Infinity Stratos Blades

An Infinite Stratos/Fate Stay night fanfic

Author's notes: I have lost my laptop in a flood, it was caused by my mother so now I am writing on a smartphone, if any of you wishes to help me out in this tight situation plz pm and I will send you a link where you can help me... no matter how small any help will be greatly appreciated. Also as an apology, I made this chapter super extra long… as a n apology, I hope you can all understand what a PAIN IN THE ASS it is to writte on a smartphone.

Chapter 12: Saber to the cube and The 2 kittens day off

I was speachless... all 3 of them had the same face, well one was a bit more, should I say... developed? And the last one... was a samurai?! She was dressed in a Japanese hakama and kimono and certainly had a katana with her.

Then, they noticed their presences and stared at each other...

They all spoke in unison "who are you?! Why do you look like me?!"

I looked at each of them while they all, in turn, turned to see me as well.

"Tch...the enemy has reinforcements, the operation... was a failure, it would be best to pull back" the small assassin said as she astralised and vanished.

"Shirou... what is the meaning of this?" Arthuria said as she looked at him and at the 2 other persons who looked like herself.

"I would also like to know of this development... preator" the red saber said looking at her blue conterpart, she smirked when she looked at her chest as she puffed out her chest more to accentuate the difference between them.

The one in samurai garb however was tranquil, looking at the development with amusement.

"W... what is going on... 3 sabers?" Shirou said in shock.

Arthuria, seeing that Shirou had not done this out of malice but due to sheer luck.

"Shirou... it seems that the grail war was started under a new protocol, the 'Grand Order' where any magus summon the servant they would get 3 of them, tough not nesesarily from the same class, you, as usual break that mold due to your element and origin " Arthuria said with a sigh.

Yes... Emiya Shirou is in all meaning of the word a Sword.

"Excuse me... but would someone please explain what's going on?" Chifuyu asked in annoyance.

"Are you okay? You don't seem uneven by this" Shirou said.

"I... already got the gist of what's going on, and I understand the reason of the secrecy... it seems like I stirred a nasty hornets nest" she said with a sigh.

"So, you know what I am" he said with a sigh as well. "And now you and your family are in danger as well... this is ridiculous, why couldn't you leave it alone and had a peaceful life, ignorance is a bliss... and now you entered the moonlit world, and there is no going back"

Chifuyu balled her fists in anger, but unable to say anything, he was right, it was all due to her curiosity and hubris to discover his secret that might disrupt peace in IS academy.

It was her, who in the end, brought all of it on her own, should she just let him be... if only.

"You must be a military leader, are you not? I don't know of the specifics of the situation, however, no one would fault you, no...they shouldn't be able to find any fault at your actions, you acted in acoradance to protect the ones you are serving, even if the result was bad, you did so to safeguard your charges" Arthuria said.

"Humhu, I agree with my blue conterpart, you have shown admirable resolution and you where even able to survive an attack from servant Assassin and Lancer, you have my outmost respect, but allow us servants to battle each other, we are, after all, empowered by legends" Red saber said.

The samurai one nodded.

"What are you 3? Please explain so I can understand" Chifuyu said.

"Let's go to my place, she should be able to better explain than me, tough I am hesitant to do so at the moment" Shirou said looking away.

"Ah... yes... she would have that kind of reaction" Arthuria with a smile, it seems things don't change much.

In the end it was decided that it was best to go to Emiya's state, a few Gndrs would just be a fair price to pay, let's hope Rin is in a better mood.

Emiya state 2 hrs later

"And that is what happened" Shirou said as he discretely reinforced himself after telling Rin what had happened.

Rin was currently stuck between beating him senseless, yelling at him or shooting him up with Gndrs, her eye twitching dangerously fast at the sheer stupidity that has transpired... so she opted for option 4.

" You big idiot!" She yelled.

She did all 3, completely ignoring the previously magically unaware person. Not only that but used a Finn shot rather than a Gndrs.

Shirou was knocked out, even Ilya and Kurou hissed in sympathy for his pain.

Chifuyu was taken back, but looked around, she needed answers.

Rin sighed "well… now that the cats out of the bag, we might as well explain, what the idiot would say is that the 3 entities behind you known as Sabers are heroic spirits, spirits of heroes that trance dedicated humanity and the cycle of reincarnation and put on the Throne of Heroes to be called forth in what was called the Heavens Feel, a blood competition to attain the coveted Holy Grail, heroic spirits is a bit of a misnomer as evil or pragmatic individuals who are immortalized by humanity's memory can also traced… those heroic spirits are dived ed by their 'class' a 'container' of sorts that describes their skills and abilities and is also a shield to protect their identity" Rin explained.

"Protect their identity? Why?" Chifuyu asked.

"think about it, a hero has a legend… in in their legends…" she said leaving the rest to her.

"also tells how to defeat them… that makes sense" she said begrudgingly. It made sense that they did not use their real names.

"not that it matters with her… Saber… no… not you… no… not you… yes you… man this is gonna be a pain… should we color code them rather than just using the servant class?" Rin said irritated at all this.

"We do know of Arthuria name… why not use it? Is not like they will believe who she was" Shirou said with a shrug.

Rin nodded… her legend left a LOT of things out… including her true gender.

"What about me and my brother?" Chifuyu asked.

"What about it? You two are welcome to lay low here, but your obligations as a teacher will make it rather hard… and if I am not mistaken, your brother is also in that school… correct? Rather why not have him hang around Shirou more… since he has 3 Sabers they can astralize and patrol the school… well save for her" Rin said as she signaled the blue Saber… Arthuria, with her thumb.

"why can't she… do that?" she asked.

"She is not technically dead, she is in between both and thus can't become a spirit, because she is still alive until she gets her wish, don't worry she is the only one who can't" she said.

Chifuyu decided not to ask any more about Arthuria… however… "what about the rest of the… servants… what can you tell me about them?" she asked.

Rin was silent… Shirou was groaning in pain as he was being nursed by Ilya and Kuro as the red Saber and the pink one looked at their master with slight worry.

"Servant classes are as follows: Archer the servant of the bow, they excel at long range attacks and have magic resistance, making most magi's magic rather useless, they also possess high rank of independent action, the Lancer class are known for their speed and mid range attacks, they are masters of spears and pole–arms, some possesses battle continuation making them hard to kill and have a huge magic resistance as well, Assassin… killers who redefined silent killing, they have the ability of presence concealment, making them unable to be detected by magic or modern technology, they are phisically weak and thus concentrate on attacking only masters; Caster, the magical class… powerful practitioners of magic of legend, they are insanely more powerful than modern ones; Berserker the insane warriors, traded their sanity for power, hard to control, even harder to fight against and lastly the Rider class, known for their ability to ride all manmer of beasts and vehicles and have powerful Noble phantasms" she explained.

"What are… Noble phantasms?" She further asked as she tested that new word.

Rin took a sip of her drink to wet her refresh herself, she was feeling a bit dry, then she continued.

"Noble Phantasm, is a skill, ability and or weapon that made the hero. .. well… a hero. Like for example Herakles being able to revive 12 times due to the 12 impossible tasks would be considered a noble phantasm, they never use their noble phantasms because in doing so they reveal who they are… of course in Heracles case it would be hard to see or understand, it can also be, for example the body partition from one of the Hassan-i-sabbah who can make multiple copies of himself, see what I mean?" Rin said.

Chifuyu nodded.

