Chapter Text
It was the second night of the Holy Grail War, and things seemed to be escalating quickly. Rider was the first to go, and next was Assassin (that one being my doing). Assassin and her master put up quite a fight earlier that night, the battle drawn out and tearing up an old park. The battle was a success, and I came out with nothing but minor injuries. My master, Minori, was not as fortunate in her battle against Assasin's master, who proved to be tougher than expected. There was a deep cut along her shoulder, not too serious, but it would keep her in bed for a bit. It was her friend, Kashima, who helped prevent any further injury.
In the short time I've known her, Minori has proven to be a tempered, hard headed young woman, who in the heat of battle seemed to dive in without hesitation. Her companion, Kashima, on the hand, was the exact opposite, calm and level headed. He seemed to have known Minori for years, and was accustomed to dealing with her fiery personality. In battle their two styles blended together nicely, forming a powerful duo. Honestly, I was surprised that Minori was a master and not Kashima. Kashima seemed more of the master type. Not that Minori wasn't a good master, not in the slightest. Her plan against Assassin and her master was brilliant, and was executed almost perfectly. Almost.
"I told you it was nothing!" Minori said, swatting Kashima's hand away. He had already taken care of the injury on her shoulder, and was now trying to tend to a small cut on her forehead.
"Minori." Kashima said sternly. He was a few years older than the twenty-year old girl, but the way his hard voice shut her up made the age gap seem bigger. Minori sighed in surrender, and Kashima began to tend to her wound. When he was done she relaxed back onto her bed with her eyes closed, head sinking into her pillow.
I looked at the injured girl, and a pang of guilt hit me. It's my job to protect her, and I let her down.
With a small sigh, I bowed, "I apologize for not protecting you, and not doing my job correctly." The feeling of disappointment in myself burrowed its way deep in me.
Minori's eyes opened with my words. Her usual eyes bright with emotion softened as she looked upon my bowed figure. "Archer, the order I gave you was to kill Assassin, which you accomplished flawlessly. I count tonight as a great success." A smirk slid it's way onto her face, and she waved her hand, "Besides, it was just a little scratch."
"A little?" Kashima and I spoke in unison.
"The point is, I'll be fine."
Kashima grunted a laugh, "Not at the rate you're going."
Minori shot him a glare before focusing her attention back on me. "Archer, I think you should do a bit of scouting before morning, if you're up for it. Kashima and I should be fine here."
Giving her a soft smile, I did another quick bow, "Of course, Master." Then I retreated away into spirit form.
Heading out into the city, I let myself relax a little for the first time that night. The bound field around Minori's house was strong, she had Kashima with her, I was fairly certain no other servant knew where she resided, and I no longer had Assassin to worry about. It was a good beginning.
Gaining a good view point of the city, I looked out with wiry eyes. After a moment of nothing, I was getting ready to move, but then something caught my eye. Blue. I couldn't help the smirk that made its way onto my face. The thrum of my blood banishing the tiredness away from my body. Summoning my bow, my smirk widened. Drawing an arrow back, I sent it flying towards the blue lancer.
He froze as my arrow whizzed past his head, penetrating the wall beside him. "Tsk," Cu yanked the arrow out of the wall, "Is it just me, or has your aim worsened over the years." then snapped it between his fingers. "Seems you're getting sloppy," Cu glanced over at me, sharp canines gleaming in the moonlight, "Emiya~"
A chill ran down my back, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I hated when he said my name that way, with that drawn out ring, which is exactly why he loved it. "Sometimes I regret telling you my name. It gets annoying hearing you say it like that." I let my bow disappear, and walked towards Cu who was now casually leaning on his spear.
"Oh, don't pretend you don't love it." Turning my head away a little, I rolled my eyes as a response. This only made his smile deepen, "What, at a loss for words?"
Letting my two swords materialize in my palms, I held them tight as I fell into my fighting stance. "I prefer to let my blades do the talking."
Cu sighed, "Always getting straight to the point, aren't you Emiya~"
Spinning Gae Bolg in his hands, he gave it a little more flourish than necessary. "I know the Grail War has a lot of rules, but you are allowed to speak."
Chuckling, I got ready to make my move, "I think you do enough talking for the both of us." I moved quick and hard. Even though his stance looked quite relaxed, his counter was perfect, blocking and driving at me with full force.
