had enough leeway to strike conversation.
"Is there any way we can just talk about this?"
"Shut up!"
The bombardment from the Fire Queen of Sobu intensified.
A glimpse of the projectiles coming towards him made Hachiman shrug.
"I guess that would be a no then?"
With how each weapon was being fired right around his vicinity, the Hachiman's suspicion of Yumiko using Clairvoyance quickly turned into conviction… But if she thought this kind of thing was enough to do him in then it seems that he has been severely underestimated.
Hachiman may not have any way of taking Yumiko out but if it was just about buying time then he could manage. It helped that this Golden Archer was making his job easier for him.
There was a flaw to this Gilgamesh's approach which could be summarized into one word.
Overkill.
Although he is technically a Magus, Hachiman Hikigaya is still just a flesh-and-blood human. A singular Noble Phantasm from the Gate of Babylon, heck even a regular steel sword depending on where it hit, should be more than enough to send him to the afterlife and yet Yumiko was just burning through her resources haphazardly and hoping for the best.
In other words, her attack patterns were extremely monotonous. There were no feints, no mix-ups, no pincer attacks, etc. This was no trouble for Hachiman who faced off against the real Gilgamesh's skillful barrage, his esteemed Shishou's blood-red spear/s and a blessed Saintess' fist/s.
But of course, such a risky strategy could only last so long…
"Ack!"
…Because of all things, Yumiko Miura just had to be capable of using Clairvoyance.
While she has barely scratched the surface of Gilgamesh's power as can be seen by the fact that Hachiman was still standing at this moment, that skill alone made it sure that escaping from her was impossible. It didn't help that he only has a vague inkling of Gilgamesh's iteration of this skill as he was way too prideful to use it back in Chaldea.
The margin of error of the blonde's attacks were getting smaller slowly but surely as a result of her becoming more used to handling multiple Noble Phantasms at the same time and because of her target's dwindling stamina. Furthermore, since Hachiman was moving away from the middle of the parking lot, he was also starting to have less cover in the form of monster corpses.
At the rate things were going, it was only a matter of time before he was going to get hit in somewhere more vital, or at the very least, a part of his body that will make it easier in doing so.
"And just where do you think you're going?"
Six spears were on the ready as the girl who shared the same face as the cynic's former classmate made that threat.
His destination was none other than the mall that he came from. Not only did it have significantly more things he can use as a cover than the parking lot, it was also…
Boom.
…Much closer to where his ally was. Needless to say, he wasn't just going to share such important information to his fervent pursuer.
"What was that?!"
Yumiko exclaimed in surprise. Not too far from here and around the same direction she was facing, a dense cloud of smoke began to blanket the sky. From what the blonde knew, the only kind of existence with that kind of firepower under their disposal is someone like her, a Heroic Spirit.
Who?
She could only wonder in her thoughts but in the meantime…
"…!"
…Chaldea's Master didn't even spare a glance on the same explosion. He simply turned his back and sprinted just as fast as he can in the small interval that the Fire Queen of Sobu's attention wasn't on him.
"Hey! Stop right there!" she immediately went for the chase after spotting her target's escape attempt and upon hearing her warning, Hachiman played the last card on his sleeve. "…He's running faster?!"
Taking the destructive scene that happened just now was a sign that his partner has just finished wrapping things up on her end, he tapped the remaining energy in his body and increased his running pace in order to meet up with her even one second faster.
I'm begging you please get here sooner, Tohsaka-san.
…
"Argh! This is quickly turning into a chore!"
Blast.
Rin grumbled while firing a concentrated shot of magic towards the head of a Demon…
"Ugh!"
Blast. Blast.
…But after seeing the monster's body still twitch, she decided to fire two more shots for the sake of her peace of mind.
While the enemy stampede that came out of the mall were mainly composed of wounded monsters, most of them also happen to be much more resilient. Perhaps that wasn't so surprising because if they didn't possess this much vitality in the first place, they would not have been able to get this far.
Shriek. Shriek. Shriek.
Monsters behave not too differently from animals. A cornered rat will bite the cat. With them being on the verge of death, they have nothing more to lose and are fighting desperately for their lives.
Spriggans, Knight Enforcers, Hydras, Demons, Black Samurais, Ugallus…
It was a collection of monster variants that could easily have been the apex predator in an area… Which meant that what was lurking on the other side of the mall was powerful enough to give this entire mob a run for their money.
Given his insight and experience, Hachiman Hikigaya is of course aware of this all.
"And that idiot still went ahead to scout! It seriously pisses me off!"
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
As if responding to her emotions, the energy from her magic arrows and her rate of fire both intensified. The steel armor of both the knights and samurais easily cracked because of the former while the other monsters were not given enough breathing room to regenerate their wounds due to the latter.
It looked like fireworks were being cast on the battlefield.
While she was indeed doing her best to speed things up to the best of her ability…
Boom.
…The sound of a nearby violent explosion seemed to mock her efforts.
Beads of cold sweat ran on her forehead as she quickly determined the source of that loud sound. Unsurprisingly, it came from the other side of the mall, the most likely location of her one and only Master.
"Argh! I don't have enough time for this!"
That being said, the Tohsaka heiress didn't have any other choice but to eliminate all of these guys first. It would be much more dangerous if she engaged the enemy on the other side with her rear not being completely secure.
You focus too much in trying to minimize your magic power consumption when there are situations where what you need to save on is time instead.
She had no idea that she'll be applying that lesson of his so soon. Conserving magic power? That was useless if her Master was already in grave danger.
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
The firing rate of the Gold Archer increased even further.
Thinking that getting hit by any of those projectiles was dangerous, the monsters desperately avoided them all but that simply worked to the Goddess' favor. Rin wasn't intending to hit them in the first place. She was just trying to round them up together as if she was guiding a crowd of sheep.
After all of them were pretty much gathered into one place, Rin then floated above all of them while pointing her gigantic bow towards the horde of monsters.
Intense light was concentrating on the tip of her giant bow. It was bright enough to even call it a miniature star.
The monsters looked up and they all instinctively knew that this light will be the end of them.
Unbeknownst to Rin, her usual lapis lazuli-like irises turned to gold and rather than a rage-filled scream, what came out of her mouth was an emotionless command.
"Disappear."
The surface was being baptized by the intense light of star. It was impossible to escape as a Goddess herself was personally going to hand down her judgment. The entire scene was pretty much a replay of how the dinosaurs became extinct from this planet except that the scale was much smaller, there was no volcano involved and the dinosaurs are these monsters instead.
After taking one quick glance at the scene of carnage that she was responsible of, Rin Tohsaka quickly turned back and accelerated in the air as fast as she could. There was no time for her to worry about the destruction of public assets when someone else's life as well as her own were both hanging in the balance.
