This chapter felt easier to write because there was no fight scenes, haha. Just a student and her servant interacting.
This is also a good time to let you all know that these chapters will vary in length, so some chapters might feel shorter than others.
I feel like I could've done better with this, but I'm still happy with how it came out, at least for now.
"What do you mean she managed to pay it off!?"
Hanuma Makoto was filled with rage and indignation as Motomiya Chiaki had relayed the report to her desk.
"Yes, Mein Präsident." Chiaki nodded, smiling sheepishly. "We don't know how Sorasaki Hina was able to pay the huge debt you left her, as she wasn't willing to answer our questions about her sources."
Slam!
"Curses!" Makoto closed her eyes as she slammed her fist into her desk. "I swear, I will make her pay somehow!"
The blasted Hina being the major thorn in her side as always! She wanted nothing more than to barge into her office and demand answers in-person, but barely kept herself in place, knowing full well that it would mean having to go to the Prefect Team's headquarters.
Suddenly, booming laughter rang inside her mind, prompting her to stop her inner ranting, before she let out a sigh.
This didn't go unnoticed by Chiaki, who looked at her and asked, "Do you want a team to monitor her every movement?"
She even held up her camera for emphasis, with a determined smirk that the Pandemonium Society leader would've been proud of, had it not been for the sudden laughter from her head.
"Kikiki, of course, Chiaki!" Makoto cackled and grinned. "Make sure you provide only the finest of details!"
She didn't want to let her underclassmen know about the thoughts running through her mind, so she wasted no time returning to her usual hammy tone.
"I won't let you down, Mein Präsident!" Chiaki said with a salute, before she turned around to leave the office.
Click. Creak. Thud!
Alone inside her office, Makoto let out a huge sigh and leaned back on her chair.
"How did my life come to this?" She idly thought to herself.
She reached out to take off the white glove on her right hand, revealing red markings on her palm that were shaped like a plus sign, with sharp edges and an asymmetric three quarter circle.
They were a huge indicator that her life took a drastic turn, even if nothing too grand had happened so far.
Makoto shook her head and put her glove back on, before standing up from her seat.
She turned her gaze towards the bookshelf that she hardly ever used. However, it might've been a good thing that it's rarely used.
The Pandemonium Society leader walked towards the bookshelf itself and pulled on one of the books, causing a glowing rectangle to appear in front of her.
For her part, she didn't seem to think much of it, as the rectangle became a new doorway leading to another room.
A room that only a select portion of people knew about.
"Golden jii-san~!" A young girl's voice spoke with a giggle. "Can you show Ibuki another trick?"
"Hmph, I rarely use this one, but I believe it shall suffice." A haughty-sounding male voice spoke.
Makoto entered the hidden room and saw Tanga Ibuki with a blonde-haired man with red eyes, wearing a white v-neck shirt, dark gray pants with an intricate-looking pattern, and simple white shoes, complete with a golden necklace around his neck and golden brace-like accessories on his wrists.
One detail she noticed in particular was that Ibuki was sitting on top of the man's shoulders, clearly enjoying herself, while the man didn't seem to pay any heed to her close proximity.
"Candy~!" Ibuki cheered, as a small golden portal appeared before her hands and shot out several pieces of candy.
"Huh, is there anything that "Gate of Babylon" can't do?" Natsume Iroha asked, who was casually lying on a pile of white pillows.
The man smirked at her question and let out a small chuckle. "Hah, this is mere child's play of what my Noble Phantasm is capable of."
"Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes…" She thought to herself.
A sudden glow enveloped her vision, prompting her to shield her own eyes from the sight, not helped by the room having gold decorated in several areas.
Even after a week, while she was no stranger to gold and even her personal gun was coated in it, she wasn't used to this amount ever since summoning the "Heroic Spirit".
"Hm, so you have returned from your duties, mongrel?" Gilgamesh didn't even turn his attention towards her.
This jolted the Pandemonium Society leader out of her stupor, before she glared at her "servant" indignantly, not helped by his shit-eating smirk at her expense.
"Tch, I thought I told you not to call me that!" Makoto's glare would've looked intimidating, if not for the pout on her features, which only prompted the blonde-haired man to let out another laugh.
Ibuki had a pout of her own and lightly pulled on Gilgamesh's hair. "Bad Golden jii-san!"
In response, the servant laughed it off and said, "I merely jest. I sense that you are still reeling from your rival thwarting yet another scheme of yours."
This got Makoto to drop her anger and slump her shoulders, with her sigh clearly giving away what she truly felt.
"Is Makoto-nee okay?" Ibuki asked, tilting her head.
"She shall be fine." Gilgamesh waved off the child's concerns. "Her rival should be the least of her concerns."
