Try as I did, I failed to recognise the stranger facing me. I was supremely confident in my memory of the anime, even if I wasn't intimately familiar with the source material, and she most certainly did not ring any bells within my head. I felt no hostility from her either.
That didn't mean I let my guard down though. No, I was ready to call the Shikigami at a moment's notice. From what I knew, anyone decently experienced in the world of magi would be capable of expertly concealing their intentions at the bare minimum.
Steeling myself, I raised my head to meet her gaze. She was calm, entirely unperturbed save for a hint of a blush that was likely a product of my delusion and not even real.
Agh, whatever! If she was going to cause me harm, I was going to do the same.
"Are we going to have a problem?" I said, deciding against mincing my words.
She tilted her head a bit, and raised a hand, "Hold on. You're the one who called out to me."
"What?" I grew confused too, "Didn't you just ask if I was a master?"
Her eyes widened a bit, like she'd forgotten that part, "That... I was talking to myself. You shouldn't concern yourself with my idle remarks."
What?
I closed my eyes, considering her words.
"You can't just say things about people right in their face and then tell them to mind their own business."
"Is that so?"
I covered my mouth with my palm, taken aback by her strange approach to an enemy. Perhaps I was too suspicious, but it was really difficult to make sense of her behaviour. There was no hostility coming from her, even though she'd identified me.
"So..." I rubbed my chin, "Are we going to fight then?"
She held her breath for a moment before shaking her head. "The Holy Grail War hasn't begun properly to my knowledge."
That made some sense. But, was a meeting between two enemy masters really supposed to go this way?
"I don't believe we ourselves need to exchange blows even if it has."
I crossed my arms, hanging my head, "True."
The Holy Grail War was meant to be a conflict between the seven heroic spirits summoned as servants, so that the victor may ask the allegedly omnipotent Grail for a wish. Masters had no need to fight. They weren't supposed to.
Yet, all Shirou did was fight masters and servants.
Admittedly, I had come here prepared to do the same.
"Now what then?" I ended up asking.
She gave no answer.
Truth be told, I much preferred hitting on her instead even if my chances were low.
We stared at one another in an awkward silence that remained until I just decided to take the higher road and turn my back to her. I could feel Shuwen's presence by my side, and the command seals under my forearm had begun itching the moment I neared the Church. Her servant, whoever he or she was, was also close by.
The clack of heels a moment later told me she'd begun following me. When I picked up the pace, she picked up the pace as well.
"Why the hell are you following me?" I blurted out, rounding the corner.
"I'm not following you. We're both headed the same way."
...
She didn't have to match my pace though, did she?
"I'm going to scream about being solicited by an old woman."
Apparently, age was a soft spot for any and all women, even if they were magi.
"I'm not that old! I'm still just-"
Instead of listening to her, I got startled by the sudden hostility and broke into a full sprint uphill. The blasted woman not only kept up, she even almost overtook me before I reinforced my feet with CE.
She still managed to keep up.
"And soliciting? How can you say something like that to a person you've never met before?"
"That's exactly the kind of person I expect to solicit me. Just because I'm handsome doesn't mean I'm a gigolo." I ducked under her hand.
The Church began to rise in the distance. A pristine place that had clearly drained up no small amount of funding in its construction. It towered over the trees surrounding the compound, with an even grander bell tower rising from within. The windows were as large as doors, and made of enamelled glass.
The carved steel gates hung open, and well-kept shrubbery lined the cobblestone path leading up the main doors where a statue depicting some saint I did not recognise stood vigil. Though, perhaps because it was winter, the trees had either shed their leaves entirely, or turned a somber brown.
"Where did you even get gigolo-"
Bazett and I both froze the moment we crossed the threshold, though it was surely for completely different reasons. I did so because of the 'gentleman' stood under the shade of a tree with an open book in his hands just beside the Church.
He was the very picture of a priest, dressed in simple black vestments with the addition of an open cossack over them. Though I failed to see a roman collar, there was an unassuming golden rosary around his neck.
Of course, I only froze because I perfectly recognised those lifeless eyes and the dark hair going down to his neck. He was a lot more handsome as a real person though, the sort of person your girlfriend would cheat on you with. A DILF, so to say.
Kirei Kotomine. One of the big bads of Fate Stay Night. The man responsible for killing Rin Tohsaka's father and most notably, the priest with a basement full of malnourished children.
If he was here, then surely Gilgamesh was lingering nearby as well, so I couldn't do anything for those children even if I wanted to. Facing the King of Heroes as I was... was simply impossible.
"Hm."
When he turned our way, his lips parted in some strange mockery of a smile. A sudden shiver ran down my spine. Shamefully, I was unable to stop myself from raising my fists in preparation for an attack.
"Bazett."
"Kirei."
The woman following me smiled warmly at him. She-, Bazett forgot about me entirely, instead approaching the creepy priest with shimmering eyes. There was no suspicion in her gait. No, it was like she was somehow consciously ignoring the alarms that should have gone off in her head at the very sight of him.