And so another battle in our war began. Unlike Cu, I never really enjoyed fighting, it was more of a necessity than a pleasure. But when I fought Cu, the excitement running through my veins was intoxicating. Every movement, every ring of clashing blades thrilled me. With everything in me, I've always hated the fight, the pain, the death, but with Cu it's different. Our fights were something more. Something unique. Something beautiful. Something perfect.
After my attack, Cu came back strong with a thrust, the only way I could block it was to bend back. I lost my balance, stumbling backwards a bit. Tsk, not a good start. While I tried to grow the space between us, he was eager to close it. The air between us was suffocated as he came in with another attack. I caught his spear with my blades, stopping his thrust, but he never stopped his pursuit, pressing closer to me. With blades crossed, our chests were almost touching, and our panting breaths mingling. His bright red eyes stared straight into mine, crinkling slightly at the corners from the grin that still hadn't left his face. A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as he threatened to come even closer, but one of my quivering blades began to crack. Noticing this, I shifted my weight away from the blade, side stepping while the sword shattered out of existence. Cu slid forward as I stepped away, allowing me to gain some more standing in the battle.
The skirmish continued, our movements mingling together till they seemed to be one. Blade after blade was broken, and with years of projection practice, they were replaced almost instantly. As the fifthteenth blade broke, it startled Cu causing him to slip up. An opening was laid before me, and I drove a sturdy kick into the other man's side, sending him flying into the wall. Bent over in the rubble of the wall, Cu growled out, "You and those damn blades really piss me off sometimes."
"Only sometimes? Seems I've made improvement."
Cu grunted a laugh, "Well, I can't help it if you've grown on me a little." For a moment, I saw something in his eyes as he looked at me. It was different, and, well... softer. Then, just like that it was gone, replaced by his usual bloodlust glow.
"If you're not careful, you may just get too attached." I joked.
"Ha! Maybe!"
I had no time to react to his reply as he jumped from the wall, barreling towards me in a blue blur. His attack jump started a quarrel of blades, where he came out on top. Gae Bolg had smashed into my arm at some point of the fight, breaking something inside. I hissed in pain as I tried to retreat, but Cu wasn't that generous. Thrusting forward, his body collided with mine, tackling me to the ground. He pinned my hands down above my head, his arm pressing against my good arm, and his hand holding down the broken. Though the force on my good arm was strong, he was being surprisingly gentle with the broken. The other man laid on top of me, not a centimeter of space between us. I could feel every heave of the chest that was pressed against mine, and with Cu's legs tangled with mine, each movement and twitch in his muscles seemed to echo through me. Even our noses were almost touching. Cu's free hand gripped Gae Bolg, and moved the tip to my neck.
He'd pinned me down, and I knew death came next. I didn't fear it, no I just felt disappointed in myself. I'm sorry, Minori, for letting you down. It was never a pleasant feeling to let down a master. And to make things worse, it was Cu who bested me. Yes, it had happened several times before, but dying by his hand always made me seethe. And the thing is the blue bastard was probably loving every second of this!
With a deep breath I closed my eyes and got ready for him to run his spear through me... but the pain never came. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw were his eyes staring intently into mine. His face straight and serious, inches from mine. He hadn't moved, hadn't said a word, just laid on top of me with eyes searching mine. I felt goosebumps over take my body, my senses on fire. I was now uncomfortably aware of the close proximity of our bodies, and it took everything in my power not to squirm with each small movement in his muscles. My cheeks felt hot, and with the thought of a blush, I could feel them grow brighter.
In all honesty, I didn't know what was happening. It was a mystery as to why I wasn't dead, and he was letting off no answer. I couldn't get up, and with my tongue caught in my throat, I couldn't speak. My only option was to stare back, but that wasn't very difficult with those ruby pools drawing me in. Cu seemed to be lost in thought as we lay there in the silence, till he finally spoke. "I won."
"What?"
"Admit it, I won"
"What are you talking-- Why am I alive!?"
"Just say it," I felt Gae Bolg stab into me slightly, "Say 'Cu, you won'."
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Oh, you just want to rub it in before you skewer me." I began to struggle against him, my body begging to move. "Well that won't--"
"Emiya!" Cu's grip on my wrist increased, and his voice stern, drained of any humor. Any need my body had to resist vanished.
Something's actually wrong with him. "I need you to acknowledge that this battle is over and that I won."
I was silent for a moment before I released the question that was burning my tongue. "Cu... what's wrong?"