"Oooohhh…"
"B-But… I'm supposed to be the master here…" Makoto stammered.
She was the one that summoned him for crying out loud! Heck, the man didn't even mind that Ibuki was this close to him.
"Ah, but…" She thought, seeing the little girl clearly enjoying her servant's presence. "As long as Ibuki-chan is happy, then…"
"Honestly, I don't know why you're still doing this." Iroha remarked, reading a magazine that was nearby. "For all we know, Hina could also have a servant of her own."
If it were any other situation, Makoto would've dismissed her words and went straight to coming up with a new plan to spite her arch-enemy.
However, with the existence of "Heroic Spirits" and a vague idea of what it entails, she couldn't help but feel a great sense of dread.
Why wouldn't she? It meant that her faction wouldn't be the only one with "Heroic Spirits", and that she would not only contend with potential ones from the Prefect Team, but also other clubs throughout Gehenna.
With the Eden Treaty drawing closer and closer, she bit lip and clenched her fists at the thought of fighting other Servants head-on.
"Golden jii-san, can Ibuki also have a Servant?"
The innocent question from the Pandemonium Society mascot snapped Makoto out of her thoughts, prompting her to look straight at her with complete concern.
Iroha was similarly affected, as she paused her reading to turn her gaze towards her with a small frown.
Gilgamesh merely snorted and reached out to pick up Ibuki from his shoulders, before setting her on his lap.
"You are more than capable of that, child." He answered honestly, giving a light pat on the head.
Ibuki perked up at this and raised her sleeve-covered arms in joy. "Yaaaay~!"
Unbeknownst to her, the blonde man briefly glanced at her halo, before turning his gaze towards the student that summoned him.
He knew very well that the students' "halos" left them perfectly able to summon Heroic Spirits, even ones such as himself.
Within five minutes of his summoning last week, he was quick to deduce the hidden true nature behind them. He would've defied the girl right away, but her attitude and overall mannerisms showed that she, along with possibly every other student, have shown no awareness about this and simply treat them as another part of their body.
He had no doubt that more Servants would be appearing as time went on. The Natsume girl that deferred to her leader was proof of that.
Meanwhile, Makoto felt like panicking at the thought of Ibuki being pulled into this new world that she and Iroha became a part of.
Iroha herself had to start wearing a glove on her right hand when command seals appeared on her palm a couple of days ago, which was shaped like a circle with four evenly spaced spikes and a rhombus on top that extended through it.
However, compared to both of them, Ibuki was still a child, and while her halo granted her a lot of protection, she was uncertain if attacks from these "servants" would have no effect like the typical bullets and explosives.
"Ibuki-chan…"
She wanted nothing more than for her faction's precious mascot to remain completely safe and away from the new hole that was Servants and Magecraft, so she could only mentally beg for someone above not to put her at any risk.
"Bye bye, Makoto-nee~!"
"Master, I hope he wasn't being a huge bother today?"
"He wasn't, Lancer, though I can't say the same for Makoto…"
Standing next to Iroha was an effeminate-looking person with long green hair and white robes, all while gently holding onto Ibuki's hand.
"I will speak with you at a later time." The person turned their gaze towards Gilgamesh, who merely smiled in amusement.
"Hah, then I shall be waiting."
Iroha, her Lancer, and Ibuki proceeded to leave the hidden room, leaving Makoto alone with her own servant.
"That child," Gilgamesh mused from the sofa. "It would have been most intriguing to be summoned by her."
This got Makoto to widen her eyes at the offhand remark, before turning towards the blonde man with indignant glare.
"I'll have you know that I'm a perfectly capable master, thank you very much!" She yelled, crossing her arms with a pout.
"Hahahahaha!" This only got a laugh from the servant in response. "Is that so, mongrel?"
Makoto frowned at this and began to recall the time she introduced Gehenna to the King of Heroes.
XXX (One Week Ago) XXX
"Just what do you intend to show me, mongrel?" Gilgamesh questioned with a frown.
He had his blonde hair styled upwards, while sporting intricate-looking golden armor with a red cape behind it.
The servant was currently being led by Makoto, the student responsible for summoning him, as both entered the balcony of the Pandemonium Society headquarters.
"Kikiki, I want to show you something grand!" Makoto cackled and smirked at the taller man, before gesturing her arm towards the academy city. "Behold, the land of Gehenna Academy, our great home!"
Gilgamesh rolled his eyes at the girl's theatrics, but decided to gaze upon the district nonetheless.
From his point of view, he saw various citizens going about their days, while students expressed themselves in ways that would've gotten them arrested in a far different land.
BOOM! BOOM!
A group of four girls were walking away from the burning remnants of a restaurant that had exploded, with the silver-haired one ranting about the "audacity" of the owners.
