Moon Cell Irregular

By psychored1911

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Chapter 3

"-new there was always some tension between Course 1 and 2 students, but to think it'd come to blows this quickly…"

"And it's only the second day too… We really have to address this issue as soon as possible this year…"

Hakuno once again found himself waking up in the nurse's office, this time with these two third years: one with long, luxurious hair; and the other with short, boyish hair, discussing something by Dr. Satomi's desk. Sitting down on the chairs next to it was the Lead Bloom and one of his groupies, both looking equally guilty for something.

The short-haired upperclassman turned to him. "Oh, good. You're awake." She and the long-haired upperclassman approached him. "Greetings. My name is Mari Watanabe and I am part of the Public Morals Committee."

"And I am Mayumi Saegusa, the Student Council President." The long-haired upperclassman introduced herself.

Hakuno groggily rubbed his eyes as he sat up. "I don't understand… am I in trouble or something?"

Mayumi shook her head. "On the contrary, by all accounts, you were the victim of this little… incident…"

The two Blooms seemed to sink even further in their seats at Mayumi's choice of words.

Hakuno blinked before giving her a confused look. "Incident?"

Mari shook her head. "We saw the whole thing. Morisaki and Mitsui over there both pulled out their CADs and initiated activation sequences, immediately after which you collapsed, unconscious." She glared at the two Blooms, who clearly wanted nothing more than to leave this place as soon as possible, before returning to Hakuno. "I'll spare you the more concerning details, but let's just say that the entire Public Morals Committee had to be called in and send most of the involved parties home, innocent or not."

Hakuno turned his gaze towards the two Blooms, Morisaki and Mitsui. "What do you mean by that?"

"Simply put," Mayumi began. "Two of your friends, Ms. Chiba and Mr. Saijou, retaliated physically the moment you were struck. Normally, something of that nature would merit a week's detention at the very least, but witnesses can confirm it as an act of self-defense, especially since the rest of Morisaki's group pulled out their own CADs with intent to harm. They each will be given one month's detention for it after we're done writing our reports. These two, however…" she regarded the two Blooms behind her. "Since they both claim responsibility for actually assaulting you with their magic, well, it's not only grounds for expulsion, but grounds for arrest as well."

The female Bloom, Mitsui, suddenly stood up, tears in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry Ms. President! I thought I could've calmed everyone down with my magic, but I panicked, I-I didn't think of the spell I was using a-and…"

Before she could say anything else, the Lead Bloom, Morisaki, stood up in her defense. "Ms. President, Mitsui over here didn't do anything wrong. She was trying to defuse the situation…' he paused as if trying to find the right words, before hesitantly continuing. "It- It was my fault. I assaulted the Weed with a spell that, if done correctly, should induce concussion-like effects on the target. I sincerely apologize for my actions."

Mari frowned, rolling her eyes, "If you were truly sincere about it, you'd be apologizing to Kishinami over there instead of to the President."

Morisaki flinched and refused to meet her gaze. It seemed that for all his want for redemption, his pride refused to bend for his own sake. However, he didn't seem bad, so to speak, just far too stubborn for his own good. That attitude could land him in even worse trouble than the one he's in right now.

Hakuno then glanced at Mitsui, who was on the verge of hysterics. She didn't look like the person who'd try to hurt others, at least not it stands, she probably did the wrong thing at the wrong time. An error of judgment at best.

However, neither of them actually hit him with a spell; someone, or something, else had been doing that for the past several months. Though, of course, it's not like he's going to tell them about his spell-induced dreams. Nor will he directly tell him he's wrong; blindly white-knighting will just end in disaster. He can, at the very least, use this to try and let him get the message without overtly offending him.

"I did nothing to my knowledge that should have provoked you that harshly. Why would you attack me?"

It was a simple question, yet it seemed to catch Morisaki off guard, as did everyone else. Seeing their stunned silence on the matter, Hakuno continued.

"Was it because I said I pitied you?"

Bullseye. Morisaki shot him a glare, only to realize Mari and Mayumi were still staring at him.

