Chapter 20: Episode 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Nasuverse or any other franchise that can be found in this fanfiction.

Words Count: 4933

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You can read up to 10 Episodes in advanced plus my other fic: Ars Goetia– Antichrist here.

p a tr e on . com (/) LiamThePoor

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Two days had passed since my first meeting with Kiritsugu Emiya. I ended up taking three days off, citing accidents and asking Rin to notify the teachers for me. I meant, it didn't matter anyways, it's Elementary School, who cared? On a side note, Shiro hadn't come again, which to me was a blessing. What? What did I tell Gilgamesh, you asked? Nothing… Yeah, and she didn't ask either. All she did was give me these knowing, self-satisfied looks that made no sense whatsoever. It was getting rather annoying actually. Also, Kotomine was avoiding me?

It wasn't obvious at first, but after two days where I couldn't even get five feet near him without him fleeing the area, or straight up just staring into my soul like I was his most hated enemy, I finally got the message. Damn, what did I do? I barely grazed him with my attack, he was the one wailing on me like an ape! It's even more frustrating when I questioned Gilgamesh about the whole ordeal. Instead of just explaining it, she decided the best option was to adopt Master Oogway's ridiculous tendency to answer serious questions with riddles, half-truths and fucking poems of all things.

Seriously, why did people do that? Why did they feel the need to act so mysterious for no reason?

Anyways, I had been making progress with my Magecraft. Don't get me wrong, the aptly named [Time Phantoms] Spell I had been fantasizing about was light-years away with my current speed, but I was pretty sure I had gotten the basics down. [Future Calculation] was merely a [Dimensional Rift] that connected trillions of possibilities, what was unique about the Skill itself was the Passenger, or Shard that acted like a highly advanced, quantum computer that could connect, see into and calculate trillions of timelines all at once. Damn, my old Gaming computer had nothing on this shite.

Now, some might think if I could open [Dimensional Rifts], then surely I must able to connect to different, existing possibilities as well? No. The space in between did exist, if not, all the dimensions would be colliding into each other to make one Mega Universe or something. Through liberal use of [Future Calculation], I was able to get the amount of distance between my current timeline and another. It was roughly 512.8 million light-years away… Frankly, just the number alone was ludicrous to me. Was our Universe even nearly as big?

If that's not bad enough already, the dimensions and timelines also moved regularly, orbiting around what I could only assume was the [Root Of Existence]– The primordial Swirl that spanned all of Nasu-Multiverse itself. Yeah, my Spells weren't going to be easy to create, that's for sure. Why didn't I just enter the Swirl? Absolutely not. For all I knew, I might not be able to leave after entering, and there was also a chance that it wasn't the Root but something else entirely, something my lizard-brain couldn't even begin to register, let alone comprehend properly.

So, I had been making progress, not a good amount of progress, but little progress was better than none at all, right?

Rin had been coming here more often now. Apparently, after that talk on the phone, our resident tsundere felt at fault for telling on me, which was why she spoke with the teachers to ask for a day off and went running towards the Church. I had just come back from my discussion with Kiritsugu when I found her sipping tea in my room. She had asked about Shiro, where she was, did I meet her, and seeing no reason to lie, I told her everything that happened, minus the presence of the retired Magus Killer in Fuyuki. Pretty sure that made her even worse, because Rin resolved to make up for Shiro the next day.

Unfortunately, from what I had heard, like me, Shiro also hadn't come to school, presumably due to the after-effects of her… Breakdown? According to Kiritsugu, she had fallen in a short coma where she didn't wake up for the entire day, and when she did, she was always in a state of delirium, mumbling constantly about phantoms, ghosts and spirits, telling Kiritsugu that they wanted revenge, though on who, she didn't explain. So it's official, Shiro of this timeline was haunted by the ghosts of the victims of the Fuyuki Fire.

Whether if it would positively affect her personality and Magecraft or not, we could only wait and see. Though by the looks of it, I kind of doubted that would be the case.

