It was true, Meltryllis hadn't directed the comments directly at the other girl. But that still didn't mean they were right. Nanako opened her mouth again...

... And slowly shut it.

It had taken a moment for her to really take in what Meltryllis was saying. While the comments about that girl had been uncalled for, at the same time... it had never been about her, had it? It had been about Nanako herself. Meltryllis... Meltryllis had, in a roundabout and rather overly harsh way, been showing her concern for her Master. And now that had become so much more obvious through the Alter Ego's words. She'd already know that Meltryllis had been trying to protect her, before. She already knew her Servant actually did care about her, even if she didn't want to show it.

But she'd now basically admitted as much. Meltryllis's true colors had come shining through.

"... So that's how it is, huh?" Nanako commented, smiling slightly, "You're right, Meltryllis-san, let's get going. I need to make sure I get out and get some exercise after all, right?"

It didn't mean that Nanako wasn't going to say anything, if Meltryllis did happen to talk overly harshly about someone else even if it wasn't directly targeted at them. She didn't need to say it so loudly.

@PKMNB0Y

---

The moment her Master said what was going on, Benienma was off like a shot. The sheer speed of her movement sent a gust of wind whipping across the small outdoor dining section around the restaurant, and it continued to follow her as she darted through confused crowds. Almost immediately she'd already arrived at the alley...

... In time to see the kidnapper force the little girl to summon her Servant to use as a weapon against Kaguya-hime.

Almost immediately, anger rose in the diminutive Saber's heart. Not only was he kidnapping a child, but he was using drugs for force her compliance, to force her to summon her Servant. Not only was he doing that, but he was forcing her Servant to attack the people attempting to rescue her...!

This would not stand.

As the Assassin raised one arm, a blade extending from it, to make a strike at the Caster, Benienma was already moving.

In a shower of sparks and the ringing sound of metal clashing against metal, the redheaded enma's blade had already been unsheathed, already whipped through the air, and already deflected the karakuri ninja's attack!

But her attention was fixed solidly on the kidnapper himself. At this point, the mystic code filtering perception was growing weaker from all the attention directed towards him.

"Kidnapping a child and forcing her Servant to aid your escape attempt... you are nothing more then the basest of sinners dechi!"

Immediately, Benienma had already moved to force a gap between the Assassin and herself, an opening through which she could strike at the kidnapper directly.

If she took his arms, he could no longer hold onto the child.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

~Suzuka~

@Pyromania99

---

"Like, seriously?" Suzuka passed her a disinterested glance as she walked over to where Mana was standing by the sinks. "That bitch was totes doing that on purpose. Ugh, can you believe her? That hoe better check the mirror next time." The fox glanced once more towards Mana, seeing her still not looking towards her, muttering something about being proud of her master? Well, that was just annoying.

"Mana, that's total crap." On some level, Melt and Mana were both right. She had a hard time understanding Mana, but calling her not someone to be proud of? "Well, maybe like, You're right. I don't really like, get you a lot. Why you wanna hide that thiccness of yours. Why you don't respect yourself or how you wanna spend all day inside doing mega cringe stuff. But, like jeez, girl, you summoned a totally cute top tier JK servant. That's something to be proud of."

Suzuka cozied up to Mana, pressing her shoulder against the other girls, and flashing her a bright grin.

"So get that dumb look off your face, it's kinda pissin me off a bit. We gotta date to finish anyways!" She grabbed Mana by the hand again, and regardless of whether or not she was ready, she started dragging the girl out of the shop and back to their apartment.

With the Servants rushing off to confront the kidnapper, Hakuno followed behind them, reaching for her radio. She couldn't do much to help directly, but HQ certainly needed to know this was happening. She had every reason to believe Benienma and Kaguya could resolve the situation themselves, but the fact that someone was trying to kidnap the girl at all was alarming. She was contracted to a Servant as well, right? So where were they?

"Kishinami here!" Hakuno barked as she ran to catch up the Servants, hearing the sounds of battle from the alley, "unknown assailant attempting to kidnap Tsugihara Amelia! Saber is currently engaging!"

Reaching the alleyway after noting the location, she came to a sudden stop and peered around the corner. Recklessly rushing into a Servant battlefield was asking for trouble, even if the opponent wasn't- oh.
It was a struggle to process exactly what was happening, but it looked like there was a third Servant, opposing Saber and Caster. Curling her right hand into a fist, Hakuno cautiously watched for any suspicious movement. Her support magic was paltry, but there was always Command Seals in the most extreme case. As long as that Servant could be repelled, saving Amelia was inevitable...

-------------------



Lady Guan didn't seem able to comprehend the idea that her elevated physical abilities meant her 'unimpressive' feats were most definitely out of the norm, especially to inactive girls. Still, if this guy and his Servant were so insistent that ten miles was somehow too much...

"Wait, video games? Those can help?" Guan asked, looking at them with intrigue and wonder. As far as she knew, video games were simply a form of entertainment - nothing she was opposed to, but not exactly conducive to an active lifestyle. Had she been wrong this whole time?! They could have been playing these games together and fostering a deeper bond and stronger bodies?! "I-I implore you, please tell me more!"

Mana

Mana was somewhat a bit more down by what Suzuka started directing comments at her. Not like there was much more down she could go at the moment. She figured that the girl was saying it on purpose. It felt like it was directed at her anyhow, so she was unsurprised by that. What did surprise her was Suzuka telling her that she could be proud of summoning her. Well, that didn't really surprise her, but the extremely close contact did! She swallowed hard as she could feel the physical contact between her and Suzuka.

"Date to finish?" She questioned before Suzuka pulled her quickly out of the store. She didn't even take the time to see if the master and servant from earlier were there. She was too taken with Suzuka's pace, though she wondered where they were heading. "Uwaaaa!" She cried out as she was taken out of the store and back out to the street. "S-suzuka!" Mana complained, "W-where are we going? My legs aren't cut out for this!" She complained, trying her hardest to keep up with her fox eared servant.

