Sora smiled, most of the group knew him well since he commonly visited them since he was a kid. At first he was intimidated by them like most people were, but he soon learned how kind they actually were and had enjoyed spending time with them ever since. “Nothing much, just here to visit Taiga. Neko-san handed me some wine to give to her.”
The burly men chuckled and let him through. “Alright little guy, come on in. Nice seeing you here again.”
Sora snickered. “Heh, you too!”
He made his way through the building, climbing it’s floors and greeting the members as he ran into them, soon enough he got to the highest floor and entered the boss’s room. Sliding the shoji to the side, he saw the familiar sight of the room. It was decorated with Japanese ornaments like like vases, plates and weapons hanging on the walls, and racks. Guards stood around the room, looking at Sora as he entered the space. In the middle of the room, there was a large sofa decorated with beauty and grandeur, and in it sat the Yakuza’s boss, Taiga Fujimura.
“Ah, Sora. Come in, take a seat. What brings you here today?”
Sora moved over to the smaller couch in front of Taiga and made himself comfortable. “Just visiting, I ran into Neko-san while I was shopping, and she told me to give this to you.” He took out the bottle of wine and handed it to Taiga, who quickly snatched it out of his hands and before inspecting it.
“Mhm, thank you. I’ve been waiting for this, we’re having a feast tonight so we ordered this just in case we’d run out of our current stock tonight. Thanks for bringing this over here Sora.”
“Don’t worry about it, It was my pleasure.” Sora replied to her with a smile.
Taiga looked at him proudly. “Ah Sora, as your guardian of sorts, it makes me so glad to see that you’ve matured into such a gentleman. So polite and so well mannered, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten a girlfriend already.”
Sora chuckled, he looked back on it. He probably could’ve gotten a girlfriend easily if he wanted to, a lot of girls his age were interested in him due to his good nature and well toned body. His friends would always berate him for stealing all the eyes so many girls, but Sora never intended for things to be like that. Truthfully, he was very awkward and shy around girls near his age, so he usually avoided making interactions with them. However when they needed his help, those feelings would be blocked off by his will to answer their needs. This air of mystery and his displays of kindness might potentially be getting to the girls, but while Sora appreciated being respected, he didn’t particularly enjoy it. He usually was able to hide those kinds of emotions pretty well from other people, and could avoid confrontations with them well enough, but he still had no plans to get into a relationship, not until he gets over his uneasiness around teenage women.
“Ehe, I’ll get to it one day...There’s a lot of girls out there, but I don’t want to have to hurt anyone, so I want to pick one that I’m sure I’ll end up happy with.”
Taiga smirked. “Hmm? You sure you’re not just shy about it? C’mon, ask some out and try a few. Just don’t cheat on any, take it one at a time. Am I right guys?”
She looked around the room, expecting replies. The burly men who have been overlooking their conversation all smiled nodded in agreement. Truly, they were good men at heart that worked well with Taiga. After the death of her grandfather Raiga Fujimura, Taiga had taken up the responsibility of his group despite her original occupation of a teacher. Even with this drastic shift of a job, she was still able to be a charismatic leader of the organisation, who not only managed to put the group back on its feet, but also keep it together in good condition to this very day. When she’s the boss of the yakuza, she shows a more serious side of her, able to take command and plan their networks well. But despite her hardened powerful exterior in that state, she’s still the same warm and ditzy Taiga inside.
That same Taiga however, was right now good job at making Sora sweat. He definitely wasn’t feeling comfortable with this conversation anymore, and really internally wished for the conversation’s topic magically change. “Mmm anyways! I’ll think about it later! In any case, how has the gang recently been Taiga?”
A simple question, a desperate attempt at changing the topic, but also a question that Sora hadn’t asked her in a while.
Taiga replied instantly, with Sora exhaling a breath of relief when she started. “Eh? Aah it’s troublesome work, what can you expect. It’s hard keeping everyone safe from the police with all our services and such. It’s especially hard to manage everyone when you just have so many people working under you. Still, the guys make it fun, even with all the chaos, at least it’s never boring.”