He took a deep breath as he turned to Mayumi. "Ms. President, Ms. Watanabe, could you please excuse us for a moment? I would like to talk to them in private."

The two upperclassmen stared at him quizzically for a moment before nodding and respectfully exiting the nurse's office.

Immediately after they left, Mitsui quickly bowed and cried out in apology. "Mr. Kishinami I am so sorry for hitting you with my mag-"

"Apology accepted," Hakuno said before she rambled on, and instead turned towards Morisaki, who still refused to meet his gaze. "And you?"

"..." Morisaki hesitated before angrily asking "Why would you pity me?! My magic ability far surpa-"

"I never said I pitied your magic ability." Hakuno corrected. "I pitied the fact you blew your chances with Miyuki without even trying."

The Bloom blinked "What do you mean by that, W-"

"Do you honestly believe that your arrogant behavior endeared her to you?" Hakuno stated sternly. "Last I checked, girls aren't into narcissistic jerks. Especially when said narcissistic jerks try separating her from her brother and attack her friends." That quickly shut him up, and the sole Course 2 student continued, knowing full well he had the Bloom's complete attention. "And right now, because of actions you admitted to doing of your own free will, you face potential expulsion and jail time. You hate me unconditionally, and all I can ask is, 'Why?'."

Morisaki froze, unable to answer him. "I-I don't know… I don't normally act like this… I just blew up…" he paused, wracking his brain for any form of justification.

"You attacked me solely because I was a Course 2 student and I dared defy you." Hakuno bored his eyes into the Bloom. "Does being a Course 2 student automatically make me subhuman to you?"

Morisaki flinched. "W-Well, when you put it like that, I sound like a total bastard."

"Not only that, you ignored my question," Hakuno argued. "Let me repeat myself. Does being a Course 2 student make me subhuman to you? Does it automatically give you the right to treat me, or anyone else, like dirt? Does my giving a simple, harmless opinion warrant an assault by magic?"

Morisaki froze, unable to answer for quite a time. The two ended up staring at each other as the tension in the air thickened, with the poor Mitsui girl cautiously reeling back. The silence continued, until eventually-

"No, I guess it doesn't…" the Bloom finally admitted. "I guess... I let the pride of being a Bloom get way too far into my head… and then assaulted you when that pride of mine was threatened."

"Does that mean you're sorry?" Hakuno inquired.

"Y-Yes… I am sorry… I sincerely apologize for my actions… And I swear upon the name of the Morisaki clan, I shall never wrong you again." His words were choked, almost forced out, as if the act of admitting fault to someone of lesser status caused him physical distress. Yet, behind the coughed words, there was genuine regret, as well as genuine atonement.

"We'll hold you up to that." The three first years turned towards the door. It seems that Mari and Mayumi had walked in sometime during Morisaki's apology.

Mari looked at Hakuno with a raised brow. "Kishinami, I take it you're not going to press charges then?"

Hakuno shook his head. "No, but I don't want this to ever happen again."

Mayumi gave him an elegant smile "Well then, if that's the case, you are free to go, Mr. Kishinami." She turned towards Mitsui and Morisaki, smirking mischievously. "As for you two, we still need to talk about your punishment. Mr. Kishinami isn't pressing charges, and expulsion would cause far more trouble than it's worth, especially since that would negate the point he was trying to make." She gave Hakuno a knowing wink before regarding the two Course 1 students. "However, we still can't just simply excuse your actions; that would leave a very bad precedent." She turned to Mari. "What do you think Mari? What sounds fair to you?"

Mari shrugged, her humorous smile mirroring her friend's. "Oh, I know we'll think of something~."

Ignoring the growing mischievous aura that threatened to overwhelm Morisaki and Mitsui, Hakuno picked up his bag, conveniently left on top of Dr. Satomi's desk, and headed out of the room-

"Oh, and Kishinami," Mari called him back in. "Tattoos are against the dress code policy. I'll let it slide for today since it's the first week, but please try to cover it up next time."

Hakuno could only roll his eyes. "Sure. I'll start wearing gloves or something," he said as he left the nurse's office.