Having to pull back to avoid having her head cut off--it probably wouldn't kill her, even in this state, but it wasn't wise to try--meant that there was nothing much she could do about the man or his captive. Instead, it was her against... oh, this was interesting, very interesting. Were those bladeds coming from her arms?

"I think I might have to seek you and your Master out in future," the princess said, eyes lighting up. A fully-functional robot ninja? Well, that was just wonderful, the sort of thing she would love to collect, or to try and understand. It was just such a shame that said ninja was trying to slice and dice, and her unarmed abilities weren't amazing. Adequate, one might say, but not amazing.

Though the hesitancy in the ninja's actions gave a perfect opening, particularly with her agility not being so much better than the "alien's" own. She could have done it some other way, but this made it just that bit more likely and so much less effort for Kaguya: stepping in, past the blade and forcing the ninja's arm up, an interesting piece of raised metal and wood. Some sort of lightning rod, one could say.

For the exact bolt of lightning that the Caster had just caused.

---

"D-Don't I get a say in this?" Hana asked. Her servant, the other Servant, this guy... all this conspiring to get her to do things was why she spent so much time inside anyway. Watching TV was cheap and easy to do and so much more stress free. Now they wanted her to spend on games and everything...? What if she needed that money for something important! Like not working!

The enthusiastic reaction of the Servant in front of him caused Mitsuki to pause for a moment and glance at his own Servant, half unsure about how exactly to proceed before holding up a hand for a moment.

"R-right. My own Servant likes playing games, so I've ended up learning about a few by exposure," he said, pulling out his phone and searching up a few to show in turn. The slight complaining from the woman sitting on the bench was... Well, probably a little warranted, given the circumstances (and the fact that it was probably going to be her money used), but in the end that was something that the two of them would have to discuss anyhow.

"I'm just pitching it; you're the Master here, though, so you should properly discuss things over between yourselves," he said, showing the Berserker his phone screen as he pointed to and explained a few games.

Hopefully, those two would figure something out...

@KoL@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas


Though still somewhat cloaked by his Mystic Code, the kidnapper seemed to have a snide grin on his face as he watched the Assassin strike out. Of course, a two-on-one was obviously disadvantageous to him, which made escape all the more a priority now.

What he didn't expect, though, was for that Assassin to be so quickly disarmed by the Servant that had initially chased him. The bolt of lightning combined with the (admittedly expected) resistance of said Assassin to his proxy orders seemed to render her at least somewhat paralyzed, which meant that even if he was to run now, being caught was inevitable.

In other words, he had to use another Command Seal to give her another boost, if only to buy himself some more time to escape——!
@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

The kidnapper's arm was moving. There was the smallest gap, just big enough, that Benienma would see. Her blade slid into her sheath, as the stunned karakuri ninja fell to her knees.

Her sword was one that protected the innocent, but it also passed judgement on the wicked. If this man was going to use the child he had taken as a tool, then there would be no mercy.

The motion was almost instantaneous. To an observer, it would seem as if the dimunituve Saber had suddenly appeared behind the kidnapper, one hand on the dazed little girl and the other on the hilt of her katana.

There wasn't even a single drop of blood on her blade.

Which, perhaps, made it all the more shocking when the kidnapper's arm came free of his body, a perfectly clean cut having severed the limb in an instant. Blood splattered across the ground as he collapsed on his side, writhing and clutching at the wound.

For the sake of an innocent life, a sinner had been cut.

It was a worthy exchange.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

There was a distinct pause in the air as the Saber moved past the kidnapper faster than he could recognize, and the subsequent loss of the arm carrying his target had caused him enough pain to fall to his knees, clutching at the bloody stump where it had been moments ago. The shock was not enough to knock him out, which might have been better in the long run. of course, the screaming was enough to attract its fair share of rubbernecking passersby through the alleyway, but the presence of the Caster and Hakuno were more than enough to block the way.

It didn't take long after for the brunette's radio call to be responded to in kind, and an ambulance was soon brought to the scene to manage the rest. Amelia and her now-disabled Assassin were promptly brought away for treatment, while the kidnapper was promptly taken into custody for questioning.

It wouldn't take long to reattach his arm and start pressing him for answers, at least.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

---

---

The rest of the week had come and gone without much noise, which had given the Alter Ego more than enough time to wander about the city and internalize what she hadn't already. Slipping out and traveling from rooftop to rooftop while a majority of the city's residents were either at classes or handling something else meant she was free to explore to her heart's content. Of course, when that hadn't been an option, the coat that she had made Nanako buy for her worked just as well for walking around on the streets undercover. Until now, nobody had really accosted her, but even a simple walk while her Master was off learning meant that she didn't have to feel stuck in that small, cramped apartment that they were living it.

Or, well, it was cramped by her standards, at least.

By the time she had returned to that apartment, Nanako herself seemed to have only just returned as well. Given that her arm had recovered a day or so prior, Meltryllis had no reason to actually have to stick around to make sure that her Master could even do things on her own. Even so...

"Hmph. I suppose your classes are over for the week, then?" she asked nonchalantly, letting herself sink into the couch as she glanced at the young woman in question. "If your arm is better, then—"

Before she could finish her statement, though, the sound of an all-too-familiar jingle seemed to ring throughout the room, which the purple-haired Alter Ego to let out a deep sigh.

"...Of course."

With an air of annoyance, Meltryllis glanced at the TV screen in front of her, waiting as the words "BB Channel" popped up in front of her.

"Hello, hello~! It's your favorite kouhai, BB, here with a new announcement~! Are you two there? You are, aren't you~?" a voice chimed in from the TV, to which Meltryllis could only throw a sidelong glance back towards her Master expectantly.

"Yes, yes, we're here. What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms as she stared at the TV (which had thus replaced BB's own logo with a scene of BB herself within a studio of some sort).