Anyways, I was preparing for school right now. We didn't have to wear uniforms initially since it was our– Mine and Shiro's first day, but we were technically a week into school already, and we couldn't put off wearing the uniforms anymore. Honestly, this type of system was outdated. Don't get me wrong, the curriculum was getting better by the year, but this system was created way back around the start of the industrial Age, where factories and companies wanted, dared I say it, drones to work a nine-to-five job, and more if asked by them.

Complain all you wanted, you knew it to be true… It didn't matter which country, this schooling system was really bad in my opinion. We were indoctrinated in what amounted to a cult that had to follow orders of adults who, while indeed had more experience compared to most of the children they taught, weren't actually much smarter than the kids. Just a day in, I already felt the urge to burn the whole place to the ground and dance on the ashes… Being forced to meet Shinji definitely wasn't making it better. Oh well, we all had our problems, mine just happened to be a daycare.

"Your Highness–" Suddenly, I heard Kotomine call me, which was really weird, since he had been avoiding me like the plague for days. "There is a phone call for you. I've told them to hold the phone for you." Well, that was surprisingly thoughtful of him? Kotomine didn't wait for me to reply, leaving, stalking back to his room with his hands crossed behind him like a two-bits villain. This, this was the problem with Kotomine. One day he was all jokes and games, the next he acted like you had killed his parents or something. It's giving me a lot of mixed signals.

Like, were we cool? Were we bros? Did I do something? I could almost swear the priest was worse than some of my exes, and believe me when I said they weren't exactly the picture-perfect example of emotionally stable, kinda like me actually... 'Damn, does that say more about me than them?'

"Okay!" I shouted, adding in mumbles after he left. "I'm coming." That's weird, people didn't often call me. Rin was an exception, but otherwise, I had not given anyone my phone number. Didn't feel the need to with how little most communicative devices were being used. Then, who was calling? And to the Church's hotline at that. I jogged towards the device, buttoning my white shirt with one hand, while the other lazily held a small school bag I had appropriated after finding it abandoned in one of the unused rooms just the previous day.

"This is Leonis speaking, who is it?" I heard a short static, then a familiar voice entered my ear. "– Leon-san, this Sasaki Toujou, do you remember me? We met just three days ago to discuss the details of our partnership. Well, not met, more like you discovered us tailing you, but surely you get the idea?" I nodded curtly, only to realize I was on the phone and he wouldn't understand unless I verbalize my response. "Yeah, I remember–" I paused, I didn't want to seem desperate for their knowledge, but I didn't want to appear too disinterested either. "Have your higher-ups considered by proposal?"

"– Yes they have, Leo-san. We have decided to accept your demands, but there are certain… Requirements if we are to follow through with this deal." – "Lay it on me then, Sasaki-san."

"– First, if we want this partnership to be a long, lasting one, we are to be your sole client, which means you can't make deals and contracts with other Martial sects, schools and organizations unless you have our permission." That's rather restricting, but not too unreasonable, and I could always work around it by selling through a third party. "–Is that fine with you?" I responded with a light grunt, indicating my approval. "– Secondly, you will not take any job that can directly, or indirectly sabotage us, or harm our interests in any way." As though reading my thoughts, he swiftly added.

"This is merely a precaution, Leo-san. You don't have to worry, we don't deal with the Moonlit World often, as long as you notify us of any job that might pertain our interests, we can tell you if it will affect us or not." Well, I could be on board with that, though if I found it too limiting, I would have to come up with a different term. "– Third, you will help us in jobs that may require the presence of a Magus–" I instantly cut in. "Absolutely not." I leaned against the wall, eyebrow raised in annoyance as I continued. "As I've told you, I do not need you, nor do you I owe you anything.

