pullmeoutalive | Fate/Echo's Call

Fate/Echo's Call

[ 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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Oh. Uh. When she says it like that, it brings some color to his cheeks - thankfully it's masked by the fact that they've been training and he's already a bit flushed. ]

Um... o-okay, if you say so. Go ahead and try again.

[ Haru nods, chin set a little more stubbornly, and shifts accordingly. It's a little easier to find the stance this time, her body recognizing what felt right when he'd adjusted her feet.

He's taking the time to train her, to make her less of a liability. She can't let herself get flustered and make him draw back. ]

[ She does much better now, he notes, though she's still not quite there. ]

Hey, that's pretty good. Just a little bit more like this.

[ Now that he has her permission, he steps close again, his chest pressed against her back, hands over hers as he helps her adjust again. ]

There you are.

[ She doesn't flinch or gasp or squeak or anything remotely embarrassing, but she remains acutely aware of that solid warmth against her back, and his voice close to her ear, her hands still dwarfed under his.

Haru shoves past it to the best of her ability, fingers wrapping around the axe handle, forcing her shoulders to relax and stay level. ]

It should eventually become muscle memory, won't it?

Aye, just work on it whenever you have a chance. Soon enough, it'll be as natural as anything.

Now--

[ he steps away again, moving in front of her. In a flash of silvery light, he summons his sword and shield into his hands. ]

Take a swing at me.

[ There's no hesitation; he wouldn't tell her to attack him if he couldn't block it, and he's a Servant. So Haru, nodding, swings the axe right at him with the kind of steady hand that one wouldn't expect from a high-school girl. ]

[ It's a good swing, and again she manages to surprise him with her ferocity. He has an inkling that she would have fit in with the Marauders' Guild back home just fine.

He lifts his shield arm, blocking the blow as easy as anything. ]

Good, but put more of your body behind it. An axe isn't a finesse weapon.

... Understood!

[ Well, he's not wrong. Axes aren't very elegant.

Haru purses her lips in concentration, and then moves to strike again, this time throwing her weight into it. It's not graceful, but... ah, well. ]

[ This time when her blade connects with the surface of his shield, it lands with a heavy clang, a testament to the amount of force put behind it. ]

There you go! I suspect anyone would be taken off guard were you to come at them like that.

Just that opening is all I need, I'm sure.

... Well, unless they're anything like you...

I wouldn't advise going up against a Servant one on one, but against another Master, I think you'll fair just fine.

Are you alright to keep going?

Yes!

[ Haru smiles brightly, and the expression may be a little at odds with how she brings the axe back to rest against her shoulder for a moment. ]

Whenever you're ready.

[ It may be an odd sight, but it brings a grin to his face nonetheless. ]

Right! Don't go easy on me, now.

[ In hand to hand combat, he definitely has the advantage. Still, he settles in for as long a training session as she wants to have, and though the minutes stretch to hours, he still finds himself being surprised by her ferocity and dedication.

He is lucky indeed to have a Master like her. ]

[ For all of her determination and ferocity, Haru still can't get a hit in-- which is about to be expected, though she does tend to forget more than once that she is facing a Servant.

Until they finally have to call it quits, because Haru's breaths sound more like the wheezes of someone fast approaching unconsciousness, and she's going down heavily on one knee, dripping sweat and entirely red-faced from exertion. ]

F... forgive me for the... shameful sight...

[ They've both worked up quite a sweat, even if Arenvald was going easy on her. (He may have felt the need to divest himself of his shirt at one point, and if Haru blushed about it, he certainly didn't notice.) ]

I don't see anything shameful here. You performed admirably.

[ He crouches next to her, one hand resting on her back. ]

Take it easy. I think we can call it done for today.

[ The fun thing about blushing when you're working hard is that your face is already flushed, so no one has to know.

Haru smiles at him, though, even if that smile's a tad sheepish. ]

I'm afraid so. I'll have to work on my stamina--

[ "So this is why you haven't been answering your phone, Haru?"

It's a soft, silky tone, but Arenvald will feel the way Haru tenses beneath his palm, her head jerking up to see Sugimura leaning there in the doorway with a smirk resting on his face.