KABOOOOM!
Meanwhile, another explosion happened nearby, with a short brown-haired girl and a buxom red-haired girl ordering a group of students in similar uniforms to proceed with digging a large hole on the ground.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Makoto asked, smiling proudly to herself. "Us students at Gehenna value personal freedom and the ability to express our passions beyond everything else!"
The King of Heroes could tell that the leader of her own organization truly believed in what she was saying and wanted to share it with him.
BOOM!
Perhaps this world could provide some much needed entertainment?
"So… what do you think?" Makoto's smile was eager.
XXX (The Present) XXX
"I might still be able to turn things around!"
Not wanting the blatant disrespect to overcome her emotions, Makoto clenched her left fist and pointed her finger at her servant with her right.
"Now you listen here-"
"You are eighteen years of age, correct?" Gilgamesh cut her off, as a small golden portal materialized above his right hand.
"H-Huh?" Makoto blinked upon being interrupted, but quickly found her voice. "T-That's right! Why do you ask?"
"If you are truly as capable as you claim to be, then take a sip from this." Gilgamesh widened his smirk, holding out a small grail of red wine. "I shall not repeat myself, master. "
The golden servant uttered the word "master" in a mocking tone, as if to challenge the Pandemonium Society leader's claims and daring her to back them up.
Makoto narrowed her eyes at his actions and didn't hesitate to accept the wine from his hand, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her back down.
"I'll show him!" She thought to herself, staring down at the wine.
Letting in a deep breath, the student proceeded to gulp down the entire grail of wine, refusing to let one drop go to waste.
"Hoh, so you choose to drink it all instead of taking a sip?" Gilgamesh remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Clang.
Makoto let the empty grail fall to the floor, as she was breathing heavily from the quick consumption of wine.
"I… told you…" She tried to grin triumphantly. "I'm a-"
She cut herself off as she covered her own mouth, feeling the wine reject her body and rise above her throat.
"PPFFFFTTTT!"
The Pandemonium Society leader spat out the wine, even turning away from her servant as she did, much to the latter's amusement.
"Fuahahahaha!" Gilgamesh wasted no time laughing at her reactions. "So much for your so-called 'maturity', is it not?"
"Dammit…" Makoto muttered under breath, realizing that her servant had messed with her yet again.
Nighttime fell upon Gehenna, with most of the citizens and students retreating into their homes, with the exceptions of some stragglers and delinquents.
"Mmmmmm…"
Makoto tossed and turned in her bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but to no avail.
"I can't sleep like this…"
She sighed and slowly opened her eyes, gazing upon the ceiling of her bedroom. The clock next to her was ticking, with its sounds reaching into her ears far more than usual.
…
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
…
"… I need some fresh air…"
Makoto carefully got up from her bed, stretching her limbs as she did, before reaching out for a robe as she stepped outside her room.
…
It didn't take her long to find the balcony, as it not only gave her the time to breathe, but also a nice view of the academy city at night.
Click. Creak.
"Hm, what brings you here, mongrel?"
To her brief surprise, she saw that Gilgamesh was already there, leaning against the rails with a cup of wine in his hand, while wearing a regal-looking white robe over his usual garbs.
"I couldn't sleep." She didn't have the energy to muster her usual behavior while on duty.
The blonde-haired servant remained silent in response, but didn't seem to mind his master's sudden appearance, which she took as a sign to stand next to him.
…
Both student and servant stood in silence, simply taking in the atmosphere around them from the comfort of the Pandemonium Society building's balcony.
Neither had said a single word to each other, until…
"Why do you oppose your rival this vehemently?" Gilgamesh spoke up, briefly glancing at his master.
"Huh?" Makoto was caught off guard by the sudden question.
The blonde-haired servant rolled his eyes and said, "Why do you vehemently oppose your rival, to the extent that you attempted to send her into debt?"
Huh, she didn't expect him to ask this question after he showed absolutely zero interest during the past week.
"Well, I'll have you know…" Makoto felt a smirk come to her features. "Sorasaki Hina is my archnemesis! Therefore, I took it upon myself to-"
She cut herself off when she saw the unamused gaze of the King of Heroes, which told her that he was dead serious about his question.
" … " The student allowed silence to take over her, as she tried to rack her mind for a more concrete reason.
Why did she oppose Hina this much? It wasn't like she did anything to particularly stroke her anger and was only doing her duties, so why…?
In the midst of her thinking, she allowed her eyes to fall upon the academy city lights. From what she could see, some citizens were still working tirelessly to maintain their livelihoods, while several students hung out and laughed without a care in the hood.
Even the delinquents were just enjoying each other's company, even when they were vandalizing a brick building and pointing their guns in the air for fun.
