Chapter 21: Serenity

Beta read by Shigiya and Darklord331

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-Emiya Residence-

These last few days, Rider learned quite a bit about her Master.

Safe to say, their first impression wasn't exactly the best. He looked more like someone who just discovered what the Holy Grail War was rather than an informed Magus. His reaction alone told her everything she needed that the ritual happened by accident more rather than intentionally. Though she was curious where he got that little snake ornament and why he kept it on himself — but she let it go. This confusion on her part lasted a second before worry settled in, a Servant could never win a war without a competent Master by their side.

Then again, she had to sigh in relief that he was at least a kind Magus and one who could use Magecraft. Limited as they were from her first impression, he at least knew how to use them. Yet even in the end, her hopes for winning this war were not exceptionally high even while she hasn't encountered any other Servants yet. The only saving grace was the early summoning, which gave them a head start to get a lay of the land and make a plan if Shirou knew how to use it well.

But for now, it seemed her Master was more focused on himself rather than the future.

"Gah!" A certain redhead cried out in pain as his back struck the wall of the dojo. His body sent flying from a single kick which she also made sure to hold back just enough to not cause any significant injuries. "Damn it, I thought I would at least touch you then."

Pretty scandalous words for him to utter without causing any misunderstanding and foolish as well on his end to even believe a human could have the capabilities to keep up with her. Rank B agility was not just for show, she doubted he even checked or knew how to use that skill available to all Masters.

"Let's try again, Rider." He said, pushing himself off the ground with a loud groan, his exhaustion already setting in with just how long they had been doing this for. Five hours? Six hours? She lost track of time at this point, not that it mattered much in the end. She could at least commend her master for his endurance. "Hah!"

The boy rushed forward with a shinai in hand, going for an overhead slash, which she dodged with little to no effort. What amounted to a light slap on the wrist forcing Shirou to the ground as she disarmed him at lightning speed and pushed his body to the ground with a step. 'This is oddly therapeutic.'

If he failed as a Master, then at least he faired well as a punching bag. One point piqued her interest concerning this entire 'spar' they were having.

"Why are you using a sword, Master?" She'd seen him carry around firearms and even used them as his main form of weapon compared to the sword. Practicing Projection Magecraft by creating empty bullet shells one by one a hundred times or practicing Reinforcement. For him to suddenly use a blade based fighting style confused Rider initially.

"Just trying to cover my bases, can't rely on guns alone during a fight. There is only so much I can do in close quarters combat with long ranged weapons." Shirou said, feeling her boot pressing on his back. A part of him couldn't help but comment how awkward it would have been if he were facing the other way. Rider's choice of clothing didn't make it any easier to look at her without his hormones acting up. "And I'm also practicing my Magecraft."

As those words left his mouth, the shinai broke down and disappeared into motes of light. Rider removed her leg off him and gave the boy some room to breathe. He discovered just how easily it was to create weapons like daggers, blades, and even the shinai compared to a singular bullet. His first attempt after the Chimera battle at the docks resulted in some failures which gradually diminished with time. Now, he barely needed any effort to Project them.… a strange sensation to experience a spell that he felt comfortable with.

"Alright, let's go another round. I still have some chores to do before leaving for school… oof, I think you cracked a bone."

"Did I?"

"That or it's just my old injuries flaring up again… or I'm just overthinking things."

"Is that so?" His hands moved up to catch another copy of the Shinai appearing almost instantaneously, using it as a crutch to get back up with unsteady legs and his form coated in sweat.

"This time, I'll do better than last time."

Rider highly doubted his words, he couldn't even properly walk let alone hope to get close enough regardless of how much she held back. 'It's his choice. If he wants to suffer pointlessly for longer then I'll oblige.' Stubborn to a fault, there was no point to spar against a Servant and hope to gain any kind of upper hand. So she waited, seeing him steady his breath and slowly raise the wooden blade back up.

A loud sound of wood breaking followed with the floor getting slightly damaged as he pushed himself with all his might. Applying Reinforcement for an added increase in strength and endurance, closing the distance to what a regular human would consider impossible, not that she was one. What felt similar to slow motion, the woman followed each of his movements and acted to them accordingly. Using vastly superior speed she reappeared right behind him. Her hands, going right for his thro— "Hm?"

The air shimmered around her as two bokkens formed, surrounding both her sides. 'What a strange way to use that spell.' But one point started to slowly get more and more obvious. Somewhat even annoying to some extent. "Why even bother using wooden swords…"

"Hu—keurgh!" With a single move which he barely managed to track, Rider destroyed all of his constructs with little effort from a single sweep kick before striking in his stomach once again with her knee. "Got you!" Gritting his teeth and with black dots appearing in his vision, Shirou, having prepared himself, managed to grab her leg with both arms.