"Don't die on me now, Hikigaya-kun!"
Her eyes flickered from gold and red before finally settling down to its usual blue hue as she quickly made her way back to her Master's side.
…
"!"
Hachiman took a few deep breaths as he narrowly dodged the heavy downward strike of a great axe.
Hack.
The Noble Phantasm easily cleaved through the concrete pavement as if it was just made of paper. It was easy to imagine what would have happened to his body if it didn't miss.
I'm closely approaching my limit…
It was a showdown between Hachiman Hikigaya's stamina against Yumiko Miura's pool of magic power but it was obvious that between the two, the former was at a huge disadvantage as a single screw up would more than likely lead to his demise.
Yumiko instinctively felt this too and that was why she had a sadistic expression as she raised one of her hands and called upon only six swords to finish him off.
"This time," the predator licked her lips. "I've got you for sure."
The swords were all flung to the sky. After reaching a certain height, they fell downwards and around halfway from their descent, they moved away from each other. The blades then encircled their target from different directions. As if that wasn't enough, they also revolved around the cynic so he couldn't easily slip away as easily as he's been doing all this time.
This is… Still doable, I think…
Hachiman said to himself while smiling wryly.
While things may indeed look hopeless, he couldn't call himself Humanity's Last Master if he gave up now.
Luckily, before the legitimacy of his title gets tested…
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
…Magical projectiles that could only be described as arrows perfectly sniped each sword, completely shattering them in the process, as if they were all made of glass not steel.
Chaldea's Master didn't even need to look back to know where those came from and instead just let out a sigh of relief.
"Yo. Thanks for coming to help me."
A beautiful girl whose black hair was tied into twintails casually approached Hachiman Hikigaya until she was right beside him.
Who else could it possibly be except for Rin Tohsaka?
"We separate for just a few minutes and you already find yourself in this much trouble," Rin ignored her Master's greeting and dropped that complaint to him before crossing her arms and sighing in displeasure.
Hachiman met her blue eyes and retorted.
"For the record, I'm nothing more but the victim here," he pointed his index finger towards Yumiko. "She's the aggressor."
Rin's gaze finally landed towards Yumiko Miura who was still stunned from her sudden interference.
"Huh," the ravenette put a hand to her chin and looked curiously at the blonde in front of her. "Do I know her? She seems familiar."
Hachiman wasn't sure if what his partner meant was Yumiko or Gilgamesh but now was not the time to think about the specifics.
"We'll talk about that later. For now," he patted the dust out of his clothes before getting ready for combat. "Let's take her down together. We need to capture her alive."
"Understood," she nodded her head. "Do you have any special instructions this time, Master?"
The two immediately moved to their respective positions while having that exchange. The Master, Hachiman Hikigaya jumped to the back while the Servant, Rin Tohsaka rushed towards the enemy.
In a showdown between two Archers, it was only natural for the one with more innate firepower to have the advantage. As such, Hachiman's game plan was simple.
"Tohsaka-san, close the distance as quickly as you can. Since you are trained in martial arts, you should have the advantage in close combat."
"Roger," Rin nodded while channeling her magic power to her index fingers. "If you're not going to do anything, I'll happily take the first move!"
That remark was directed towards Yumiko Miura and unfortunately for her, Rin didn't know the meaning of the words warning shot.
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
Looking at the hail of magic arrows finally snapped Yumiko from her stupor.
"Tch! No, you don't!"
The gate manifested upon Yumiko's command, quickly unleashing various kinds of weapons, her own form of arrows, to not only intercept Rin's preemptive attack but also mount her own counter-offensive.
Hachiman pointed at the familiar sight with his index finger.
"I managed to dodge all of those and even more by the way," he commented while smirking.
Her Master's bragging was more than enough to motivate Rin.
"Watch me do exactly that then!" she smiled fiercely as she propelled herself forward.
Twelve swords, double the number that tried to surround Hachiman earlier, encircled around Rin but unlike that unfortunate loner, Goddess Ishtar blessed her with the ability to fly.
Even when she was surrounded from multiple sides, all she really had to do was go up to avoid all of them.
"Too slow!"
After getting a sufficient distance…
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
…She went ahead and sniped half of the arrows.
"Tch! Don't get cocky!"
"Heh! Try and catch me then!"
Now that the number of swords were reduced, Yumiko's control over them became better so she is now able to exercise more complicated maneuvers. Two of them were directly pursuing Ishtar while the remaining four were trying to cut her off from the top, bottom, left and right.
Although the movements of the remaining weapons have indeed become more difficult to follow, the fact that they became fewer in number meant that there were also much more openings to exploit in their formation.
By instantly accelerating to one side before the swords converged, Rin was able to dodge everything once again.
Blast. Blast. Blast.
Three of the six remaining weapons were hit, making a vein pop on Yumiko's forehead.
"Just fall already!"
The girl with Gilgamesh's powers screamed and as if responding to her heightened emotions, the last trio of blades moved much faster.
Nevertheless, it was nowhere near enough for the gifted heiress of the Tohsaka family.
"Heh."
Despite being the one chased by swords; the smile plastered on Rin's face was that of a hunter, not the one being hunted.
Blast. Blast.
Two orbs of magic power were hurled by Rin, one from each hand. Her target was… Not the swords that were still hot on her tail but the vulnerable Archer whose entire focus were diverted towards manually controlling her arrows' movements.
"You little…!"
In her surprise, Yumiko unconsciously diverted two of the swords in pursuit of Rin as a shield instead of calling out other weapons from her gate to intercept the surprise attack.
This ended up making things a lot easier on Rin's end. She nimbly somersaulted in the air and while still upside-down, locked her sight on the last remaining sword and fired without hesitation.
Blast.
Once the last Noble Phantasm was shot down, the Goddess Ishtar looked down haughtily on the demigod Archer below her while flicking her black hair backwards. Hachiman was not quite sure whether the expression she wore during this belonged to the human Rin or the Goddess Ishtar.
"Is that all you got?"
On the other side, he also had his own doubts whether the one who fell for the taunt was Yumiko or the Gilgamesh inside her.
"Oh, you asked for it!"
Yumiko ascended to the sky, until she was hovering at around the same altitude as Rin. As she rose from the ground, she pulled out a great number of weapons from her gate to the point that it was more than enough to obscure the view of the night sky.
So I guess that morning weather report was just a lie…
Apparently, even in this day and age, one still can't put their complete faith in those announcements.
As a side note, the reason why Hachiman could calmly spectate this fight from the sidelines is because Yumiko just did not have enough leeway to try to pick him off when she was far too occupied with the Divine Servant in front of her.
The confrontation of the two girls resumed in the form of an aerial battle.
From their earlier exchange, it was obvious that Rin's mobility far surpasses Yumiko's current level of control with her weapons so she decided to change her approach and go for something she was confident that she has the upper hand in.