Upon arriving home, Hakuno found Laeticia snoring cutely on the table, using some sort of textbook as a makeshift pillow. Either she got incredibly bored with her homework, or she had been waiting for him to come home, probably both. Whatever the case, she left the TV on; some news report about a serial killer or something like that. He turned off the TV and grabbed the blanket his parents left on the couch, before draping it over her shoulders.

"Sweet dreams…" He said quietly as he went over to the staircase-

"...Thank you."

Only to spin on his heels as the foreign exchange student woke up with a yawn, stretching her limbs, giving him the same, beautiful smile she gave him the first moment they met.

Hakuno uneasily took a step back, his face flushed with embarrassment. "How long were you awake?"

"The moment you opened the door…" She giggled a bit as Hakuno's face turned even redder. "I was waiting for you to arrive. What happened?"

"I… uh, had something to do on campus?" Hakuno cringed. That had to be the worst lie he ever made.

And it seemed Laeticia picked up on it. "Funny, I thought one couldn't act when they are unconscious."

He flinched. "How did you know that?"

"Answering machine." She pointed at the phone. "The school nurse called sometime before I got home. She said you were assaulted by magic. What happened?"

Her amethyst eyes pierced through him, but her tone was gentle. They barely even knew each other, yet there was just something about her that put him at ease as if he could put his absolute trust in her without fear of betrayal. He didn't know why he felt this way, but something just told him he could confide in her without any fear.

"In all honesty," Hakuno let out a small sigh. "Right after class, I was meeting up with a couple of friends when this jerk and his little clique tried to separate Miyuki from next door from her brother, and when I tried defusing the situation… he shot me with his magic."

Laeticia was expressionless, but her hands were clenched, trembling slightly. "...He shot you?"

"Look, he apologized for it (eventually) afterward, and I hear the student council is going to do something about him, so it's fine." He waved her off, hoping it would assuage her budding anger.

"...Did you forgive him?"

"Course I did." Hakuno told her "He didn't kill me or do anything permanent, so it's fine. Apology helped, of course. Why would you ask? Do you think I should've left him to his fate?"

"No! No, not at all!" Laeticia hastily shook her head "I think it was nice of you to give him a second chance. You are a good person, Hakuno."

She smiled, and Hakuno's face reddened even further than he had before. He felt his heart pound and his mind race, a million questions bouncing inside his head. He had never felt like this before, so why was he feeling like this now? Why only with her?

Laeticia smiled, hugging the blanket he draped over her ever closer. "So, do you mind helping me with my math homework? I'm rather… stuck…"

She sheepishly scratched the back of her head as Hakuno chuckled. "Sure, what're you stuck on?"

Two days later, after classes ended, Hakuno yawned as he started walking around campus, drowning out the yells of club recruiters that filled the air. There was a weeklong club recruiting festival starting today, where upperclassmen from various clubs started recruiting the new freshmen into their ranks. Unfortunately, to most of them, 'recruiting' meant 'grab the freshmen and run, their consent be damned'. Fortunately for him, most of them didn't seem too interested in him, save the handful of club recruiters that he attracted. But of course, there were few he had an interest in. The journalism club caught his eye, though it was mainly due to their booth having this little memorial service to their recently deceased ace; they didn't tell him directly, they just gave him a free download to their newspaper app along with an application and told him to think about it. There was also the occult club, which, in an attempt to impress potential members, told them this ghost story about this girl who went missing after a family suicide in her apartment complex; this did more to scare off the freshmen than attract them. There were other clubs, the art club, the athletics club, etc. but he didn't have to decide right now.

Anyways, deciding to take a break, he ducked under a tree, making sure he wasn't spotted by any more upperclassmen. Taking a seat under the shade, he pulled out his sketchbook and continued working on his latest drawing. It was weird, the dreams had been getting more vivid lately, which required him to be more detailed with his artwork. They've also, as an unfortunate side effect, gotten longer, which meant he was out of it for longer. Was it unhealthy to be unconscious for long periods? Maybe he should swing by the nurse's office and ask about it later-

"Oi! Hakuno!"