Cu's eyes widened with surprise before they softened. A small smile even played at the corners of his lips, and I could feel the vibration of his soft chuckle. "Just repeat after me, Cu...?" He stared expectantly at me.
Seeing as I had no other real option, I sighed, "...Cu..." replying dully.
His smile widened, "You?"
"You."
"Won." he practically sang.
With gritted teeth, I finished, "...Won..." He gave me a satisfied smile while looking down at me. Suddenly, his eyes left mine, tracing my features. I felt a blush arise for the second time that night. Looking to the side, I said, "Now could you get the hell off me!?"
He sighed, "I guess if you really want me to, Emiya~" Cu let Gae Bolg dissolve, and managed to find the longest possible route when sliding off me. It was doing nothing to help the heat in my cheeks go down. I was glad when his chest wasn't pressed against mine, so that he couldn't feel my heart pounding against my ribs.
The second he was off, I scrambled to my feet, and turned my back to him. With some deep calming breaths, I tried to bring down the heat in my face. Why was I acting this way? Something about Cu tonight was making me so... flustered. I don't know what was going on with him, or me even.
Taking one more breath, I turned around to face him. He was kicking a rock in thought, and I watched him with knitted brows. Cradling my broken arm to my chest, I cleared my throat to get his attention. Cu's eyes instantly jumped to me. "Now, care to explain what the hell is going on in your brain right now?"
His eyes widened then dropped. "Oh...well..." He gave a nervous chuckle. Wait... nervous? I saw it now; arms crossed, eyes scouring the ground, nibbling at his bottom lip. Cu Chulainn was nervous! I'd seen that man run head first to his death with a grin on his face, nothing made him nervous. Yet here he was, showing every sign. This made me genuinely frightened. "I've been needing to talk to you."
"Talk to me about what?" I asked cautiously.
Cu opened his mouth to speak, but bit down on his lip. He finally met eyes with me then tried speaking again. "Just... talk." I didn't believe it for a second, but I'd roll with it if it at least helped him wind down a bit.
I laughed a bit, "Break a man's arm, then invite him to chat. Interesting path, Cu."
Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at my arm with concern, "Sorry about that." My eyebrow seemed to raise by itself. In past Grail Wars, he smiled at just the thought of my death, why was he acting so different? I moved over to the broken wall sitting down against it, my ankles crossed in front of me. It was tiring fighting two servants in one night. Giving Cu a soft smile, I patted the cement beside me. He sat by me, legs bent so he could rest his arms atop them.
"So what's been bugging your mind enough, you're willing to chat with your enemy?"
Cu made a face as I said the word 'enemy'. "Are we really enemies though?"
"Oh, no, I guess we always just try to kill each other for fun." He smirked at my dry tone.
"I'm saying, yes we're enemies in terms of the Grail War, but we've known one another long enough that we're kinda... sorta... friends. Right?"
"Hmm, I suppose we are 'kinda sorta friends'." Cu gave me a satisfied smile for my response.
"Now on a more serious note," I turned to him with a hardened face, "What was that 'I won' bullshit you pulled about?"
My glare didn't seem to faze him. "Oh, I just wanted to make sure you understood our fight was over, and wouldn't attack me the moment I let you go."
"You know you could have just started with 'hey, Emiya, can we talk for a minute?'"
He shrugged with a lazy smirk, "The other way seemed more fun."
With the combination of punching his arm and glaring, I think I portrayed my feelings very clearly. "Tsk," he clicked his tongue, "Always so violent. You know, sometimes I wonder what to do with you." Rolling my eyes, I leaned my head against the wall with a sigh, letting my eyes close.
Technically, servants didn't need sleep, but right now, a nap sounded like heaven. I would go back to Minori's house and rest, but Cu wanted to talk, so I'd stay. "Tired, Emiya~?"
"No," I muttered, eyes still closed. He never said anything after, but I suddenly felt his hand guide my head to his shoulder. My body stiffened at first, but I soon relaxed. I suddenly realized his armor should be in the way. I peeked an eye open to see he had let his armor dissolve into regular clothes. He was now wearing that horrible Hawiian shirt he seemed to love so much. I chuckled, and before I realized what I was doing, nuzzled my head more comfortably into Cu's shoulder. Cu rested his cheek against the top of my head, and it actually felt very... well... nice. I could feel myself dozing off leaned against the other man. Then I remembered why I was here. "What would you like to talk about?" I spoke with eyes still closed.
