Sakura is in the kitchen faster than I can get up, and with a flutter of her pink dress she sets tea placements for the five of us before sitting down at the third side of the table. Astolfo immediately crawls around the table to affectionately hug her shoulder. “Master, you came after all!”
Shinji’s hand-covered face meets the table as Sakura raises her eyes to the ceiling. Even without moving her mouth I can tell she’s asking what she did to deserve her Servant. Lancer, seated next to me, nods in newfound understanding.
“...Master, are you sure that we should be welcoming these people into our defenses?” Lancer says. “Their Servant does not seem particularly reliable.”
I can hear Shinji mutter something under his breath and Astolfo’s smile turns into a pout.
“Lancer, I’ve known Shinji and Sakura since we were children,” I say, shaking my head. Sakura breathes out the tension she’s been holding since she sat down. “At the very least I want to hear their reasons for participating in the war.”
“Thank you, senpai.” Sakura says. She hesitates for just a moment before leaping in. “Uncle Kariya is dying. We’ve tried everything--magecraft, modern medicine, even...” she stumbles and refuses to look me in eyes, “...other things. And they worked! He got better. Just… not for long.” She raises her head and her voice firms even as tears start to build. “He’s dying, and only a miracle can change that. And the Grail grants miracles.
She holds up her right hand so I can see the marking there.“When the seals appeared on my hand last week I knew what I needed to do. Shinji and I…” She trails off, shaking her head. “Uncle has a book that he salvaged from the old family home, about how the system works. I summoned Rider and here we are.”
I ask a question I already know the answer to. “Your uncle’s illness is the same thing that Kiritsugu had, isn’t it?” She nods.
The three of us grew up knowing Kariya and Kiritsugu were ill. The difference was that Kariya was fighting it while Kiritsugu accepted it and refused treatment, like wanted to die. They argued about it more than once. Even so, Kariya was in the final stage: excruciating pain, enough that he can neither sit nor stand, nor lie nor walk. For Kiritsugu it had been relatively quick. Kariya had been there for a year or more.
If I were in their position I wouldn’t hesitate either.
“I understand.” I say, after a few moments. “But… Why didn’t you tell me? You know I’d be willing to help you with something like this.”
Sakura’s expression is guilty.
Shinji breaks in. “She didn’t want to drag you into a family affair.” His tone is back to its usual smugness. “The Matou family is guaranteed a place in the Holy Grail War, according to that dead old man’s book.
“Besides, we only got the stuff together yesterday morning.” He shrugs. “Still, here you are involved anyway, and with Lancer as well. The Knight classes are supposed to be serious power hogs.”
“Shinji…” I sigh. Sometimes, it was hard to resist punching him in the face. Point in case, Lancer’s face was murderous. “I summoned Lancer after a psycho Servant in red tried to gouge my heart out with a sword. That he set on fire. He burned down my shed.” Both their faces pale, hers more than his.
“I’m not even sure why. Something about stealing from his Master,” I continue. “Lancer drove him off, but I still wouldn’t know anything about the Grail War if it weren’t for Tohsaka coming by to investigate with her Servant.”
Sakura jumps, Shinji slams his hands down on the table. “Man, Shirou, who’d you piss off?” He asks. He’s still keeping the usual cocky tone but there’s something else there. “I guess it’s up to us to keep you alive.” Astolfo sits up, almost looking serious, while Sakura sucks in a breath.
“...Thanks, I guess?” I manage.
Astolfo cheers, Sakura breathes out and gives me the warmest smile I’ve seen from her all year, and Shinji‘s smug grin slips into a look of abject relief for the briefest of moments. “Glad you’re smart enough to take help where you can get it,” he blusters.
Out of the corner of my eye see Lancer raise one blonde eyebrow. She doesn’t say anything, but I still understand that she’ll have words for me when we’re alone.
“Senpai…” Sakura starts, “Y-you said Tohsaka had a Servant, too?”
I nod.
“Yeah. Servant Saber.” Lancer nods confirmation. “The only thing I saw her do was search through my movies. Something about ‘camouflage’?”
“Indeed.” Lancer says, nodding sagely. “I do not know what she hoped to find, but she certainly seemed disappointed in her search.”