This partnership will be on the basis that we are equals." I stressed. "I'm not your dog, I'm not your underling. I'm your business-partner, and that's it. Do not presume you can order me around, Sasaki-san." For a few seconds, there was no answer from the other side and I was worried I might have scared them off. Still, there was no possible timeline where I'd agree to such a term. Having Gilgamesh breathing down my neck was bad enough, but it's a necessity, letting a bunch of Martial Artists dictate what I could and could not do? There was no Universe where I'd agree with that.

"– I see… Well, it's in the terms of the contract, but it's not an absolute requirement. We can change it to: We will contact you if we have need of your assistance and you can choose whether to help or not. We will, of course, compensate you for the troubles. Is that fine with you, Leo-san?" That's better. "I'm fine with that. Is that all, anything else?"

"– One last clause if you will, this partnership will last until the third generation from here on forth, which means to your grandchildren generation too, Leo-san." Pretty smart of them to put this in. It would prevent me from abandoning them once their usefulness ran it course. "Any side that wants to back out of the deal early must pay the other back in either money, objects of equal values or favors, is this okay?" No, it's not. Although, I could request for a re-negotiation once we met to sign and iron out the details. "I have problems with that last term, but we will have to leave that for… This afternoon?

I'm kind of late for school, don't want the CPS on my guardians' asses." Damned politicians. Didn't see them do jack when Caster and his homicidal Master were active, but the moment they were gone, they pretended to be all concerned and shite.

"– That's fine, I will come personally to meet you at six today. Though, if you need help with the laws, we can help you out this once, free of charges, of course. Also, I trust you can bring a geas for us" Huh? That's surprisingly generous of them. If they could deal with the CPS, it would mean a lot to me. "I will think about it and yes, I will bring the geas, but for now, I must leave. See you tonight, Sasaki-san." I stopped, thinking and decided to add in after a brief thought. "And please, don't bring the hotheaded blonde with you, I dislike his presence."

"– Understood, Leo-san. Goodbye."

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It's an undeniable fact that in life, some days could start out amazingly, then ended in disasters, or just got progressively worse by the hour. I had learnt to deal with it as I grew older, but nothing I had done could have prepared me for Matou 'I'm-Better-Than-You' Shinji. Now, I wasn't saying I was the most reasonable, or the calmest, or even the least confrontational and aggressive, but I'd like to think that my experience had given me a decently high tolerance to most things. The 21st century did have its fair share of idiots, and having been a service worker before, I had met plenty of them.

Still, Matou Shinji just had this… Aura that made him very punchable in every interaction we had with each other. Before I knew it, I was beating his arse in the middle of the courtyard.

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Was it wrong of me to beat an unarmed, unskilled child like we were in a ring? Perhaps. Was it immensely gratifying? Yes, yes it was. Now, to properly understand how we had come to this, with both Shinji and I in the principal's office, we had to return to two hours before… I had come to class with a really good mood, expecting only good things when Shinji came swaggering to my seat, talking shits as always. As per usual, I tried my best to ignore him, waited for the bells to ring and went straight to meet Rin at our meeting point.

What I hadn't anticipated was he would follow behind me like a jealous girlfriend… Turned out he was jealous. Thankfully, not because of me, but Rin. As in, he was envious of my relationship with the school idol and Fuyuki's resident tsundere, for whatever reason. He had confronted us, which, in all fairness, I did try to defuse the situation. But then he brought up my parents… I had no idea who my parents in this life was, I didn't even have that good of a relationship with my old ones. Still, there were things I could tolerate, then there were things I simply couldn't on principals.

Thus, I ended up slamming his head against the railings nearby, knocking two of his teeth out and him unconscious in full view of half the school. I regretted nothing. "– What do you have to say for yourself, Leo-san." I looked up at the group of teachers surrounding us, then at the sobbing Shinji and the peaking Rin, who after being excused from the room, had chosen to hide behind the door to watch the fun unfold. To her credits, she did attempt to speak on my behalf, only to be chased out politely by the teachers.