"So… what will happen with what happened back at the school?" She asked.

"My sister and a… friend are working to cover it up… all they need is some hypnotism and erase the images of the event, the death of the taxi driver will be covered up and his family will be taken care for, I can give you my word on that" Rin said solemnly.

"Rin, would it not be best to alert the church of what has transpired?" Arthuria asked.

"No… there is no need as our… friend… has probably done so, or will do so eventually, I do have to alert my master tough, not that I need to, the old bloodsucker already knows and will keep it going for his asked sense of humor" Rin said as she massaged her temples.

"Well, all this talk is well and good but I believe we should prepare for combat, the enemy will not be content to let us be and will undoubtedly attack once they regained their wits" the other Saber said and then, suddenly she begun to cough blood.

"are… are you ok?" Rin asked worried at this sudden event.

"S-sorry… I suffer from an illness that flares up rather randomly… I should be fine with some rest" she said as she weakly stood up only to fall.

"Easy… I got you" she then felt a strong arm hold her up.

It was Shirou who had woken up, holding her gently.

She blinked and blushed slightly.

"Oh? You got up sooner than I expected" Rin said slightly surprised at Shirou's recovery.

"That actually hurt you know? If it wasn't that she was here that would put me under for a few days" Shirou said motioning towards Arthuria.

"You deserved that" Rin said.

Shirou glared at her for her violent outbursts.

"To be honest, I found out by going to the place called The Clock Tower and infiltrated the place" Chifuyu said.

That made Rin's hair stand up in shock "h...how did you do that?" She asked half in fear and half in awe that a normal human managed to do so.

"I investigated a name I overheard you say once, Waver Velvet, now Lord Elmellio II, I found out his obsession with videogames and posed as a game journalist with a special offer of an interview and some free games in exchange for it" she said calmly as Rin's eye begun to twitch at the sheer stupidity of it all. "I then planted a microscopic camera and audio surveillance on his coat" she finished.

"That... that Otaku idiot... I swear I will beat his ass when I go back, teacher or not" Rin said as she was showing a lot of rage and blood lust.

"Anyways we should get going back... I will try and see if anything was glossed over in the information erasure of your partners" Chifuyu said.

"Say... what illness do you have that makes you fall so easy?" Shirou asked, worried over the health of his new servant.

"I suffer from something called tuberculosis, don't worry, due to being a servant only the coughing and the like will happen but it won't spread... sorry... I guess I am a bit useless uh?" She said with a sad smile.

"But that's easily treated now... if we go to a hospital... shouldn't they have a vaccine for it?" Shirou said rethorically.

"Yes...but would it work on a servant?' Rin asked, unsure about this.

"We could use reinforcement on the medicine that would increase it's effectiveness... the theory is sound and we loose nothing by trying it" Shirou said with a nod.

The red Saber looked regal as she waited for their talk to come to an end, she had some questions... about something she suffers from, however she tought it prudent to wait and see if her master and his friends where people to trust, don't her her wrong, she would obey his command, but she wanted to see how he would measure to her trust.

"I guess I should cook twice as much now, uh?" Shirou said with a weak chuckle.

Arthuria's stomach took that as a que to growl.

About half an hour later Shirou and Rin exited the kitchen area.

Everyone was taken back by the sheer magnitude of food and the high quality of it... it was glowing damn it... food is not supposed to glow.

Chifuyu was rather taken back by Shirou and Rin's cooking ability and they both managing to feed a servant who eats so much.

Where did Arthuria put all that she ate? She did not gain an ounce of weight at all! At least the red and pink one where more 'normal' on the amount they ate, the pink one however ate rather fast and asked for seconds while the red one was content with her serving, she did, however, helped herself to a serving worth for 2.

The place got more lively as Sakura came back, in shock at seeing 3 sabers.

A lengthy explanation later and after Sakura made him swear to take care of himself (by using some of the dark Sakura power) she was... not satisfied but resigned... as Shirou, gentle and well meaning brownie, would never be able to live a normal life...

He was a sword, swords are meant to be used until they either rusted... or broke.

And so Shirou left back to IS academy alongside with Chifuyu, who may or may have not been drinking some heavy sake with Rider and listening to some of the stories on Shirou.

Seems like the boy is a natural player who doesn't even realize it.

They arrived late in the afternoon the following day, classes have been cancelled due to the attack, which was framed to a secret organization.

It was not wrong... but it was not Phantom Task, after confiding with Tatenashi-san who said the reason why she couldn't say anything even if she wanted to ("I was under a contract spell of some sorts... if I broke it I think my soul would been in danger" she explained. Not that it was entirely untrue, Rin had a devilishly side to her that would put demons to shame, and Shirou could attest to that)

After finding a new person to confide with about the moonlit world they concerns turned to Ichika, who needed to be protected about those mages and now by any dark organisation of the IS variety.

Few weeks later

It has been unbearably quiet, the magus might have decided to cut their losses as they where unable to get the cores (they did drain them of their complete charge, it took 10+ hours for the 60 something cores to charge) but they won overall as their little ritual was completed, Phantom Task would be sure to follow to exploit any weaknesses in this school as IS's are a hot comodity in the black market.l, especially the ones from the only 2 male users, there is no way in hell they would be able to get Shirou's in a straight fight, but since he was such a brownie... yeah if they took a hostage he would define try do THAT to save them.

Chiyufu-sensei was unable to hate the red haired bastard... he was just so nice and well intencioned in all that he does, and never asks for a reward or recognition, it was so... alien to her to see a person like that...

"If someone like that had been near the Mondo Grosso that time then maybe..." she tought.

No, it was useless to think that... what's done is done, and while she might hate what she did... she de finely was happy with the result.

Her younger brother was safe and sound.

It seems like Shirou and Ichika are getting along fine, Rin (Lyn) and Cecilia are also in the mix and Houki as well.

She was working to get a special passes for Rin (Tohsaka) and Saber Arthuria for them to be able to come and go as they please as that would be most efficient in case they needed help of the supernatural order, the other 2 Saber (s) however where stored in the IS core in order to reduce their energy consumption and to have them as aces so to speak. She decided to make them ID cards as well just in case, no sense to leave something like that out only to come back and bite you in the ass should questions be asked shoukd they be seen at anytime. Laura came to the scene and then Shirou pulled some boxes with sushi he made for all of them. Arthuria was missing out as she had to stay home until her special ID card was issued, it would be issued to them via expedited courier mail.

After classes Ichika was hanging around Houki and Rin as they where familiar faces to him, while interacting with Shirou as the only other male in a sea of females in this institution.

They decided to spar on the dojo.

Shirou vs Ichika, someone who hasn't used the sword for quite a while.

It was a foregone conclusion, even when holding back as much as he could, it was a one sided fight.

It made Chifuyu nearly chuckled at seeing her brother sprawled on the floor by the nearly 4 simultaneous hits Shirou delivered with the boken.

Ichika got up after a while and charged, he kept on pressing by using relentless attacks.

In theory it would be good, Ichika had a lot of stamina for it to be a viable tactic, his attacks where heavy and wildly fast.

Then he begun curling his left hand.

Chifuyu groaned, she knew what this meant.

Shirou hit the bottom of the boken and made it slip out of Ichika's hand and delivered a heavy blow to his chest.

That was the end of that little match.

Ichika learned something about swordsmanship in that fight.

Strength and technique are useless when someone who has little of them knows how to fully use what they have and maximize them, the same is true if the person have both strength and technique and knows how to use and maximize them but by a factor of 2 at the very least.

