(A/N) Okie Dokie. Not an ideal place to stop, but this is what I leave all of you with until the new year. My (pre) new year's resolution is to get through my update schedule by the end of December, which means that a slot usually reserved for FtS was given to another for just the one time.
On that note, if you want to check out my current update schedule hop into my discord lol. Find the link in my profile.
If I was expected to say anything else in this A/N that I forgot about, I apologize lmao. Pretty tired rn waiting for Spacebattles mods to un-necro this story, but no luck so far. I give up on waiting, so it'll be up on and QQ now, and probably SB in the morning (or something).
Shoutout to noschittsherlock and ImpotentRage for beta reading!
X
Karasuba yawned.
They had been seated at the back of this frumpy old helicopter for the past three hours now. If it were just that, it wouldn't have been that much of a problem, but the fact that she was still jetlagged from the Shinto Teito-London flight did not mesh well with the idea of boarding this kind of aircraft at six in the morning.
She tried to shift in her seat, but it didn't do much to make her any more comfortable. Her Ashikabi kept forcing her into some pretty cumbersome clothes: if the seat under her butt wasn't hard enough, the thick cloth of her black pants chafed her skin. The half-ton of straps holding her vest, armour and padding in place weren't helping matters either, considering that the buckles kept pinching her skin whenever she leaned on anything. Was this suit just poorly designed, or was it supposed to be this much of a pain in her ass?
"You better give me a good reason to not strip naked the second that we land, Ashikabi."
The man, who until that point had been content to stay silent and stare out the window, doubled over and sputtered.
"What the hell? Why would you do that in the first place?"
"All of this–" she lifted her arms "–is pointless."
He seemed frustrated. "I explained all of this already, didn't I? We're going to track down and exterminate our target. They will fight back. If we can anticipate hostility, then we should prepare for it."
What a stick in the mud he was. He'd surely be the type of parent to get upset at his children for not wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle, or something equally benign. A real "no fun allowed" sort.
The helicopter lurched.
"We'r landin' now," announced the voice of their pilot through the tiny speaker hooked onto each of their ears. His brogue was a little difficult for them to make out over the loud rotor above their heads. "You lot sure tha' ye want me to come back so soon?"
"Yes, that's fine," Shirou assured him, having easily switched to English. "We won't be longer than a few hours."
"If ye say so."
The descent was smooth from there. They could barely feel the landing skids touch the ground.
Karasuba jumped out immediately. Her partner took a moment longer to gather their things, then he carefully lowered himself onto flat ground.
The pilot shot them a quick wave and took off. Once he did, people started to slowly pool out from nearby houses.
They had been dropped off just outside of a small remote village at the base of a mountain. It was so remote, in fact, that driving here was pretty much impossible.
The village, of course, was the one that they would be investigating. The residents were lucky that it was a fairly popular location for movie shoots, else the Clock Tower might not have felt the need to scope out the situation at all. They would have been left to rot.
The villagers looked pretty spooked. They weren't expecting visitors, from the looks of things. Children were ushered indoors by the parents, and some of the men stepped forward to act as a wall between their people and the newcomers.
For all the good that would do.
Shirou raised his hands disarmingly, though the action could only seem so disarming when they were both dressed head to toe in clothes meant for warfare.
"We're not here to cause trouble. We're a task force sent to investigate recent missing person reports.
Though by whom was left unsaid.
The apprehension slowly morphed into hope. Mutters erupted within the crowd.
A tall balding man with arms the size of tree trunks stepped forward.
"Is that true? We sent a plea for help nearly a month ago, but we heard nothing. You lot are the first indication that the message was received at all."
"These matters take a while to make it through to the relevant channels," the spellcaster lied easily. "We apologise for the delay. We hope to sort things out as soon a possible."
It was as if a weight had been lifted off the older man's chest.
"…In which case, you can think of me as the spokesperson 'round these parts. Name's Orton."
A meaty hand was outstretched. Shirou was quick to shake it.
"Call me Yamada," offered the white-haired man. "My partner here's Alice."
Karasuba resisted the urge to point a finger at herself. Were those the names they were going with?
Orton ushered them towards what seemed to be the largest building in the immediate vicinity.
"I run the pub," he explained. "It was a long trip here, right? Have a beer on the house. I'll tell you everything we know in the meantime."