He expected as such, Taiga wasn’t the most fitting for this rougher job, Sora thought she must’ve been quite happy being a teacher in the past, hanging out with Shirou and Sakura at his house, it felt more befitting and easier as opposed to a rougher job like this one. But at the same time, he respected Taiga’s will to uphold her grandfather’s legacy, and Taiga’s adamancy and change have changed her in a unique way. Sora’s glad she at least stops by at his house occasionally to let loose and revert back to her older self for a while, and it’s moments like those that Sora found his sweetest memories with her.
“It’s nice to hear that you’re still going strong with this Taiga. Even if it gets a bit challenging, since you’ve got such great people by your side, I’m sure you’ll manage to have fun even in some of the harder times.”
Taiga grinned cheekily. “Hmm, maybe. Depends how much my boys are willing to cooperate.”
Sora then got distracted for a bit, his eyes veered to the walls as he noticed a katana hanging behind Taiga. He had seen it many times before, but it never failed to catch his interest. It was a simple blade, but Sora was just naturally drawn to it. The hilt was a simple brown handle wrapped with tight stingray skin and cloth bindings to keep it together. It would’ve been very easy and sturdy to grip. The blade itself had a beautiful Gunome hamon that waved alongside it’s edge. Sora’s eyes were captivated by it for a moment and he studied the blade. It was simple, it wasn’t decorated or anything special, but it looked like a fine blade that would be easy to use.
Losing interest in the katana after staring at it for a while, his eyes were then drawn to the clock hanging on the wall to his right.
5:45
He registered the information for a moment, and quickly realised that he needed to get home, now.
“Oh man it’s almost six?! Sorry Taiga, I need to start getting home now.”
Taiga looked at him surprised. “Eh? Already? Don’t you want to stay here for the party?”
“I would like to Taiga, but Sakura’s making me dinner and I had promised her I’d be back home a lot earlier. I told her that I’d be late, but I just can’t stay, sorry.”
Taiga pouted for a bit but nodded and smiled soon after. “I understand. Sakura’s cooking is just that much better than ours right?”
Sora jumped up from his chair with a alarmed expression. “Eh?! No no! Well...maybe but that’s not the reason I promise-”
Taiga burst out a laugh from Sora’s panicked response. “Ahahaha! I’m just pulling your leg Sora, easen up will ya? Go on, shoo, and say hi to Sakura for me!”
Sora let out a sigh of exasperation but smiled and picked up his stuff. “Will do Taiga.” He turned around once he got to the exit and faced her one more time. “Nice seeing you again, see you later.”
Taiga saluted him off. “Likewise, adios!”
Sora beamed a smirk at her one more time before he stepped out of the room, and made his way out of the building and hurriedly began the walk home.
He quickly ran it down the hill and onto the main street. Normally he wouldn’t need to worry about getting home at dark, but obviously due to Sakura’s current paranoiac state as well as the dangers grail war, safety needed to be ensured. However, asides from those obvious factors, he thought it would be best to go back for a reason.
That presence he felt had never left him. For the entire day, when he went shopping, when he talked with Neko-san, when he went to Taiga’s place, and when he left it, he had constantly felt that he was being watched by something, someone. Was it a master? Possibly. Maybe their servant? Even more likely. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to give it a shot at him easily.
He picked up the pace and turned at a corner, and at that moment, he stopped.
Suddenly his instincts raised as his left arm began to suddenly have a strange burning sensation scorch through it.
“Ach...what the heck?”
He leaned on the rock wall behind him. The sudden sensation had caught him off guard, but he didn’t strain his arm very much, and it certainly didn’t feel like a twist. So what was the cause of this sudden pain?
He then remembered about the grail war, and hastily looked at the back of his hand.
No command spells were present.
He let out a sigh, the burning seemed to have subsided as well. Either his body was just having a random disfunction, or the command spells didn’t appear yet.