"Oh, rather grumpy, aren't you? Well, I've got a new assignment for you two, but for the sake of secrecy, I can't tell you what it is... So for now, just go to this location over here, okay? The rest will make sense soon~!"

Pointing at a map on-screen, BB simply flashed a smile as Nanako's phone seemed to buzz, showing that the same location had been sent there as well.

"Of course, I'd recommend you'd get there soon, senpai~! You might miss what's waiting for you otherwise, after all..."

@VitaVitaAR

Unpacking all of their luggage and handling whatever paperwork had remained left Waver little time to actually explore the town proper. He had his own plans, of course, but his responsibilities meant that those had to wait. Grey, of course, had been swept along to help him as well, and though that much was to be expected from someone who was his assistant, some part of the former Lord felt a bit worse for wear knowing that neither of them had actually managed to do much in terms of exploring the city.

He still had the database of active Servants to check out anyhow, and as much as a part of him wished to not see it, he had an obligation to do so even now.

Which led the two to where they were now—heading down the streets after speaking with a few of his students-to-be in advance of their first lecture in order to pick up some remaining files and speak with a few other people before his own appointment came around...

Outside of Book Store, Greek Quarter, Streets of Fusang

---

"I don't blame you if you never heard of it. Bone is a largely underrated graphic novel series.", said Conner Griggs as he and his Servant walked out of the book store with their newly gained goods. "It's pretty much the same genre that you like in your books, Medusa."

"Possibly.", softly replied the Rider as she walked beside her Master in her casual grab, which consisted of a long sleeve black sweater, long black jeans, heeled boots and her special glasses. "Though, I'd doubt they would be as much of a.....spectacle."

"Heh, yeah, no kidding. Lord of the Rings is on another level. It's no wonder there's a movie trilogy of it."

As they came up and waited at a crosswalk, Medusa turned her gaze toward her Master, a curious spark in her usually calm eyes.

"There's a movie trilogy?"

Conner looked toward the purple haired beauty, surprise in his eyes before giving off a chuckle.

"Well, I know what I'm gonna show you when we get back home."

So involved in their conversation, Conner didn't notice the approach of a certain former Lord and his assistant from behind. Medusa, however, did and gestured with her head to look behind him.

"Hm?", the 17 year old mumbled as he turned around. Oh, Mr. Velvet."

@PKMNB0Y

Things had, roughly, been normal for a while now. Nanako's budgeting skills had to adapt quickly, but regardless of that she'd gotten used to how things would go. She did try and buy the sort of foods Meltryllis would like when she was able, provided she had the money to do so, but thankfully her next payment from Fusang was not long off. Part of her wondered just how Meltryllis was recorded in the system, given she wasn't a heroic spirit with any origin in history. Or, for that matter, why they had never come to speak to her at all...

But maybe it wasn't worth thinking about that too hard. She was getting money, and that money was helping her sustain herself and treat Meltryllis every once in a while.

Even if the wallet trauma had cut pretty deep after that one day...

For that matter, BB hadn't contacted them in a while either. Just what was that strange purple-haired girl up to?

Meltryllis was home when she returned from classes, her slender, slight frame sinking into the couch before Nanako's eyes as she asked about her classes, and her arm. But just as Nanako prepared to give a cheerful "good as new!' in response...

A familiar jingle originated from the television, which swiftly turned itself on.

It was BB, again. After all this time. Giving the both of them a rather poor explanation of what she wanted them to actually do before sending her a location on her phone.

But this time it was a little different.

Last time BB had sent them to investigate something, innocent people had been killed. Those shadow Servants... they'd killed the workers and the construction site.

Maybe this time...

"... Alright, BB-san, we'll go," she said, finally, looking the location over on her phone as she did, "Meltryllis-san and I will have it handled in no time. I can count on her for that."

She glanced towards the Alter Ego. It was obvious she wasn't thrilled with the situation at all, but by this point Nanako had plenty of reason to be confident in her Servant's abilities.

"Let's go and get it over with."

If no-one was in danger, maybe they could just get it done fast. Thankfully this week was relatively light on the homework...

@PKMNB0Y

---

To be part of the Fusang Counter Crime Force didn't merely mean to protect people who were in danger. It also meant uncovering the truth behind crimes that had already occurred.

Today was one of those times.

The first attack, which had lead to a killing, had happened some time ago. The victim had been a middle-aged man, a black market mystic code on his person. Identifying the body had taken some time, given the state it had been in. Certainly, he had been dead for less than an hour, but...

Benienma had been glad her Master hadn't seen it, judging by what she had heard. There was no need for a student to see something like that!

Still, they had a duty to attend to. And that duty meant trying to figure out just what had happened.

After the initial murder, similar attacks had occurred. The through line was the fact that a very sharp implement had been used, and that the victims were all criminal elements. None of them had been able to summon a Servant, but some of them had possessed some meager magical potential. Not all of them were dead when they were found, but they had all been severely mutilated.

The victim had already been taken away, now they were left with the crime scene.

"... Masta, if this part is too much for you, we have been given permission not to participate in this case dechi," began the redheaded Saber. As much as she was concerned with justice, Benienma was also concerned with the mental well-being of the one who had summoned her.

@RoleplayerRoxas@PKMNB0Y

---

“Nyaaa!” A small voice exclaimed, followed by the sound of a broom hitting the floor. “Get out of here you damned fox!” Smack, smack. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you cook again after that!” It was the voice of Mana’s familiar, Cocoa. Previously, she had reluctantly allowed Mana to eat Suzuka’s food but… “Gyyyaaaaaah!”

“Gyeh!” What was this! She already had an apron on and everything! If that damned tamamo could rock one, she could totally do it too! She even got up super early in order to make a totally super mega delicious bento for Mana, but this dumb rat was getting in her way!

“You dumb rat! You don't know the first thing about a high-school girls love!” Suzuka hissed, holding a pot in her hand and ready to defend herself should she have need of it from the feisty feline. “That food was made with all of the love of a mega cute JK!”