X
The establishment was quite something to look at, mostly because of how extravagant it seemed compared to the rest of the town. Thick pinewood supports stood tall down the middle of the large space. A ten-meter-long marble countertop was stationed near the back, behind which stood a woman and small boy.
"My wife and son," explained Orton succinctly. He gestured to one of the many tables. "Have a seat. What'll you have?"
"We don't–"
"The best you got," answered Karasuba with a grin, conveniently talking over her Ashikabi.
The older man nodded and circled around to the back of the bar. Once his hulking frame moved out of the way, the Sekirei noticed the tiny one glaring at her with gritted teeth.
Oh?
Her smile widened. This seemed to anger the boy, so she felt encouraged to prolong the staring contest as much as possible.
His mother, who had until that point stood to the side without saying a word, soon noticed the exchange.
"Randall!" she whispered angrily. The woman took the boy by the hand and dragged him into a back room. She shot Karasuba an apologetic look as she did so.
Pity.
Mugs were dropped in front of the seated pair. Orton lowered himself into the seat facing them.
"You'll have to forgive my kid. He's grieving the death of my oldest. Just happened the other day."
Karasuba was unphased, though Shirou's eyes widened imperceptibly.
"I'm sorry," was all he said.
Orton closed his eyes for a moment and huffed. "Condolences won't do her much good now, I'm afraid. I just want this whole mess sorted out so that no one else ends up like her."
"Her death is related to the recent disappearances?" Shirou asked.
"Mm. Of the lot that up and vanished, my daughter's body was the only one that we've found. We wouldn't have had a single lead otherwise. Andy –a friend of mine– was out hunting game early one morning. He found my little lady–" the otherwise impassive man cracked for a moment. The top of his lip curled inward. "–along the path leading to the mountains. Half her body looked mauled by a beast. We don't know what's going on –whether it's a bear or what– but we do know that our people are dying."
Karasuba got up and stretched her arms behind her back.
"Hah… Let's go, then."
The two men looked up at her. She quirked a brow.
"What?"
Shirou shook his head and left his seat as well.
"We'll try to be quick, Orton," he said. "If there's something in that forest, we'll find it."
"Thank you."
With his family out of the main hall and the white-haired pair having departed, Orton was left alone. He sat ruminating on his lonesome for a moment.
"…"
He grunted.
Those two didn't even touch their drinks. And they asked for the expensive stuff, too.
X
The Sekirei-Ashikabi pair paid little mind to the hidden eyes trailing their forms as they walked through the village. Taking into consideration recent events, the villagers –all taking cover in their homes as they were– couldn't be blamed for their skittishness.
"I wonder if they have any bathhouses here," mused Karasuba aloud. "A quaint little place, isn't it? It'd be a shame if they didn't."
Shirou sighed.
"They're not that common outside of Japan, I don't think. Regardless, I think they have bigger worries at the moment."
"A shame," she repeated.
For a time, the only sound between them was the rustling of the leaves beneath their feet.
They reached the base of the mountain.
"How should we do this?" the woman asked.
Shirou walked past her.
"Keep an eye out," he suggested uselessly.
Karasuba stood in place for a moment then laughed.
"Right, right. Aren't you usually more meticulous about these sorts of things, though?"
He began to fiddle with the straps around his black vest. He took out an ammunition cartridge and loaded it into a handgun strapped to his hip.
"There's nothing to be meticulous about. When people start disappearing like this –and discovered bodies are a mangled mess– then the cause is usually Dead Apostles."
"Dead Apostles," she repeated. "How mysterious. Something 'magical', I take it?"
"Kind of. Zombies or Vampires or some unfortunate mix of the two."
"Ah. Fun."
That might not have been sarcasm on her part.
Shirou frowned.
"The problem is that they're usually much more 'obvious', for a lack of better words. If Dead Apostles were running loose, then that town would have been wiped out already. There's probably a magus around here somewhere keeping them in check, which means that we just need to keep searching until we run across–"
He stopped.
"–a bounded field. Here it is."
At that point, they had already made it halfway up. They were lucky: any more and they would have been in for quite the steep climb.
Shirou veered off course in a seemingly random direction. Or at least, that's what Karasuba thought until a minute or two later, the scenery around them changed completely in the blink of an eye. Trees and greenery vanished, and in their place stood an open field and a large, wooden gate that stood at least as tall as the surrounding treeline.