Command Spells, the symbol and proof of a master. The command seals are what make a servant bound to a master and without them, the grail war would be impossible. Each master was granted 3 command spells in every war that manifested as a symbol on a part of their body, and each could be used to forcefully command their servant to do something. However, losing all 3 them would mean that a master forfeits their position as one, and their servant would no longer be bound by pact with them. It would be stupid to waste them, as a servant might even just kill their master should they waste them all, as it was a huge disrespect to the servant, as well as giving them free reign.
The lack of those spells on his hand gave him relief, he wasn’t a master, at least, not yet. He released an exhalation of relief before he continued to run on the road home. As he began to continued down that path, familiar eyes gazed from a distance, heavily focused on his arm, before they disappeared into the dusk with a silent leap.
Half an hour had passed by the time Sora was entering his district in Miyama. He had been running all the way and the fatigue was getting to him, so he decided to stop for a small breather. Lightly panting, he pulled out his smartphone and noticed it had a notification that he didn’t see before.
“Huh, an unread message...from Sakura?”
Sorry for the sudden change in plans Sora, but I’m not at home right now. I was called suddenly by a few of my editors in another city. I’ve prepared food for your dinner in the fridge, so you can just reheat it.
Take care on the way home!
Sora let out a sigh. He had forgot to check his phone for replies since he left the shopping district, and completely missed her message. So the whole time he was rushing at near full sprint to get home all because he was worrying nobody. Great. At least now he could take his time with the rest of the trek, and catch his breath while he was at it. He looked around the place as he walked up a slanted road, plenty of lights were on and people were in their houses. It was a standard night for Miyama, filled with people simply continuing their lives blissfully, unaware of the dangers to come.
His brows furrowed as the words that he heard in the afternoon entered his thoughts again and began to haunt his mind as he walked. Sora was a righteous person, he didn’t want any outsiders to fall victim to the Grail War, and maybe not even the masters themselves. He walked a bit more and spotted a grave on the side of the hill. It belonged to a person that was part of a family Sora didn’t know, but the grave’s engravings were clear. As Sora read the date passively, he felt a massive pang of grief hit him.
“1986-2004”
2004 was the year that the fifth holy grail war took place, meaning this was likely a casualty from the last grail war. Here he was, and on the side of the hill stood an eternal memorial to a person that had lost his life in the battle. His heart ached as he imagined the family who lost that person, how they must’ve felt. What if that person had a partner, and children, not only would they have lost a loved one, but also someone who helped them survive. He didn’t know this person, but knowing the likely cause to his death made him feel a tightness in his throat that reached down to his chest.
He recalled Rin’s disappearance, and remembered how both he and Sakura felt. The fear between them was immense, and the grief Sakura contained inside herself was clear to him and easy to feel. To learn that the grail war was a possible cause for losses like this, it only felt worse knowing the cause was more than likely this war, and the possibility that Rin would never return home. To imagine many other people experienced difficult emotions like this and more hurt Sora more than the disappearance of Rin itself.
Sora looked at the buildings and houses around him, many with lights shining bright through their windows. He thought about all the people he didn’t know, men and women coming home from work, potentially greeting their families and children, excited to see their parents return. The sight and thought had made the boy elicit a heavy, grief filled groan.
“It’s stupid...the war is just so stupid.”
To have the lives and happiness taken away from potentially so many innocents just because of a “holy” ritual was sickening to him. None of these people would want to die, and they didn’t deserve to. His mind anguished when he thought of the people who would in the following weeks, as well as the people who would lose others that they cared for. It was sad, this whole thing is a tragedy that didn’t need to happen, but will anyways because that’s the way the world works at time. Sora understood this, but he still thought he couldn’t let all these people suffer at the expense of their unawareness and the greed of the masters.
