Chapter 2

Oh no…H-He's hot. Arturia's hands instinctually covered her reddening face, before she flushed at her actions and moved to fix her hair instead. First impressions were important- NO damn it focus. But she was focusing.

Even through the black body armour the man wore, his sculpted physique shone through. She could count each individual muscle on his chest, and he possessed a broad back and a robust frame. Did she mention that he was tall? He was a good head bigger than her, and she imagined that she'd certainly fit snuggly between his arms.

Arturia swallowed with a dry mouth, and then became inwardly indignant at the subconscious action.

This was not the response she should be having to a criminal who somehow entered her shed in a freak accident, but it wasn't as if she was intimidated. Rather, this was the problem. As the Lion of Fuyuki, she was confident in her own strength and capabilities so she always focused more on scrutinizing her opponents in a fight.

This habit was backfiring especially when she noticed genuine concern and…care in this intruder's eyes. This wasn't normal, and it was confusing her fight or flight senses and leaving her only with base judgements and instincts.

"I ask of you, are you my Master?"

I can be your Slave-O God Merlin was rubbing off on her!

Resisting the urge to bang her head on a wall, she pushed herself up into a seated position while pointedly staring anywhere but the man across from her. The freak accident had forced her to the ground and covered her with Merlin's drawings and papers. Her hair was a mess, and she'd even made the blunder of dropping her sword out of reach.

What was worse, was that in her hurry to get onto her feet, she snubbed her pinky toe on a nearby table stand. She bit down on her lips to stifle the hollow whimper of pain that shot up her leg like lightning.

"Are you alright?" The man spoke indiscernibly. He seemed shaken for one reason or another, and it showed in just how neutral he was keeping his tone. She'd also seen the way he'd tried to offer her a hand getting up, but then quickly brought it back down in indecision.

"Fine," she answered curtly while brushing off the dust and grime that stuck to her school uniform. She was trying to give off an air of indifference and aloof collectedness but was failing because stubbing her piggy toe had caused her eyes to briefly water.

She reached for her sword and secured it around her waist before rounding cautiously on the home intruder.

Presently, he was looking at the red sigils on the back of her hand which caused her to gawk, not at him, but at her hand.

"When did I get a tattoo?" She furiously tried to rationalize the situation, but found no way to do so when the man became less guarded towards her and loosened his expression.

It was hard to describe, but there was a vague sense of desperate hope or longing in his eyes when he stared at her. However, further inspection seemed to simmer his mood until it was just melancholic. Clearly, he didn't find all that he was looking for in her, and it irked her in a way she couldn't really explain.

"What are you doing in my house?" She questioned with a glare, left hand already on the hilt of her katana for a quick draw.

"You are my Master, and I am your Servant," the man replied before taking the time to glance around the shed. Most of Merlin's papers and drafts were in ruins after the freak explosion, but the large magic circle drawn on chalk over the floor was now visible.

To the man, the sight of the circle seemed to draw a vague sense of reminiscence as Arturia watched him crouch down and trace a finger over it. "Is this the miracle which you spoke of?" He mumbled lowly.

The words had no meaning to her, but to the man, they seemed to mean the world.

"By your summons, Servant Archer has answered your call." The man inclined his head in a nod before furrowing his brows. "I do not know the present circumstances, but my class feels vaguely off. I don't sense the presence of a Holy Grail either, but I can detect the presence of at least two other Servants nearby. But they don't feel like Servants either…"

Arturia stiffened at the terminology she'd just heard the man mumble.

This was sounding way too familiar as she caught herself glancing at the burnt manuscripts Merlin had written now scattered throughout the shed. She hastily picked one up, but it crumbled into ashes in her palms. All were charred black and barely legible, leaving her scrambling to recall what the information she'd skimmed through prior.

"Shirou," she soon muttered the name of the man before her.

The man choked back a stifled breath, regarding her more closely. "Arturia?" He spoke the name that must have been on his mind from the moment he saw her.

A pleasant tingle travelled down the back of Arturia's neck at the smooth baritone of Shirou's voice. She sucked in a breath, and cleared her mind from any distractions to properly face the man before her.

"My name is Arturia Pendragon," she introduced before getting to the point. "And I'm not who you think I am. I just know things," she said weakly.

Shirou balled his hands into fists in doubt, but inclined his head all the same. "I'll take your word for it. It wouldn't be a miracle if it was this easy."