“If it was made with your love, then your love must be poisonous!” Cocoa complained, pointing the wood end of the broom into Suzuka’s face. There was no way in hell she was strong enough to fight a servant, but that didn’t matter! This was a matter of life and death for Mana! “And I’m a cat! Not a rat!” This time she poked Suzuka in the forehead with the broom. “Nyyaaaaa! Stop cooking!”

“Grrrr....!” The broom bopped Suzuka right in the forehead. The gyaru stumbled back a bit from the hit before she grabbed another pot on a nearby counter. Conveniently, it was full of water. “That's it you dumb fleabag! I didn't like, wanna hurt you cuz Mana and all, but now you've gone and pissed me off!” Suzuka lunged forward, raising the pot into the air and intending to smack the cat with it.

It was right about then that Mana sleepily came walking around the corner, brushing her teeth. Her eyes were half open and she repeatedly brushed back and forth lazily. “Ish ereyting alrigh?” She questioned as she stopped brushing teeth long enough to speak, noticing there was a lot of loud noises early in the morning.

Cocoa, having had an eye on Suzuka raising the pot… Immediately turned to Mana. The cat turned at Mana’s words. “A-ah! S-suzuka was just getting some water together!” Lowering her broom. Mana had yelled at her before for “bullying” Suzuka but really… The real bully here was obvious, right?

“Ah Mana!” Suzuka stopped herself mid swing, immediately doing a total 180 in her mannerisms in front of Mana. “Totes. Me and the furball here were just uh, y'know, makin' breakfast.” This totally sucked, having to play nice with this cat, but Mana had gotten onto her before for not playing nice with her.

Mana drowsily looked between the two. She thought to question why they were so chummy but, “K…” Mana simply said before heading back to finish up brushing her teeth.

Cocoa sighed and planted the broom on the floor, resting her chin on it. “That could have been bad if she was more awake.” She groaned, lazily looking over at Suzuka. “Can you not? She’s going to get sick…” Mana was too nice to admit it herself, but that food was toxic. Well, she wasn’t sure it was “nice.” Probably more that she was afraid of making Suzuka mad or upset. Anxiety?

“The only thing she's gonna get sick of is cat fur in her food.”

Cocoa was going to say something but… No, not now. She sighed and leaned on her broom some more. “Cat fur would be more healthy for her than that food of yours.” She sighed again. She probably needed to get something together for Mana before Suzuka got any bright ideas. She looked around the kitchen for some food stuffs to make a quick bento. Hopefully before Suzuka would finish her “love” filled one.

“Lol, You know Mana loves my food right?” Suzuka said going about the kitchen, grabbing ingredients and starting her food making. “You're just jealous cuz she prefers getting fed by a mega cute JK.” She was mostly done by now anyways. She had gotten up super early to make something for Mana. She wasn't gonna let anyone ruin this day, nope!

Cocoa just looked at Suzuka in disbelief for some seconds before opening her mouth to say something before closing and then shaking her head. The fox really didn’t know did she? Well, it would be best to make Mana a second… Actually edible bento. “Fine. Sure. She loves getting food poisoning filled with love.” Some rice, some other things. “Well, I’ll make my own bento so she has something edible.”

A yawn sounded around the corner as Mana came into view again. She scratched her side under her shirt as she finished yawning. “Morning you two.” She was a lot more awake this time than before. “How are you doing this morning?” She asked, grabbing a small cookie from one of the cabinets and munching on it. She looked at Suzuka and Cocoa and noticed what Suzuka was doing. “A-ah. C-cooking… Suzuka?” She asked after finishing her cookie.

“Tch. Man you don't even know what your master likes.” She gave Cocoa a look of pure smug pity as Mana walked into the kitchen after having gotten ready. She put the finishing touches on her Super Cute JK Bento-special and wrapped it nice and neat as she turned to Mana.

“Morning master!~” Suzuka grinned, walking up to her. “That furball made breakfast I think. You got any plans for today?”

“Studies. Then… I don’t know what else in the afternoon.” Mana mentioned, eyeing the food and quickly back to Suzuka. “Umm. T-thanks for the bento. I’ll… Enjoy it…” She swallowed hard and Cocoa gave a sigh.

“Mana-Sama, she’s right. I did make breakfast. Eat up so you’re not hungry all day.” The little cat sighed. “Some rice and other little things. I’ll put some into a bento so you can snack on it a bit later.” Cocoa was basically ignoring Suzuka having made a bento.

Mana bit her lip for a second before relaxing a small bit. “Thank you both.”

“Fab! Since our last outing got totes ruined by that dumb ho and her servant, nothing gonna ruin this date. Not even some furballs dumb cooking!” The fox grabbed her own bento, shoving it into her school bag and running off to the bathroom herself. “Look forward to it master! I gotta go freshen up a bit!”

After Suzuka made her way into the bathroom to freshen up, Mana let her shoulders droop and sighed. “I’m going to die.”

Cocoa scratched the back of her head. “Uhhh. Best of luck, Mana-Sama?” She had to ask.

---

“Maaaaster, come on, hurry up!” Suzuka wasn't giving Mana much time to rest as she dragged her master through the streets, towards an open park where she was intent on spending the first part of that perfect day with her. She had decided that if Mana wasn't comfortable doing stuff like Karaoke, she'd start with something simple like this first.

Eventually the fox had successfully dragged the human to a park.

“Yep, this is perfect!” Releasing Mana, Suzuka decided that this was indeed, the perfect place.

Mana was glad to be done with schooling for the day but… As soon as the day was over, Suzuka just dragged her out to a nearby park. “Umm, why a park? What’s perfect?” She hadn’t ate Suzuka’s bento yet so… She was worried.

“Duuuh, we can totes hang out here for a bit.” Suzuka reached into her bag, pulling out a neatly folded blanket and spread it over the ground under a nearby tree. Once done, she pulled out her Bento and offered it to Mana.

“Hope you didn't forget!” She grinned. “I worked super hard on this this morning. Sorry if there's any cat fur, that fleabag was constantly getting in my way.”