Also it helped to have highly honed instincts.

Ichika respected Shirou a lot, he was a strong man, the kind of man he wanted to be so he wouldn't be a burden to his big sister. He was the kind of man he wouldn't mind handing his sister over.

He shocked those toughts away.

After taking a shower he was called by Yamada-sensei.

"Shirou-kun, it seems like Chifuyu-san is looking for you, she said it was urgent" she said after I greeted her at the door and offered a cold Macha tea.

"Nee-san is...? I wish you luck" Ichika said. While he loved her big sister, she was more than a bit... intimidating.

Shirou just chuckled weakly "don't worry, she probably needs me for an errand or something like that, just go to bed, I got my own key" he said as Ichika nodded.

He went to Chuyufu's dorm and knocked.

She received him and told him that the medicine was made, it took a while to get her contact make this special brand of medicine buy it should work "With that hocus pocus of yours can enhance it it should work even better, so give it to the samurai girl" She said.

Unsure of how to say I'm this she cleared her trought "Also Tatenashi-san asked me to tell you that as punishment for not bringing her along for the summoning is to buy her some parfait at the store Cruise..." she said.

Shirou sighed, that place is rather expensive... still he knew she wouldn't let him forget so he steeled himself and his resolve as well as his wallet.

"Come on out... Saber" he said in a hushed tone as he concentrated on a particular one to materialize.

She appeared in a flash of pink particles.

"Ah... my lord... what do you require of me?" She asks cheerfully.

"Well the medicine we told you about... we have it... we will inject it to you so you will not have to worry about it" Shirou said as he used reinforcement on the liquid inside the vial.

"Uhmm what's that strange contraption?" The pink Saber asked as Chifuyu grabbed the medicinal gun.

"Pull up your kimono's sleeve to give you the shot" Shirou said.

Saber winced as she did as was told. It seems she was not fond of needles.

-pshhhh- with less than second she was injected and the medicine flowed into her.

She blinked... "is... is it over?" She asked.

"Yeah... like 3 seconds ago" Shirou said.

"Wow... and no pain... I wish they had those things back in my era" She said with a smile as her legs dangled off the desk she sat.

And all we needed to do was wait and hope for the best as the medicine did it's work.

Shirou turned to Chifuyu and asked the question in his mind since the time in the beach "Chifuyu... what is Tabane hopping to gain with what she is doing?"

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes and went into deep tought... she had an answer "No idea, she was never one to be understood by anyone, not even I, her closest friend could fully understand her, she is wild, unpredictable"

"Also dangerous" Shirou finished for her.

She nodded.

"She has been trying to get into my IS data for a while now... she also tried to block me off at the beach... tried to over-ride the protocols so the IS would shut down for a couple of hours... she also suspects something about me" Shirou said.

"Nothing about the moonlit world I hope?" She asked.

"Unsure, she seems to be a radically scientific persona, she doesn't believe in fantasy like stuff... sci-fi however..." he left it hanging.

"And now she has an interest in you" she said.

"She is dangerous... she hacked that [Silver Gospel] just so Houki could 'have her chance to shine' she has no problems to sending the world to hell just to provide for her family or to demostrate a point, she doesnt put people in danger but one day, someone might choose to use the chaos she caused and potentially harm a great deal of people... I wish to tell you this so we are under no uncertain terms... if she pulls something like this... I will kill her" Shirou said with no remorse and with a tone of finality.

Chifuyu nodded, she might be the only person who could tolerate her (besides her brother and Shirou) but she could not stand some of the things she did/does/do.

The Alaska treaty... a sordid tale she had a hand in.

"Won't Houki hate you if you do that?" She said with a smirk.

"I am ready to shoulder that burden... if one needs to die for thousands to live... I will not hesitate, besides... is not something that has not been asked of me before" Shirou said with a sigh.

Chifuyu was told of the blood sport... the Holy Grail war; he had to kill his lover to save the world.

She was corrupted by the mud that contained [All the evils in the world] and fought him to stop him from preventing human extinction.

He killed her.

She knew he would do that even faster to someone he didn't even care.

"I don't like it... but if you have to... do it, I will understand" Chifuyu said.

Shirou dug into his bag and threw something at Chifuyu.

"Oh? Some beer? Aren't you underage?" She asked.

"Not for me, for you, seems like you needed it after the commotion and revelations" Shirou said with a shrug.

She smiled.

"Go back... you got classes early in the morning" she said.

With that Shirou went to his dorm.

The next morning Shirou and Ichika were asked to go somewhere to have their IS examined, since they mad not have maintained in a while, they needed Shirou as his OS had been modified by him and Ichika to for him to learn first hand how things work with the IS.

They where told to shut off their phones for privacy reasons as well as security ones.

Charlotte and Laura decided to go shopping, due to Laura sleeping nude.

Charlotte took Laura after cajoling her and treating her food later, as well as telling her that Shirou would think she is cute.

The later one was the final nail in the coffin.

So now they where eating breakfast before going out... macaroni salad, toast and yogurt.

But Laura had an additional item.

"Ea-Eating steak so early in the morning...can your stomach take it?" Charlotte asked.

"What are you saying? When eating a lot in the morning, the efficiency to work will be greater. There's scientific proof for this. Strictly speaking, those who sleep—in other words, those who eat a lot during dinner are the weird ones. All the excess energy that can't be digested will become fat. I won't stop you if you want to grow fat." Laura said

"—Laura, where did you hear this from?" Charlotte asked.

"Shirou (My Bride) said so." She said with a smile.

"Haa...I guess so. That tone doesn't sound like Laura at all." Charlotte said

A person with an impressionable personality is really unexpected Charlotte thought as she poked the macaroni through with her fork.

"Mu, what's that?" Laura said looking at the item Charlotte was eating.

"This...macaroni?" Charlotte questioned.

"I know. I'm asking why are you letting it pass through the fork? Why didn't you just stab it in instead of letting the fork tip pierce through?" Laura asked

The serious expression nearly caused Charlotte to be overwhelmed by Laura's presence, and she stumbled before she swallowed the macaroni.

"Even if you ask me, I...maybe I feel that I have to do this?" She said hesitantly.

"Oh, so you feel that you have to do it..." Laura said.

"How about you, Laura? It's rather interesting, you know." Charlotte said.

After saying that, Charlotte mysteriously noticed—

"U, was I a little too childish...? It's Laura, maybe she-" Charlotte thought.

"Oh, it is interesting—" Laura said.

"Re-Really? That's great!"

"—If you think that's interesting, your mind really has a problem."

"..."

"No, no no, that's not true! Yeah! Laura definitely won't say such things!"

"Charlotte."

-*BYU!*

"That's really interesting. Uu...since it's rare, I'll try to use all the tips of the fork to pierce through the macaroni."

After saying that, Laura immediately started playing with the other macaroni bits.

It seems that Laura really found it interesting, and this made Charlotte heave a sigh of relief.

"Mu, ku, this is a lot harder than I imagined it to be...over here."

The last macaroni just wouldn't go through, and Laura was in a tight fight.

For some reason, Charlotte remembered the cat she used to keep, and looked at Laura.

"That cat was really clumsy in the same weird aspects. It kept chasing the ball of thread and even showed a look of disbelief after finding that it wasn't a ball anymore." Charlotte thought with a smile.

"I SUCCEEDED!"