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"..." Both stayed in that position with Rider waiting for his next move, staring at the redhead for a while and expecting him to follow up with some sort of attack.

Shirou on the other hand averted his eyes awkwardly, "Haha… I honestly wasn't expecting that would work and I don't have enough strength to push you down or hit you with any weapon."

"..."

Her silence felt ominous as usual, making the boy start to sweat in trepidation. Now that the adrenaline started to wear off, he realized that despite the clothing that covered her legs, it didn't fully go up and we're particularly thin to the point that he could feel everything. In his moment of desperation just to gain an upper hand, he just went for the grab by instinct and hadn't thought about his move that much. 'Shit.'

He preferred to be beaten by Bazett once again than be in this scenario to be honest. Slowly, he removed his hands and waited for some sort of retaliation on her end. Another hit and he was out cold… yeah, that sounded like the best case scenario. "Sorry about that…"

Rider tilted her head, "About what?" She asked, almost leaning forward. Though it must have been his imagination, she was pretty tall and even slightly taller than him. The sunlight sneaking from the windows behind her created a shadow that cast a menacing aura to the young boy.

"I-I wasn't thi-thinking properly on my action," he stuttered, trying to back away but finding out to his horror the wall prevented such actions. He swore that it felt like something was slowly wrapping itself around him, making sure to keep him in place.

"Thinking about what, Master?"

Damnit, now his heart started to beat like a loud drum. What was he even supposed to say here? Shirou expected Rider to remain silent and answer him with a nod like she always did. Then followed by him going to the kitchen and putting the matter behind. "You know what I'm talking about."

"I'm afraid I don't. Please explain it to this servant." She insisted, taking a step forward and planting her arms on the wall behind him, leaving him with no place to run. Was she doing this purposefully to mess with him? But why!?

"Rider… are you mad at me?" Finally having enough and asking upfront, wanting to know any possible fault from his past self. There was no other plausible reason other than this one, or perhaps he kept forgetting about something. "W-we can talk this out."

"But we are talking about it. Are we not speaking at this moment?"

Were they? Because this conversation was starting to feel fully one sided with him trying to explain himself while his servant was leering down on him. With how close they were at the moment, he could feel something soft pressing against his chest, and was doing everything in his power to ignore it.

"...Master, do you think I'm weak?" She asked, this question catching by surprise as it came out of nowhere.

"Eh? Of course not, Rider, why would you think that?" A Servant whose light kicks felt more painful than Bazett's punches and blinding speed that surpassed anything he'd seen. Calling her weak was the biggest joke in the world and would definitely get him killed earlier if she wasn't holding back. So, why was she asking him such a question?

"Then why aren't you using your real weapons against me?" She glanced at the disappearing wooden bokken in the dojo. "You don't need to be afraid to use real blades or guns, I am strong enough to handle them. Don't forget my nature as a Servant." She backed off, finally giving him enough breathing room and a chance to calm his heart down at having his servant so close. This woman was dangerous, and not just for her monstrous abilities, that he even started to believe that she did it as revenge to mess with him.

"I'll… I'll keep that in mind." He didn't have any particular reasonable answer for her. No deep thoughts were put into the choice of weaponry he kept using for this little sparring session and since it wasn't a real fight he found it a bit hard to use actual firearms. 'I think I messed up.'

Putting the error of his way to the back of his head, Shirou got up off the floor and tried his best to keep a large smile on his face. "Hey, Rider, let's stop for today as I still have to finish my homework for tomorrow." Moving his arm around and checking his shoulders, he swiftly left the dojo soon after without giving her time to reply. Clearly, he was still affected by their previous interaction if the remnant blush on his face were to indicate anything.

"... He's easy to read."

Whether that was a good point or not remained to be seen.

***

"..."

She wasn't one to be surprised easily, especially when it came to her increasingly strange Master's habit and fascination with doing chores around the house. From cleaning up the dust nearly everyday, mopping the floor and polishing every piece of furniture — he never really ran out of chores to do around the house while she sat in the middle of the living room absentmindedly looking at the TV or going into her Spiritual Form if there were guests.

"Do you want any water?"

"Hey, I brought some snacks for you. Hope you like chocolate."

"Rider, have you seen my house keys?"

"Ah, call me when that show starts airing."

"Want me to buy something for you?"

"Made you some tea, be careful, it's hot."

"Wait, there is no need for you to help. It's just a small task, get some rest."