Sakura’s eyes crinkle in confusion. “T-that’s interesting…”
We all fall silent, just in time for everyone to hear Lancer say under her breath “...like looking into a whorish mirror”. What had been an awkward silence became a horrified one, with even Astolfo staring at her. Lancer flushes and continues out loud, “She had no shame whatsoever, whether with regards to her clothes or her speech.” None of us look away, and she tries to melt in her seat as much as her torso allows.
The silence stretches painfully. I cough and change the subject. “So, that Saber just… Appeared out of thin air. Can every Servant do that?”
“Yep!” Astolfo’s too cheery about that, obviously relieved to change the subject. “Every Servant. I stay like this because I like touching things and tasting things and showing off my clothes, so I asked permission to stay like this until Master really needs me to hide.”
My gaze swings to Lancer who fidgets uncomfortably. “I, uh.... Same. Touch. And taste. And clothes.” I look pointedly at her armor. Then back at her face. Lancer has the good grace to look embarrassed. She coughs into her hand and then downs her entire cup of tea to stop talking.
Meanwhile, Shinji’s massaging his forehead. “Rider, maybe you should stay invisible. You’ve been shouting your true name and helpful specifics about yourself since Sakura summoned you. The classes are named for a reason.”
“Eh, whatever.” Astolfo chirps. “We should pay attention to what’s really important: Lancer’s clothes! You can’t wear nice things without having nice things, and that armor is SO medieval. We can take care of that today, Master already said that someone needed to go shopping!”
Sakura breaks into a violent coughing fit at that statement, leaving Shinji to respond with deep frustration. “Rider, we talked about going food shopping since somebody raided the kitchen, then the pantry, and then three years worth of emergency supplies. In the first hour after they were summoned.” From there all attempts at serious conversation broke down into bickering and general buffoonery from Astolfo. After five minutes I gave up trying to restore order and instead poured Lancer another cup of tea and joined her in watching Shinji suffer.
****
Somehow, I found myself at a department store in Shinto with Astolfo and Sakura. Astolfo is cheerfully running around, diving into every rack and aisle that seems half-interesting, while Sakura stays next to me and seems to be nursing a headache of her own.
“Senpai… Remind me again why you agreed leave Lancer behind?” She asks, looking as Astolfo darts to another display.
I shrug. It’s not a big shrug, the weight of the items we’ve already selected weighs me down too much. Why did we go for the food first?
“Because Lancer didn’t seem as enthused, and I have the Command Seals if we really need her. Besides, you and Tohsaka both told me that no Servant or Master is stupid enough to fight during the day because of all the possible witnesses.”
A crash and a gruff “Hey!” grabs our attention. We look over to where Astolfo is on the ground looking sheepish in front of one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen. He’s almost the perfect biker gang stereotype. “Now, look here,” the man says, stooping over to pick up an incongruously flowery boutique bag.
Sakura and I share a look, and I take the lead to try and head off a confrontation. “I’m sorry about that, sir,” I say as I get near Astolfo. “My friend’s cousin is really excitable.”
The tall man is even more intimidating close up. His wild brown hair almost but-not-quite covers the scars on his face, and his jacket seems to be made of some sort kind of exotic leather. I can barely make out the eyes behind his sunglasses as they turn in my direction.
“Yeah, kid? She’s from out of town, then? Taking in the sights?” His voice turns calculating, head turning slightly to take in both me and Astolfo. “That’s swell but you should really be more careful.” The eyes behind the glasses lock into my own and I feel a thought start in the back of my head…
My heart throbs, and I blink and refocus my attention. Odd. I hear Sakura let out a little gasp from just behind me, but continue. “Oh, absolutely. We were just finishing up, and she wanted to check some other stores too. I’ll keep a better eye on her so it doesn’t happen again.” Astolfo pouts as I offer a hand up.
The man’s still looking right at me, still inscrutable. “Whatever you say, kid. Y’know, you’re lucky my client’s still around. I’m not interested in causing a ruckus for her.” He brushes past me and starts to walk away, pausing to say over his shoulder, “Be careful you three. You can never tell when you’ll meet someone who isn’t as nice as I am.” With that he hefts his bag and disappears toward the elevator.
And with him goes a cloud of tension that I never noticed building. Somehow I know… that man is dangerous.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by RoydGolden