"WAHHH!"

Laura gently raised the fork that pierced through the macaroni, and Charlotte applauded her. The other girls in the cafeteria just blinked and looked around, wondering what happened.

"When are we going shopping?"

"Ah, yeah, I planned to go out around 10. What do you think? An hour of shopping, and then we'll go eat at a nice shop."

"I see. Since it's a rare chance, I should invite my bride along. Yup, I'll be a good husband." She said as she sagely nodded.

"Ah, ahaha...that's right..."

Minutes later

"Not in the room, and he didn't answer his phone. Where did he go to—is he cheating on us?"

"No, huh, it can't be helped if he's not around."

"I can contact him if I use the IS private channel, right? Let's do that then."

"WAH! NO! DON'T DO THAT, LAURA! I mean, even if it's part of the IS function, using it like that isn't good, you know."

"Forget about that. It's more important to find my bride."

"...Orimura-sensei will get angry."

*Pyu!* Laura stopped.

"Tha-That's right. Private time is necessary at times. Okay, Charlotte, let's go there on our own."

"Okay, let's go."

They return back to their room as they prepare to leave the Academy.

Of course, they have to change into casual clothes—logically, that should be the case.

"Erm, Laura, what's with that military uniform?"

"Uu, this is a uniform for formal occasions, unfortunately, I don't have any casual clothes."

"..."

Even Charlotte was about to hug her head. Speaking of which, she never saw Laura dressed as an ordinary girl even though they're in the same room.

"Laura, just wear the school uniform...your country won't be happy if you wear that uniform out, right?"

"That does make sense. Okay, I'll change into the uniform."

Laura then changed clothes at a speed that was not what a girl would change at, and they spent only 15 minutes changing before they left the room.

"Let's take the bus ride to the station."

"Okay."

The bus arrived at the station as they reached there, so the two girls boarded the bus first. It was summer vacation and past 10am, so the bus was rather empty.

Unlike Laura who was dressed in uniform, Charlotte was wearing casual clothes. It was a white dress with light blue color, and it had the presence of summer as it radiated a cooling and casual feeling.

Amongst the buses in this city, this bus was rare. There was no air-conditioning, so the wind blew in through the window, giving a cool sensation.

"Speaking of which, I haven't admired this scene properly. Since it's rare, let's just go out more." Charlotte tought.

The breeze gently passed through the window and grazed Charlotte as she looked out of the window. Her hair was fluttering slightly, glowing blonde under the bright summer sun.

Beside her, Laura was seriously looking at the houses in this city.

"...That building can be used as a sniping location, and if it becomes a dragged out battle, the mart opposite can become a place to maintain supplies. Also, just in case, I should check the underground sewers and subways map, and I need to check if there are any independent electrical generators nearby." Laura tought.

Laura, with her silver hair glittering under the bright sunlight, along with those sharp eyes of hers, was giving off a rather out of place presence.

"Hey, hey, look at both of them."

"Uwa, they're really pretty!~"

"Those girls are rather cute. Are they models?"

"Really? The silver-haired girl's wearing...a uniform? I've never seen that before."

"Idiot, that's IS Academy's uniform! It's custom made!"

"Huh!? I heard that only 1 out of millions are chosen to enter IS Academy?"

"That's right. Only the elites get to enter."

"Uwa~ so outstanding yet so pretty. Isn't that too unfair..."

"Well, gods are unfair. That's always the case."

The female high school students are staring at Charlotte and Laura as they create a ruckus.

In the cramped space of the bus, such intense conversations naturally spread to the two girls' ears.

"..."

Charlotte lowered her head in embarrassment, probably because she was never praised like this before.

On the other hand, Laura just ignored their ramblings as she continued to 'Check the statuses of wartime street fights'.

"IS are the most powerful and incomparable force in the world. However, a war can't be decided with just one person's battle ability. In troop fighting in the streets, we have to deploy our defensive line as troops." She tought to herself

If they could level this entire street into wasteland, the IS would be useful.

"-While taking down the entire city, if we can consider using large transport aircraft to bombard this place, we need some anti-air weapons that can be mobilized independently. Also, it's best if we can supply the troops with some anti-air missiles. Javelin and Starstreak missiles can be used to attack vehicles. And most important-" Laura continued to think

"Laura, Laura."

"Hn? What?"

"We're at the station. Alright, stop thinking and get off."

"Got it."

Both of them get off the bus with some other passengers, and walked into the shopping center in front of the station.

Charlotte took out a magazine from her bag, looking at it and the directory to check where they were.

"Okay, I got it. If we go in this order, we won't waste too much time."

"Oh."

"We'll first look at clothes, and then we'll go get lunch. After that, I want to shop for some life accessories and little decorations. Don't you agree, Laura?"

"I don't understand any of these, so I'll leave it to you then."

Laura was still alien to what girls in their teens would do. Though she's a teenager herself, she doesn't understand all these at all, so it couldn't be helped.

-Even so, Laura still felt weird.

Laura's naturally a stubborn girl, but even so, she couldn't resist Charlotte's words at all as she easily agreed to what Charlotte would say. Normally speaking, this girl called Laura would forcefully decide on what she wants to do even though she doesn't understand it.

"Unbelievable."

Charlotte has an indescribable charisma.

If there's a need to describe it, maybe it's similar to a mother Laura didn't know of.

"Are you listening, Laura?"

"Hm? Ohh, sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Really~ I'm asking you if you want skirts or pants."

"Mn, both of them will—"

"Don't say that both of them will do...speaking of which, Laura, you're really like Ichika in this aspect."

Charlotte inadvertedtly sighed, and Laura showed a happy look for some reason.

"It's good that both husband and wife are alike."

Thinking that it's stupid to get angry at Laura with regards to this, Charlotte sighed again and ended this conversation.

"Anyway, let's go to the 7th level. The 5th and 6th level are also for females, so we'll just go according to order."

"Hm? Why must we go from the top? Can't we go from bottom to top?"

"It's easier to shop if we go from top to bottom. You see, aren't the shops designed like that as well?"

Hearing Charlotte say this, Laura looked at the book she opened. However...

"I don't understand at all."

"~Uu, well, I'm telling you that there's winter clothing sold in the lower levels! It should be a change of seasons soon, but there's still summer wear at the clearance sales, so let's go there first—"

"Hold on, I don't need winter clothing."

"Huh? No need...why?"

"It's summer now."

Laura said it so casually, yet Charlotte was completely dumbstruck.

"I can just wait until winter to buy winter clothing."

"No, well...listen to me. Girls would normally prepare their clothing before the season changes."

"I see—well, it would be too late if we prepare our supplies and soldiers once war starts. Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Huh...yeah, I guess you can say that."

"So it's called preparing for rainy days."

Though this was purely what a girl would think in a feminine manner, Laura thought this through using her own logic.

Since it was weird to deny Laura's views, Charlotte accepted it.

"Anyway, let's just go in order. If you have things you don't understand, just ask me."

"Okay, it's good to have Charlotte around. You're really reliable."

They took the elevator to the 7th level. As it still was summer vacation, there were many teenage girls in the mall with the air conditioning turned on at full blast.

"It would troublesome if we get lost. How about we hold hands?"

"Y-Yeah."

In contrast to the carefree Charlotte, Laura felt shy as she nodded her head, but she still agreed even though she felt weird.

"Then let's start from here."

"'Third Surface'...that's a weird name."

"This shop seems to be popular. See, there are a lot of girls inside."