"Good afternoon, Kishinami."

"Huh?" Hakuno looked up, finding Tatsuya and Erika towering over him. "Oh hey, guys. Didn't see you there."

Tatsuya raised a brow as he sat down next to him. "I take it you're catching your breath from all this madness?"

Hakuno nodded. "Yeah, it's a bit much for me."

"Could be worse." Erika shuddered. "Some of the recruiters were practically tearing me limb from limb earlier."

"Seriously?"

"By the time I got her out of it, one of them even managed to slightly undress her." Tatsuya told him.

Erika muttered under her breath with a slight blush. "Yeah, and then this guy got a good look at my bra."

Tatsuya narrowed his eyes. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to do so."

"At least they didn't go any farther." Hakuno snorted as he looked at the armband on Tatsuya's left arm. "So, they made you a member of the Public Morals Committee?"

Tatsuya nodded. "Yeah, I was nominated by the Student Council. We're still short-staffed though."

"Short-staffed?"

"Yeah. The faculty's nominee, Shun Morisaki, was revoked due to what happened at the gate two days ago. According to the Student Council, his behavior and actions during the incident were unacceptable for the position. He was given two months detention for it, so the staff have to scramble to find another suita-"

"Wait, he was only given two month's detention?!" Erika yelled. "The hell?! He knocked Hakuno into next week with his CAD! He should've been expelled!"

"In all technicalities, he should have also been arrested." Tatsuya's eyes narrowed. "Unless of course, the victim didn't press charges..."

Hakuno found himself at the receiving end of his friends' judging eyes. "What?"

Erika stared at him incredulously. "You let that jackass go?"

Hakuno slowly reeled away from them "He still got punished, didn't he?"

"That's not important!" Erika yelled, getting dangerously close to his face. "Dude, he knocked you out for- how long were you out?"

"Uh… I think three hour-"

"Three hours!" She grabbed him by the collar and shook him vigorously, punctuating each and every word with an outraged shake. "That bastard knocked you out for three hours and probably gave you brain damage! You had that jerk dead to rights! Why would you let him go?!"

To his credit, Hakuno remained 'relatively' calm, though he did take a second to halt his sudden dizziness, and simply said. "What would you do if you held someone's future in your hands?"

"Huh?" Erika looked confused. "Whaddaya mean by that?"

"Theoretically speaking, let's say you see someone make the biggest mistake of their life. You don't know them, they don't know you. However, because of their mistake, you now hold their chance to make things right in your hands. You can punish them for their mistakes, or you can absolve them and give them one last chance. What would you do?"

Erika paused, mouth agape, and did not immediately answer, while Tatsuya seemed… impressed, to an extent.

"Interesting," Tatsuya commented. "Where others would see a chance for revenge, you saw more of a moral dilemma. What did you do?"

"Simple," Hakuno said. "I just... pointed him in the right direction, and let him go."

"Point him in the right direction?" Erika echoed.

"He made Morisaki see the error of his ways, implicitly, by having the latter conclude by himself." Tatsuya concluded.

"Aaah," Erika said in realization. "But wait, what if he just made up all that crap to get out of trouble?"

"Not likely." Tatsuya shook his head. "He's from the Morisaki clan, one of the Hundred families; if he gave his word, he'll be honor-bound to uphold it, especially with a member of the Saegusa clan as a witness."

"That, and you guys would kick his ass if he didn't." Hakuno added.

Erika snickered before giving him a playful fistbump. "Damn right, we would."

*ring, ring*

Erika's phone blared out loudly as she turned off the alarm. "Well, it's almost about to start."

"What's about to start?"

"Oh, we were waiting for the kendo club's demonstration in the gym." Erika explained. "You wanna join us? It starts in like, ten minutes."

Hakuno slowly shook his head, slowly rising to his feet. "Sorry, but I'm feeling a bit tired. I'm just gonna go home."

"You sure?" Tatsuya asked.

Hakuno waved him off. "Yeah. Just tell me how it goes, alright?"

As he got up to leave, Erika bolted upwards, grabbing onto his shoulder. "Wait, Hakuno!"