Rest for what exactly? The only demanding physical activity she ever did was to pull the boy lightly enough during their spars while making sure he didn't accidentally get folded by her superior strength. And second to that was just her placing the plates on the table whenever he asked and even that happened rarely as he would do it himself.

And she began to suspect he didn't know what a Servant truly was. Last she checked, they were summoned to be used as tools of war by Magus for the prize of a single wish in a brutal and unforgiving Holy Grail War. Yes, that was supposed to be her purpose, yet here she was being treated so… differently… Like a regular human and it unnerved her to some degree. 'Did I hit his head too hard by accident in our spar?'

No, that couldn't be it. He was weird from the first day that she had arrived.

'Something is horribly wrong with him,' thought the woman who munched on some Pocky sticks he bought for her for some odd reason, but she couldn't stop munching on them, watching the redhead move in the kitchen with expert precision and skills. Handling multiple pans without showing any signs of slowing down, the roiling boil sound of water and knife rhythmically chopping the cutting board.

"Dinner will be ready soon, Rider." He said with a cheerful smile on his face, clearly enjoying his little moment in the kitchen and getting immersed in the cooking. Wearing a purple apron, he carried over a couple of plates on the table while she waited.

"I can help you," whispered the Servant, to which Shirou shook his head.

"There is no need. I'm perfectly capable and I don't want to burden you."

Just a few minutes ago he kept moaning about broken bones and could barely think straight. She wanted to sigh and try to make him understand about their current situation as both Master and Servant. It felt more like the other way around at this point. "Hm?" But Rider's words died at her throat as a strong aroma filled the room. "Fish?"

Before her, various plates with different kinds of seafood related dishes instead of the regular dinner Shirou prepared.

"Oh, um, yes. Was at the market and had a person who sold me all of these different fishes at a great discount. And I had the idea to try out new types of fishes and dishes to see if they're good enough. I don't know if you like these types of fish so let me know how it tastes." He said with an uncertainty, bringing in another plate filled with cuts of tuna. There was a bit of everything, mullet, bass, grouper and so much more. For the first time, her mouth watered from the sight of this feast before her. "Sorry if it isn't good, I had to hurry up due to time constraints to perform my best I feel. Ah, don't know if you ever had sashimi, it's good!"

"..."

He actually showed genuine disappointment over his cooking rather than the entire fight they had?

Picking her chopsticks, she slowly picked up the piece while Shirou excitedly looked over and awaited her reaction. Showing more interest and energy than he did for the entire fight. Taking a bite, Rider froze as an almost familiar taste returned, something she hadn't tasted for what felt like forever. For a brief moment, she heard the sound of waves crashing at the seashore, the warm bask of the sun and a memory from a long time ago.

As she went for another bite, her chopsticks touched an empty plate. A trace of shock showed on her half covered face for the first time. This was followed by the woman noticing a rather large grin on her Master's face as he held his chin up. "Would you look at that, it seems like miss 'Servants don't need to eat and you're wasting your time and effort for something so useless' seems to have enjoyed the dish enough to have cleaned up the plate. Tch, too bad I don't have a camera on me."

She was stunned, out of all things in the world, a single dish of raw fish ended up having such a reaction? "So, how is it?"

In return, rather than answering his question, Rider instead couldn't help herself to ask, "Why are you doing this for me?"

Shirou looked at her with a head tilt that mimicked hers from the beginning. "I want to remind you that as Servants, our duty is to protect our Masters and battle other similar entities as us — I stand by my previous claims. All of this… why waste your time on it?" She couldn't understand no matter how hard she tried and hoped to get a satisfying answer.

But instead, he just smiled, "Because it's fun and I like it." The tone of his voice made it sound as if it were the most obvious explanation.

She did not know what more to say. At least it became was more than certain that something wasn't right with her Master.

"Ah, before I forget. Rider, I think we should introduce you to Sakura."

"..."

"Well, of course not as a Servant directly. But I just find it bad for you to always turn into your Spiritual Form whenever someone in around for no reason. So I got a plan, and first we'll need to do some clothes shopping first."

Sakura, that girl who lived her with the boy and clearly had some hidden feelings for him. Rather strong ones if her first impression were anything to say about it, her appearance sure was a bit deceptive with the kind of desire she showed on her face when he wasn't looking. Not that thr Servant found it necessary to tell her Master as this wasn't her problem, and treating more like a secondary source of entertainment in the end.

"As you wish."

Sighing in her mind, Rider wondered how differently this Holy Grail War might turn out for her if this continued.