Arturia winced in sympathy. One look at Shirou, and she could tell that just looking at her caused his emotions to swell. What was it again? What had Merlin written?

Merlin had written about a boy who lost everything in a fire, and began a journey that would shape his very nature. The boy would grow into a man and get involved in a battle where his destined partner would fight by his side.

Arturia Pendragon. Merlin had some nerve to use her name lightly in the drafts for a new book that were now proving more real than Arturia could have ever imagined. The problem was, she didn't fancy telling Shirou that he was just some written up character.

Besides the obvious existential crisis this information may or may not impose, who would even believe that supernatural beings derived from their stories could manifest into reality? The irony of the question was lost to her because she had no idea what her own world defined as a 'Heretic God.' They were Gods, Heroes, and Monsters that have stepped out of their own myths to manifest in the human world.

In this world's terms, Shirou had stepped out of his legend. Rather than a proper Servant summoning through a Grail system, the laws of two worlds shifted to accommodate each other in such a way.

"Can you explain what's going on here? Or am I to assume you really are a home invader?" Arturia pursed her lips. She was still half doubtful at the turn of events, but no matter how she thought of it, there was no way a thief could just magically appear in front of her.

In proper terms from another world, Arturia didn't even measure up to a third-rate magus in understanding.

"Somehow it seems that the roles have switched, but fine. Let me explain what I know then," Shirou smiled wryly, a hint of irony in his tone.

Shirou began to speak, and in turn, Arturia silently listened. She learned of the use of the Command Spells on the back of her hand, and of the purpose of a Servant and Master. However, the one thing Shirou couldn't explain were his present circumstances. There was apparently no Holy Grail War being fought, nor did he receive some sort of directive to explain the purpose of his summoning. Instead, all that he was sure of was that he was her Servant, and she was his Master.

Arturia took several minutes to digest what she'd just heard, but a childish part of her kept glancing up at Shirou and distracting herself with unnecessary thoughts. The fact that she could essentially order him to do anything she wanted did funny things to her heart especially when he directed that smile at her. Her heart was practically doing gymnastic flips with how it threatened to leap out of her chest.

A noise startled her back into attention. Someone was trying to get into the shed who entrance got jammed when Shirou was summoned.

"Hide!" She yelled. There was no way she could explain Shirou's presence to her family, nor would they even believe something so far fetched.

At her prompting, Shirou merely nodded and did as asked.

Arturia blinked as Shirou just disappeared into a shower of golden light. So, that really was a thing then.

While staring dumbly at where Shirou used to be, the shed's front door was kicked open by a alarmed looking Kay. The scar over his right eye wouldn't have unnerved most people if his face was in a relaxed state, but right now he was glaring. His gaze was sharp from beneath his free-flowing blond bangs. He wasn't inexperienced in combat, and his glower deterred most aggressors away.

He was still dressed in his blue school uniform and the blazer was half-way unbuttoned from when he was trying to take it off before he had heard the commotion at the shed. There was a wooden sword in his right hand, and he looked like he was ready to fight after making preparations.

Upon seeing just Arturia, however; he deflated as the tension left him.

"K-Kay?" Arturia tried to play the matter off while composing herself to not look too suspicious. "What are you doing here?"

Kay hummed while putting aside the wooden sword and grinning. "What are you doing in here? It sounded like you set off a bomb." He snorted in humour. "Or did you just fart? All the food you've been eating must have gone somewhere, right."

At any other time, Kay's crude sense of humour would have been fine, but Arturia knew she wasn't alone right now. She was mortified.

"GET OUT!" She yelled in a fluster, appearing by Kay's side at an instant and roughly shoving him back from the foul depths he came from before closing the shed door on his face. "You're insufferable!"

"You know you love me!" Kay yelled from the other side before the sound of his steps receding indicated that he had left.

With Kay dealt with, Arturia hastily turned to look behind her just as Shirou rematerialized.

"It's not what you think!" She waved her hands frantically in front of her. "I-I don't eat that much- okay maybe a teensy bit more than average, but look at me. I'm fine." She made to grab at any loose belly fat to demonstrate that she didn't have any, but then realized what she was doing and nearly died from rapid blood flow.

Her cheeks felt hot, and a second later she began to stammer when she realized she focused only on the eating aspect of what Kay had said and not the other more important one.

Expectedly, Shirou was giving her an odd sort of look, but not for the reason she assumed.