Now that Charlotte mentioned it, Laura noticed a lot of high school and middle school girls inside.

As there's a closing sale, the shop's really bustling, so it's to be expected that the shop would accommodate the customers more. However—

"..."

*PAKII!* The paper bag the shopkeeper was handing over to the customer dropped.

"Blond hair and silver hair...?"

Noticing the shopkeeper acting rather abnormal, the other shop attendants turned to look over.

And then, everyone looked mesmerized as they say,

"They look like dolls..."

"Are they filming...?"

"...Yuri, I'll hand the customer over to you..."

Seeing both of them, the shopkeeper stumbled and went over. It seemed that she just became mesmerized by the devil, or at least she had heatstroke.

"Hol-Hold on, huh? Wha-What about me? Speaking of which, the clothes...are still on the floor..."

After seeing Charlotte and Laura, the female customer who was about to complain just shut up.

The two beauties seemed to just walk out of a painting. Not to mention their slender fingers that are held together mesmerize all.

They're not holding hands tightly, but they're still together.

This made both of them emit an indescribable feeling.

"Ma-May-May I know what kind of clothing are you looking for?"

The shopkeeper let out an excited voice, and anyone could tell that she was excited. She didn't look like a mature woman who was used to wearing summer attire.

The interesting attitude of the shopkeeper made Charlotte forget about leaving the shop due to the overwhelming stares.

"Huh, I'm looking for clothes for this girl. Do you have any recommendations?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes, this silver-haired girl, right? I'll look for it now, no problems!" Yuri said.

Immediately after saying that, the shopkeeper took the clothes off the fake model that's obviously used for display only.

-Also, even though these are summer clothes, but clothes that would be sold out anyway would be hung on the display at the shop's doors to attract customers. These clothes are obviously meant to be sold, but since they're prepared for 'Important Customers', normally speaking, they wouldn't be removed for first-time customers.

That's right, normally speaking.

"How-How is it? This white summer shirt should match your beautiful silver hair, Miss." Yuri said as she put the shirt next to Laura so she could see the effect of it.

"Heh, light and translucent. I can see the clothes underneath. What do you think, Laura?" Charlotte asked

"I—" Laura was overwhelmed, she never done stuff like this before.

"Don't say that you don't know." Charlotte said looking at her.

"Uuu..." She moaned phatetically.

As what she wanted to say was blocked off, Laura pouted, a rare sight at that.

That childish expression made the shopkeeper who felt that the silver-haired girl was silent blink a few times in surprise.

"White? It's nothing bad, I'm wearing this color now anyway."

"Ah, yes."

On hearing this response that's not feminine at all, the shopkeeper couldn't help but respond blankly.

"Since it's a rare chance, don't you want to try it, Laura?"

"No, it's too—"

"Don't say that it's troublesome." Charlotte said forcibly.

As her words were blocked again, Laura remained silent.

During this time, Charlotte and the shopkeeper chose a lower-half clothing and a matching shirt.

"I'll have the denim pants. As for the shirt..."

"How about a V-neck woolen sweater?"

"Ah, that's nice. Should I choose the same type of color or a contrasting type...hm."

Both of them happily chose Laura's clothing.

Realizing that resistance was futile, Laura could only stand slightly far away and look at them.

"Really, what's so interesting about this?" I just need the clothes to fulfill their function. That's really how Laura would think.

"Okay Laura, try this."

"I understand."

"The changing room's over here."

As the shopkeeper lead her to the changing room, Laura sighed.

"This can't be helped, but since it's a rare chance to wear casual clothes, I really hope that Shirou can see it."

Thinking about this, Laura took off her uniform.

The white silky skin was lit by the lights, making her look like an ice beauty.

(...)

She again examined her own body. Even though her body with only underwear on it was beautiful, there's a refined feel to it as she trained herself physically.

"I'm not too sure about this, but is my body lacking charm to the opposite gender?" Laura tought to herself as she looked herself over in the mirror

Especially to Shirou.

"Uu..."

She tried to pose according to the poses she saw in those photo galleries.

The images in those photos were really alluring, and the body that was wearing underwear made it really alluring to the opposite gender.

"...Baka baka!"

Feeling really embarrassed about what she just did, Laura continued to change after saying those words.

Looking through the clothes Charlotte and the shopkeeper chose for her, she found that they were all the 'Cool' type.

"If I have to wear it, I should choose the cute one. Then Shirou would praise me-"

...

"Laura's clothing is really cute."

"Just the clothing?"

"Laura's still the cutest of all."

"Ba-Baka..."

"Your underwear's cute too, right?"

"Huh, ah..."

"Let me see, Laura."

"U-Uu..."

...

Even though this was all just her imagination, Laura still blushed as she remained silent.

"No, that's not it! Well...how should I put it? I don't think it'll be that successful, but..."

However, the probability's not zero.

"How is it, Laura? Have you changed yet?"

Behind the door, the familiar voice of Charlotte rang out.

Laura quickly put on the uniform and opened the door.

"That's strange. Why are you still in uniform...?"

"Charlotte."

"Y-Yeah. Well, you didn't like that,,,?"

"No, that's not it. Even so..."

It was rare to see Laura stutter, and Charlotte had a question mark above her head.

"Make-Make it a little cuter..."

Laura really looked childish as she said that, stunning Charlotte.

But she immediately recovered and nodded her head hard.

"Mn, mn! It's better to be cute! I'll prepare it for you. Just wait!"

Laura, who was lacking enthusiasm a while back, just said something really unexpected, making Charlotte agree with an even more enthusiastic tone.

"Th-The-Then, what kind of clothing will be better? Color, build, what's your view?"

"We-Well, it's better to have a suitable amount of skin revealed..."

"Mn, I got it!"

Charlotte immediately went back to the shopkeeper and looked through the colorful clothes.

"I'll take that strapless dress, and a ring as decoration. And let's see..."

Charlotte looked absolutely delighted as she chose the clothes, seemingly choosing them for herself.

"If you want clothes that show a lot of skin, the black one will be a steady bet! It matches your hair, Laura."

"I-I'll be troubled if it's too glamorous."

As Laura was feeling somewhat nervous on seeing Charlotte work so hard, she couldn't help but warn her, but Charlotte's response was full of drive.

"No problem at all—! Just relax and leave it to me!"

"I-I understand."

Seeing the normally reliable and mature Charlotte become this determined, Laura could only obey her.

"But her tastes are better than mine, so there shouldn't be any problem." Laura thought.

20 minutes later, as Laura changed and walked out of the changing room, everyone in the shop gasped.

"UWA, SHE'S SO PRETTY..."

"SHE'S JUST LIKE A FAIRY..."

After receiving the stares of everyone in the shop, Laura couldn't help but be embarrassed.

She was wearing a black strapless dress with some frills on it, creating a cute look.

Like everyone mentioned, the way Laura was dressed in a slightly-shorter-than-a-mini-skirt dress matches her refined presence like a fairy.

"You-You even prepared the shoes? I'm shocked."

"It's rare anyway. It'll be a pity if you don't wear any mules."

Wearing heeled shoes for the first time, Laura lost her balance.

While everyone went 'Ah!', Charlotte picked her up.

"So-Sorry."

"Don't worry."

Supporting Laura's hand, Charlotte bowed.

The two people who looked like a prince and a princess looked like they fit into a scene in a fairy tale.

"Can-Can I take a photo?"

"Me-Me too!"