"This area was hidden," the man explained. "Magecraft can be used to create 'boundaries' around geographical areas. That confirms it: a magus is involved, and they don't want anyone around here.
"H-halt!"
Neither one of them expected to hear a voice.
They looked up. Peeking over the top of the gates was a young-looking man with pale skin and black hair. He couldn't have been older than eighteen. He looked incredibly nervous.
The pair kept their mouths shut and waited for the young man to make the first move.
"Turn back now!" yelled the black-haired boy. "Come any closer and we'll be forced to do something that we don't want to do!"
That was a threat.
"Karasuba. Stay ready," Shirou uttered.
She understood. A savage grin nearly split her face.
"Would you mind explaining that bit?" her Ashikabi asked. He slowly approached despite the warning. The message was clear: he would not turn back unless he was given a good reason.
"That Man did something to us!" the young guard stressed frantically. "When he tells us to do something, we have to do it! We can't control ourselves– we eat people! Do you understand? That's horrifying, right? That's bad! So if nothing else, I don't want to hurt anyone that I don't have to! Get out of here!"
Shirou's foot was planted before he could take another step.
He understood.
That boy was an apostle.
Or at the very least, something similar to one. The people behind that gate were the ones attacking the village, but if this boy's intact consciousness was any indication, it wasn't something that they did willingly. "That Man" that the boy referred to must have been the magus in charge here. How sickening.
He understood.
These people weren't mindless monsters. They needed to be saved just as much as the villagers at the base of the mountain.
The fault lied not with them, but with the magus that managed to turn them into… whatever they were.
He noticed it now: the boy's pale skin was a little sickly. The more time passed, the worse-off it seemed. The boy panted, staring at him intently.
"What's behind that gate?" Shirou asked.
"My village," the boy answered almost instantly. "They're all like me. They'll all do bad things to you. Please. Please leave."
Tears trickled down the boy's cheeks.
He understood.
"We can help your village," Shirou said.
The boy's eyes glistened. Faced with insurmountable despair for as long as he probably was, the weightless words of a stranger were the only thing he had.
"Can you? Can you really? I don't understand… That Man said that we would never–"
"Trace on."
The boy's head was lopped off by a flying projection of a black key. The lifeless body fell backwards and disappeared from sight behind the wooden barrier.
Noise –voices– could be heard following the soft "thump" of flesh hitting dirt.
The man didn't want to take any chances.
Twelve disproportionately large broadswords were traced and buried deep into the earth just outside where the gate would open. He couldn't allow anyone on the other side of that wall to escape.
If a way to save those people existed, he did not know of it. In the meantime, as long as they continued to live, there would be no telling how many others would die. It would not end with the village at the bottom of the mountain.
How lamentable it was that the man named Emiya Shirou was not one capable of saving everyone.
X
Karasuba watched her Ashikabi's swords seal her playthings inside of their own pen. She wanted to double over and laugh.
She had a job to do, however. The Sekirei controlled herself and ran past Shirou. With a strong leap, she scaled the wall in seconds.
"Oh?"
Another one of her Destined One's fancy little weapons appeared next to her ear. A strangely -proportioned katana with a purple hilt.
Nothing really stood out about it, but if her Ashikabi was giving it to her, then it had to be a quality build if nothing else.
It would do.
She jumped down and landed in the middle of what seemed more like a grungy mess of lodgings than an actual village. Her targets were not far away huddled around the sack of meat and bones that Shirou had just rent in two.
It didn't take long for them to notice her. At first, there was fear, then came apprehension.
Then there was rage.
"You!"
An unassuming woman –middle-aged, black hair– rushed at her. For a moment, Karasuba was caught off guard by her speed, but that moment didn't last anywhere near long enough for it to be an issue.
The katana sliced through her with such ease that it was hard to believe that it struck anything at all. Hah. How nice.
That woman wasn't the only one who would come at her. Only the first. Many came at her in a horde, likely trying to overwhelm her all at once.
As if that would work.
She cut them all down. Their bits in pieces were flying everywhere. The sight of their severed heads contorted in anguish filled the Black Sekirei with a strong feeling of validation.
This was great.
They weren't strong, but they weren't weak either. There were so many of them. "Overindulgence" was a good term to summarize what the current instance felt like to her.
Her smile flipped upside down.
"Hey now, that's no good," she whined.