"Well..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts, "Do you know how you will randomly remember a memory. Just a memory that you had forgotten about for years, then it suddenly pops up?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's been happening to me alot lately, and the memories that have been popping up... well I'm not sure they actually happened."
I frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I'm saying, I can imagine the scene in full detail, they feel real, but when I look through my life I can't figure out where the memories fit. And the thing is, I don't think what's in the memories are actually... possible."
"Not possible? What are your memories about?" Cu went silent, and I peeked an eye up at him. It was a surprise to find he was looking at me, brows furrowed. I tried to lift my head up to fully look at him, but he pushed it back down, keeping his hand on my cheek to secure it. I asked for a second time, "What's the matter? What's in those memories, Cu?"
With an exasperated sigh, Cu buried his face in my hair, as if he could use it as a shield from something. He was quiet for a moment, until he muttered into my hair. "Emiya," he sighed, "...you're in my memories." For a moment, I thought I heard him wrong, but the more I thought about it, the more I was sure I didn't. I wanted to lift my head again, but Cu was now hugging my head to his face. I couldn't see his face, and he didn't want me to.
"Are these memories of other Grail Wars?"
"No.... they're of my life."
"Hmm..." was all I said, I didn't know what to say. I collected my thoughts for a moment. Besides the Grail Wars, I had no memories of him, and it couldn't have been while I was alive. But in my afterlife... it actually could be possible.
Cu's stale laugh brought me from my thoughts, "You must think I'm crazy now."
My tongue slipped before I could catch it, "No, I've always known you were crazy." He gave another laugh, but sounded sad, muffled against my hair. I lowered my voice in a softer tone, "Cu, I don't think you're crazy. I believe you." I felt his shoulder relax a little. "Honestly, it could actually be possible."
He gave a small gasp to my words, "Really, you think so?"
"Yes." I murmured sleepily. Cu's shoulder was surprisingly comfortable, and his face and arm made a cocoon of warmth around my head. With the cool night air, there was a sharp contrast between the temperature of my head and the rest of my body. It made me cold. I positioned myself a little closer to Cu, and it was just then that I realized how warm he was. Thinking back, Cu always seemed to be a little warmer than everybody else, and right now, the heat of his body felt good. Cu hummed softly against my head as I snuggled closer to him. The sweet dark edges of sleep were now closing in on me.
"This is nice." Cu's voice was distant now, and I just hummed a response. "You know, it wasn't the memories themselves that really interested me, but rather what they were about."
I hummed again, "And what's that...?"
He began speaking in gentle murmurs. I felt bad for not listening to his words, but his soft voice put me to sleep.
I fell into a dreamless sleep, and I don't know how long it was until I heard Cu's voice. "Emiya, Emiya!" His voice was soft but stern as he shook me awake.
"Hmm?"
"Someone's coming." With his words, I was up and alert instantly. Once I was off his shoulder, his armor re-materialized. Scrambling to our feet, I could feel the presence too. Scanning the darkness, I summoned my swords. From the corner of my eye, I saw the red glint of Gae Bolg. I could feel the servants gaze on us. My eyes were still a little hazy from sleep, it was difficult to focus them.
What happened next came so fast, I had no time to react. What I assumed to be Saber lept from a corner with speed you'd expect from the lancer class. Sword drawn driving straight towards me. It was too fast for me to run, too strong to block with my bades, I had one option. Rho Aias was forming on my tongue, when I was shoved out of the way. Looking up from the ground, I found Saber's sword pierced through Cu's body, a good length of the blade sticking out from either end of Cu.The three of us shared a moment of shock by what had just accrued. After a second, the shock I felt boiled into anger towards Cu. What was that idiot doing!? Saber was out of shock too, and she ripped his blade from Cu in a brutal fashion. My anger left Cu, and was directed towards Saber, burning hot. I was furious! The words of my incantation left my mouth without thought, my world blinded by red. Cu grunted in pain as he collapsed, Saber's attention was fully on me now as I finished the words "So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"
My reality marble formed around the three of us, sky clouded with gears above and desolate sand below. With a quick glance around at the hills of swords, Saber swung her blade, flicking Cu's blood from it. The sight disgusted me even more, I couldn't help the snarl that made its way onto my face. I was on my feet now, blades in hand, an icy glare set on Saber. The woman looked at me, a cocky amused smirk on her face. It reminded me of a certain gold archer I once had the misfortune of knowing. And here I was thinking she couldn't piss me off any more than she already has. I wouldn't hold back any longer, blades shot up from the ground racing towards Saber. Her sword was at the ready, blocking every strike. I had to admit, her reflexes and control over her blade was impeccable. She was fast, and when watching her stab Cu, I could tell she was strong. The best way I could win this fight was to keep my distance, and overwhelm her.