Firepower.
The now golden-eyed Rin Tohsaka stared at the countless Noble Phantasms with the same expression one would wear while looking at a pile of pebbles, disinterest.
"Are you sure that's going to be enough? You're free to pull out more, you know? Now's your chance."
"Shut. Your. Mouth!"
With so many weapons at her disposal, only one tactic was really needed.
Attack.
From afar, the advance of steel weaponry looked like a swarm of locusts about to feed on a field of crops.
"Don't count me out just yet!"
Undaunted, Rin charged in towards the horde like a lone Hero would against a Demon King's army.
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
It may appear to be suicidal but it was in fact, her best move at the moment. The only way for a smaller force to ever stand a chance against an army of superior numbers is to break through from their weakest flank. If you stay passive, you will only get yourself surrounded and picked off in no time… But of course, her enemy going for a beeline straight towards her was something Yumiko expected.
"Ha! You're just making things easier for me!"
The other Noble Phantasms quickly closed in from behind Rin and it wasn't long before the only thing that can be seen was a floating prison made from all of those weapons.
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
These sounds that could barely be picked up by the ear were the only indication that Rin Tohsaka is still alive… For the time being, at least.
"You're next," assured of her victory, Yumiko turned her attention back to the pest who refused to have an easy death, Hachiman Hikigaya, who wasn't as scared as she expected.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," he asserted calmly with an all-knowing smile.
He may have only known Rin Tohsaka for only a few hours but that short span of time was enough for him to understand that while she is indeed reckless, she is also not a girl who would do something so absurd without a plan.
Break.
A faint sound that is a little different from what Yumiko remembered came from the prison made out of countless weapons but before she could even wonder what exactly it was…
Break. Break.
The same sound rang out once again and not only was it much louder than the earlier one…
Break. Break. Break.
It was also getting more and more frequent.
Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break.
After that symphony played out for a couple more seconds, the encirclement was rent asunder and a completely unharmed young woman can be seen right in the middle. The light from the starry night sky penetrated the multiple gaps of the broken prison and when the radiance made contact with her whole body, she really looked like a Goddess who descended from the heavens.
As if her reappearance wasn't majestic enough, her golden magic power was dancing around her fervently. Their true identity were magic arrows and they revolved around Rin's body at speeds high enough that it was difficult for the naked eye to keep track of where they are.
It was an absolute defense. Be it sword, spear or hammer, every single weapon was destroyed the moment it came close.
"I believe it's my turn now."
Unlike all the high-speed evasive movement she performed earlier, Rin Tohsaka leisurely approached her adversary like she was going for a walk in the park.
Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break.
Equal parts of anger and despair colored Yumiko's expression as her Noble Phantasms were getting demolished before her very eyes and the Goddess inched closer towards her.
"No! Stop right there! Don't come here!"
The other weapons that were on standby tried to overwhelm Rin from all sides but…
Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break.
…It all proved to be futile.
Ishtar and Gilgamesh.
In a fight, it would be difficult to determine who would win as either outcome was equally possible since, at least from the perspective and experience of Humanity's Last Master, neither Heroic Spirit is inherently stronger than the other. It just so happens that there are situations where one of them would be more optimal to deploy over their counterpart.
The faceoff currently happening in front of Hachiman's eyes however was not just between the Archers who both had gold in their color palette but also between two girls in the prime of their youth.
In the end, Rin Tohsaka was just able to draw out more power from her Heroic Spirit than Yumiko Miura.
"The difference is this much huh…" the Master from Chaldea remarked as he continued to cast his gaze at the sky which now only had two girls floating on it.
That scene too was about to change very soon…
"Clench your teeth, this is going to hurt."
Rin's fist landed squarely on Yumiko's stomach in the next second, far too fast for the latter to react even after that warning.
"Guh!"
While her foe was still stunned, the ravenette quickly transitioned into an axe-kick, her movements akin to that of flowing water.
"Haaaa!"
"Aaahh!"
Crash.
That follow-up sent Yumiko crashing straight to the ground. A fall from that height may have proven to be lethal for a regular person but Yumiko Miura was in the possession of the power of a Heroic Spirit and not just any ordinary Heroic Spirit at that… It was none other than the Wedge of Heaven, a human who wouldn't even bow down to Gods.
A shield? Now that's surprising.
The Fire Queen of Sobu held onto a large hunk of metal and used it as a crutch to remain standing. She seems to have used it to try and block Rin's attack but it wasn't able to mitigate the Goddess' power completely as evidenced by how much the blonde was still trembling in pain.
The Master from Chaldea looked genuinely surprised as the Gilgamesh he knew would rather die than hide behind a shield like what Yumiko was doing.
"Give up," Ishtar advised while hovering downwards but one look at the fiery eyes of the other Gold Archer was enough to tell her that she wouldn't just say yes.
"Not… Yet…!"
For the umpteenth time during this confrontation, Yumiko brought out the Gate of Babylon but Rin Tohsaka just scoffed at it like it was no big deal.
"It's useless."
Snap.
A crisp sound rang in the air and in the next second…
Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
…Several streaks of golden light simultaneously danced in unison.
"Wha…!?"
In a single instant, golden arrows intercepted what was Gilgamesh's last attempt of resistance before she had the opportunity to fire them off as projectiles.
It was an offensive application of the shield of magic arrows that Rin used earlier. No, that was not quite right. It was more appropriate to say that the shield was a defensive application instead. In the first place, manipulating the trajectory of magic projectiles is an offensive technique.
"It's over."
The Goddess declared as she pointed her index finger loaded with magic power on the defeated blonde's head.
"Kuh….!"
No matter how fiercely the Fire Queen of Sobu tried to glare at Mesopotamian Goddess of Love with those green eyes of hers, those golden orbs continued to look down on her.
At this singular instant where everything seemed to be going right…
!
…The Hikigaya ahoge, that lock of hair that happens to always be present on every single member of the Hikigaya family, twitched.
This cowlick, which will stay up no matter how much you comb it down and is immune to all kinds of hair products regardless of their brand, only ever moved for one reason… If it senses danger.
Despite being branded as a Monster of Logic, Hachiman abandoned all reason and leapt back as far as he could while quickly applying defensive measures… Not to himself but to his Servant.
"Rin, watch out!"
No sooner after hearing Hachiman let out that warning.
"Eh?"
Flash.
A line of pure golden light went past between Rin and Yumiko, as if to separate the two from each other.
Be it the road, grass, car or even building, everything that the light passed through was scorched no, was cleanly severed into two, like how a hot knife cut through butter.
If Hachiman didn't sense that this attack was coming, his partner might have gotten terribly hurt as well.
Protracted Evasion.