"Yes?" he turned around to meet his energetic friend's gaze.

"Where do we stand on that whole portrait thing?" She asked with a cat-like grin.

"Did you talk Leonhart into it?" He asked.

Erika playfully grinned. "I'm working on it."

"Call me when you succeed. See ya guys." He waved goodbye as he went over to the exit. Like anything exciting was gonna happen in the gym anyway.

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"Come now. Over here."

It had been some time since he first met her. One week since he saw her beautiful form.

When he first met the girl, he had been nothing more than a beast, an abomination of mud and clay, crafted by the voices of the divine and set free upon the world. The wilderness was his domain, and the wildlife were his friends.

And then he met her, Shamhat was her name, last he recalled. He remembered her embracing him, and she had not let go for six days for seven nights. In that time, he took her form, and made her beauty his; she did not seem offended, but rather flattered by his new guise. Whilst under her, both literally and metaphorically speaking, he began to learn from the harlot, if only to learn about what he was.

Not only did he learn, but he also gained something he so desperately needed: a soul. He gained wisdom, insight, and a purpose, a purpose given to him by the ancients themselves.

He had to meet the king. And punish him in Their name.

He asked Shamhat to bring him to the king, and she obliged. Taking him by the hand (a truly unique human appendage, especially this 'thumb' thing; it's so much easier to pick things up), she had brought him into the city. There, they had found the king, walking towards the temple in all his glory. This, according to Shamhat, was due to a wedding between two of the king's citizens. Though, the king was not there to honor the wedded couple; he was only there to exercise his 'right' as king.

He knew he had to punish him for his insolence. However, upon seeing the king for himself, he could feel nothing but pity for him. The king cloaked himself with insufferable arrogance and limitless pride, yet it did nil to hide his endless loneliness within his heart.

It was then, and only then, did he chose to forsake the mission They had given him. He wanted to be his friend.

And he started by remaining standing in the king's way, gaining the king's immediate ire.

"Mongrel," The king glowered, their eyes locked together. "Who gave you permission to stand in the way of your glorious king and stare upon him with your revolting gaze?"

"The same ones who gave me permission to do this." the abomination said as he bolted forward and gave the king a flying knee to the face.

Staggering backward amongst the horrified gasps of the crowd, the king glared daggers at the abomination, his face contorting with rage. "You cur… you dare lay your filthy hands upon your-"

A follow-up haymaker to the face brought the king's snarl to a halt, bringing the king to his knees.

The abomination towered over the king with an infuriatingly polite smile. "Huh. I expected the mighty Gilgamesh to put up a much better fight. Yet here he is, on his kn-"

The king, catching the abomination by surprise, tackled him onto the ground, and brought his fists together, and slammed them against his head, only for the abomination to dodge and throw him off at the last moment.

And thus the first clash among many between the king and the abomination had commenced. The king, for all his strength, could not land a decisive blow upon his opposer. Any and all blows that connected with the treacherous mongrel merely did nothing more than push him back. The same was true for the abomination; While his initial assault upon the king worked, it was only due to surprise and sheer audacity on his part. With those gone, the king had managed to defend himself far better than he had before, and all his own attacks had been parried or brushed off with nary a sign of injury.

In other words, the abomination had the king in a stalemate.

And the king knew it. And it infuriated him to the core.

After countless clashes, the two rivals leaped away from each other as countless glowing ripples distorted the air around him. He knew what it was; it was the golden treasury of the king. And he knew the king would never use it unless he had his back to the wall. The humiliation he should be feeling must be immense.

"To think that I must use my beloved treasures against a clod of mud like you…" The king bellowed as countless weapons emerged from the golden portals "Mongrel, when I'm through with you, nothing shall be left of your corpse!"

"I'm pretty sure clods of mud can't become corpses." The abomination corrected.

"And now you have the gall to correct your king's word?!" The king roared "You must desire for a long and painful death!"

A beautiful spear and a menacing axe flew towards him at blinding speeds, speeds that no mortal could ever see with the naked eye. He knew he couldn't dodge the king's weapons no matter how fast he moved, so he did the only thing faster than dodging them.