She knew it. The bento came up. Mana has been calculating a route of escape but, barring a kidnapping on some third party’s part, there seemed to be no way out of this. She muttered under her breath. “How could I forget…” She quickly caught herself. “Ahh, no. Of course I didn’t forget!” The first time she ate it, she didn’t wake up for quite a while. Suzuka seemed to get the wrong idea and Mana couldn’t bring her heart to say it almost killed her, though Cocoa seemed to tell her a few times to little success.

Completely oblivious to Mana's obvious fear of what was about to happen, Suzuka grabbed a pair of chopsticks and opened the bento. Leaning over just slightly, Mana would be blessed with the sight of her cleavage just through the loose opening of her uniform.

“Heh, how's it feel having a cute JK Feed ya, master?”

Mana stared at Suzuka’s open sight for a few seconds before blushing and turning away. “It feels…” Like I’m going to die was how she wanted to reply. But that was obviously not what she said. Of course not. “Embarrassing…” The sense of existential dread fell over her as she was watching on in terror.

“LOL, you getting all embarrassed over this.” Suzuka grinned. “You're adorable sometimes, ya know that? Not as cute as me, but liiike, maybe second or third cutest. Aaaaah~” Without giving Mana time to protest, Suzuka shoved the rather benign looking piece of meat into Mana's mouth.

That was a terrible mistake Mana had just committed. Looking away from what was threatening you was always dangerous. Then she had a piece of meat enter her mouth. Habitually, she took a bit which was her second mistake. It felt like something terrible had hit her taste buds, neigh, her body. There was a lapse of consciousness as she fell sideways and her head landed on Suzuka’s shoulder. Her eyes looked dead. Empty.

“Wah?! Master?!” Suzuka hadn't been expecting that, was her food just that good? No...wait, no that stupid cat probably did something to it! “Tch, I'm gonna get a spray bottle specifically for that dumb hairball...” She huffed, guiding mana to the blanket she had laid out. Taking a seat she laid Mana's head gently on her lap and waited for the other girl to wake up.

Ah.

Wait, this was perfect selfie time!

She grabbed her phone and...

“Click!~” She laughed. “Oh this is def going straight to Insta...”

Some minutes later, Mana groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She felt rather comfortable. She was on something soft. She gave a small smile and turned, getting closer to Suzuka’s belly. Then she realized something. This was a person. A fabled lap pillow! She stayed as she was for a small time before letting the back her her head lay against Suzuka’s legs and so she could look towards the sky. “Ahh. Umm… Did I pass out?”

“Oh, master, your awake now.” Suzuka huffed, frowning. “You just like totally passed out. That dumb cat must of got fur all over my food or something. I'm gonna buy a spray bottle and fill it with catnip or something next time she gets in my way. Seriously why she always gotta mess up my cooking...” She leaned forward slightly, looking down at Mana with a smug grin.

“...heh, that said Master, your totes enjoying the view aren't you?”

Enjoying the view? Why would Suzuka ever think of asking that. There were no thoughts in her mind that implied that she wanted to stare at these mountains that hung over her for a while. None at all. “E-enjoying… What view?” She blushed and looked aside then tried to get up. Perhaps it was the food. Maybe because she has been resting on Suzuka’s lap… But she couldn’t bring herself to get up despite her attempts. “....” A bright red blush crossed her face as she realized she was stuck where she was.

“Don't play dumb, like I can totes see your face!” She giggled. “Your totally being gross and thinking of my boobs, aren't you Mana?” She teased, puffing out her chest slightly as she pulled out her phone. “I should take a selfie and post this all over Insta.”

“D-didn’t that bird girl tell you to s-s-stop?” Mana stuttered, trying meekly to defend herself. She was finding it hard to leave her servant’s lap and it felt less and less like paralysis from the food and more and more like she didn’t have the willpower to leave this comfortable spot! She felt different from a week ago and she wasn’t sure if this was good or bad.

“Beni-sensei told me not to take pictures of your booty.” Suzuka grinned. “Look, comoooon, it'll be a totes cute selfie between galpals.” Suzuka placed a hand behind Mana's head, grinning as she pulled her phone out and made sure to get both her and Mana in the shot. “This'll go great with the other one!”

Mana was flustered and blushing brightly when Suzuka took the new selfie with both of them. “S-s-suzuka! I’m not even that cute!” Mana insulted herself, not feeling confident in having her picture taken. “W-why do yo-you even like to t-take pictures of me…”

“Agh, seriously master! Stop being such a downer.” Suzuka replied, . “Click!~” And thus, another selfie was taken. She almost expected a bit more resistance, but whatevs. Once done, she checked it herself, grinning and showing it to Mana. “See, you look good girl, stop that dumb thing you're always doing.”

Mana, despite the food incidents, had gotten more use to Suzuka’s personality since the incident in the clothing store. She looked away from Suzuka and slowly rolled herself off the fox’s lap until she landed face down on the ground. “You keep saying that…” Still, the master found it hard to believe someone would compliment her on her looks. “J-just don’t post those two pictures.” She had given up trying to prevent Suzuka from taking the pictures at this point. It was all she could do to hope that she would just use them herself instead of letting the whole world to see.

“Totes, sure, can do.” Suzuka replied. It wasn't a lie if she had already done it before asked not to right? Right. Totes. “Now come on, I got us a super amazing date planned at a karaoke place come ooon!” Suzuka would grab Mana by the arm again, pulling her to her feet and dragging her back towards the city.

Unfortunately, the true perpetrators had managed to escape that day. The CCF officials who had arrived had immediately questioned Arturia's Master and herself about any details they had retained. It wasn't as if she was completely unfamiliar with the concept of law enforcement, as a King it was another matter she oversaw. However, to be on this side of things... it had been a strange experience. Not only for the King of Knights herself, but evidently also for those who had been speaking to her.

But among them...