"Well, if he would stop being such a hapless little shit, I wouldn't have felt the need to teach him a lesson." The teachers seemed enraged at that, in response, I just shrugged uncaringly. It's the usual school fight, at best I would be suspended from school for the rest of the week, at worst I would be kicked out by the staffs, both would only work in my favor and not against. "Leo-san! This is unacceptable behaviors! Do you want to grow up to be a thug?! Apologize to your friend RIGHT NOW!!!" That was the principal by the way. That, coupled with the threat of parents, would be enough to intimidate most kids.

Unfortunately, I wasn't most kids. Besides, the very idea of Gilgamesh or Kotomine giving two shits about a school scuffle was simply laughable. If anything, the Queen Of Heroes would reward me for the deed once she got to meet Shinji, which would never happen if I had any control over it whatsoever. Kotomine? The priest was an unapologetic, unrepentant sadist who would likely give me a pat on the back for beating some random kids. As for Shinji? He would probably scold me for not pulling his spine out. "Leo-chan, please just apologize." My homeroom teacher pleaded.

Normally, I would response with something sarcastic or insulting, but Ms. Miyuzaki was one of the few teachers I felt try cared about her students. Seriously, the amount of money she had wasted in just the two days I was in attendance on treats and gifts to motivate her students was staggering for a school teacher. Her short height and innocent loli-stature only made it that much harder to harbor any sort of negative feelings towards her.

"Ms. Miyuzaki, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I'm not apologizing to this…" I stared balefully at Shinji, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction when he flinched as though expecting another attack. "– Creature. Expel me if you must, but I am not apologizing."

Suddenly, someone aggressively pulled my collar. I looked over to find the classic gym-teacher. He was bald and overweight, the defining features of an 'ugly bastard' you would find in the less savory H-Anime. Mentally, I resolved to keep both Rin and Shiro away from him. "You think you're some hot shit huh, you Yankee?! Apologize, NOW!" I touched his hands with my own, growing colder and colder as I peered into his beady eyes. "Please, let go of me before I drown you in so much lawsuits and charges of child abuses that not even a shitty fast food place would dare to hire you."

He clenched even tighter at that, so I increased my grips on his wrists so hard it would have broken if I were to move slightly. "Let. Go." This being an anime World, I could actively see and feel ominous killing intent pouring from my form in waves that clashed directly against him. He quickly let go at that, stumbling back a few steps as his face went pale, and if you paid attention, you could even see the visible wet-stain that had appeared on his crotch. I must say something, killing intent was the best thing to ever be invented by anime.

While not considered an active Skill by the Game, it's immensely useful in situations like this where I couldn't just attack someone without exposing my Supernatural abilities and physical prowess. "Thank you." I fixed my collar, brushing the non-existent dusts from my shirt as I leaned against my chair. "As I've said, I'm not apologizing for a fight that he–" I pointed at the shivering Shinji, whose sobs had grown less and less, but intensified when I referred to him. "– Started. I have tried my best to ignore all his remarks and insults up to this point, which apparently was a mistake, since he thought he could just sit on my head and do as he liked."

I narrowed my eyes, scanning the group that had gathered around us. "But, no more. I won't allow shitheads like him to do whatever because I don't want to deal with the troubles and consequences that will follow. So do as you please, expel me or whatever. I. DON'T. CARE."

It was then that a voice from outside interrupted me. "Nicely said, Leonis." In walked… Gilgamesh? Wait, what? Why was she here? I thought Kotomine was coming to get me?! 'Oh-Gods, oh-fuck…' I turned towards Rin, who was staring unblinkingly at her father's former Servant, surprise painted clear on her expression as she gaped. "Why– What?!" Shit, she was short-circuiting. In all fairness, I hadn't told Rin about Gilgamesh's continued presence in Fuyuki, I hadn't expected her to come to my rescue either, this was Gilgamesh we were talking about, there's no way she would bother with something so trivial, right? "I don't see why my ward must apologize to this lowly mongrel."

"WARD?!" A distant shout sounded from outside, one we all promptly ignored.