Namely, he copied the weapons with his divine clay and parried them right before contact. As his treasures impaled themselves onto the ground, the flabbergasted king had little time to react before the abomination lobbed the counterfeits toward him, the clay copies lodging themselves by his feet.

It was not out of malice.

Nor was this act done in any real retaliation.

He was bragging.

He could copy his precious treasures at any time, and he absolutely made sure the king knew it.

"You sniveling, filthy worm…" Countless portals into the king's treasury formed, all with magnificent weapons trained upon the abomination "First you dare lay your hands upon me, then you force me to reveal my treasures to an unworthy mongrel such as yourself. And now THIS?!" he gestured to the clay counterfeits at his feet "You have the nerve to create these 'fakes'?! These fraudulent copies of my glorious treasures?! For these crimes against me, I, Gilgamesh, the great King of Uruk, shall destroy you!"

Two clay swords formed in the abomination's hands as he held them at the ready, giving the king an excited smile.

"Come at me, O mighty king of Uruk."

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Did you hear what that Weed did yesterday?"

"You mean at the gym? Yeah, I heard he-"

"What? No way! A Weed couldn't do something like that!"

Oooooookay… maybe it wasn't the best decision to leave campus early yesterday. Apparently, something happened in the gym shortly after he left for home. Whatever it was, it caused quite a ruckus among his classmates. He couldn't exactly figure out what happened, per se; all he could hear from the rumors was that Tatsuya was involved somehow.

So, once classes ended, he found Tatsuya patrolling the campus and asked him what happened.

Tatsuya's answer was terse. "The kenjutsu club was causing a ruckus in the gym. I stopped them."

Hakuno stared at him in disbelief. "That... just gives me more questions. What exactly happened yesterday?"

"The kenjutsu club interrupted the kendo club's demonstration yesterday. The club president then used his CAD with intent to harm. When I stopped him, the other club members tried to intervene with their CADs. I stopped them too."

Hakuno folded his arms. "Again, more questions. You have to be more specific."

"Well, I-"

"This is the student council. A fight has broken out in gymnasium number one!" Tatsuya's radio blared out.

Tatsuya picked up the radio and answered it. "This is Shiba. I'm on my way." putting it away, he turned towards Hakuno "Sorry Kishinami. I'll tell you when we head back home." He said as ran towards the gym, leaving Hakuno in the dust.

Late into the afternoon, once the festival ended for the day, Hakuno joined the Shiba siblings on their 'train' ride home. There, Tatsuya explained everything about what happened yesterday.

And by everything, he meant everything.

Apparently, he single-handedly took down the entire kenjutsu club when the latter crashed the kendo club's demonstration. But, of course, that wasn't the part Tatsuya focused on.

Rather, the elder Shiba sibling gave him a short (thirty-minute) lecture on the concept of cast-jamming. You see, he somehow figured out that by using two or more CADs simultaneously, the psion noise generated makes it impossible to use magic. He then explained how he refined the process by using two reversed activation sequences to hasten and amplify the effect, turning it into non-systematic magic. As informative as it was, Tatsuya didn't exactly need to go out of his way to make it sound as convoluted as grammatically possible. Nor did he really need the history of cast-jamming in modern magic. Hell, he could've gotten the picture had the latter just said something along the lines of 'use multiple CADs at the same time to create a pseudo-antinite effect.' to get the general point across.

Hmm… perhaps Tatsuya is the kind of guy who really enjoys the sound of his own voice.

"...And that's the gist of it." Tatsuya finally finished as the trio got off the train. "Just as a personal favor, would you kindly keep this off the record?"

Hakuno gave him a sarcastic(?) thumbs-up. "Sure, it'll be like I didn't understand a word."

Miyuki beamed, seemingly oblivious to Hakuno's possible sarcasm. "Onii-sama sure is smart, don't you think?"

Hakuno only rolled his eyes. "With those lectures, he'd make the perfect college prof-"

"Pardon me."

