That night, I awoke with a start. There was a foreign weight on me. Something-... no, someone was sitting on top of me. The faint moonlight filtering through the open window made it abundantly clear that that someone was a girl.
Her long white hair fell to her sides, shimmering ethereally in the moonlight. Her grey eyes were the colour of madness. That was all I noticed in my stupour before the absurdity of the situation hit me. I was in a hospital, on the thirteenth floor, and there was someone atop my manhood in the middle of the night, dressed like a goth lolita.
This bi... She was rubbing herself on me!
"Ahn~, I was wondering when you'd wake up!"
What in the actual fu-
I had expected a lot from this new life. However, I most certainly did not expect an encounter with some weird sex-pervert on the second day.
"Who?"
"I'm clos-"
"Hell no!"
I gripped her by the arm and roughly yanked her to the side. She let out an excited gasp. I pressed my forearm against her throat, before pushing down with the entirety of my bodily weight. My arm got jumbled up in her excessively long hair in the attempt.
"How forceful~." She gasped for air, though there was an excited grin splitting her lips instead of any discomfort, "I don't dislike men like you. I can feel you-"
I was not aroused. No, my very being knew that this girl-... this creature, was immensely dangerous. A threat to my life.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Can't you see?" She giggled, "I'm just an innocent girl who saw someone she liked and couldn't help herself! Kya! Don't make me say it!"
Her shrill voice seemed to draw no reaction at all from the other sleeping patients in the ward. Disturbed, I glanced at Tsumiki to find her fast asleep as well.
There was definitely something off here.
The unfamiliar girl continued to squirm under me, letting out strange noises as her breathing grew more and more laboured, "Won't you do anything?"
"Who are you?" I repeated calmly.
For a moment, there was only the noise of beeping heart monitors. Then, she sighed. "Oh what a boor~, doing nothing at all when I'm throwing myself at you."
Was it some kind of magic? A cursed technique? If I had the Ten Shadows, it was only natural that others might have their own abilities as well. That possibility was one I accepted immediately.
"Well, will you let me go?"
I narrowed my eyes. There was no other choice. No, instead, this could be my chance to get more information.
With a deep breath, I let myself be submerged into the shadows around us. Light flickered, and the world seemed to zoom out and distort as I quickly moved to the far end of the room.
Though I'd never done it before, the process felt natural, as though it had been ingrained into my being.
"Oh? A magus?" The girl jerked up just as I re-appeared, poking her cheek with a dainty finger. "Could have fooled me. It's been a long while since that happened. Hey, are you sure you don't want to do something?"
Her hands crept to her top, tugging at the bodice of her black-and-white striped tube top. I brought my own hands together such that they cast the shadow of a dog with an open maw.
"What even are you?"
Her short white skirt was open at the front, leaving the garterbelt connected to her stockings in full view. Instead of someone I was to be afraid of for a cursed technique, I found myself fearing for my chastity and organs.
To begin with, this entire situation made no sense. I was sure I hadn't done anything prominent-
"Well I heard someone summoned a monster and just happened to be passing by, but boy am I glad I did!" She squealed giddily, fidgeting and squirming, "You, you're a master for the Holy Grail War! Take that, old insect!"
Oh.
"I went to Fuyuki, but there was a super scary priest there, and that stodgy geezer Zouken didn't even let me enter the city this time!" She complained incessantly as she dropped one bomb after the other, "And now, now I'm being chased by stupid Scarred Red! She keeps wasting my bodies. Seriously, where's a girl to get that many replacements? It's very very painful too!"
...
Fuyuki... Zouken... I recognised that last name.
My eyes widened. "I'm a master?"
"Those are command seals on your arm, aren't they, silly?"
Zouken, Fuyuki, command seals, master... I was in Fate? But the Ten Shadows didn't-... That explained the distinct lack of Cursed Spirits.
Unfortunately, my familiarity with Fate came from the Unlimited Blade Works anime, the one notorious for its cut content. I'd always ended up deciding against delving further into the series due to how complicated everyone claimed it was but... even I knew that Fate was widely regarded as one of the most dangerous worlds.
I'd even heard something about world-ending threats in the other installments.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little, feeling like I should cry. After all, I didn't know much-
"Why do you look like someone stole the last cookie?" The girl asked curiously, tilting her head the other way this time. "Ah nevermind, our meeting... It has to be fate! Aren't you happy? I imagine you'll be heading to Fuyuki soon. Do you think you can do a cute girl a favor?"