"Please shake hands with me!"

"Me too me too!"

Both of them were surrounded all of a sudden. Everyone, the people in the shop and the people outside looking in at the commotion all squeezed in, and there was a commotion for quite a while.

Later on

"Hoo, that was tiring."

"To think that we would end up spending so much time here."

At just past noon, both of them are having lunch at the open-aired café.

Laura ordered the pasta that was of a different flavor everyday, and Charlotte ordered lasagna. Both of them are enjoying their food.

"But it doesn't matter much anyway. We got our clothes anyway."

"Since you bought it, might as well change into it."

"No, well, about that, actually, it'll be bad if I stain it."

"Oh? Ah, are you going to show it to Shirou the first time you wear it?"

"What? No, that's not it! Th-That Tha-That's not true at all!"

Seeing Laura blushing and all flustered, Charlotte believed that she had it right, but she pretended to be oblivious.

"Okay, sorry for saying such weird stuff."

"Re-Rea-Really!"

"Laura."

"Wha-What?"

"You're holding your fork and spoon in the opposite manner."

"Uu~!"

After Charlotte pointed that out, Laura found out she was holding her cutlery the wrong way, and this really made her blush. The spoon that was about to reach her mouth moved away.

"Wha-What are we going to do in the afternoon?"

"Shop for some life accessories. I want to check the watches out. I really like Japanese watches."

"You want to buy a watch?"

"Mn, it's rare anyway. Don't you want to buy something, Laura? Something Japanese?"

After thinking for a while, Laura simply said,

"A Japanese Sword."

"...Something more feminine?"

"No."

"Something more feminine?"

"None."

Laura answered immediately. Though it was to be expected, after hearing her cold response, Charlotte's shoulders dropped dejectedly.

Suddenly, Charlotte noticed the woman sitting in the next table.

"...What should I do? Really..."

Her age's about between 25 to 30, and she's wearing tight-fitting suit.

She seemed to be depressed as the garlic and pepper pasta that was served was all cold now.

"Haa..."

They could feel that she was really depressed from her sighing.

"Hey, Laura."

"There's a limit to being nosy."

This time, Laura cut off what Charlotte was about to say.

Even though she was shocked by Laura's response, Charlotte looked rather happy and continued,

"So you understand me well."

"Just-Just about there...so, what do you want to do?"

"Hm, anyway, let's hear her out first."

After saying that, Charlotte got up from her seat and talked to the woman.

"Excuse me...what's wrong?"

"Huh-?"

On seeing them, *BATAM!* That woman suddenly stood up and grabbed Charlotte's hands.

"You-You two!"

"Wha-What's the matter?"

"Do you want to work?"

""HUH!?""

The boss then explained the situation to the girls.

"So those two suddenly resigned. I think they eloped instead of resigning though. Haha..."

"Ah."

"Mn."

"But today's a very important day! The main office will send people over to check on us, so please help. Just for today! I hope that you'll work today."

That woman's shop was a unique café.

The girls would dress like maids, and the guys would dress as butlers to serve the customers—it's the so-called maid (and butler) café.

"I'm okay with that..."

Having changed clothes, Charlotte hid her emotions and asked, "But why am I dressed as a butler...?"

"Because you see, it really suits you! You're more handsome and cool than those guys over there!"

"Really..." Even though she was praised, Charlotte sighed, unable to be happy.

"I want to wear a maid outfit too...Laura looks so cute wearing it..." She thought in depression.

Feeling really regretful, Charlotte glanced at the butler attire on her.

"Uu~ am I more suited to this image...?" She thought dejected, sure she played the role of a boy for a while... still.

Perhaps realizing that Charlotte looked rather downhearted, the shopkeeper who was also in maid outfit grabbed her hand tightly.

"There's no problem. It suits you well!"

"Is-Is that so? Ahaha..."

Though she looked rather stiff, Charlotte answered back with a smile.

"That's where the problem lies..." Charlotte thought bitterly

With complicated feelings of a girl, she again turns to look at Laura who's dressed in a maid outfit.

The graceful maid outfit had a slender yet strong body in the midst of it, and her straight silver hair encompassed everything, including the mysterious looking eyepatch.

"Uu~ I'm so envious! Why must Laura be this cute..." Charlotte thought

She once again realized Laura's charm.

Even when wearing men's clothing, Laura would look like a 'Cool Girl', or at least that's what Charlotte thought.

In contrast, once she puts on men's clothing, she would be a 'bishounen'. Thinking about this, she naturally sighed.

"Shopkeeper~ please help out~"

The floor manager asked for help. The shopkeeper immediately applied the final touches and walked to the entrance at the back.

"We-Well, I have one last question."

"Hm?"

"What's the name of this shop?"

The shopkeeper smiled and pulled her skirt up, bowing as she lifted her skirt in a cute manner that doesn't match her mature appearance.

"Dear customers, welcome to Cruise." She said with a curtsy.

Outside 40 minutes later

"Man... this is troublesome, is so hot out here" Shirou said as he walked about.

"It is... makes me miss my homeland a bit... good thing that you have to treat me to a parfait" Tatenashi-san said with a smirk, opening her fan that said 'repayment'.

"Still, why such an expensive parfait?"

"Because I wanted too see a hero being summoned and tease you if you failed" She said with all honesty.

"You and Caren must never meet... otherwise I think I might just take the deal with Alaya and become a Counter Guardian" Shirou said with a sigh.

Emiya Shirou finished the main tanca if his IS and after an hour or so get permission to go out.

Once he was out he found out he missed 3 calls from Charls (Charlotte) and went to look for her.

She wasn't in her dorm so he figured she might have gone out into the city.

He took a shower (he took longer seeing as Ichika was being held back so he can be tutored a bit more about an IS usage and knowhow) and decided to go out as well.

That's when Tatenashi appeared and decided to tag along and to get her apology parfait.

Originally he was going to be out with the Red Saber (real name still pending) but the idea was scrapped when Tatenashi invited herself.

That's why they where here.

Tatenashi-san rose an eyebrow... they where about to go in when a multitude of police cars just rushed in, and the cops where cordoning out the area.

"What is going on here?" Shirou asked.

"I'll tell you what... I am not getting my farfait" She said as she was seething as this development.

"Go back to school I will catch with you later... I will try to get you your parfait to you if I can" Shirou said.

"Mixed berry flavor please" She said with a smirk.

He nodded as she went back to her dorm.

"I tought that was the charm with the crepes tough" Shirou thought to himself.

25 minutes before

"Dunois-kun, I'll leave the red tea and coffee for Table 4 to you."

"Okay."

Charlotte received the drinks and put them the tray that has the Cruise logo on it.

This simple action had such a high elegance to it. At that moment, the workers who became Charlotte's coworkers were all amazed at her elegance.

It was her first time working, yet she was fearless in her gestures. Graceful, but not annoying.

The female customers seemed to be mesmerized by Charlotte's gesture.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. May I know who ordered red tea?"

"M-Me." Even though she was older, the woman looked nervous as she answered Charlotte.

After passing the red tea and coffee to the female customers, Charlotte asked them if they needed a 'Certain Service' in the shop.

"Do you need sugar and milk? If you do, please allow me to serve both of you."

"Pl-Please do so. U-Umm, I'll have more sugar and milk."

"Me-Me too."

Actually, these two customers normally wouldn't add sugar or milk, but they just want to enjoy this beautiful butler service, so they deliberately answered him.