{Break}

"You've been smoking a lot more lately, sir." Waiting in front of the gate leading to their next flight to Japan, Gray spoke with a hint of worry as she watched her savior finish his second box of cigarettes in a single day. Even the smell of cologne failed to hide the stench on him anymore. "At this point you're actively trying to kill your lungs before we even enter the plane."

This coupled with his darkened eyes, tapping legs and absentminded gaze staring at the ceiling for the last hour just painted the image of an overly stressed man reaching his limit… more so than usual. He even brought along two boxes full of cigars for some reason, counting nearly a couple dozen at the very least from the last time she saw them.

"I'm pretty sure the risk of having a conversation with some of my 'colleagues' or my sister far surpasses the trivial risk of lung cancer." Especially their following destination, the idea alone of stepping foot into the land of the rising sun gave him shivers. Even if this was his decision, in the end, some traumas of the past weren't so easy to overcome. "Besides, it's not a day or two of heavy smoking that will be the end of me."

"You haven't eaten breakfast and drank two cups of espresso shots."

"Caffeine reduces the appetite."

"That's not my point, sir," she insisted, pulling the hood more so over her face as a few curious glances headed her way. "I thought you'd be happy to finally get to become an official candidate for the next Grail War."

"Official candidate huh… Don't get me wrong, I am indeed happy to have gotten a chance after giving up hope in the past. I won't question nor even attempt to find out how that woman managed to get a free spot when it was supposed to be filled already. Sometimes it's better to turn a blind eye and mind one's own business when it comes to that girl." He said, puffing out a large cloud of smoke and crushing the cigarette inside the ashtray as it would soon be time to depart. "But what I've learned with past experiences is to never believe her at face value."

"What do you mean?" Gray got worried, hoping her mentor hadn't gotten trapped into a tricky predicament. A part of her doubted Reines would go that far, but of course, a Magus, regardless of the familiarity they shared with each other, could never be fully predicted.

He sighed, "I believed her words too easily and made some assumptions I shouldn't have. What she meant by getting a free spot for a candidate wasn't for me."

Now she got really confused. Sensing her stare, Waver grabbed another stick from the third package and lit it up much to her irritation. "My contract with the family still stands, I have not been exempt from any of the clauses or given temporary freedom in some instances. I'm still just as bound as ever and becoming a Master violates a good chunk of it. And someone so graciously informed me she can't allow any of the rules to be broken as it's 'beyond her authority' and the higher-ups won't allow it. Humph, she takes me for a fool, that little Devil."

Gray was certain he mentioned in the past that the contract was more specifically an agreement made between him and Reines rather than with the main family. So going by that logic and how Reines was the heir, it made sense how she had the authority and power to choose what to enforce and even overlook some parts.

"Then… why give you the spot if you can't even participate?"

"Ah you see, there lies the trap Reines set up for me." He let out a low chuckle, his tired eyes showing no sign of amusement. "Reines does not just 'gift' anything without reason, there is no favor done without expectation of a return and in her case, her desire probably holds more than contempt at seeing me suffer. What I was given was not a spot with my name on it, rather the privilege to choose a suitable candidate working for me."

"Can she do that? Don't the higher ups in the Clocktower or even the Vice Director have a say in this?"

"In principle and logically they should, rather, that's how it's supposed to work but we can assume she leveraged some favors or managed to bring up a convincing point in order to be granted this much. It's not an easy feat by any means and should have been impossible even, but Reines found a way. It's just convenient how I was told about this little tidbit this morning as we were leaving the house… and so did the El-Melloi. They weren't aware of the changes and were informed recently. Reines played both sides like fickle. If I wasn't terrified of her, I would be impressed."

Gray's eyes widened at that statement. "But I don't understand why she would do that. She's creating more problems for herself in the long run since everyone will be pointing their fingers at her…"

"Will they?" He countered. "Even if she experiences some backlash, I doubt it's anything she hasn't taken into account and has some other plans to compensate. As to why they were kept in the dark, well it shouldn't be that hard for you to guess."

Meanwhile, Gray carefully thought about his words, already the relationship between her mentor and the El-Melloi family was rocky at best. They hated him due to the events of the previous Holy Grail War. Even with his current title and status, it mattered little to change their opinion. If they knew that he was given the power to choose a candidate… "Then you would have been forced to take someone they themselves chose."

"Exactly, it's the most likely and only outcome to be honest. Reines knew this, so she made sure to avoid that at all cost." His finger tapped on his knees, brainstorming any possible reason why she went this far and her end game. If the El-Melloi as a whole learned about this change, then he could imagine the wave of people at his doorsteps demanding to take their disciples, students or themselves to become the candidate and using his debt to the family as a means to force him. Not that he'd buckle so easily but still a major pain he would have dealt with if this news wasn't kept a secret at the last moment.