"How quaint. Not too long, and you're already having him disrobe for you. I suppose I've kept you waiting too long." ]

[ Now there’s a voice that Arenvald had instantly disliked, and hearing it now makes him go stock-still in a way that only a Servant really can. His gaze lifts to the man in the doorway and stays there. Unfortunately for them all, Arenvald isn’t a great actor, and his mistrust is plain on his face, but that’s fine. Even if Sugimura wasn’t slime taken human form and gone walking about, he was another Master, and his rather tenuous alliance with Haru was based on an engagement she didn’t wish to keep. He’s well within his rights to be wary.

Now, he should probably get properly dressed, but right now he doesn’t feel like it. He simply rises to his full height, gaze flicking away from Sugimura just long enough to offer Haru a hand up, and then it’s right back to glaring. ]

Can we help you?

[ Haru's expression has become a little more guarded in response, her eyes shadowed as she takes Arenvald's hand and rises to her feet. She's nowhere near as tall, but she does feel a little better when she can lift her chin and meet Sugimura's eyes. ]

I hadn't heard you arrive.

[ "Clearly." He smirks, shaking his head. "I see you were... distracted. But I additionally see you've yet to teach your Servant proper manners. I don't believe I gave you the right to address me, Saber. In fact, you ought to bow your head in the presence of a Master." ]

I don't believe you have any right to tell my Servant what he should or shouldn't be doing.

[ Haru's voice is soft and steely. Again, Sugimura scoffs.

"Haru, I realize you're rather enamored with your new toy, but enough is enough. You're in over your head, and I need you to be the subservient little wife you were bred to be, so no more of this nonsense." ]

Wh--!

[ Give her a minute, she's flinching as though he's just gone and slapped her. ]

[ He’ll let Sugimura say whatever he likes about him, that doesn’t bother him in the least, but the instant his poison tongue speaks ill about Haru, Arenvald’s hackles are up. How dare this… this cretin talk about her that way, when he has no idea about who she is, about the strength of her conviction or the depths of her kindness.

He strides towards the doorway, tall and broad with a challenge in his eyes. ]

Say that again.

[ He fucking dares you, bro. ]

[ Haru stays where she is, hands slowly balling into shaking fists at her side, but Sugimura only tilts his head and glares back at the approaching Servant.

"And here I thought the Saber class was meant to be impressive. Very well; I'll say it slowly so you can hear me properly. Your 'Master' is little more than an ornamental doll, for how much use she'll be to you. So I'd recommend maybe settling for a stronger Master." ]

[ Arenvald could probably kill this man right here if he wanted to, but wanton murder has never been his style. He did what he had to do to survive, and nothing more. Still, the way this man speaks about Haru makes him see red, makes him angry enough to consider the possibility for a split second, but the last thing in this world he wants to do is cause Haru pain.

So instead of summoning his blade and running this absolute creep of a man through, Arenvald cocks a fist back and slams it into Sugimura’s nose. He doesn’t put his Servant’s strength behind the blow – in fact, it’s a perfectly human-powered punch, but it still comes from a human that stands at six feet tall and is built like a brick house. ]

Utter those words again and I’ll cave your windpipe in next, do you understand or do you need me to say it slower?

[ Haru's eyes go wide as the sound of crunching bone is drowned out only by Sugimura's pained shriek; he doubles over instantly, cradling his bloody nose and sputtering something incoherently in a sobbing rage.

Before Haru can say a word, the man staggers out of the room. Distantly, the door slams, leaving her standing there, still very much stunned. ]

Arenvald...?

[ That was oddly satisfying, the way Sugimura recoils and yelps, blood spurting from his nose onto the front of his no doubt expensive garb. Arenvald watches him go, fists clenched and frame tense.

He probably would have stared a hole into the door had Haru's soft uttering of his name not pulled him back to reality. His shoulders relax and he turns to face her. ]

Haru, I... I'm sorry. I just... I couldn't let him talk about you like that.

No, you... you don't need to apologize.

[ Haru smiles up at him, a little tremulously. ]

He's said so many things about me that I was starting to hope that I'd become immune to them. But... no one's ever gotten so angry about it, for my sake.

... So, thank you.

You don't have to thank me.

[ His heart breaks for her, honestly. What has her life been like up to this point that no one has even dared to put down a simpering brat for speaking ill of her? ]

No one should have to listen to that, least of all you. You're so much more than what he thinks you are.

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