I lept back as she pursued, sending a trail of swords darting down in front of me. She cut through them with ease, each counter perfect. We fell into a repeated pattern of this; me trying to gain distance, and her closing it. It was her sword, it was too fast for me. I needed some kind of distraction, something to keep her sword busy so my blades could do their work. But with the condition I was in, I knew if I attacked she'd overwhelm me. That was just it... With a deep breath I ran towards her, my blades instantly broken in the fight, and just as I predicted, she sent her blade through my side, a victorious grin on her face. Taking all my strength, I grabbed onto her wrist, keeping her and her sword imobil. There was nothing she could do to stop the six blades that pierced her back and legs. Shock filled her eyes as I pushed off of her sword, my side burning in pain. To end the battle, I ordered a sword to move. Flicking from the ground, the sword spun in the air before driving into sabers forehead. It gave me no pleasure to watch those eyes turn cold, and her body disappearing into blue motes.
With Saber gone, my mind instantly went to Cu. I looked over and thankfully he was still there, on the ground, bracing himself with the hilt of one of my swords. Forgetting about my own pain, I went to him. I knelt beside him, holding him against my chest. Examining his body, it hurt just to look at his wound. Saber had left a jagged hole straight through him. Squeezing his shoulder, it took effort to move my eyes from his stomach, and to his face. His eyes were locked on mine, and when my gaze met his, a small smile formed on his lips. "Hey, Emiya~"
I couldn't help but return the smile, "Hey, Cu."
His gaze left my eyes, traveling to my side. Lifting a hand, he gently stroked it, frowning down at the blood on his fingers. "You're hurt." Squeezing his hand, I moved it from my side.
"Don't focus on that."
Cu's eyes moved back to mine, turning dark. "That was reckless using your body like that. Don't do it again,"
I scoffed at his comment, "I'm reckless? What about you? What was that stunt you pulled pushing me out of the way?"
"I... I don't know." He grunted a laugh, "Call it my 'heroic instinct' I guess."
I shook my head, "Cu, you're not supposed to save your enemies."
"I know, but you are supposed to save your friends," His words took me by surprise. His eyes so soft, and his smile... I felt something in that moment, I don't know what, but it was something. Cu, looked down at my hand holding his. He turned his hand so that he could squeeze mine back. "I know you fell asleep when I was going to tell you what the memories were about." His eyes never left our hands, and parts of him were starting to dematerialize. "Next war, find me. It's important."
"Alright."
He stared at my hand in thought, then looked at me. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he lifted my hand to his lips placing a ginger kiss on it's back. I froze at the simple sensation of his lips pressing against my skin. Chuckling, his lips never left my hand. "You're always so adorable when you blush." Goosebumps tingled my arms and back with every movement of his lips. I didn't even feel the heat in my cheeks, I was too focused on the heat on my hand. He was almost completely faded now.
"Cu..." His name came out breathier than I intended. Cu rubbed his cheek against my chest, placing a small kiss on each of my lower knuckles.
"I'll be waiting for you, Emiya~" He murmured, lips brushing my skin. With one last kiss, he disappeared, blue specks floating towards the sky.
I don't know when my reality marble faded, all I could do was stare at my hand remembering every gentle touch of Cu's lips.
Cu kissed my hand... Cu kissed my hand... Cu. Kissed. My. Hand. A single sentence repeated in my head, accompanied by a memory that played on loop. It was all taking its dear sweet time to sink in. Emotions raged through me; joy, anger, delight, frustration, but most of all, confusion. Part of me was having trouble processing what Cu did, and what it ment. The other half was having trouble sorting through my emotions, trying to interpret the damn things. And so I sat there on the cement like an idiot, trying to figure out what the hell was happening! "Damn it, Cu!" I muttered.
I was pulled away from those thoughts when I saw the edges of my hand fading. The wound in my side was worse than I thought, and with all the mana I expended throughout the night, I was barely clinging on.
Looking up at the rising sun, I let its comforting rays sink into my skin, focusing on warmth they brought. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes. I wanted to sleep, get away from everything, and just fall into a moment of nothingness. Hmph... If only. Letting my body completely relax, I fell forward, shattering into hundreds of blue motes before I hit the ground.