A Displacement Magecraft that allows the user to move a target to a nearby location via shifting a portion of space. The magic power consumption is dependent on how far the destination is from the starting point. As an upgraded version of Emergency Evade, the timing needed to cast didn't have to be at the exact instant that an attack is coming. It will automatically trigger later if it wasn't used up once. In other words, it can be used as a safety net. Hachiman has only chosen to use it just now simply because it was only during this instant that he felt that Rin was actually in danger.
Perhaps that in itself was a blessing-in-disguise because the aura being given off by this brand-new combatant was on an entirely different level from Yumiko Miura.
His entire body was clad in an armor of pure steel like a Knight. He has a crown of blond hair which shimmered like gold and blue eyes which could be mistaken for sapphires, the kind of features you would only see from a Prince in fairytales. Moreover, he also possessed an air of dignity like that of a King that commanded the respect of both allies and enemies alike… But the one factor that really gave away his true identity is none other than the radiance of the sword he wielded.
According to Chaldea's database, whenever this particular Heroic Spirit was present in a Holy Grail War, he would usually turn his weapon invisible in order to avoid getting his identity figured out by his enemies early on. One could even say that the sword itself is even more famous than the Hero who wielded it himself.
"W-W-Who are you?"
Instead of the handsome blond interloper, the reply to Rin's inquiry came from none other than the black-haired guy who's been fighting alongside her.
"Arthur Pendragon. Of course, that's your Heroic Spirit. In a way it really does fit you," the loner at the bottom of the school caste sneered. "Hayama."
Hayato Hayama. The Prince Charming of Sobu.
After seeing Yumiko Miura turn into a Servant before his eyes, Hachiman instantly thought of at least three other people from his short list of acquaintances who would most likely be capable of doing the same thing.
Unsurprisingly, this guy made the list… Because it only makes sense that a guy as handsome, smart, rich, popular and talented as him could also fight. It didn't matter which Heroic Spirit he became. If Hayato Hayama is an enemy, he will always be a threat. After all, he was an existence that could do anything expected of him to do.
That picture-perfect face of his became strained after he got a better look of the raven-haired young man who said his name out loud.
"That voice…!" his blue orbs locked onto the familiar yet strange looking eyes of a dead fish. "Hikigaya?!"
Hey, hey, what's with that reaction? You look like you're almost relieved to see me.
Furthermore, it was not only Hayato who was startled.
"Eh? You're lying! Hikio?! How?!"
While still leering from the pain, Yumiko Miura squinted her eyes as she scanned Hachiman's figure before all the color suddenly drained out of her face.
Wait, she actually remembers me? That's the weirdest thing I've heard all day.
The calmest person in the quartet ended up being the person who first threw a question among them… None other than Rin Tohsaka.
"Hikigaya-kun."
Her neutral voice brought Hachiman back to the present.
"Yes?"
"I'm not sure what's going on but," she pointed her index finger towards the duo with blond hair. "I can shoot them, right?"
Chaldea's Master pondered for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.
While the blond pair in front of him did look like people he knew… That was simply the end of it.
There was no way these two were related to his high school classmates as he knew for a fact that none of them have any connections to the world of Magecraft. Heck, the only reason he's been pulled over to this side was due to a once-in-a-lifetime encounter but that is a story for another time.
"Do as you please," his lips twisted into a wry smile but the air around him was solemn.
No matter his reasons, he did give, or at least approve, the order to shoot two people with a great resemblance to people he knew. Even a Monster of Logic such as himself found it a little difficult to rationalize such actions… But like all things in life, humans will eventually get used to something the more they do it… No matter how ruthless said decisions are.
Such is the case for Hachiman Hikigaya.
As Humanity's Last Master, he has already purged several Lostbelts. These worlds were not only the den of the enemies of Proper Human History, it was also home to several other sentient beings, each with their own story to tell and yet all those lives were snuffed out because of the choices that Hachiman made. The number of corpses that has been piled up in his name was more than enough to make a tower that reached for the sky so adding two familiar faces to all that wasn't really going to change much.
Since the entire landscape seemed to have been extracted from Hachiman's memories, it was only natural that the enemies would end up being the people he knew. That seems to be the theme of this Singularity or Lostbelt. It was easier for him to take it in if he thought about in that manner.
"Understood."
Snap.
That singular movement instantly called upon a bombardment on the same scale as the Gate of Babylon. Perhaps seeing it countless of times during her bout with Yumiko, inspired Rin to replicate it out of spite…
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
…However, if there was one lesson to be learned from this entire fight, then it's that raw firepower by itself doesn't guarantee victory.
A wall.
That is what appeared before the black-haired pair's eyes once the dust cloud caused by Rin's carpet-bombing settled down.
Countless shields, bucklers, bulwarks, hoplons and even individual armor pieces like helmets and breastplates is what this impromptu rampart was made out of.
Of course, this array of Noble Phantasms was pulled out from none other than the Gate of Babylon.
It should come without saying but when the King of Uruk said that he possessed all of the Noble Phantasms in Earth at one point in his life, he meant he possessed literally all of them, not just weapons like swords but also other equipment like shields and armors.
It was so obvious yet Hachiman missed this point entirely again. He was just so used to seeing Gilgamesh act in a specific manner that he forgot that he had so many other options available for him that he just refused to use because of his pride.
This is bad…
Gilgamesh and Arthur Pendragon.
On paper, it might seem like the former is way more powerful than the latter given his bloodline and the fact that he came from the Age of Gods but the two are in fact not that far apart in terms of rank.
This is because a Heroic Spirit's power is derived not just from their strength in the past but also from how huge of a mark they left in Proper Human History. If not for this, it would be impossible for normal people like Jeanne d'Arc to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with demigods like Achilles.
Hachiman's problem however wasn't only limited to the fact that he needed to go up against such big names.
From what he's seen so far, a person, henceforth will be referred to as a host, is required to act as a medium in order to manifest Heroic Spirits in this world thus, the combat capability of a Servant is also largely dependent on how said host can take full advantage of their powers.
By the looks of things, he wasn't slacking off either…
As Chaldea's Master, he has pretty much committed to memory how each of his Servant's looked depending on the level of their Spirit Origin. In the case of Arthur Pendragon, he would look closer to a King than a Knight the stronger he becomes.
The majestic cape fluttering behind Hayato was more than enough for Hachiman to tell that the Saint Graph of Sobu's Blond Prince was currently at a higher stage than Rin.
Just as Hachiman tensed himself for this horrendously difficult battle coming up ahead, he heard something surprising from the other side.
"Yumiko, you have to fall back."
Hachiman and Rin were not the only ones surprised from Hayato's words.
"It's… Fine…" she spit out some blood out of her mouth. "I still… Need to…"
Hayato grabbed her by the shoulder and solemnly shook his head.
"No, please retreat. I'll fight them in your place."