Memories of his father’s actions echoed in his mind. Of the man named Shirou Emiya, who strived to save as many people as he could no matter how useless he was. A man who would chase his ideal and never waver. A man who would rise back up every time he was brought down. Many would call his actions reckless or stupid, and Sora would honestly agree with them. But despite this, he still couldn’t help but admire that same will that his father had, a thoughtless hope. If he was in Sora’s place, he wouldn’t sit idle and let those innocents die, he would do his best to prevent it no matter his state, because that’s just how Shirou Emiya was.
He was the embodiment of a selfless hero, a hero of justice.
As the thoughts circled in Sora’s mind, he once again looked at the houses and lights around them. He could hear a few children, laughing loudly without restraint like kids do. People were happy, and they were living peaceful lives around him. Lives that would be brought to an abrupt halt should they fall into the crossfire of the war. Finally, he recalled the tears and expression of Sakura’s face this morning, and realised many others would have to go through that pain should any one person get caught in the crossfire.
He didn’t need to debate this further. In that moment, he steeled his resolve, and decided that he wasn’t going to stand back and watch these blissful days get taken away from all the people who had done nothing wrong.
“I’m sorry Sakura, but I’ll have to follow my heart for this.”
Even though he wasn’t the most powerful magus in the world, even though the risks were high, he would do his best to protect the people around him from the war that would soon ensue. He would risk his life to help the innocents he didn’t know, because he couldn’t bring himself to stand by while these events would happen. He would do his best to defend, save, and care for those that would get caught in the grasp of this cruel ritual.
“I’ll do it.”
With the decision branded into his mind, he walked up the road that led to his house brimming with resolution.
“I’ll be the one to protect those that can’t protect themselves.”
Sora Emiya pledged to be a hero of justice for the sixth holy grail war. A person who would value the lives of others before his own, and help them to the best of his ability despite the impossible odds he might face. It wouldn’t be an easy burden, and the likelihood of death was high. But he decided would be worth it if it meant less people would have to suffer.
As he reached the gate of the Emiya residence, he felt a wave of of pride rush through his body and broke into a grateful smile from his decision. He felt a tinge of guilt for Sakura, as he was all she had left at his point. She wouldn’t want to see another person she loved fall to the grail war. But at that moment, Sora had decided that this was what he wanted. To follow in the footsteps of the person he admired the most, and do his best to save the smiles of those around him. It was a naive goal, but to him, it was a goal worth striving for.
---
The cold night of Spring had already fallen by the time Sora finished eating his dinner, even when reheated, Sakura’s cooking always seemed to be outlandishly good. He let out a chuckle, wondering what he’d do without her to be there for him. He got up and stretched a bit, looking around the well lit room, it was a quiet night with Sakura gone, and while he felt a bit lonely all by himself in an enormous house like his, he could also appreciate the tranquility of being alone once and awhile. Sakura and Rin had told him that during the 5th Grail War, the Emiya residence was a bustling place, with many people living in the house due to the circumstances of the war. He pondered how it would feel like if the house was as lively as it was before. Even with Sakura with him, the house was mostly silent besides the two, and it felt a bit empty because of it.
“Well, there’s no point in thinking about it anyways. Guess I’ll wash the dishes.” he spoke to himself tiredly. But as he picked up the plate that he had eaten from, his left arm began to sear with an intense pain again, causing him to drop the plate in shock. “Agh, not again!” He haphazardly grabbed onto his left arm with his right, staggering to the side and crashing his back into the wall. He held his arm tightly as he slid down, waiting for the pain to subside. His arm was burning from within, it felt like his very bones were suddenly molten metal rods. He gasped for air, sweating heavily before he looked at his hand.
On it were dull red welts forming on the back of his hand. A sign of command seals.
In a daze from the pain, he could barely comprehend it. He uttered a curse under his breath before he felt the pain slowly subsiding from his arm. He let lose his body and lay on the floor, vision blurry and sweat dripping from all over his his body. Gasping for air between heavy breaths. He composed himself and looked at his hand again. The welts were indeed forming, they were no hallucination. Barely able to think properly, he spoke to himself out loud.
“Command...spells…So I’m...”