Most of the words she spoke fell on deaf ears, mostly because of confusion. I wasn't afraid, not truly, but that was due to my sheer lack of awareness regarding this world I'd apparently found myself in. I did not understand if I was to be elated or afeared, or both.
In the end, I decided to do what I usually did when faced with that kind of situation.
I'd think about it later.
For now, I remembered that most magi were notoriously ruthless and cunning. Save for a few black sheep, none of them had something even remotely resembling compassion.
I chose my words carefully.
"You're a magus too then, like me?"
"Ah, a secret admirer perhaps?! Fret not, I won't hide my name! Francesca Prelati!" Suddenly, she was jumping up to stand on the bed. The unfamiliar magus held either end of her short skirt, and bowed with one leg behind the other, "Pleased to make your acquaintance!"
I... failed to recognise that name.
"You don't have to be that serious. I'm not going to ask you to kill someone for me."
My eyes wandered to Tsumiki's sleeping figure lying near this unreasonable person's feet.
"Do you care for her~?"
My breath hitched and my face tightened.
I did not. I did. The thought of her getting hurt, or being in danger, was both displeasing and satisfying to some secluded part of my heart. I wanted her to be safe. I wanted her to suffer. I did not care for her at all.
Huh... my two lives were mingling in a way I could not appreciate.
I lied through my teeth, "No. I don't. But I can't let you hurt someone for no reason."
She was someone who had nothing at all to do with my life, so it was not right for her to get involved in any way. That was the decision I made before I pressed my hands tighter together.
The shadows took the shape of man-eating beasts with jagged maws.
When she noticed them, the white-haired magus began waving her hands around frantically, "Wait! Wait! Stop! I won't hurt her! Pinky promise! I just want information! You're going to the war anyway, I want you to tell me everything about it if you make it out alive. A straightforward deal, no?"
Hm... I did need resources more than anything right now.
The shadows began to retreat.
"What's the compensation?"
"Money? Ingredients? Women? Land? Whatever you want! You can even have..." Her hands wandered over her belly, slowly reaching further and further down, "M~E!"
She squealed again.
"I'll take the money." I shot her down without a second thought.
The weird pervert deflated and puffed up her cheeks. "How boring! Hmph!"
"You're not my type."
That was my reasoning, plain and simple.
"Oh? I can get a new body. All. For. You."
"No thanks."
Francesca made to speak again, but stopped herself short, swerving her head to stare at the doorframe instead. Listening closely, I was able to make out the sound of footsteps outside. Footsteps that were getting closer by the second.
"That'll be Scarred Red. Mou~! How does she keep finding me?!"
Before I could ask, she flew off the bed and tip-toed over to the window, plopping down on the frame. Just as the footsteps stopped in front of the door, she gave me a mock salute.
"Later then~!"
She fell back, unconcerned with the sheer height of the drop. Instead of giving chase, I turned my attention to the doorframe.
That person, whoever she had fled from, was still there. I heard the door handle being twisted and prepared myself for a fight. A fight that never came. As easily as they'd come, the person outside left and their footsteps grew fainter until I could no longer hear them.
Once the adrenaline wore off, I realised that my injuries no longer affected me. What remained was mere phantom pain under the bandages and cast.
In silence, I stared at 'my' sleeping sister.
Fate... I was in Fate.
I had to leave her.
She could go back, feel betrayed or whatever, it didn't matter. That was infinitely better than whatever awaited her if I made an enemy of the wrong person. At the same time, it was getting harder and harder to not lash out at her for seemingly no reason at all for myself as well.
Yes, cutting myself off seemed the right choice. They'd abandoned m-
I didn't need these feelings and dilemmas, not right now.
Pursing my lips, I pushed my frustration down and turned to leave. Not too keen on troubling the safe, I blended with the shadows, blurring past flights of stairs and haunting white corridors until I stood outside the hospital compound entirely.
Indeed, using my abilities was as exciting as I imagined.
My isekai adventure had finally begun.
I only hoped it was more of those dime-a-dozen isekais with the long titles instead of Re: Zero.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Please, don't forget to comment so I can get that dopamine hit and write even more.
As usual, you can find a couple chaps ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap
Still 5, working on it.