The concern from her Prince's voice and his firm gaze was more than enough for the Fire Queen of Sobu to relent.
"Okay…"
In the sidelines, Hachiman sighed bitterly.
As usual, she just crumbles instantly in front of Hayama…
Unaware of the reason behind the cynic's odd reaction, Hayato held the sword to his chest using both hands and began channeling its power, the very breath of the planet. Golden mana began to swirl violently around him before finally coalescing towards the sword.
"Seal Thirteen. Decision Start."
The words that this blond Saber uttered made Hachiman stare at him wide-eyed.
Is he crazy?! Right in the middle of the city!?
Excalibur. The Sword of Promised Victory. A holy sword that was created for the sake of eliminating external forces which threatens the planet. It was a Noble Phantasm that resonated well with Hachiman Hikigaya's role as Humanity's Last Master and he has indeed clinched countless victories by relying on it…
Yet that very Noble Phantasm was now being brandished towards his way. Ironic doesn't even begin to describe this situation.
"Tohsaka-san, use your crown please! I'm counting on you!" Hachiman urgently gave an order but in contrast to his panicked face, his partner looked completely dumbfounded.
"Crown? What are you talking about?"
Chaldea's Master instantly paled. The fact that it came from the very girl who was dancing around in the air like it was second nature to her made him feel even more distressed.
"It's your skill. Use it or we'll both die!"
After hearing the word skill,something inside Rin Tohsaka's sub-consciousness began giving her instructions on how to use this crown that her Master just mentioned, no, it was more like a foreign memory of her using it in the past was being imprinted directly to her brain.
"Ah! Got it! Got it!"
Gleaming Brilliant Crown. It is a manifestation of the various graces that Ishtar has received as one of the most treasured Goddesses in the heaven and earth. Simply put, it is divinity accumulated from the blessings of other Gods and the faith of mortals who worship her. In her Heroic Spirit form, this is a skill that grants Ishtar various boons, one of which is… Absolute protection.
Golden light began to emanate from Rin's body but unlike the light of the holy sword which gathered in one point, the coverage of this light was much wider, enough to encapsulate two people, Rin and her Master.
"Ex…"
Slash.
Indifferent to his enemies' preparations, Hayato Hayama swung his sword downwards.
Two phenomena both born from golden light, a sword and a shield, made contact.
The showdown between the light of extermination against the radiance of protection ended up being anticlimactic however as when the allegedly almighty attack made contact with the impenetrable shield made from a Goddess' power, it became clear that the force behind it was rather lacking.
"…"
"Huh?"
When the torrent of light finally disappeared and there was no sign of either the enemy Saber or Archer in sight, it became clear to Humanity's Last Master that he…
"Darn it! I fell for the bluff!"
…Got played like a fiddle.
Turns out, the magic power that Hayato unleashed wasn't Excalibur but just a regular Mana Burst and the two simply used the blinding light to cover their escape.
It was a flawless tactical retreat but there was one thing about this whole maneuver that just got under Hachiman's skin…
It sounds like something I would do.
As he was internally kicking himself, Rin however had something else on her mind.
"Hey," the girl who is pretty much in complete sync with her Heroic Spirit looked at her Master as if she was looking at a pile of garbage. "Can I say something?"
Having been exposed to such a stare countless of times already, Hachiman didn't even flinch.
"Sure."
Rin put both of her hands to her hips and applied more pressure to the blockhead in front of her.
"Are you not the least bit ashamed of yourself as a man to hide behind a girl's back in that kind of scenario?" her voice only got louder as she continued to speak. "Isn't that weird?"
Instead of being ashamed, Hachiman had the gall to even tilt his head in confusion, implying that the weird one here was Rin not him.
"Huh? Isn't this much only natural? You're the one with the Servant-fused body after all," the logician proved his point matter-of-factly.
That being said, he had more than enough experience under his belt to know that, when it came to arguments with girls, just because your logic is sound doesn't mean they will be in agreement with you.
Case in point…
"Hmph! You're so useless! I did all the fighting too."
…This scenario right here.
Having gone through pretty much every iteration of this back-and-forth, Hachiman already has an established reply depending on how his counterpart responded.
When they become needy like this, the quickest way to abate their temper is simply to let them hear what they wanted to hear the most. In this case, what the girl is most likely seeking for is both gratitude and appreciation.
"And I am truly grateful for all of that. Seriously, you came at just the right time too."
His reply took Rin completely by surprise and one look at her expression was enough for Hachiman to tell that she was rather pleased with it.
"Yeah, you'd better be!" the anger flaring in her eyes just a few seconds ago was then replaced with the light of curiosity. "By the way," she looked away from Hachiman and began staring at a completely random direction. "Earlier, just when that Saber guy was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm, did you just call me…?"
Call you what?
Is what Hachiman would have said if he was a typical dense protagonist. Unfortunately, he is far too smart for his own good so Hachiman could only go about this in the way that was most familiar to him… Fess up now to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.
"My bad. It is significantly easier to say your first name than your last one so it just sort of came out because of the emergency," he then transitioned into a bow. "I'll apologize so please forgive me."
This time around, the reaction he got from his counterpart wasn't something he was expecting.
"…Why are you trying to apologize?"
The coldness in her voice stunned the cynic briefly before he decided to repeat what he just said earlier.
"Eh? Like I said-…"
His attempt was interrupted by the frustrated Rin herself.
"Ah! Forget it! I don't want to hear it!"
Hachiman, on his end, was only getting more confused by the second.
"Wait a second, why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad, you idio-…!"
Before Rin could even finish talking, she suddenly felt her entire body lose its strength. From another perspective, she looked like a puppet whose strings were abruptly cut.
The last thing she could recall before she completely lost consciousness was a panicked Hachiman Hikigaya rushing towards her with an aghast expression. While his current look was not something that everyone would universally find to be attractive, for some reason looking at it now made her smile in relief.
…
Chiba Urban District.
Hum. Hum. Hum.
At dawn, or rather, the period just before a single ray of sunlight could streak the sky, the lone figure of a girl can be seen whistling while circling around a skyscraper's helipad with leisurely steps, as if she was just strolling around her own backyard. In this case, that was not quite far from the truth as she did happen to reside in this particular building.
Depending on the lighting, her hair could either be orange or pink but rather than its peculiar color, it was much more well-known for the specific way it was styled, a bun.
Due to how cold it was, she was wearing a tracksuit that did well to insulate her body but was a relatively poor choice at hiding just how well-developed it was for her age. It was to the point where people, regardless of gender or age, found it difficult where to look.
As to why she was out and about in this ungodly hour, it was because she was waiting for someone, two people, in fact.
"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed while turning her body towards the opposite direction she was facing earlier. "You're back," she cheerfully said while smiling.
