Fate/Echo's Call

[empression]

[ She hadn't wanted this. She had disagreed with her father's plan, to participate in the Holy Grail war at all, but perhaps it hadn't been loud enough.

(Perhaps, Haru thinks, tiredly now, as though she didn't know that it had been nowhere near loud.)

But with mages hearing the stirrings of a powerful man ready to put Tokyo beneath his heel, she ought to have expected this. Instead, she had come home and found her father, face-down on the ivory shag carpet, body having long since grown cold. But the armor. The armor was still where he had hidden it, five sets of hidden drawers locked with a seal only a member of the Okumura family could undo.

She hadn't wanted this. But things couldn't stay as they were, and only a few days after his funeral, Haru had finished preparations. The circle, etched carefully and painstakingly on the floor with care given to each individual symbol. The armor, placed in the center.

... She can't shake the feeling that she is still her father's subservient puppet, but as she finishes chanting--

The room explodes in light and her hand burns as the lines of three Command Seals engrave themselves onto her skin.

Much to her embarrassment, she's tipped over backwards from the shock. ]

Comments

[empression]

[ He can't, and he knows it, which is why he's already shrinking back and clutching at his staff.

"Listen, Saber... must you result to violence? As you can see, your Master is unharmed, and I'm sure there's something we can do to make it worth your while, I could present to you the heads of anyone you desired, I who have driven out the gods themselves--!" ]

[paladorable]

[ "Must you resort to violence?" What cowardly words from a cowardly man. If Arenvald were a different sort of Heroic Spirit, perhaps he'd be swayed by such promises, but he has ever been fiercely loyal and kindhearted in a way that most might consider a weakness.

There is only one way this confrontation could end.

Arenvald, silent in the face of those pleas, shifts his blade to a two-handed grip and lunges with all his speed at the Servant before him. ]

[empression]

[ Caster seems to realize that this is it, ready to flee-- but in the end, Arenvald is too fast and the blade tears right through him, emerging bloody on the other side.

It's a choked, offended noise that burbles out of him, but then the Servants simply... falls, fading away into nothingness. So too does the aroma in the air dissipate. ]

[paladorable]

[ Arenvald spends one last lingering moment looking over the estate, wondering if Sugimura is looking back, and hoping that, in the end, he feels as weak and useless as his Servant turned out to be.

He flicks his sword clean, letting the blood spatter into the grass, before he turns to make his way back to the place he left Haru. If she remains unconscious when he gets there, then he will bear her back home and settle her into bed.

And from there, he will wait for her to wake up. ]

[empression]

[ Wake up, she does, though she does so fitfully, one hand clutching at her blanket until suddenly she bolts upright with wide, alarmed eyes. ]

...!

[ ... Wait, where on earth-- ]

What--

[paladorable]

[ At some point, in order to conserve energy, Arenvald had gone incorporeal, though he lingered nearby. When Haru stirs, he manifests in a soft swirl of light, reaching out to cover her hand with his own. ]

Easy, Haru. It's alright, you're back home.

[empression]

I'm...

[ Haru trails off, looking down at his (much larger) hand covering her own, and draws a shaky breath. Her head's pounding a bit, but the haze that had wrapped around her mind is completely gone. If Arenvald had brought her back home, he must have defeated Caster.

But... ]

You're all right? You weren't injured?

[paladorable]

I'm fine. When it came down to it, he didn't put up much of a fight.

[ Not surprising, he supposes, given how his Master had run off with his tail between his legs after Arenvald decked him. ]

How are you feeling?

[empression]

... As though it might be better if we never discussed much of what happened ever again.

[ Yeah, remembering it... she's definitely feeling more than a little mortified. ]

[paladorable]

[ An amused little chuckle, barely more than a soft exhale, escapes him, and he gingerly settles himself on the edge of her bed. ]

Come on now, it wasn't that bad. You could have been trying to kill me.

[empression]

[ Haru sits up a little more properly, just as gingerly. ]

I believe that was the intent... I fought it back as much as I could, but then it, er... manifested as something problematic.

And I did hold you back.

[paladorable]

No harm done in the end. You still had your wits about you enough to listen to me, after all.

[ He squeezes her hand a bit. ]

And I kept my promise, didn't I?

[empression]

... Mm, you did.

[ And finally, tentatively, there's her smile. ]

I didn't doubt you, but... thank you, Arenvald. And I'm sorry for causing you trouble.

[paladorable]

No trouble at all. I understand what it’s like to not want to be alone.

[ He found his place eventually, a family on which he could rely, but those years spent on the streets of Ala Mhigo were torturous in more ways than one. Loneliness can gnaw at a person just as surely as hunger. ]

[empression]

Well, I mean that and... the, um. Other things I...

[ Kill her. ]

[paladorable]

Oh, about my...

[ There he goes, going red again. ]

Well, I uh, I appreciate the compliment.

[empression]

Please just... forget about it.

[ Telling your Servant he's hit in enemy territory... ]

[paladorable]

[ His gaze slides away, which makes the fact that he's still holding her hand a bit awkward. ]

No, it's... I'm really flattered that you find me attractive. I, um, I think you're really beautiful, too.

[empression]

I--

... You do?

[ Pardon her, she sounds a little stunned. ]

[paladorable]

Of course I do. And not just in looks, either. You're kind and talented and considerate and... I couldn't ask for a better partner.

[ He manages to look at her again through all that, though he's still red up to the tips of his ears. ]

[empression]

[ Well, that's comforting, considering she is also a lovely shade of dark red at the moment. ]

... Thank you. I couldn't imagine being partnered with anyone else.

[paladorable]

Me neither. There’s no one else I’d want to be with.

[ Was that wording deliberate or a slip? Probably the latter, since he seems a bit surprised at himself when he realizes the connotations, but… he doesn’t try to correct himself. ]

[empression]

[ It's his surprise that surprises her; maybe because Haru hadn't expected him to say such a thing, and then not catch himself and correct it. Meaning... ]

Um... Arenvald... [ and she says this carefully, cautiously. ]

If I... wanted to be more than your Master, hypothetically--

[paladorable]

[ There is a part of him that can't help but wonder how often this happens – a Servant and Master are connected, and thrust headlong into a highly dangerous situation. It is so very easy to lean into that connection, to allow it to run deeper in a myriad of ways beyond a tool and its user.

It is so very easy for him to look at this girl, strong and determined and lonely, and fall for her.

His fingers tighten, ever slight, around her own. ]

Hypothetically... I would tell you that I want to be more than your Servant.

[empression]

[ A part of her, the part that has always delicately set aside her own desires to fulfill someone else's wishes, whispers that she has no right to ask for this. Arenvald is a Heroic Spirit, a literal legend, kind and wonderful and strong. Haru Okumura is merely a girl.

But the louder part, for once, is Haru's own heart, the warmth that blooms when Arenvald's fingers squeeze hers. He... feels the same? ]

... It seems we have an agreement. Non-hypothetically.