... Sir Gareth. It was undeniably Sir Gareth. She had said as much herself. She'd been so excited, as well.. she spoke of wanting to tell the other knights, of being honored to be in her presence once more...

The encounter now weighed heavily on Arturia's mind. While she no longer sought to erase her influence on history, to be faced with her knights once more...

Even if Sir Gareth had been overjoyed, and Arturia's heart had felt warm at the sight of her face once more, at the same time the memory of the fate that the knight had faced in life did not simply vanish.

It was these kinds of thoughts that had inhabited the blonde knight's mind as she walked alongside her Master, dressed in the lion shirt and skirt that Ritsuko had purchased for her just before the robbery. They weren't doing anything in particular, today, Ritsuko had simply wanted to go out and Arturia had no intention of leaving her side.

It was not long after they left home that something happened that gave the Saber-class Servant pause. A prickling up her spine, as she passed a hooded figure of around her size, accompanying a man with long black hair and a suit.

"Ah...?"

@PKMNB0Y@Rin@Rezod92

"...I'm fine, Saber. Don't worry about me," Hakuno gave a reassuring smile to her Servant. The details of this case sure sounded pretty grim, but despite her young age, she was a member of the CCF. It wasn't like she was left wholly unprepared to deal with messy situations; members like her are shielded somewhat whenever possible from the worst aspects of certain crime scenes, but she could at least handle reading the synopsis!

That said, it was honestly incredibly disturbing just how many murders, attempted or otherwise, had been going on in such a short span of time. Hakuno was hardly a master detective, so all of the conclusions rushing through her head felt more like desperate leaps of logic than actually thought-out processes, though she was confident of one fact. The perpetrator was most definitely an Assassin.

Yay me, I deduced the most basic part of the investigation, Hakuno sighed heavily seemingly out of nowhere, and thought of the details once more. So far, all the victims had been criminals. It was apparently connected to the black market Mystic Codes. Briefly, Hakuno wondered if the kidnapping incident from yesterday was connected too, but right now that didn't make any sense at all to her. With her arms folded, Hakuno was wracking her brains, trying to think of something, anything, that could lead to useful intel.

"...A vigilante, maybe?" she wondered aloud. The current pattern at least supported that the Servant - more specifically, the Master controlling them - was perhaps trying to enact justice, but... if Justice involved painting the surrounding area with the blood of the guilty, it simply wasn't justice at all!

Hakuno turned to her diminutive Servant with a resolute gleam in her hazel eyes, "Saber, maybe we should check up on who has Assassin-class Servants registered! If someone fishy shows up, it could lead to something!"

With the week having gone by with nary an incident, Mitsuki found himself once again walking through the city without much worry at all. The week's lectures had come and gone as expected, and with nothing in particular to fret about, the young man found himself wandering about in search of something to catch his attention once more. There had been mention of a new escape room facility among his classmates, and given the way things were trending now...

Well, it didn't hurt to at least try and check one out with his Servant. A bigger group would be better, of course, but seeing the place first would go a long way in deciding if he actually wanted to take the time to try one out.

Glancing at his phone to check if he was going the right way, though, ended up causing the college student to accidentally bump into someone in front of him. Without thinking, Mitsuki apologized, only to see that there was no one in his direct line of sight. Panning his gaze downwards, though, brought a single blonde-haired girl into his field of vision. Small as she was, though, the outfit that she wore wasn't exactly one that people would associate with children in the first place...

"Er... Sorry about that," he said, scratching his cheek as he took a step back. "Are you all right?"

@KoL@VitaVitaAR


Hearing Nanako's reply towards BB's latest job brought the slightest of smirks to the Alter Ego's face as she rose out of her seat. As much as she disliked having to deal with the AI, having someone who shared that sentiment with her was somewhat satisfying, especially with BB's own apparent (mild) irritation at their response. Regardless of her response, though, it seemed but a given that her Master would take up the 'job' presented to them, which seemed to be enough for the one on the other side of the screen.

"Mmm... I suppose we should, then. Better than loitering about, if anything," she shrugged nonchalantly, glancing back briefly towards the TV before exiting the apartment. "As fast as carrying you there might be, we'd probably draw a bit too much attention to ourselves. With the way BB was speaking, though, I'm not sure we have all that much time. Get what you need and let's get going, all right?"

At the very least, with her Master's arm fixed and her head (hopefully) in order this time, getting into a fight wouldn't mean playing babysitter again...

@VitaVitaAR


Though Waver himself seemed to be walking somewhat single-mindedly en route to his destination, the sound of someone calling out his last name caused him to pause and turn towards the source, only to notice that it was one of his to-be students calling out to him. Of course, it was a bit of a surprise to find out that the university had already placed a profile of him front and center on their website, but at the very least his apparent recognition did not cause any sort of stir around him. There was some solace to be held in that fact, at least.

"Ah... Conner, correct?" he said, nodding his head as both he and his assistant moved to the side of the sidewalk so as to not impede anyone around them. "I was just on my way to go pick a few things up for next week's lecture, so—"

Before he could speak any further, though, the sight of an all-too-familiar Servant caught his gaze. Almost as if something had gripped his heart, the former Lord seemed to scarcely even breathe, his eyes narrow as they watched the visage of someone who looked unmistakably identical to the assistant at his side came into full view. A cold sweat seemed to break out across his forehead, and the stony look of worry on his face was clear for all to see.

"...She's here too, then..." he seemed to mutter under his breath as Grey turned towards him, worried.

"Teacher? Are you all right?" she asked, shaking him for a moment as she glanced towards what Waver seemed to be focused upon, only for her own eyes to widen in shock.

"That... That has to be..."

Really, given how well she knew her own current 'face', there was no other conclusion that Grey could draw from what she saw, either.

@Rezod92@VitaVitaAR@Rin

Right.

This time her head was in the game! Nanako didn't want to see anyone pointlessly hurt again. Knowing people had died... it was terrible. This time she was going to make sure she didn't go in without being prepared!