Perhaps seeing through their thoughts, Charlotte showed a gentle smile and nodded her head.

"I understand. Then, please excuse me."

Charlotte's beautiful slender white fingers held onto the spoon lightly as she silently added sugar and milk and mixed them in the cups.

Even the occasional light knocking sound caused the female customers to hold their breaths.

"Please enjoy."

"Th-Thanks..."

One of the customers received the cup from Charlotte's hands, looking extremely tense as she brings it to her mouth.

Then, the other female customer who let Charlotte stir her cup looked extremely tense as she coughed once.

"Then, if there's any need, please call me again, ojou-samas."

After saying that, Charlotte bowed beautifully and gave off a huge 'Princely' presence. The female customers just looked stunned, and a simple nod from her was the limit for them.

"Ohh, the service industry's really tough. Is Laura going to be alright?" Charlotte tought with some worry as Laura was not the best with social interactions.

Charlotte continued to work as she looked for Laura.

And then she saw Laura taking orders from three male customers.

"Huh, you're pretty cute? Mind telling me your name?"

"..."

"Hey there, tell me, what time are you dismissed from work? Let's go out—s"

*DAM!* The table got slammed on (or more like thrown over), letting out a huge clank from the teacups, and the liquid inside spilled down.

As the guys got shocked, Laura said with a cold tone,

"This is water, drink it."

"And one with attitude at that! I want to know you more—"

As he spoke halfway without even ordering, Laura left their table.

Then, she went to the bar and said some words. After that, she put a drink on the tray and walked over.

"Drink it."

Laura placed the cup on the table in a slightly gentler manner (as the coffee tray would break). Even so, the coffee still spilled out from the cup.

"Huh, erm, I don't think I ordered coffee..."

"What? If you're not a customer, get out."

"No-No, that's not it, I just want to check out the items on the menu..."

Perhaps he got a good impression on Laura or got taken aback by Laura's no-buts mentality, as the guy continued to find suitable words to talk to her.

In fact, in this society where women reign supreme, people who dare to talk up girls like this are either brave souls or idiots. These guys are definitely the latter.

"Lik-Like I said, even if it's coffee, there's mocca or Kilimanjaro coffee or something..."

Laura's eyes weren't smiling as it seemed that she wanted to interrupt them. She gave a sneer.

"What? Can you ordinary blokes taste the difference?"

"Huh, that...sorry..."

In the end, the guys lost under the absolute zero stare and mockery of Laura as she backed away to let them drink their coffee.

"Get out once you people are done. Stop hogging the seats."

"Yes..."

The German Ice side of Laura still remains.

But the hard-to-approach attitude of hers, coupled with her pretty looks seemed to become a charm, as the male customers in the shop were giving a 'I want to be served the same manner'.

"That-That girl's amazing..."

"I want to be scolded by her, stared down by her, looked down by her!"

Even though quite a few customers were rather excited, the other customers and even the staff members pretended not to notice it as they continued with that work.

"We-Well, can I add another order? If possible, I'll have that blond butler!"

"I want coffee! Can the silver-haired maid come over?"

"I want the bishounen butler!"

"I want the bishoujo maid!"

This commotion spread throughout the entire shop, causing an explosive ruckus.

Feeling really troubled, Charlotte and Laura didn't know what to do, but the shopkeeper moved in and directed them to whichever table they needed to go to and controlled the way they were called. As expected of a professional, the shopkeeper was clear on the instructions, and they skillfully finished serving 5 times the usual number of customers.

This chaotic situation maintained itself for about 2 hours. As Charlotte and Laura were mentally tired, something happened.

"EVERYONE, DON'T MOVE!" Three men broke in and shouted loudly.

For a while everyone present didn't know what was going on, but after hearing a gunshot, someone screamed.

"KYAAAAHHHH!"

"SHUT UP! BE QUIET!"

The men were dressed in jackets and jeans. Their heads were masked and they had guns. They also had quite a lot of bank notes in the bags behind them.

In one look, anyone could tell that they were robbers, and they had just robbed a bank.

The 20th century manga attire stunned everyone, but that was something else altogether. Besides, they were savage criminals with guns, so everyone had to follow their orders.

"HELLO—THE ROBBERS INSIDE! YOU'RE ALREADY SURROUNDED! HURRY UP AND SURRENDER! I REPEAT—"

The police sealed off the place extremely fast, creating a yellow area in front of the station. Looking through the windows, the patrol cars sealed off the roads outside the shop, and they were policemen dressed in bulletproof vests and riot shields in their hands, forming a perimeter.

"...For some reason—"

"...The police are responding in the same manner."

"...How old fashioned..."

Several customers remembered the old-chronicles of history that wouldn't be useful to teenagers, forgetting that they were hostages as they muttered.

"Wha, what do we do, aniki!? If this keeps up, we'll all—" he said frantically and worried.

"Don't panic! There's nothing to panic. We have hostages. They can't force their way in."

What looks like the leader of the trio, a relatively well-built man said this, and the other two that wanted to run away naturally regained their confidence.

"He-Hehe, that's right! We have lots of cash to get this."

*DUKIN!* As the hard sound of metal could be heard, the men started loading their pump-action shotguns, and then shot at the ceiling to terrify them.

"KYAAAHHH!"

As the lights shattered, the (mentally) lost female customers let out an ear piercing scream. In response, the leader fired a pistol to make her shut up.

"SHUT UP! WE WON'T KILL YOU IF YOU FOLLOW WHAT WE DO, GOT IT!?"

The woman went pale and nodded a few times, biting her lips tight for fear that she could let out her voice.

"HEY, THE POLICE OUTSIDE, YOU CAN HEAR ME, RIGHT!? IF YOU WANT ALL THE HOSTAGES TO ESCAPE SAFELY, PREPARE A CAR FOR US HERE! OF COURSE, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SEND CARS AFTER US, NOR ARE YOU ALLOWED TO PUT A TRACKING DEVICE ON US!"

After the man shouted that coolly, he added a 'This is payment for being our gofer' and shot at the cops.

Luckily, the bullet only broke the window of a patrol car, but that was enough to scare the surrounding onlookers.

"Hehe, these guys are in a mess."

"Someone said that 'It's easier to commit a crime in a peaceful country', so that's true after all!"

"Yeah."

The men gave vicious smiles, but a pair of eyes were observing them.

"One of them has a shotgun, another has a submachine gun, and the boss has a pistol. There may be other weapons prepared, but anyway-" Charlotte continued to keep low as she calmly analyzed the situation.

Checking the situation in the shop again, she moved her eyes, but suddenly widened them in shock.

Other than the criminals, the only one standing in the shop was Laura. Besides, the pretty girl that would dazzle anyone with her silver hair and eyepatch would make anyone want to stop for her.

"What's with you? Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

Unexpectedly, the boss went over. Laura just glanced at his gun and looked away.

"Hey, are you listening? Or do you not know Japanese?"

"Forget about it, Aniki. Isn't this good? We have lots of time, so let's get this girl to serve us!"

"Ah? What are you saying, kid?"

"Because you see, she's really cute!"

"I-I agree! I've never been to a maid café before..."

The two henchmen snickered, looking rather excited yet shy. The boss frowned, and sat down on the sofa.

"Humph, oh well, I'm thirsty anyway. Hey, bring me the menu!"

Glancing at the three men, Laura didn't look back as she walked to the bar.

And brings out a jug of water with ice filled to the brim.