Instead of trying to kill her, some were trying to run away. They piled on top of each other at the gates, but the cattle quickly learned that something on the other side was blocking their only means of escape.
"You bitch!" a high-pitched voice wailed behind her.
Karasuba tilted her head over her shoulder lazily.
It was a little girl. Fourteen years old. Fifteen, maybe.
"Do you think we asked for any of this!?" the girl screamed. "My brother was just trying to warn you, and you killed him! He's dead! My brother–"
Any words that came after that sounded like whiny, choked sobs to Karasuba.
"That is quite sad. You must hate me. You must want to kill me. You must want–"
"Shut up!"
This one was a little faster than the others. Why? She didn't know, but she didn't really care that much either.
Before the long sword could end the pitiable creature, a blond-haired boy of a similar age to the girl tackled the miserable little thing to the ground.
"Arnie–"
"Shut it, Lizzy!"
Their short exchange ended with the boy jumping back to his feet. Instead of attacking the Sekirei as the rest had done, he planted himself firmly in front of the downed girl and stuck out his arms.
"Please. I don't care what you do to me, but don't hurt Elizabeth."
"Arnie!"
The boy ignored her shout. His eyes shone with conviction.
"Even if I die here, I will protect her. Ever since we've been forced to live through this hell, she was the only thing keeping me going.
The girl behind him blushed. How funny.
"Mm. I can let you both go if you'd like."
The confused looks on their faces only lasted for an instant.
BANG! BANG!
Their corpses dropped like puppets with cut strings.
Sitting atop of the wall was her Ashikabi. Some sort of firearm with a smoking barrel was held in front of his face.
She giggled.
Turning back to the action, the woman sauntered over to the nearest pest. They were starting to give up hope now; they had stopped running.
Good.
She lifted her blade and carved through the flesh of the man standing in front of her. Another came, and he was met with the same fate. She went through these same motions again and again until she completely lost track of how many times she had swung her sword.
Even when they charged at her all at once, it barely made a difference. All their resentment. All of their pain. All of their sadness. It meant nothing. The more that came, the more that would die at once.
And just like that, she was bored again.
She chose her targets on a whim now. One she would slay, another she would ignore. It made no difference, however, as any target that she missed was put down by the gun protecting her back.
It was more enjoyable this way. She stopped looking over her shoulder for no other reason than the knowledge that her Destined One would look over it in her stead.
Men. Women. Children. They were felled indiscriminately by her blade. Her Ashikabi-sama pointed her at the things that needed to die, and she delivered.
She felt at peace.
"Let's keep going," Shirou ordered. He had jumped down from his perch once the area had been cleared. "There's still a lot of ground to cover. The magus must be somewhere in the area."
What a vile woman she was.
X
The doorbell rang, and Miya's head perked. The broomstick in her hand was leaned against the closest wall.
"Just a moment!" she exclaimed at a volume that wasn't quite a yell, but loud enough to be heard through the door.
Who could be visiting at this time of day? It wasn't too late an hour or anything of the sort –the sun had yet to fully set– but it was a block of time during which no one was home other than Matsu and herself, so it probably wasn't a guest that one of her tenants had invited.
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked as the door opened.
Miya blinked twice once she saw the individual standing in front of her. It wasn't anyone that she recognized, but they weren't wearing any sort of uniform either, so it probably wasn't a delivery or salesperson.
A small smile was directed at her.
"You can. This is the Izumo Inn, correct?"
The mild confusion evaporated instantly. Of course it'd be that.
"Indeed," the head of the residence replied. "Might you be looking for accommodations?"
"Yes. I was quite lucky to have found this flyer, you see." The stranger pulled out one of the advertisements for the inn that Miya had put up on nearby billboards. "Before anything else, however, I'd like to inquire about this price. Is this a misprint? This is much too little, isn't it?"
Miya smiled brightly.
"Not at all. I only ask for as much as it takes to keep everything running. As long as I can keep a roof over people's heads, I'm happy."
The potential tenant had an awed expression that she honestly found a little strange. She couldn't quite place why.
"Well aren't you just the sweetest!" the stranger exclaimed.
"Haha… laughed Miya in a way that she hoped was more polite than uncomfortable. "Would you like to step in? We can discuss the details."
A nod.
"Of course! Please lead the way."
There was a silence between them as they took off their shoes. Miya led the visitor to her dining area.