She might not have been the most accomplished magus, but that didn't mean she didn't know at least a few things... and if she prepared, maybe she could support Meltryllis better!

She packed up some mystic chalk, among other things. It was just enough to cast a few spells relatively quickly. If she could act faster, then maybe no-one would have to get seriously hurt.

Knowing that time was slim, Nanako did her preparation as quickly as possible before hurrying out. While BB seemed like she had some kind of malignant intent under nearly anything she said or did, knowing what could potentially happen meant that not only was Nanako going to go to the indicated place, she was also going to take the exact route that had been indicated.

It was a rather winding route, through back alleys that would have made Nanako feel a little bit uneasy if not for the fact that she had Meltryllis with her. Eventually, however...

Something had felt... unsettling as they neared the marked location. Nanako began to realize that, somehow, they had managed to pass through an exclusionary bounded field on the way here... had BB interfered with it so that people from outside could get in? Did she have the capability to do so? The route even indicated to get onto the roof of an old warehouse...

Regardless of the explanation, it wasn't long before they found the reason BB had sent them here in the first place.

Even Nanako knew it was best to try and hide.

Below them, in the old warehouse, it seemed like there was some sort of meeting, some sort of deal occurring. Two groups of people were talking, there was a suitcase filled with something being shown off... Most of them gave off the vibe one would associate with underhanded and illegal deals, but there was one rather perplexing figure among them.

Rarely did one expect to see what appeared to be a teenaged girl during some sort of black market deal. There was something strange about her, though. The red eyes? She didn't look particularly threatening, though...

At least to Nanako.

But Meltryllis would immediately be able to understand that the girl was a Servant.

Before Nanako could even try to question what BB had intended for them to do, the black-haired girl suddenly looked towards them...

She smirked.

Winked.

And pointed.

From here, Nanako could make out her cheerful voice surprisingly clearly.

"Uh-oh, uninvited guests!"

Almost immediately everyone there had drawn some kind of weapon, from guns to what were clearly mystic code blades of varying length. Several drew out vials of red fluid, that, when smashed on the concrete, immediately spawned shadowy, hazy figures that were all too familiar...

@PKMNB0Y

---

The diminutive enma nodded to herself. If her Master was able to face something grim like this, then Benienma would not stop her from doing so. While she did not wish for anyone to have to face such things, especially those around her Master's age or younger, at the same time this was also their duty. Their duty was to bring justice to those who had acted wickedly.

Even if it was in the act of punishing others who had behaved as such.

The conclusion that it was an Assassin made sense, given the brutality of the murders and mutilations and yet the fact that no perpetrator had been located no matter how close to public places the crime took place. That much made sense to the small redheaded Saber. And the idea of it being a vigilante...

"If they're an Assassin, they might be entered into the Servant database, Masta," Benienma said. Ideally at least, every Servant was entered into the main database of Fusang, controlled by the central artificial intelligence HECATE.

"Is that my cue?" a soft voice spoke from behind them.

Sasahara Emily adjusted her glasses as she stepped forward, a laptop under her arm.

"If you need me to, I can put in a request for database access," the girl continued, "It shouldn't take longer then an hour, though... I suppose it depends on how the administrators are feeling... but when it's a serious crime I can't imagine they would be lax about it."

Indeed, database access did require approval from city administration, and a final clearance from HECATE herself.

"I think my Masta was planning on it dechi," Benienma responded, nodding slightly as she did, "If they think this is justice, then we have to stop them dechi."

Emily's eyes lingered on the small Servant for a few moments, before her gaze returned to Hakuno herself.

@RolePlayerRoxas

---

The girl, who had yelped briefly in surprise on being collided with, brushed herself off as Mitsuki questioned her wellbeing.

"My my, isn't it far more wise to watch where you're going?" she commented, her voice showing little irritation as she cocked her head to one side. If anything, she seemed more amused, her large blue eyes moving between the boy and his Servant, "You could blunder into something dangerous."

She wagged her finger, though there was still a smirk on her lips.

"But since you seem to be remorseful, it's only fair to give you a chance to make it up to me, isn't it?" she continued. For some reason, with every word she spoke the situation seemed to feel somehow more dangerous, even though she hadn't made a single aggressive move so far. "I'm having terrible trouble finding my dear elder brother, so I am in need of a guide. It's my first time in this city of mystical heroes and legends, after all."

Had she been hoping for an opportunity like this, or did she just take advantage of it? Either way, she seemed to derive undue pleasure from heaping sudden responsibility on a complete stranger's shoulders.

"Milady, are you unharmed?"

The figure who next spoke seemed to emerge from no-where. A beautiful woman, clad in a maid outfit, long silver hair hanging down... and also made entirely of mercury.

"I'm fine, Trimmau," she responded with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I'm sure this gentleman is going to make it up to me, isn't that right?"

@PKMNB0Y@KoL

"Most likely, yeah," Hakuno nodded. As far as she knew, it was difficult to have a Summoning go completely unnoticed in Fusang. Assassins in particular were probably monitored the closest of all classes, save perhaps Berserker. It would be extremely concerning if the database couldn't help them at all in pinpointing the culprit.

"Please do," she responded to Emily. The quicker they could access that database, the better. With so little information, Hakuno couldn't do much to speculate anyway. Just about the only conclusion she could reach with any confidence was that a Hassan would not have been so... messy. That left a countless number of Servants for them to narrow down.

Yuriko was feeling rather cheerful at the moment. Jack had been playing with friends earlier, she'd managed to stay in contact with that beautiful girl with the twin sibling Servants from a few weeks ago... all in all, today was a good day. And she'd already made it even brighter.

"Her you go, Jack," she said, smiling, as she offered a fresh, warm pastry to the little silvery-haired girl. She'd purchased two of them, a lovely pair of fresh red bean taiyaki, from a local bakery. Admittedly, her choice had been in part prompted by the idea of introducing the little Assassin to a completely new pastry(and one of her favorites). As someone whose blood lay both in the west and the east, she was fond of the sheer variety of pastries that both of her countries of origin exhibited. Taiyaki in particular was a favorite of hers, especially those with red bean paste.