Inwardly, Shirou was wondering if the sight of the Arturia before him would be how Saber would have been without the weight of her duties and oaths. In a way, it warmed his heart.

"I-It's not funny!" Arturia pointed accusingly at the small smile that played on Shirou's lips. "Kay's not funny. He's never funny! You shouldn't laugh at what he says. It's all untrue!" She spat in rapid fire, her collected demeanor shifting in her agitation before ending on a sputter when Shirou placed a palm over her head and tussled her hair.

She backed away like a startled cat, a hand fixing her ahoge in place.

"Have you calmed down?" Shirou said before crossing his arms. "Kay hasn't exactly left that far and you'll draw him back if you keep yelling. What will you tell him then? That you were yelling at the wall?"

It was a fair point, prompting Arturia to nod stiffly. "Let's find a different place to talk."

She watched Shirou agree before dematerializing into motes of golden dust.

"I'll move like this to prevent others from noticing," Shirou informed her directly through their connection as Master and Servant.

Startled, Arturia straightened her back and asked aloud. "How did you do that? How can I hear you in my head?"

"Our bond as Master as Servant allows us a channel to communicate. Simply think your thoughts with me in mind, and I will hear it."

Arturia shut her eyes and focused. "Like this?"

"Exactly like that."

"Neat," Arturia marveled at the supernatural display while reopening her eyes. At this point, she was already convinced about the concept of magic. "Then follow me."

Fixing her clothing, she gave one last stare towards the charred story drafts in the shed before deciding to clean it all up later. Her clothes were dirty, and she'd worked up a sweat on the way back from school. All she was focusing on right now was a hot shower and bath to relax herself and digest everything that had happened.

Walking into her house, she saw Kay lounging with a bag of chips in the living room and coldly ignored his presence, still miffed at him from earlier.

Kay just gave her a thumbs up as she passed.

Of her two elder brothers, Lancelot and Kay, the only one she could say that she confidently looked up to was Lancelot. Kay was just a bad role model and she'd made sure to impress this point onto the youngest, Bedivere, whom mustn't be tainted by Kay's antics.

"Hey Arturia!" Kay called out to her. She grumbled and stared at him flatly. "I'm ugh, sorry for before, so can you run down to the convenience store to restock the snack pantry? I'm already changed and you're still in uniform. I'll owe you one later."

The tired sigh that escaped her lips and her deadpan revealed her exasperation. Still, it wasn't as if she was going to refuse as there was a convenience store only five minutes away from the house. She'd just need to slip on her shoes by the door and make a small trip. Moreover, the credit card Kay tossed her meant that she wouldn't be using her money.

A vindictive light flickered across her eyes.

Nitpick about her appetite, will you? Well, lets see how many snacks she could eat for herself before going home?

A shiver traveled down Kay's back before he suddenly began clutching ominously at his wallet as if he'd made a mistake.

"O-On second thought, dear sister. I think I should do it myself, so hand back the card!" Kay hopped onto his feet, finally taking notice of the smugness on Arturia's face.

Kay instantly reaches for his credit card, but Arturia swipes it just far enough away from Kay's reach.

"Don't worry. I got this," She grinned cheerily until a voice sounded in her mind.

"I do not advise going out on your own anytime soon. I can sense a flurry of magical activity nearby, and the presence of others similar in nature to myself. Servants? I'm still not sure, but I'd rather gather information before acting out in any sort of way."

Shirou's warning lasted long enough to distract Arturia, and Kay managed to swipe his card back.

"Alright, bye!" Kay waved lightly at Arturia before changing clothes and heading out the door.

Left behind, Arturia didn't argue with Shirou's advice, and was actually feeling somewhat warm and light hearted. The care Shirou was going through in order to keep her safe was endearing.

Still, there were many questions she had in her mind, and doubts on whether she should explain Merlin's work or not. Admittedly, she was still trying to get used to Shirou being around her, and the implications his presence had in changing her world views wasn't small.

She shook her head and resumed walking. She'd think more about this while soaking in the bath to clear her mind. Speaking of which, she stopped abruptly when she got in front of her washroom door.

"Shirou?" She sounded out tentatively.

"Yes?" The reply came quickly.

"Are you still following me?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in his response. "I can't be certain of what dangers lie around us, so until I do, I've decided to guard you closely."