"Feel free to take a seat," she said. "Would you like some tea?"
They shook their head. "No, thank you. I feel it would be best to iron things out as quickly as possible. I do hope you don't take it personally. I had to leave my suitcase with airport security while I left to sort out my living arrangements for the next little while. I'm not very comfortable leaving my worldly possessions in the hands of others, you see."
That explained why they showed up empty-handed, at least.
"It's no problem at all," Miya answered simply. She lowered herself to the seat across from the houseguest. "You said that you left your things at the airport? You've just flown in, I take it?"
"Right. Coming here was a bit of an impromptu change of plans, so I didn't have much time to organize myself. I don't plan on being around for more than a few weeks if that makes any difference to you."
Miya hummed. "I see. Have you come on business-related matters, then?"
They sighed. "That's right. My boss flew me out to Japan to sort some things out at the office of one of my coworkers in Fuyuki city, but I didn't find out that they'd relocated to Tokyo until I had already arrived there."
Tokyo, huh? It wasn't common to hear that name nowadays.
Regardless, taking this person in in the short term wouldn't be too much of an issue. Her first impression of them was that they were fairly well put together.
Miya pressed her fingers together.
"Everything is in order, I believe. Before I show you around, however, I just thought that I should let you know that this is a communal living space, and you'll have to adjust your schedule accordingly if you stay with us. Will that be an issue?"
Surprising her, the person across from her shook their head. "Not a problem at all."
How unexpected. Despite their appearance, they were quite easygoing, as it would seem.
Miya smiled once more.
"It'll be a pleasure to have you, then. I can–"
"Ah, sorry. Would it be too much trouble to ask you to show me around later? Now that I know that I have somewhere to stay, I'd like to get my bags as soon as possible. I should be back in an hour or two."
The request caught her a little off guard, but it wasn't really much of a bother to her.
"That's fine," she answered. "I'll see you then! Maybe I'll be able to introduce you to some of the other tenants."
They stood up and bowed.
"Right. I'd love to meet them. Thank you again, Miss Landlady."
"Please. Call me Miya."
"Miya-san, then."
The pair shared a parting friendly nod, and the new tenant left the building.
Ah. She forgot to ask for their name. How rude of her. She'd make sure to do so once they came back.
As Miya climbed back to her feet to resume her daily chores, she heard the sound of thumping feet running down the steps connecting the first and second floors.
"Matsu? Is that you? Please be more careful coming down the stairs."
She didn't get an answer. The bespectacled Sekirei dashed into the room, huffing and puffing.
"I overheard the two of you speaking. Did someone mention a place called Fuyuki?"
The redhead's words did nothing but confuse the landlady. She tilted her head to the side.
"Is something wrong?"
She was grabbed by the shoulders and immediately stiffened. Number Two's fingernail dug into her arms uncomfortably.
"This is important, Miya."
The blue-haired woman was concerned. The younger girl had been pretty wired the past few days but never had she known Matsu to be so… physical.
"It was nothing important, Matsu. It was something about an office relocation. That's all I know."
The redhead stared into her eyes for a moment longer before letting her go with a loud sigh.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little antsy is all."
Evidently.
"Tell me what's wrong," Miya demanded. Her expression was stern; she wasn't messing around.
"It's nothing."
"Don't give me that."
"I'm serious! For now, it really is nothing," Matsu insisted. "It's a… I don't want to call it a hunch, but…"
She trailed off bashfully.
The tightness in Miya's brow eased a little. Seriously. This girl.
They were both quiet for a moment.
"I suppose it would be irresponsible of me to ask about that hunch of yours before you've had the chance to get your facts straight, right?"
It took Matsu a moment to figure out what Miya was doing. When she did, the girl smiled gratefully.
"Thanks."
She was caught off guard when the older woman pulled her in and placed her head against her chest. Matsu's eyes widened.
"You've been awfully worked up lately," was all that Miya said aloud.
Matsu's eyes softened. She pushed away and took a deep, calming breath.
"Right."
She flashed Miya a quick grin and left to crawl back up the stairs at a speed that only a shut-in like her would have been capable of.
The widow watched her disappear behind the staircase and clicked her tongue.
"Honestly. That girl."
You've been working hard lately. Be kind to yourself.
She closed her eyes and huffed.
"Right."
The broomstick was picked back up. That unoccupied bedroom wouldn't prepare itself.