Naturally, there was no way she would pass up on the opportunity to give her Assassin the chance to have a taste.

@Raineh Daze

---

"Right. Sending request now."

Emilya swiftly opened her laptop. Benienma couldn't help but watch for a few moments... While it wasn't as if she had never seen such things before, and the modern era had been illuminated to her by the mechanism of her summoning, that didn't mean she didn't find the idea of something like a computer fascinating. In spite of the situation, she wondered if it would serve well as a way to distribute her favorite recipes to the entire planet... after all, if they could connect to any place in the world...

But right now, there were matters of justice to attend to.

"... Wow, already?" Emily seemed surprised, just moments later. "Request confirmed. You're set to access the main database."

This meant heading to central administration. They'd been given clearance so quickly, though... was something going on? Benienma was surprised, to say the least... but maybe it meant administration considered this enough of a serious matter to give them the go ahead?

"Let's go, masta," Benienma said, taking a step forward, "The fast we get this done, the faster we can discover the culprit's identity dechi!"

~

The Fusang Administrative Center was previously the largest building in the city. It resembled a towering obelisk of obsidian, jutting up from the island's skyline. Simply approaching it would let even the weakest mage feel the incredible magical energy surrounding it, as layers upon layers of defensive bounded fields shut out outside attack or influence. Both magical and technological defenses were employed to shield it from both direct assault and cybernetic attack.

It was not inaccurate to call it one of the most well-defended buildings on the entire planet because of this.

Simply approaching it, Benienma could feel the intensity of the bounded fields layered over it. None of them excluded actually entering the building at the moment, but she was certain that they could if necessary.

The only structure taller on the entire island was the in-progress space elevator, which seemed to jut higher into the sky with every passing month. The diminutive enma didn't truly understand its purpose, but the administration was apparently quite keen on its construction.

After a few moments, the doors slid open seemingly on their own, beckoning them inside.

Inside was a lobby, with a waiting area and a desk with a pretty dark-haired woman sitting behind it.

"You must be Benienma-san and Kishinami-san, correct?" she asked, her tone quite stiff and formal. Benienma couldn't help but note that, while she certainly looked like an ordinary human, something didn't seem altogether normal about her. "Your request was logged, it should only be a few moments. Another request came in at the same time. Normally you would be separated, but the administration cleared simultaneous access."

"Chirp chirp?" Benienma tilted her head. Why would they do that? Who else was accessing the database at the same time? "Masta, do you think someone else is participating in the investigation? We weren't informed though..."

@RolePlayerRoxas@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

After a by and large uneventful week Archer was looking forward to whatever activities her Master had planned for the weekend. He mentioned something about an escape room, but even though she had an idea what that meant, she wasn’t completely sure about the details.

However, as they walked the streets, Archer’s was twisted with a thoughtful grin. There was something she felt like asking Mitsuki but had no idea of how to put it in a way that felt right. Nevertheless, she didn’t have to bother herself with it for long, thanks to yet another sudden encounter. This city really felt like a place ripe for them, wasn’t it?

“Well, it seems like you have a talent for stumbling into cute girls, Master. I wonder if that’s what they call protagonist power in some of those VNs I played?” Archer commented nonchalantly as she observed the situation unfold.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

Before the conversation could carry on, Conner noticed the professor looking beyond him and saw how the older man's visage fell to that concern and worry. The hooded figured at his side seemed to have also noticed something, for they had stiffened as well. Curious, yet a bit on edge, as to what would elicit such reactions, the young magus turned around to see...

@Rin

"Ritsuko?", Conner called upon seeing one of his classmates. He had met the redhead on several occasions and had held some rather enjoyable conversations with her, as well as giving the girl some advice on managing one's finances. Poor girl just can't seem to hold on to money for some reason. Standing by her side was her Saber Servant, a young-looking woman wearing lion printed shirt and a skirt....who also had a look of surprise on her face. The 19 year old raised an eyebrow. What was that all about?

At the same time, Medusa had also turned to see the approaching duo, though her reaction was subtly more alerted and guarded as she remained silent and narrowed her eyes at the blonde woman. She had seen and met this Servant before, but she couldn't help but feel like she had seen the woman way before she was summoned in this city.

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR

~Suzuka~

@Pyromania99
Fusang Streets

---

After leaving the park behind, Suzuka managed to slow down just somewhat so she wouldn't kill Mana simply by walking. Overall, this morning was a total success as far as she counted it. No dumb weird servant so far, and a pretty legit normal day for highschool girls. She was totally looking forward to the Karaoke session too.

"Hey hey Master," Suzuka cheerfully grinned, turning to face Mana. "You're totes gonna love what I got planned. We can do soooo many fun things! I know a totes kickass Karaoke place." So many girl talking topics they could totes do! She just needed to get Mana out to it. "What sorta music you like anyways?"

~Charlotte~

@1Charak2

---

The rest of the week for her had passed more or less the same as it always did. Studies, occasionally eating out and well, dealing with Castor and Pollux. The twins were quite...difficult at times. Especially Castor, but at least they had yet to drag her out of the house again so she could focus on her studies. Really, such troublesome heroic spirits. She wondered if she'd be better off dealing with someone like Yuriko had-

Charlotte let a long drawn out sigh escape her lips as she folded the fabric.

"Maybe some...violet? White?"

Maybe some fresh air would do her good. Ever since Yuriko had shown her around, she had found herself increasingly distracted. Not by her, but she had started becoming more aware of just how much she spent studying or just hanging around her own home. Well, not that she was overly bothered by it, but perhaps getting out could help with her creative process a bit, especially regarding her dresses.

"Pollux, just...hypothetically speaking, what do you think would look good on Castor?" She made a number of purchases thanks to Yuriko, and damn it if she wasn't going to use it.