Before he could finish, Hakuno suddenly found himself being dragged back into the 'train', as Tatsuya and Miyuki abruptly whirled their heads back to it in sheer bewilderment.

"Hello there. You two must be the Shiba siblings." Laeticia bowed politely before waving at the sibling pair from within the 'train'. "Forgive me, but I need to borrow Hakuno for a while. Please excuse us."

The 'train' door shortly closed and steamed off, leaving Laeticia and the very-shaken Hakuno alone in the 'train'-car.

"Laeticia?" Hakuno hesitantly asked, wondering what the heck she was doing here.

Laeticia turned to him, smiling as if nothing had happened "., Hakuno?"

"What was that about, and why did you drag me back into the train?" He asked as he awkwardly got back in his seat, the speed of the train throwing him off balance.

"I needed to talk to you in private." Laeticia told him.

"Couldn't you have waited until I got back home?" He said, fumbling with the 'train's' stupid seatbelt.

Laeticia shook her head, paying close attention to her phone's clock. "I wouldn't be able to. After all, you are going to go under in five minutes."

He blinked. "Wait, what?"

"It's one thing to lie to ensure one learns from their mistakes. However, it's another thing to lie to me." Laeticia's amethyst eyes became steely under her gaze. "I know of your fainting spells. I know of your dreams."

Hakuno paled, gradually and inconspicuously inching away from her. "How do you know that?! I never told anyone about them, not even my parents!"

Laeticia smiled sadly, gently placing her hands over his. "Hakuno, I know I'm frightening you right now, but it's okay. Harming you is the last thing I would ever do; you are that important to me."

He could feel his heart rate relax, and any thought of fight or flight slowly went away. Despite that, he still eyed her suspiciously, that underlying layer of caution still present.

Somehow catching onto his skeptic gaze, Laeticia slowly wrapped her left arm around him and whispered one thing.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

They were simple words, yet they immediately held his focus like they would anyone else.

Wrapping her other hand around him, she cradled him in her arms, like a mother rocking her child to slumber.

"Go to sleep one more time, and I shall tell you everything I know…" she whispered softly, humming a French lullaby into his ears. "It's okay, I will not let any harm befall you any further… Just… go… to…"

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Hakuno collapsed onto the ground as the effigy struck him down, the pain setting in immediately.

"...Hmph, it seems you also don't have what it takes…"

A voice boomed into his head, ringing loudly in his ears.

"The time has come. With your impending defeat, I shall consider this round of preliminaries to be over. Farewell. May you find peace in deletion."

As his vision went hazy, he began to notice countless pale brown... forms sprawled all around him. Did they just suddenly appear? …No… they must've been here since the beginning… These forms… He knew what they were.

They were other students.

They all came here. They all arrived here before him. And they all died, alone, helpless to stop their fates.

The worst part about it? He was about to become one of them.

And he knew it.

At first, amidst all the pain, he considered just closing his eyes, and letting fate run its course.

…

…

"No, I refuse to give up…"

He summoned whatever strength he had left to stand. As he began to push up against the ground, the pain spiked through his entire body, shuddering him to the core. He couldn't ignore it. How could he? It felt like every part of his being was ripping at the seams. But despite the agony of his impending demise, he powered on, slowly but gradually rising to his feet.

His body, broken as it was, persevered through his suffering.

His mind, numb from the anguish, refused the sick logic of giving in now.

His soul, shooting through with waves of distortion, raged against the injustice of it all.

"You know what, you bastard?" He glared at the effigy, the unsightly program that struck him down. "I am afraid. I'm afraid of the pain. I'm afraid of losing my mind. I'm afraid of becoming a corpse. But most of all, I'm afraid of disappearing without a trace for any reason at all."

Countless 'windows' shattered behind him, leaving one to cut through the gloom with its warm, glowing light.

"But that's okay." He admitted, his voice echoing throughout the digital chamber. "It's okay if I'm afraid. It's okay if I'm in pain. I have to rise above it all, because…"

An intricate pattern, the Command Spells, radiated onto his left hand as he raised it against the effigy.

With limitless conviction, he took a breath and roared at the top of his lungs "I have yet to fight on my own terms!"