He was chosen by the grail to be a master, one of the participants of the new war. He thought to himself how silly it was doubting its inevitability in the first place, he had high likelihood of becoming one ever since he became a magus, so he was an obvious candidate.
“...I’m going to be...a master...eh?”
His monologue was cut short however as his instincts suddenly screamed inside his head. He reacted reflexively, using his arms to push himself off the wall, launching himself forward as a knife flew at his direction, precisely aimed right at where he lay.
“ACH!”
The knife had missed its original target, but instead, left a bad gash on Sora’s left arm.
A light breeze could be felt as something entered through the window, before concluding with cold hard steps on the tatami floor.
Sora laid his eyes on his attacker, he was a man wearing a black and red hood, bandages covering his face. He wore a hard metal breastplate and steel greaves, with a robe secured around his waist with his belt. On that belt were his weapons, not a vast variety, but enough to kill multiple people with ease.
Sora didn’t have enough time to register what had happened before he leapt backwards, dodging a slash from another one of the man’s knives, staggering back onto the side of the room with blood leaking out of his arm. In what seemed to be an instant, the man put away his away knife and pulled out a submachinegun, taking aim at him. In response, Sora ducked behind the table and hastily strengthened it, turning it into a shield for him to escape under. The man fired his gun at the flipped table, damaging it quickly due to its haphazard strengthening. However before the table gave in, the gun’s clip had run out of bullets, and Sora used this opening to escape the living room and fall into the hallway. Holding his bleeding arm, Sora’s heart was pounding in his chest. This man was more than likely a servant, one that specialized on sneak attacks and killing humans both quickly and efficiently. The Assassin class servant, a horrible matchup face to face with any other servant class, but able to conceal their presence to others, as well as effectively kill humans. For a servantless master, the Assassin class coming after him was nothing less a grave threat to his life.
Sora looked behind him, the servant stood at the end of the hallway. Reloading and readying another shot. He racked his brain, he needed a way to fight back against Assassin. Since he inherited his father’s magic, he could trace a weapon to use against him. But he hadn’t actually done a lot of successful practice with the technique, only recently being able to project a few kitchen knives in his training with Rin. Regardless, he had no other choice, if he didn’t trace a weapon to hold his own, Assassin would make quick work with him.
He racked his head, trying to visualise anything to use. Think Sora think! There has to be some form of weapon that you’ve seen many times before. A sword, his mind instantly drifted to swords, a beautiful bladed weapon, simple in their concept yet elegant in their construction. But it wasn’t the time to admire them right now, he needed to have one of those weapons by his side. He quickly traced a kitchen knife and threw it at the man aiming at his body. It was easily dodged, but it gave Sora the moment he needed to recall a weapon that he was familiar with. A blade that he was familiar with, one that was easy to use and fit his style. Determined, he held his right arm before him and traced the katana that hung on the wall of Taiga’s place. A good grip, lightweight and simple to use. It was a weapon he could use against his new adversary.
The servant spoke coldly at him. “Projection magic? A useless ability.” He took aim at him again, but Sora had lowered his body and was charging right at him quicker than he anticipated. When he got close to him, he swung his katana at him wildly, hitting the walls around him. Assassin merely scoffed at his amateurish efforts to retaliate. Assassin pulled out his knife and blocked Sora’s blade. Looking at him in the eye behind his bandages.
“You would need to greatly improve your skills if you’re willing to stand up against any attacker, let alone a servant.” With that, Assassin kicked Sora through the glass door and into the backyard. Stunned from the attack on the floor, despite the pain he was in, this moment was enough time for him to calm himself down and think straight.
It was a sudden turn of events, learning that he was a master and suddenly getting attacked. He was finally able to comprehend the situation in this moment of paralysis. He thought back, trying to take on a servant with the way he fought, he felt stupid. Assassin was right, he would need to make leaps of improvement should he even think of standing his ground against a servant. Regaining his rationality, he decided that he should retreat to his shed, and do his best to summon a servant to fight in his stead. He just needed to get there...