Arturia let out a long breath, and darted her eyes left and right trying to guess where Shirou was standing at the moment. Unable to see him, she dug her foot into the carpeted floor and crossed her arms indignantly.

"Does that means following me into the washroom?" She asked suspiciously.

Here, a long moment of awkward silence passed.

"I will look the other way." He almost sounded embarrassed.

The tips of Arturia's cheeks reddened at the implication of undressing in front of a man.

"Are you serious? What's next, you're going to sleep in my room next to me?"

"I will stand and keep guard. Sleep is a necessity for me, not a requirement, though it does allow me to recover lost energy to an extent."

Wasn't this just another way of saying that he was going to watch her sleep all night? In a certain way, Arturia was experiencing the same difficulties Shirou had with Saber. What can Shirou say though? He learned from the best.

"Why go so far?" Arturia pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Regardless, she didn't immediately grow mad or frustrated. Instead, she decided to hear Shirou out.

"You may not be her, but as my Master; no, as someone I wish to protect, I want to keep you safe." He said with earnest feelings. "Will you not let me?"

Ugh…

Arturia felt her common sense being crushed by the weight of sincerity. She thought on the matter, and then thought it over and over again until she came to a decision. She couldn't help but vaguely recall that something like this had happened in Merlin's story.

Shirou, he just wanted to protect her, and there was no way she could admonish him for that.

"My fate is your fate, and your fate is mine," she mumbled the cheesy words Merlin had written out. The meaning was to share in each others hardship and work together as one. "Fine. You can do as you like," she relented.

"You have my-"

She slammed the door of the washroom before Shirou could follow.

"But you're still not allowed to follow me into here," she grumbled, embarrassed.

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

A spectacled middle-aged man in a blue suit and tie walked down an area near Fuyuki while holding a cellphone to his ear. His black hair was tied into a pony tail behind him and kept short on the front. There was a stubble of a beard around his chin, giving others the impression of an overworked office executive.

In some ways, the man really was overworked.

His name was Amakasu Touma, a member of Japan's History Compilation Committee. It was a magic society based on Japan created for the protection of ordinary citizens and to obscure the existence of magic. One of its primary objectives is to deal with the damages incurred by the arrival of Heretic Gods who stray from their legends and cause chaos and ruin.

This was the result of a curse of madness that no Heretic God has ever really been able to break. A benevolent Hero, God, or Monster may become twisted under the curse once they materialize into the mortal plain. In such cases, they are unstoppable.

No ordinary man or woman could kill a God.

Even the entire Japan History Compilation Committee could not offer any sort of resistance, but there were certain beings that can. They were the adopted sons and daughters of Pandora and Prometheus: The Campione, humans who achieve the impossible and slayed a God to usurp their Authorities.

Campione were the natural enemy of Heretic Gods, and in a way, they attract each other.

With signs of an unprecedented arrival of a powerful Heretic God over Japan, the seven Campione in existence must have felt it.

Like moths to a flame, this incident could spark the beginning of a disaster beyond the scale of measurement. If a fight between a Campione and Heretic God occurred now, the destruction may prove too much to conceal.

Amakasu Touma groaned into the receiver of his cellphone.

"Are there anymore reports detailing the anomalies near the Fuyuki area?" He asked. "I've arrived on scene and am about to start an investigation. Have you made contact with the Seventh Campione? We'll need his cooperation in case this gets out of hand."

Amakasu waited for an answer, but could only sigh when he got a negative reply. "The Seventh Campione, Kusanagi Godou is attending Jounan Academy, yes? Have Lady Yuri or lady Ena made contact with him yet?"

Another negative from the phone prompted Amakasu to dejectedly hang up after a polite thank you. His eyes gleamed with unease.

The scale of the anomaly over Japan has attracted the interest of even the foreign magic institutes. The Copper and Bronze Black Cross organizations, each possessing Great Knights, were said to be in the midst of sending agents to investigate.

More importantly, knowledge had become widespread from the Witch and Seer of Witenagamot about a rather ominous prophecy.

[Steel that knows no bounds.]

[A garden of eve forever waiting.]

[A sword will shine at the world's end.]

Amakasu tipped his fedora over his brows and re-entered his car to investigate the disturbance at Fuyuki. Turbulent times were surely ahead.

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

Omake:

"What did the prophecy discern! What is the nature of this Heretic God?!"

"H-Harem Protagonist EX."

"Quick! Hide the women!"

"Nowhere is safe!"