I, on the other hand, refused to move even an inch closer.
Was she stupid?
"Hey lady, are you insane?"
Bazett halted her steps and glanced at me over her shoulder. "What are you talking about?"
"Do you seriously not see anything wrong with him?"
Her confusion was palpable.
"Those given to sin will naturally find themselves disturbed in the House of the Lord." Kirei cut in, a hand behind his back. He calmly closed the distance between them and put a hand on her shoulder. "I do not delude myself about the nature of the heretic, even if I happen to have friends among them."
That was hilarious.
I pointed to the ground, "Then you should immediately drop dead in a place like this."
His gaze narrowed. "Explain."
I refused to. What I'd said until now was enough of a lapse in judgement. It wasn't safe to antagonise him without the means to overcome him. Shuwen stood no chance against Gilgamesh in any world.
"Well, this is a place where all hostilities must cease for the duration of the Holy Grail War. I take it you are a master."
I kept quiet.
"And, so is Bazett here. Greetings, old friend. Congratulations. Both of you, come inside. I suppose it is convenient to explain the rules once for myself."
Bazett nodded strangely, "Thank you, Kirei."
"It is customary to leave servants outside."
Yeah... no.
-
The rules of the Holy Grail War were known to me. Still, confirmation was never not useful.
According to Kirei, past the basic principle of concealing the supernatural, or 'mystery' as he put it, all conflicts were supposed to take place at nighttime, when there was the least risk of exposure. Masters were strictly forbidden from harming each other, and beyond that, any master who lost their servant could come to the Church for sanctuary until the end of the war.
I knew for a fact that not even one of these rules was going to be obeyed by any master.
"And, now, as a formality-"
Kirei stood over me, peering into my eyes. Behind him, the Virgin Mary watched me quietly, cradling a clothed babe. The sunlight filtering through the enamelled glass was almost mesmerising, if not for the foul nature of this place.
"-Allow me to ask. If you wish to relinquish your rights as a master, you may do so here. I will grant you safety. If you do not find that satisfactory, you may leave the very city."
Honestly, that option wasn't too bad. The Holy Grail War was an incredibly dangerous affair, where a brutal death wasn't out of the question. No, actually, that was the most likely outcome. I could just go away and hide, train up the Ten Shadows in secrecy to face the world on my own terms.
I stared at my hands, clenching them into fists.
Yet, what use was the freedom to do anything at all with my life if I let fear stop me from what I felt like doing? Facing some of mankind's greatest legends sounded fantastic, doubly so with the Ten Shadows. I wanted to do it.
The thought of pain and suffering made me hesitate still.
"No. I'll stay."
There was no point in wanting something if you weren't willing to work for it. Any ideal or desire that was shaken up by fear was a flimsy one.
I had decided to be different, hadn't I?
"Very well."
Kirei smiled down at me.
What an unnerving smile it was.
"Then, I expect you to return should your servant fall." He placed a hand over his chest, where beat a long dead and cold heart, "I promise you complete asylum."
I did not believe that at all.
He turned to look at Bazett, seemingly considering something.
"The same goes for you, Bazett."
The magenta-haired woman nodded shortly. Then, her gaze turned to mine. There was a near-imperceptible shift in her expression. There was a chance my warning would do something, but it was a negligible one.
They were clearly old acquaintances. Even I would need concrete proof to doubt the few friends I did have, and some random stranger talking shit would just end up with me getting in a fistfight instead.
Actually, why did I even need to warn her?
Though I thought that, I utterly refused to read the room and leave so that the two could talk in private. No, I remained glued to that seat until Bazett sighed and gave up instead.
"Kirei, I'll come back tomorrow."
The priest's gaze remained fixed on me. "Very well. I look forward to our meeting."
Remaining thick-skinned, I fell in beside Bazett as she left the Church, staying quiet until we exited the threshold of the so-called holy place. Then, and only then did I speak, for a reason that continued to elude me for a long time to come.
"I don't have any right to say this but..." I rubbed my nose, "You shouldn't trust that guy."
Her response was calmer than mine would have been.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, I whipped out my phone and quickly typed a message. In it, I wrote the bluntest truth that came to mind about just how untrustworthy Kirei Kotomine was.
'He killed his own teacher.'
Surely, something like that had much more gravity to people whose power was born of knowledge and nothing else.
I did not wait for her reaction.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Please do comment what you thought of the chapter, and don't hold back if there's anything not done right.
You can find 7 chaps ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap
Edit: Actual bum saw a pretty lady for the first time and can't stop himself from simping. What? You say he might just be a good person deep down? NAHHHH! HELLLLL NAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HE'S JUST A DIRTY SIMPING BUMMMMMMMMMMMM! HIS ANCESTORS WOULD BE TURNING OVER IN THEIR GRAVESSSSSSS!