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"How exemplary. To show such valor even in the face of death itself."

An ethereal voice praised.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways, but if thine strength of heart has led you to me, then who am I to question His plans? Even if the masses refuse to hear thine humble pleas, I shall answer thine prayers. Now, grasp the light He has given thee and stand up high, for I refuse to let thy fate end here!"

Emerging from countless ones and zeroes, a figure materialized before him, standing proud and dauntless.

She was a young maiden, no older than he was, with golden blonde, braided hair, clad in immaculate steel armor, covering her chest, forearms, and legs, and with an ornate sword swinging loosely at her hip. However, what struck his attention the most was her crystalline amethyst eyes, which revealed a kindly, yet strong-willed soul.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?" She asked with an elegant bow.

Hakuno could only nod dumbly as she graced his presence with a gentle smile, only to turn a cold gaze toward the effigy standing behind them.

"Hmm… it seems as though the SERAPH wants us to continue with the preliminary round." She glanced upwards for a split second before putting herself between him and the puppet, summoning a radiant flag-like polearm, a standard, to her hands. "Fine by me. I never liked watching this puppet butcher the other participants anyway."

With a little twirl, she swung the standard at the effigy, crushing it with a mighty blow to the chest. The effigy flew backward, crumpling against the ground, motionless, but the maiden would have none of it. Instead, she walked over to its prone form and slammed her armored foot right into its head, shattering it into pieces before it dissolved into nothing more than corrupted codes.

"There, all done!" She turned back to Hakuno, giving him a dazzling smile. Of course, for the latter it couldn't be more different. Hundreds of questions were racing through his head: Who was she? Where did she come from? What was her name-

"Ack!"

And as the adrenaline subsided, Hakuno could feel the pain from earlier come back with a vengeance. Falling to his knees as his vision went hazy once more, he could only see the maiden run back to him worriedly as his whole world faded to black.

Hakuno abruptly woke with a start, finding himself inside… an empty church of all places. He didn't even know there was a church in the area, but this little fact didn't matter to him.

He remembered everything.

His name was Hakuno Kishinami.

He was an NPC copy of the real Hakuno Kishinami who had gained sentience.

The real version of him, his other self, was afflicted with Amnesia Syndrome, and put in cryogenic stasis until a cure could be found.

He fought in the Moon Cell's Holy Grail War.

He defeated Leonardo B. Harway and Twice H. Pieceman and emerged victorious.

And his Servant… his steadfast companion in that digital hell…

He glanced between the rows of seats, finding his Servant kneeling before the large cross at the church's front. She was praying, praying for someone special to her to return to her. They were alone, yet all the candles were lit, and somehow, their gentle glow made her look as radiant as the moment they had met.

He stood up, making sure he didn't make any sudden sounds, and quietly let out one word.

"Ruler?"

Her breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat as she suddenly stood and turned to face him, her teary amethyst eyes full of hope.

"Ruler, is that you?"

He never saw it coming. With her superhuman speed, she tackled him onto the ground, hugging him and sobbing into his chest.

"Thank God…" she uttered in between cries. "Thank the Lord Almighty, for He finally returned you to my side…"

He cried as well as he wrapped his arms around his Servant, hoping to never let her go again.

They were together once more. He didn't know how, nor did he know why. There were countless questions to be answered once their emotions eventually calmed them down.

But for now, all he cared about was staying in his Servant's warm embrace.

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A/N: And done! Wow, this chapter took longer than usual to write (mainly because I kept writing and rewriting a scene that I ultimately cut out). Fortunately, I also made it longer than normal, so it's all good. Now before I give you guys the send-off, I want you guys to know one thing: events will not occur exactly like they did in the manga. Since Hakuno conveniently 'fainted' when he and his friends confronted Morisaki's clique, Morisaki gets in really bad trouble and never becomes a member of the Public Morals Committee. Not only that, Honoka, since she also used her magic during that skirmish, also got in trouble, and had to 'make amends' with Hakuno first before her relationship with the Shiba siblings could improve. Anyway, now that all's said and done, please review!