No one answered the pinkette's sudden greeting. For a while, it looked like she was just talking to herself but soon enough, a dot appeared on the horizon which began to grow bigger by the second. It wasn't long before said dot became the silhouette of a person. It was a blond princely youth, Hayato Hayama, who's holding on to a maiden with similar hair color as his, Yumiko Miura, in a princess carry.
"Yes. Thanks for waiting for us out here," he answered with a smile after perfectly landing on the floor without making a single sound. Although it wasn't quite morning yet, his pearly-whites along with his handsome features made it seem like the sun rose a little earlier than usual. Both his and the pinkette's demeanor instantly became grim when the former showed the condition of the girl on his arms. "Yui, please tend to Yumiko."
The voluptuous girl wearing a tracksuit, Yui Yuigahama, proceeded to perform a quick check on their unconscious mutual friend.
"Help me bring her towards the clinic!"
Hayato silently nodded and complied with Yui's request.
Before long the trio were now on the building's infirmary. It differed from what you would expect to see in a modern hospital however as instead of sophisticated equipment, what can be seen are all kinds of artifacts pertaining to magic.
The bed itself was situated in the middle of a magical circle written with various characters that even a well-read person like Hayato Hayama couldn't recognize.
Once he laid Yumiko on the bed, Yui immediately began to channel her magic power towards the circle which, in turn, began applying a recovery spell on the unconscious patient.
A few seconds after that treatment, Yumiko Miura's breathing became even. Right now, she looked like someone who is sleeping peacefully. The two others present on the clinic were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for that."
"It's fine. This is my job after all," Yui waved both her hands around in embarrassment but the mood around her changed when she caught the figure of Yumiko from the corner of her eye. Unless she was taken by surprise, Yui could not imagine this friend of hers to get beaten up this badly. "Tell me. What happened to Yumiko?"
"Yui," Hayato hesitated for a short while before he continued. "Promise me you won't do anything rash after you hear what I say."
"Ahahaha! I won't. Don't worry," Yui smiled while awkwardly scratching her cheek. "I mean sure I'll be lying if I said that I don't want to give the thing who did this to Yumiko a piece of my mind but I know I'm not strong or smart enough to do something like that."
Looking at his friend's expression made Hayato smile back as well albeit very briefly before gently placing both of his hands on Yui's shoulders.
"Yui, listen to me very closely," his sapphire-like irises locked on to Yui's ruby-like orbs to make sure he had her full attention. "We fought someone who looked like Hikigaya."
"Eh?" the luster on Yui's eyes suddenly dimmed. "Hayato-kun, did you just say, Hikki?"
Even though he saw it all coming, the heir of the Hayama family was still taken aback by the pinkette's odd reaction.
"Yui, calm down," Hayato's hold on Yui's shoulders increased by a little, just enough not to hurt his friend. "They just share the same face. It's not the Hikigaya we know."
Despite making eye contact with Hayato, Yui's eyes didn't look like it captured his image at all.
"Is he…An enemy?"
Hayato hesitated again before sighing in resignation.
"Most likely."
An air of hostility surrounded Yui after hearing that. Gone was the bubbly and cheerful girl who always tried her best to fit in with others. The person in front of Hayato now was someone who would kill others for the sake of achieving their goals.
"I understand," the hue of her eyes changed from red into mint green. "I'll peel off that face of his so I can see who would dare to use Hikki's name," her voice became more neutral but judging from the abnormal bloodlust she was emanating, there was no way that she was calm. "There is only one Hikki after all…"
Her cryptic words managed to make even the flawless Hayato Hayama get the chills.
Now that Yui was like this, there was no stopping her now. Even though the Heroic Spirit she is fused with is much weaker than the King of Knights, there was nothing more frightening or more powerful than a human single-mindedly chasing one goal.
…
Shiver.
Is someone talking about me? Well… I guess might have a hunch who.
Despite being indoors, Hachiman suddenly felt a strange chill on his spine as if a cold breeze caressed his neck.
His current location was the Tohsaka mansion.
Around eight hours has passed since his encounter with two familiar faces who wielded the power of Heroic Spirits. Naturally, that could only mean that he and his partner both missed school.
After seeing Rin exhibit no symptoms aside from exhaustion when she fainted, he immediately brought her back to her house. As he wasn't quite sure what kind of traps she set up on her room in the case of intruders, the pessimist decided to lay her on her sofa just to be safe.
The only thing he needed to do now was to wait for her to wake up. Whenever that happens, he's already got a bottle of sports drink and a pitcher of water ready on the side.
With that, he decided to turn the television on to check today's news.
Even though Hachiman was somewhat expecting it, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised at all by what he was seeing.
As if to make fun of him, the screen was showing a field reporter on the very site of the battle that happened earlier, the mall's parking lot.
"Alright, it's just completely spotless for some reason," Hachiman grumbled in displeasure while he unconsciously leaned closer to the screen. "Wonderful."
There was neither a single corpse of a monster or a crater formed from one of Gilgamesh's haphazard attacks.
Just like how it was the other day, the traces of yesterday's battle were also cleaned up no, it was more like such a thing didn't happen in the first place.
Hachiman turned the television off in frustration and proceeded to look up the names of certain people, none other than the foes he just fought with earlier.
Being used to compiling data not only when he joined Chaldea but also in his occasional stints of helping out in school events by virtue of joining the Service Club, it only took half a day for Hachiman to make a comprehensive report of two persons of interest namely Hayato Hayama and Yumiko Miura.
Unsurprisingly, the two were extremely popular. What took Hachiman some time was not because digging for their information is difficult but the exact opposite. There was far too much that he had to manually go through them to determine if they were legitimate or not.
Hayato Hayama is not only the most popular guy in school, but probably in the entirety of Chiba. He is the Soccer Club Captain while also managing to get top marks in all subjects. He also comes from a distinguished family in both the political and business aspect of this prefecture.
Yumiko Miura enjoys the same celebrity status as Hayato though her family is of relatively humbler origins. She was a rising star in the tennis scene during her younger years although she seems to have not picked up her racket recently. Currently, she is receiving amateur modelling offers left-and right due to her remarkable style and fashion sense.
The specifics weren't so different from what Hachiman knew of before…Except for one thing.
The two were not students of Sobu High but rather, Homurahara Academy.
He sighed.
What the heck is that place now?
Yet another question was just added in Hachiman's already stacked pile of questions.
Ever since he's been thrown into this world without warning, it was mystery on top of another mystery and Hachiman wasn't getting any closer to figuring out even a single one.
"Mmm…"
Maybe it was all the negativity leaking around Hachiman or he might have accidentally blurted things out louder than he thought, regardless, it ended up rousing Rin Tohsaka from her deep slumber.
"You awake?"