"...What's this?"

"Water."

"No, we want a menu..."

"Shut up and drink it—if you dare."

Laura suddenly spun the tray, and the ice water naturally dances in mid-air. It seems that she wanted to overturn it as she grabbed the ice—and flicked it out.

"OUCH! WH-WHA-WHAT ARE YOU—"

That was an ice bullet from Laura's finger as the ice bullet immediately knocked out the index finger, separating it from the trigger. The eyelids, eyebrows and throat got struck while he was defenseless.

And before the criminal could even roar, Laura launched a knee-strike at another guy's abdomen.

"STOP MESSING AROUND! YOU PUNK!"

Quick to recover from the pain, the boss immediately started firing.

The explosion of the bullet could be heard, but it didn't hit Laura.

Laura used everything in the shop, including sofa, tables, plants, vending machines as cover as her slender body darted through them at an unimaginable speed.

"An-Aniki! This-This brat—"

"SHUT UP! SHE'S JUST A PUNK, HURRY UP AND DEAL WITH—"

"—Unfortunately for you, there's not just one." Closing in behind the boss while he was reloading was a bishounen dressed in butler attire—correction, it's the bishoujo Charlotte.

Saying this, Charlotte sighed in pity. The reason wasn't just because she got involved in some needless criminal activity, but also that Laura took action without waiting—and that she had to support her.

"WHAT!? You—"

"Ah, good thing I'm in butler attire. Yup, then I can lift my leg without worry." Charlotte said that as she kicked the pistol off the boss' fingers.

Then, she raised her leg, and it landed on the shoulder of the man who was holding the shotgun, making him unable to fight back. With a crisp rattling sound, the man's arm that was holding the shotgun fell in a limp.

Both of them were already used to it—because, this isn't some hi-level combat.

This was also proof of how many tough battles they'd been through.

Once someone becomes a personal IS pilot, any country would have a mock training session for 'All possible scenarios', and that applies for representative cadets as well.

They're trained to overcome difficulties even when they can't deploy their ISes.

Of course, Laura, who was a soldier, had much better skills, reaction ability and physical ability than Charlotte, who was not from military personnel.

But it wasn't too much of a problem for her to handle this.

"Target 2's taken down—Laura, what about you?"

"No problems. Target 3's taken down as well."

Both of them confirmed that the two henchmen had lost all consciousness and mobility (they're knocked out), and nodded at each other.

Only the final target was left—the boss. As expected, the guy who got his finger kicked readied his pistol in his left hand, trying to stand up.

"ST-STOP MESSING AROUND! HOW, HOW CAN I, HOW CAN I LOSE TO TWO BRATS LIKE THAT...!"

He pulled out a pair of modified uzis and was about to shoot at Laura who was shocked at him having more weapons and at how fast he deployed them.

He pointed them both at Charlotte and Laura.

"My body is made of blades, iron is my blood and crystal is my heart" someone said as they heard someone rushing in.

The criminal boss squeezed the trigger.

Shirou grabbed the criminal's arms and pointed the weapon at himself.

""Shirou!"" They both yelled as the criminal smirked as he discharged both clips on Shirou.

He groaned in pain as the bullets hit his body, but stopped from penetrating him thanks to his magecraft, as he stood up and gave him an elbow blow on the diaphragm and broke his left arm in one move.

"Laura? Charles? What - what are you 2 doing here? And what are you two wearing?" He asked as he was in shock at what he saw.

¨I have a good explanation¨

They explained what was going on.

They decided to bail out as they shouldn't attract attention as they are IS cadets.

"Sorry Tatenashi-san, some other time perhaps" Shirou tought.

They examined him tough "are you sure you are okay?" Charls asked.

"As it a community criminal could hurt my bride... I would kill them twice over before that" Laura said.

"Don't worry... I actually used part of the IS absolute protection to protect myself" Shirou lied.

In truth he used the Body of blades, a partial manifestation of his rality marble into his body in order to use it as a pseudo Kevlar.

"Sorry I couldn't answer your calls I was in a special garage to give a tune up to Aka no Kishi, so no signals could come in or out" Shirou apologized.

"Ah, that's OK... Actually I was wondering if you do us a little favor" Charls said with a Cheshire grin.

"Sure I guess... what's it about?" He asked.

Back at school

Both of them went into the bathroom "no peeking" Charlotte said with a smirk as they both went in.

Shirou owlishly blinked with no clue what was going on.

"Jyan jyaan!" Charls said as they came out of the bathroom and sat on the other bed.

After dinner, the three of them had nothing to do, and after rolling on the bed awhile, Charlotte suggested that they should hurry up and wear the pajamas they bought, and so it ended up like this.

"Are these...really pajamas?"

"Yup, that's right. It's nice to sleep in, right?"

"How-How would I know without sleeping?"

It wasn't unreasonable for Laura to not be suspicious. Though they were really in pajamas, it was a rare type at that.

The bag-shaped clothing covered their bodies, revealing just a face. Also, there were a pair of cat ears on their heads, and there were paw pads on their hands and feet.

-In other words, these were kitty pajamas.

Right now, both of them were dressed like that. Laura was in the black kitty pajamas, and Charlotte in the white. And ever since they changed into pajamas, Charlotte had been hugging Laura from behind, letting Laura sit on her own knees. It seemed that she really liked this get-up.

"Uhmm... why am I here again?" Shirou asked.

"B.e.c.a.u.s.e, we need a male's perspective on it... so what do you say?" Charls said with a smile on.

"What I have to say... well it... suits you all too well and you look cute" he said as he looked to the side awkwardly.

Charls smiled even more as Laura blushed.

Inside the IS

"Oh? It seems that our prato is quite smooth person " said the red Saber.

"Yes... he is a rather fun Lord to serve under, I can say that... he also cares about us, even if our existence is but a mirage in this world." Said the sakura Saber.

"Then let us enjoy the comedy filled drama that is our prestos life... and combat those who dare try harm him and the ones under his charge" the red one said as the other nodded.

He had earned a modicum of respect from the red Saber... not many would use their own body to protect people.

And so... another night was over... and a new day would come.

Elsewhere

"—Above is the report about how to deal with Emiya Shirou and Orimura Ichika."

Three girls were gathered around a table in a small, slightly dark room.

Two of them were sitting on chairs, and another person was standing in the center, like subjects to the queen, and a serious tension filled the room.

"It should be time to move on..."

Said the woman standing in the middle, though even with a small, but really clear voice, the words could still arrive to the other two's ears.

"Honestly, concerning that case, I think the response is too slow."

"Since there are people urging from many parties...we can't wait anymore..."

Waiting for the queen's answer, the subjects' attention shifted to the table.

Facing the fact that this year's personal machine users reached an abnormal number, the three of them could not help but to develop serious countermeasures to this.

"...Hn."

The queen who was looking through the window delicately shifted towards them.

"I've decided, it should be time to act, we need to think for ourselves."

"So?"

"I'll find an opportunity to get close to them, and you two will be backups."

"U-Understood!"

"I got it..."

A light smile appeared on the queen's face.

Like a predator who found its prey.

Like the queen of an icy mountain.

—Quietly, without stopping.

That was a smile that would charm you right away.

"Please become aware of me, Orimura Ichika." With the moon on her back, the woman let out a smile. ¨and Shirou Emiya… you will learn to fear me¨

*Pa!* The sound of a fan getting folded, quietly but assuredly resounded—

Chapter end