"I never had a choice from the very beginning."

"Who do you have in mind?" Gray couldn't help but ask.

He went silent, humming silently while they announced the boarding would start soon in the background. "I actually did have someone in mind who I could gain much more with such a deal. Unfortunately, I'm unable to get into contact with her and don't know where she is."

Was this also in Reines's calculations? Even Waver found the idea preposterous and unlikely, as there was a limit to how frightening this woman could be. It wasn't like she possessed an ability to foresee or calculate future outcomes with precision. On top of that, he refused to believe Reines of all people to rely on luck.

"So with little time to prepare and no other candidates that won't just stab me in the back… I'm left with a single choice." He slowly turned his head to stare at her. The girl, thinking he was going to give a name, waited for him to continue speaking. But as the clock ticked and seconds turned into a minute, Gray's face turned paler than usual as the realization of his last choice of words finally hit her.

"You can't be serious, sir." She whispered, feeling as if gravity tripled all of a sudden. An enormous weight that abruptly dropped on her shoulders and made it hard to breathe.

"I wish I wasn't being serious, Gray. But realistically, we can always just go back, there is no real harsh punishment for declining to participate, they'll just find someone else to take my spot." For all his dreams to once again meet the King of Conquerors, Waver was not willing to accomplish this goal if it meant endangering his student's life. No, he had no right to force such a burden on her. "This entire time I was thinking how to bring up this subject, it's my fault to not do so earlier before we left."

"..."

"You know, there are some nice folks in Fuyuki who helped me in the past. I haven't spoken to them for years and I always wanted to see them again. They'll welcome you and you can think of this as a small vacation from the suffocating atmosphere in London." He really did miss the Mackenzies, the elderly couple accommodated both him and Rider for the duration of the war. Even if he used hypnosis on them in the beginning, Waver owed them a debt of gratitude. "I also reserved tickets to Hawaii, heard they have one of the best—"

"—I'll do it." Gray Interrupted him with a stern reply. "You don't have to say anything else, I have no issue with that."

"It's dangerous, you know?" Waver said, feeling like a jerk in the end. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but you have more chances at winning the lottery than a Holy Grail War." With countless unknown variables in every chaotic field, there was no saying how this war in particular would turn out. The oddity of it happening so soon rather than the few decades of waiting time already set off multiple alarms within his mind.

"But aren't I experiencing such danger every day of my life? Losing my identity… becoming someone else with no control, that's no different than death."

"...That's only part of the problem." Waver whispered quietly. Seriously reconsidering his entire plan and just walking away from this whole ordeal.

"Can we use the Grail to find a cure?" Gray added, a hint of hope blooming within her voice.

"An all granting wishing device can do many things, removing a curse is nothing compared to wishing for the Root. But this doesn't have to be our only option, there exist plenty of Magi specialized with curse related magecraft." The guilt grew with each passing second. "I have some names in mind of people who can help us with your problem."

"But is there a guarantee that any of these methods will work?"

"..."

His silence gave her the answer she suspected. He couldn't lie to her with false promises, her circumstances were very unique and complicated to be 'fixed' in the regular sense. Though this phenomena didn't encroach upon the boundaries of the Third Magic, it remained a complex piece of work that would leave most magus stumped… or trying to dissect her. Seeing his somber face, she continued to speak. "At least with the Grail in hand, there is a guarantee for me to be cured."

"But getting that prize is the real challenge. There is no guarantee that we won't be facing worse monsters than last time." Then again, the chances of someone summoning an entity that posed a bigger threat than the fabled King of Heroes were nearly non-existent — but even that wasn't wholly assured. He didn't want to have a mindset that created the illusion that nothing would be as bad as the Fourth Grail War. "But then again, this is a chance that doesn't come often."

"I'm sorry for being selfish." She apologized, looking down on the ground.

"Don't be, I don't even know why you're apologizing when I'm the one who is truly selfish." One aspect that comforted him was his past experiences with the war. "One can't hope to achieve anything without risks, being a Magus is one who walks with death… and it's not as if Masters can't lose the war without dying. I am a prime example. Are you absolutely certain you're up for this?"

He asked one last time, fully prepared to support the girl no matter her choice and putting his own desires to the side — he could not fail her.

With determination, Gray clenched her fists before meeting his gaze.

"I am."

Though one uncertainty remained within Waver's mind. If she was to do the summoning, which catalyst would the ritual choose, the living Catalyst or the one they prepared…

"Alright, let's get then, our flight is here."

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Hound having 1 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.