As he slowly pushed himself up, Assassin walked through the broken doorway and slowly walked to him “Enough with wasting time, I’ll finish this now. Break from the inside, Phantasm Punishment (Mystery Bisection).
As the words left his mouth, the wound in his left arm began to screech in pain again, the magic circuits in his arm felt like they were snapping and breaking. Sora let out a pained scream as the wound on his arm felt like it was being cut from the inside and stabbed by thousands of needles and bled intensely. Staggering around, he looked at Assassin once again. His back was turned, and he was walking away, Assassin had thought that his objective had been completed. The pain was excruciating and the victim would likely die in a few hours. Under normal circumstances, he would probably be right.
But not with Sora, Sora was able to endure the pain as he thought of the silent promise he made to himself that evening. Sora had pledged to his heart that he would be a hero of justice, and he was not going to go back on that promise if he could help it. His willpower rocketed as he stood up straight, adrenaline rushed through his breaking body as he began to run a beeline dash right to his shed.
“Hm?...He’s still up?!”
Before Assassin could react, Sora had crashed open the doors of his backyard shed and landed on the cold stone floor. He looked to his right and saw what he was looking for, a faded summoning circle, the very same circle that his father had used to summon his servant.
“Ah…”
His left arm couldn’t move, paralysed in pain with it’s magic circuits destroyed, the adrenaline rush he had in his body was now dwindling as well. Despite this, he pushed on, and desperately used his remaining energy to crawl with his working limbs to the summoning circle.
Just...a little further…
But by the time he had made it, Assassin had entered the shed and was aiming a pistol at his head. “Your will to live is admirable kid, but unfortunately that alone not enough to survive a fight.”
Sora’s mind gave in, he felt beaten. He was so close to his goal, and yet he wasn’t able to get there in time. He had no catalyst, he was bleeding all over the floor, was in in massive pain, and lastly he had Assassin aiming right at his head with a pistol. A simple yet classic looking one, it had a smooth yet mechanical appearance, with a wooden grip and an a hard cold metal barrel.
In his desperation, Sora choked out a plea.
“I can’t die now...someone save me. Someone...please...help me…”
Assassin cocked his gun. “It’s over kid.”
Sora looked upon his pursuer with tired eyes in fear and defeat, focusing on the pistol aimed right at his face. He waited for the shot that would take his life, but as the bullet left the barrel, Sora’s blood dripped into the lanes of the summoning circle, making it glow in a crimson light, and soon afterwards, light engulfed the shed.
“Wha-” Assassin was stunned for a moment with the sudden flash, and in mere moments the bullet he shot was knocked to the side by a crimson and silver sword. He cursed at himself, “Damnit. Didn’t make it in time.” before he fled out of the shed to avoid being the next on the receiving end of that blade.
Fully realising he was alive, Sora looked up at the one who saved him, clad in armor, in their hands was a beautiful sword in red and metal.
“Wah…”
The figure turned to him, and spoke in a brash, cocky voice. The sound of their voice signified that the person under the armor was female, but what shocked Sora the most, was what she said.
“Servant Saber. Heh. Are you my master?”
He had done it. Sora Emiya had summoned his servant. A servant who held the class of Saber, just like his father before him.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Statistical Updates:
Assassin:
True Name: ▅▅▅
Master: ▅▅▅▅
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Height: 175cm
Weight: 68kg
Strength: D
Endurance: C
Agility: A+
Mana: C
Luck: E (EX)
Noble Phantasm: B++
Class Skills:
Presence Concealment: A+ (Hides one's presence as a Servant. Suitable for spying. It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected, even against a Servant's perception. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.)
Independent Action: A (It is possible to take action even without a Master. However, to use Noble Phantasms of great magical energy consumption, backup from the Master is necessary.)
Noble Phantasms:
Phantasm Punishment (Mystery Bisection)
Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: C+
Range: 0-2
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
No comments:
Post a Comment