Her gaze flickered from the teachers, to me, then to Shinji, who was actually drooling at her beauty. Eh, couldn't blame him for that. Gilgamesh's looks were out of this World, literally. "Ms. Gil–" The gym teacher started, but was interrupted by the irritated Golden Queen. "Did I allow you to speak? Avert your eyes, mongrel. Your stare is distasteful." That snapped the teacher out of his hypnotized state as he turned purple with rage, angry veins pulsating on his forehead. "YOU– YOU–!!!" He didn't get to finish as Gilgamesh glared and ordered. "Get out, now. Don't make me say it twice." For the slightest instance, I felt her [Charisma] going on full-blast as the gym teacher ran out, not even realizing what he was doing.

'Thank Gods, that guy was getting on my nerves.' Gilgamesh was the cool mom that any child could have wished for. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" She picked me up from my seat, taking it over as she crossed her legs, then set me down on her. Gilgamesh had decided on a beautiful dress today with a low-cut on her back, deep V-shaped neckline and splatters of glitters attached to the stream of redness that covered her almost hands-crafted body. Not going to lie, being in this situation was quite embarrassing for me. Not because I was against sitting on her lap, but because I could feel her soft, soft breasts pressing on my back.

Worse yet, Gilgamesh wasn't one to wear bra, ever… "Ms. Gilgamesh, your ward over here has attacked one of his classmates rather viciously." The principal spoke, flinching slightly when he met the Golden Queen's cold, unamused gaze. To his credits though, the man didn't stop in spite of his obvious fear. "I– I understand that 'boys will be boys', but slamming a classmate's head against the railing to the point he has two teeth knocked out isn't the type of behaviors we condone in this institution, much less encourage like you are doing."

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…

…

Gilgamesh didn't speak for a while, opting to stare directly at the principal with unblinking eyes until the atmosphere turned hopelessly awkward, her nails tapping against the cheap woods, dragging to create ears-splitting sounds that made my teeth ache painfully in my gums. Even Shinji– The unknowing little shit that he was, could feel it if the constant swallowing of spits were anything to go by. "So?" Finally, after what seemed like forever, she gestured tauntingly at me. "What do you propose we do to Leonis?" Taking a brief moment to collect himself, the principal coughed into his hand, face bright with embarrassment.

"I– I– Uhmm– I believe a week of suspension will suffice for now, since Mr. Matou also isn't faultless in the matter…" He peeked meekly at Gilgamesh as though to look for approval, continuing only after he saw her neutral expression. "But first, the two of them must apologize–?!"

"No way." – "Absolutely not!" Both Gilgamesh and I cut in, voices raised as we looked at each other. Naturally, being the gentleman I was, I offered for her to go first, which she gladly obliged. "I think not, you mongrel. My ward has done nothing but defend the honor of his parents, who are both deceased due to the Fire months back. He will not apologize, certainly not to this filthy mutt." Her glare intensified as she stared the principal down. Ladies and gentlemen, Gilgamesh– All-time Queen and overall badass, part-time greatest mom ever.

The principal appeared distressed, turning to look all around the room at his employees, who all seemed uncomfortable at the mention of the Fire. Reminiscing of that horrifying day no doubt. "I– I don't… I apologize, I didn't know." But Gilgamesh wasn't done with him yet. "You should have, we put it so in his files for a reason, perhaps if you had bothered to check at all, we wouldn't be in this mess. If I were your employer, I'd have your fired for negligence." I disliked the principal, I did, the guy had been coming down hard on me. Still, even I understood how unreasonable Gilgamesh was being.

There were at least a thousand kids who came to this same school, expecting the principal to know every single of them was a pipedream. Not to mention, I had only joined the school for four, five days? Three of which I had been absent due to various reasons. No principal would be able to remember that, I doubted even Ms. Miyuzaki could, and she was my homeroom teacher. Thankfully for the fumbling principal, Ms. Miyuzaki, the angel that she was, chose to help. "M– Ms. Gilgamesh, we sincerely apologize for this, this won't happen again."