"Haaah…"
What Hachiman got as an answer was a groan followed by a yawn. After a brief glance at her physical condition, he put most of his attention back to reviewing the contents of the information he just compiled.
"Don't get up immediately and lie down more first."
"Okay…" due to her drowsiness, it took a few seconds for Rin to settle in and finally understand the gravity of the situation. "Wait," heat began to invade her cheeks. "What just happened?"
Hachiman decided to give her a clear-cut answer.
"You fainted."
Rin became a little red after hearing that humiliating revelation.
"And you carried me all the way here?"
"On my back, yes," he nodded while still busying himself with the papers.
Rin wasn't sure why but aside from being embarrassed, somewhere along the first three words that was said infuriated her. Whatever it was, it only served to make her face redder. She set that thought aside for now as there was something more important that she needed to find out first.
"And you were just here while I was asleep all this time?"
"Throughout most of the day, yes."
After she heard that, all the shame on Rin's expression was replaced with panic.
"Wait, what time is it already?!"
"Half past four in the afternoon."
She instantly paled.
"That's…!"
In contrast to her alarmed look, Hachiman remained as cool as a cucumber.
"Yes, we missed school," he finally stopped with working on the reports and looked at Rin. "You should be more worried about your body's condition rather than your school attendance."
It was a little rough but Rin could sense the sincerity on her Master's words and because he was acting all worried like this, she found it inappropriate to retort in an abrasive manner.
That being said, the awkwardness hanging in the air was also something she had difficulty in bearing, so she decided to change the topic.
"Those two we fought," she carefully observed Hachiman's reaction even though she was still lying on the sofa. "Just who were they?"
"Gilgamesh and Arthur Pendragon. You probably know more about their lore than I do," he smiled wryly. "Never expected those two to work together like that except in Chaldea although if memory serves me right, I've never paired those two before. Now that I mentioned it, isn't it really unfair? It's practically cheating. I guess this is how my opponents felt every time they face my team."
Despite saying such words, it wasn't like Hachiman felt much remorse. He was Humanity's Last Master after all. He had the liberty to use any and all Servants at his disposal, provided that they were willing to follow his orders. What else was he supposed to do? Not use the Heroic Spirits he was contracted with?
Rin however wasn't quite aware of what was swirling on Hachiman's head at the moment and just spoke her mind.
"I'm not talking about the Heroic Spirit themselves but the people who they fused with," she raised her upper body, albeit with some difficulty, and sat upright. Hachiman initially wanted to help her out but she refused with a shake of her head. Once they were finally on the same eye level, the magus from the esteemed Tohsaka family cast a look of concern to the black-haired youth in front of her. "They seem to know you."
"There's probably some sort of misunderstanding," the cynic answered nonchalantly. "They do say that there are at least three people that look exactly alike in the world."
Rin didn't look convinced by his makeshift excuse at all.
"Okay. I won't pry. But if you ever wanna talk about it," she avoided eye contact before continuing. "I'll be here to hear you out."
"Like I said, this was all just a misunderstanding but sure, I accept your offer," he then moved two stacks of documents to the table closest to Rin. "Here. This is what I managed to find out about those two. They are quite famous so I didn't have much difficulty in getting their information. Peruse them later once you're feeling better."
The ravenette briefly glanced at the covers of each compilation before casually asking something.
"Are we going to hunt later tonight?"
Hachiman looked at his partner as if he was looking at the biggest idiot on Earth.
"Definitely not," he shook his head vigorously. "In fact, we shouldn't be out fighting everyday like what we just did."
Unlike the Servants in Chaldea who only ran on magic power, Rin Tohsaka was still human so in order for her to fight optimally, her overall condition should be taken into consideration.
It was an obvious fact that somehow flew over Hachiman's head. The habits he's formed from his several years of experience as Humanity's Last Master ended up punishing him this time around. The only saving grace here is that he blundered early on and not during a more crucial battle.
"Oh… I see."
"Why do you sound so disappointed?" intrigued, Hachiman couldn't stop himself from asking.
"I just felt that it was a pity," the high school girl who commanded the powers of a Goddess answered in a soft voice. "Using the power of a Heroic Spirit and fighting those monsters is kind of fun."
The cynic unconsciously furrowed his brows after hearing something rather odd. Sure enough, this girl named Rin Tohsaka was not a normal person.
"Fun? That's a weird way to put it," he shook his head several times before throwing out a question a little out of left field. "Hmm, are you a workaholic?"
"Rather than a workaholic, I think I'm more of a hedonist, thank you very much," Rin retorted while pouting. "I would not have started studying Magecraft if I didn't enjoy doing it in the first place."
"Hedonist?" his brows furrowed once again before a more playful expression appeared on his face. "Huh. You sure have a big sense of responsibility for someone like that," he teased, knowing full well that it was going to push Rin's buttons.
"And what's wrong with that?" she shot back. "It's much easier to enjoy things if you have a clear conscience."
"Sure, let's leave it at that for now," Hachiman stood up and began to walk towards the kitchen. "Do you wanna eat something?"
Hearing the word eat somehow made Rin's body remember the fact that it hasn't taken in any nutrients since yesterday.
"Yes. Now that you mentioned it, I do feel quite famished."
Hachiman nodded, fully expecting that response.
"Will fried rice be okay?"
Rin cast a doubtful look to her housemate.
"I don't think you should feed something like that to someone who just woke up."
He then smiled like a forgiving priest who is willing to listen to anyone's confession.
"Curry then?"
The hedonist frowned.
"HA?!" she exclaimed in a voice a few decibels louder than usual. "Why is curry the other option automatically?"
The pessimist just shrugged towards her loud complaint.
"Because those two are literally the only dishes that I can cook."
Rin waited for a punchline to come her way but upon seeing that Hachiman's expression remain unchanged after a short while, she had no other choice but to take what he just said seriously.
"Fine. Fine. I'll have whatever you can make."
Triumphant, Hachiman decided to finish Rin off with a bow. The gesture that was normally used to express utmost respect turned into one of mockery instead.
"Coming right up. Help yourself to some water or that sports drink while you wait."
A part of Rin really wanted to give that rude Master of hers a piece of her mind but when she thought back about how well he's paid attention to her in the past few hours where she was unconscious, she decided to let it go.
Shortly after Hachiman left to cook, Rin went for the bottle of sports drink that he set aside for her. A few mouthfuls of the electrolyte-loaded drink in, the descendant of the Tohsaka clan finally felt that her body was awake.
Since there was nothing else for her to do except to wait for her food to come, she thought she might as well start reading through the documents that her housemate compiled…
Ring. Ring. Ring.
…That was until she heard the sound of her doorbell.
Disregarding the coincidental timing, Rin found it odd for the doorbell to be ringing in the first place, what with the Bounded Field around the mansion as well as the bad rumors surrounding it.
For the time being, she decided to see who this visitor was with her own two eyes.