All these people chose to live here. All these people chose to dedicate their lives to living as freely as they can.
To her, this was a core part of what made Gehenna what it is.
She knew she was weak, hence her choice of weapon and decision to fight from the backlines, while someone like Hina stood in front and led the charge.
"Sorasaki Hina…"
Just the mere thought of her name suddenly made things click in place.
Makoto clenched her fists and finally spoke up, "I'm… jealous… I'm jealous of the strength from my arch-enemy…"
"You envy your rival's power?"
It was a rather petty reason to dislike someone at first glance, and she knew that, but there was something deeper than that.
"I'm jealous of how she's able to command this much power over the other students and the many attempts I had only caused it to grow, and yet…" She tightened her grip on the railing. "I'm also angry… Angry that she's choosing to suppress one part of what makes our home what it truly is…"
In her mind, if Gehenna were to be as orderly as their rival school, Trinity, then it meant that their own school would no longer stand out, even amongst schools that let their students do what they wanted.
She refused to let that happen, and did everything in her power to hinder their efforts…
"I don't want our school to lose its freedom, no matter how bad it makes me look." Makoto finished, closing her eyes.
" … "
There was no response from Gilgamesh for more than a few minutes, but there was a subtle shift in his normally arrogant features.
"Hmph, then you are still too young and immature for your role as a leader." He bluntly told her.
This got Makoto to turn her gaze and bared her sharp teeth. "What did you say!?"
"Am I wrong?" Gilgamesh narrowed his red eyes. "From what I observed, your behavior is most unfitting for the role you possess."
His quick response stripped away whatever anger and indignation the student felt, and was replaced with a wince, prompting her to tear her eyes away from his intense gaze.
"However," He added, which got his master to give him a side glance. "I sense conviction in your words, and thus, I believe you have potential to be much better than this."
"Huh…?" Makoto turned to look him in the eyes.
Why was he being so nice to her all of the sudden, especially when he did nothing but laugh at her failures and did the bare minimum of giving her any respect as a master?
"I shall not repeat myself, mongrel." Gilgamesh said with a huff. "Because you have the potential to be much stronger, I only advise that you take the moment to reflect on your past actions."
This got Makoto to look away briefly, uncertainty filling her expression.
"My treasury is not needed for this." The blonde-haired servant let the wine in his hand disappear. "I shall continue to observe you, unless I deem it absolutely necessary."
With that, Gilgamesh went back inside the building, leaving his master alone to her thoughts.
Makoto turned her gaze back into the view of the academy city, processing the unexpected words from her servant.
Did Hina really deserve her ire? Perhaps she went too far in trying to spite her every attempt to maintain order?
Suddenly, she felt a chill down her spine, prompting her to hug herself as she narrowed her eyes.
"What was that…?"
Meanwhile, in the Prefect Team headquarters, Sorasaki Hina was working overtime, filling out the dozens of paperwork that piled onto her desk.
Clack.
Hina felt a chill running throughout her entire body, causing her to stop in the middle of her work.
"Master, is something the matter?" A deep masculine voice asked inside her mind.
"Saber… can you come here for a minute?"
In response to her request, she saw blue and gold particles as something seemed to materialize in front of her desk.
After a few seconds, standing before the Head Prefect was a tall man with long and messy silver-grey hair and fairly tanned skin, wearing silver woven plate armor with reddish accents, while his chest was exposed and showed off glowing light blue markings. Behind his back was a greatsword and he overall gave off a draconic aura.
"Your orders, master?" The man obediently kneeled before his diminutive master.
"Saber…" Hina pursed her lips as she stared at her Saber-class servant.
List of Student-Servant pairs for the future:
Hanako and Hans Christian Andersen (NEXT)
Izuna and Katou Danzou
Atsuko and Medusa
Mika and Karna
Aris and Merlin
Iroha and Enkidu
Yukari and Tamamo-no-Mae
Nagisa and Morgan Le Fey
Nonomi and Ozymandias
Aru and Elizabeth Bathory
Hina and Siegfried
Haruna and Nero Claudius
Koharu and Medb
Saori and Hassan of the Cursed Arm
Yeah, if you can guess who's Iroha's servant while reading, then you can easily see why Gil doesn't behave this disrespectfully towards his master. Also, this chapter was an attempt to give Makoto some depth beyond her comically petty dislike for Hina.
As for the ending, if you're particularly familiar with Fate/Apocrypha, then you can easily guess the Saber-class servant contracted to our dear Hiniature.
Lastly, when you read beyond the ending, then I'm sure you can see that I have a list of determined student-servant pairs, just to let you all know what to expect in the future, hehe.
I look forward to writing how Hanako and Hans will interact~.