She bowed deeply, her oversized clothes flapping with each motions like the furs of scared hamster. It was adorable. "See to it that it won't." Gilgamesh, heartless as ever, replied arrogantly and tossed her hair back as she hugged me to the side like a sack of potatoes. "I will bring him back now." She gave the group a side-glance, eyes gleaming, with amusement or something else, I couldn't decide. "Do not let this happen again or there will be consequences, you lowly curs." This felt amazing.

A lifetime ago, I used to be a fat kid, bullied by literally everyone in the class, but it was me against them all, so my parents never did believe me, thinking I was the problem when those little shits were pulling my pants down in the middle of school. That was decades back, when I was in Elementary, still, it stuck with me to this day, knowing that I could never trust my parents to have my back. That had hurt, seeing the looks on their faces, that disappointment even though I knew deep down, I hadn't done anything wrong whatsoever had hurt.

This, having Gilgamesh protecting me without knowing the full-story made all those memories seem worth it, and as we left together, I couldn't help but feel tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "Thank you, Gil-chan." I mumbled, the Queen looking surprised at the affectionate shortened of her name. "Gil-chan?"

"Well–" I scratched my head. "Gilgamesh is too long... Wait, don't get the wrong idea, it's a very cool name and all!" I hurriedly corrected, but Gil didn't seem mad. "I just– We are living together, you know? I want something more affectionate than Gilgamesh or your Majesty." I gave the Queen a hopeful gaze. It's not the best name I had come up with, but it's better than Goldie and Queen, right? "…Hmmm, very well, you may call me as such–" Yes! "But this doesn't mean we are friends!" Awww! "I'm merely humoring you, consider it an add-on to the rewards I have given you."

Now, I'd never say it out loud, but I would swear to all the Gods, the Heavens and the Underworlds that Gil blushed. It might me the midday sun, I might even have hallucinated, but I definitely saw her blush! Huh, who could have thought that the Queen Of Heroes could make such an adorable expression? "By the way, I think I found one of your descendants." – "What? That's absurd, I do not have any descendant, at least not to my knowledge…"

I sent a puzzled gaze at the Queen, wasn't the male version of her basically a man-whore who made some stupid laws that forced all women to lay with him? Even Gil herself didn't strike me as the type to remain celibate for her entire life. "I did have a lot of lovers, but I have never given birth to an heir." She explained, looking thoughtfully at her hands. "I did adopt a child, though I doubt that is what you meant." Then why the fuck did Bakugou look like he could be her twin? Maybe it's the same situation with Gray?

A distant cousin who began to resemble the Spiritual versions of their relatives after said relatives were reborn in some manners? That seemed... Plausible? "You said you saw my descendant?" I shrugged. Not going to lie, I had totally forgotten about Bakugou thanks to all the troubles that followed. "Eh, forget about it. He is a twat anyways." Gil raised her eyebrows questioningly. "You think he is my descendant, yet you still dare to refer to him with such insulting title, Leonis? Have you lost your respect for me? Do I need to teach you?"

"To be fair, you did clarify that he isn't your descendant." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, even if he was, would you really lose your marbles over a descendant whose name you don't even know?" Gil didn't reply, opting to remain silence for our entire trip back to the Church. Well, that was a productive day, not only did I get an entire week off school, I also got to beat the shit out of Shinji and further my relationship with the Queen Of Heroes. All I had to do left was meet with the Martial Artists and iron out the details of our contract. Hopefully, that wouldn't be as bothersome as the rest of today had been.

Although with my records so far, I doubted it would end with everyone from both sides fully satisfied. It's a baseless feeling, a feeling that things wouldn't end well this afternoon. Why? No idea– Well, not exactly. I was speaking from experiences, every time something good had happened to me, it wouldn't take long for something bad to follow. But hey, as that one famous saying went: 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst', right?

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