"I'll go get it," Rin called out to Hachiman and after hearing her voice, he peeked from the kitchen and began to nag on his partner.
"You're a patient so stay in bed. Let me do it."
Rin waved off his concern with a hand and quickly moved to the front door.
"It's fine. It's fine. My body was getting sore from lying down all day anyways."
"Hah, suit yourself."
Since it didn't look like there was any way for him to catch up to her anymore, Chaldea's Master reluctantly gave up.
Rin, still on her casual clothes from last night, went outside for the first time after being stuck indoors for so long.
Seeing the orange and violet hues of the sky that could only be seen during twilight served as secondary proof that almost an entire day passed by while she was out cold.
"It feels so surreal," she took a second to admire the view before heading towards her original destination, the front gate. "Who is it?"
On the other side of the gate was the figure of a tall auburn-haired youth wearing the Sobu High uniform, implying that he headed here almost immediately after classes were over. He had an absentminded look as he stood with one hand to the bag he was carrying and the other on his pocket. He was an unassuming and unremarkable boy yet for some reason, he was one of Rin Tohsaka's few acquaintances at school.
Shirou Emiya.
"Yo, Tohsaka," Shirou took out the hand on his pocket and waved at the young mistress of the mansion who personally came outside.
"Emiya-kun?" she blinked twice in surprise. "Why are you here?"
"Well, you see," he looked away as he scratched the back of his head. "Your friend asked me to bring you the material for today's lesson because she had her own personal errand to run today."
The face of a boyish girl with short hair immediately came into her mind.
That girl…!
Rin kept her indignation to herself and bowed.
"I'm very sorry for the trouble."
"Nah, it's fine it's fine. My house is not far away from here anyways," he waved off her concern with a smile before his expression shifted into one of worry. "By the way, what happened? Did you get sick?"
"Oh, it's no big deal. I was just…" she took a second to think of what she wanted to say before ending up with something generic. "Tired. Yeah, tired. I'm okay now though."
"Are you sure?" Shirou leaned towards Rin while asking.
The sudden movement flustered Rin to the point that she began to blush.
"Yeah. I'm completely fine now," she took a step back while answering at a faster tempo than usual. "Thank you for worrying about me."
Then, I'll be going now.
Shirou Emiya however did not get the opportunity to say that as a voice that was neither his or Rin's rang out...
"Hey, Tohsaka-san, you're taking quite a long time, is something wro…?"
…Hachiman Hikigaya stepped out from the doors of the Tohsaka residence but stopped his approach when he saw that there was another person present aside from his Servant. This entire predicament could have all been avoided if he just waited for a few more seconds before making an appearance but it was too late for that now. He considered turning back and pretending that nothing happened but there was no way something like that was going to work so without even taking a glance on the visitor's face, his brain then went into overdrive to cook up multiple excuses to justify why a boy and girl of their age were living in the same roof together on their own.
Needless to say, Shirou was quite surprised with the sudden entrance of this third person but upon recognizing who it was, his astonishment turned into interest.
"Hikitani?"
"Hm?" Hachiman unconsciously raised one of his brows after hearing the familiar way in which his family name was butchered. His expression warped into confusion however when the flamboyant orange hair he expected ended up being a more restrained auburn. It was still a familiar face but from the completely opposite end of the spectrum that he was expecting. In other words, it was from his days at Chaldea not Sobu. "Jiji?"
"Huh?"
Puzzled reactions came from the other two people present after Hachiman ended up calling a guy who should be around the same age as him as an old geezer.
Ah… I messed up again…
Humanity's Last Master grimaced internally after he just did the same mistake he made during his first meeting with Rin.
Thankfully, this young man who happened to be the vessel of a Servant with the origins of a blacksmith back in Chaldea was not as inquisitive as the black-haired honor student that he met first.
Since there was no way he could just take back that outrageous greeting, Hachiman Hikigaya could only think of one card to play at the moment that could bail him out of this atmosphere of awkwardness.
It was none other than to casually, boldly and shamelessly…
"Huh?"
…Go with the flow.
Author's Note:
I guess I may or may not have spoken too soon about consistency.
Well, the current chapter is around 30% longer than the previous ones so please forgive me for this slight delay.
As I said before, something did come up irl that I needed to deal with.
It is not only that. Because of how this Chiba spinoff is actually following a chronological order unlike the counselling sessions which are more episodic in nature, I had to draft a couple of the future chapters too so you know, the conclusion actually makes sense and all that.
Anyways, that's it with my excuses. I sincerely hope you enjoy the chapter.
I wonder, can any of you actually guess the Heroic Spirit that Yui is fused with? Whoever can do so... Will get my heartfelt congratulations.
As always, if you ever have any suggestions on which Servant/s you want to be featured next, feel free to write them on your review, I'll be sure to take that into consideration for the coming chapters.
Now with that out of the way, time to get on to the reviews from the previous chapter.
ObeRun: Thank you very much for the support. Here's a fresh one that I just finished.
guest: Well, Kiara is supposed to get interested in the Master, that chapter simply showcased the other details behind it, if the Master's name is Hachiman Hikigaya, that is.
IsekaiFanBoi: Yep. You can pretty much summarize the entire chapter as Hachiman doing Hachiman things. I'm sure we all expected that Kiara will be obedient in the end, the only remaining question was how.
Guest: A solo appearance might be impossible but I can see myself writing about him in a similar format as the Valentines' chapter.
nightocore 000: Soon. Given her popularity, it's pretty much inevitable that I'll write about her.
Azaleaelf: I'm glad you liked it. I hope you share a similar sentiment to this new one.
guiltyr2: Yep, those two should be coming up soon as I've also received a request about them in the past, although it won't necessarily end up with them tutoring him or something.
Soulbow109: For the counselling chapters, I want to maximize the amount of cameos without any overlap as much as possible. That was why I didn't include BB there because I already featured her a little recently. Furthermore, she might end up competing with Meltryllis in the heroine role in the later parts of the chapter and I wanted to avoid that scenario. It seems like you're asking for a continuation of sorts. I'm not totally against it but I'd like to give the opportunity to other Servants first before I do something like that.
0x66 0x6f 0x63 0x6b 0x65 0x72: Believe me when I say that I have some ideas but I think it will be a while before I can insert those scenarios in this fic.
Terracotta Tortilla: I completely respect your opinion but you need to understand that in terms of the romance aspect, FGO is pretty much as cliché as cliché as can be and since I didn't want to change too much from the parent work, it couldn't be helped that things turned out this way.
To everyone else who takes the time to read this fic, a huge thank you to all of you as well.
That's it for this chapter.
I hope we meet again in the next one or in another story of mine.
Reviews, follows and faves are all very much appreciated.
Until next time...
May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.
Morii Hikikko