Gojo and the blonde girl in the suit stared at each other. For a few tense seconds, it looked as though they were going to start a battle of pure intimidation right there on the sidewalk.
From a distance, they were locked in a standoff, though, truthfully, only Saber was doing the glaring. With the dark blindfold covering the man upper face, it was impossible to tell what the man was actually doing.
Saber didn't so much as blink. Her vivid green eyes were sharp, fixed on his relaxed posture for any sudden twitches or signs of hostility. She didn't break her sight of him for even a fraction of a second.
And yet, in the very next instant, he was standing directly in front of them.
He didn't run. He didn't jump. He simply disappeared from the other side of the street and appeared just a few meters away from them. He kept a very deliberate, respectable distance.
"Haha, I thought you would attack me in an instant," Gojo laughed, entirely unfazed by the sudden spike in the blonde girl's stance. "Though don't worry, I'm not here to fight. We have lots of time for that, don't you think? Just thought I'd like to say hello and all before all of this starts to go to hell, you know."
Saber immediately took a few measured steps back, shifting her body to completely cover Irisviel behind her, shielding the white-haired woman from any potential strike.
"You came here just to say hello," Saber stated, her voice laced with heavy skepticism.
"Well, not really," Gojo admitted, casually swinging Sakura's little legs where they dangled against his chest. "I was just wandering around when I noticed you two. So after that, I decided to come over here and say hello. Didn't even know I would be meeting another Servant so soon."
Saber didn't truly believe a word of his nonchalant attitude, but judging by his actions, she didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't attacking them. Her finely tuned instincts couldn't sense an ounce of malicious intent or bloodlust coming from him.
Furthermore, he hadn't closed the gap entirely; he purposefully kept a minimal distance so she wouldn't immediately assume he meant harm of any type.
From behind Saber's protective frame, Irisviel gently placed a gloved hand on the knight's tense shoulder.
"Hmm, I think he doesn't really mean any harm... for now," Irisviel murmured softly. "Otherwise, he would have attacked us already. And not to mention that kid on his shoulder."
Hearing Irisviel's assessment, Saber marginally relaxed her combat stance, though she absolutely kept her guard up.
"I see," Saber said coolly.
"What are you doing here?" Gojo asked, tilting his head. "Wandering around like me, or searching for Servants or things? Of course, you can tell me everything. You know I'm very good at keeping secrets."
Saber just looked at him. For a heroic spirit summoned for a bloody war to the death, he certainly seemed way too chatty.
Her sharp gaze flicked upward, landing on the little girl perched atop the giant man's shoulders. The child was silently clutching his white hair for balance, surrounded by a number of stuffed animals.
"You don't seem to like to chat, huh!" Gojo teased, ignoring the heavy silence. He then pointed a finger toward Irisviel. "Oh, hey, are you her Master?"
Irisviel didn't say anything. Even though the core of their strategy was for her to act as Saber's Master to draw enemy fire, confirming it straight to an enemy Servant's face could cause suspicion, or worse, trigger an immediate attack.
"I do not think we are really in a position to be talking so casually," Saber intercepted firmly. Her eyes narrowed as she looked closely at the little girl's exposed hands gripping Gojo's hair. "And by the mark on that kid's hand... she seems to be your Master. How could you be so careless to have her out here in the open and endanger her life? Don't you know what this is?!"
It was unmistakable for her to mistake. The jagged, blood-red strokes of a Command Spell were clearly visible on the back of Sakura's small right hand.
"Huh?!" Gojo blinked behind his blindfold, lifting a hand to rub his chin. "I might have to buy her some gloves to cover it." He then flashed a shark-like grin at Saber. "And says the one who is seemingly enjoying the surroundings and then lecturing me about roaming around. And isn't she your Master too? I mean, I don't see Command Spells on her hand... maybe it's on her body somewhere else."
Saber pressed her lips into a thin line. She couldn't argue with his logic, and Irisviel clearly felt the sting of the observation too.
They had been acting like tourists. And Gojo was right, if Irisviel was going to effectively act as the decoy Master, they would need to buy her gloves as well so enemy Servants wouldn't get suspicious about her lack of visible seals and lose their tactical advantage.
"And as for safety," Gojo continued, his tone dropping its playful edge for just a fraction of a second, replacing it with something deeply unshakeable, "you would know that if I'm openly going around so leisurely, I have confidence in keeping her safe and all. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here to begin with."
"You seem awfully confident in yourself," Saber noted, her green eyes analyzing him. "Is this one of your techniques too, that you suddenly appeared here from that side of the street?"
"Huh, you liked it?!" Gojo beamed. "It's pretty handy in certain... hmm, most situations, actually. Not gonna go too deep into it due to certain obvious reasons for now."
"I understand that. And I wasn't really expecting an answer to begin with," Saber replied smoothly. "But is it really alright with you to be using your technique so openly? I already have a pretty good idea of your ability now, or to a certain extent as to what it is."
Gojo paused, a genuine wave of surprise washing over him. Did she really figure it out just by seeing it once? he wondered.
"Well, just ask me again and I might tell you my technique's name and what it is..." Gojo said cheerfully. He stepped forward and extended his large right hand to shake hers. "...to introduce myself..."
Saber physically flinched. Was he seriously going to introduce his True Name to an enemy Servant so casually? She couldn't even think what was going through his head. Was he just so blindingly confident and arrogant that he thought revealing his identity wouldn't matter at all?
"...Just kidding," Gojo laughed, leaving his hand hanging in the space between them. "I mean, it's not that big of a secret, but let's hope we meet again and then I will tell you, hahaha. But really, I'm getting embarrassed here taking out my hand like that. It seems you aren't that good with handshakes for you to be thinking that much."
Before he could retract his hand, Saber's sense of chivalry took over. She reached out and firmly grasped his hand, shaking it.
"It is nice meeting you," Saber said earnestly. "I do not know what it is that sets you to be so confident and so open, but... it seems you do not mean any harm... at least for now. I apologize for my previous behavior. And as for introducing myself... I too cannot do that for obvious reasons."
"Yeah, yeah… servant name linked to their history, blah blah blah, their identity gets revealed, blah blah blah, their technique and weakness, blah and blah. I understand. No problem." He squeezed her hand lightly before letting go.
"Ohh… you got a good strong grip, huh. Well, how about food? You interested? There is a diner just nearby... let's eat something there."
Saber stared at him. To be inviting an enemy Servant and their Master to eat in a diner, knowing full well they were bound by the Grail to kill each other later... it sounded ominously like offering a final meal before an execution.
Saber shook her head firmly. "I apologize, but I don't think we are in a position to be doing that now. And we have to go now. We are in a hurry."
Gojo immediately pushed his bottom lip out, making a face like a petulant child angry at an adult for refusing a ridiculous request.
"Huh, what do you mean?" he complained loudly. "Who said enemies can't go out to eat before fighting? I mean, I understand we don't have to eat... but eating is good too, you know."
While this bizarre exchange was going on, Irisviel simply stood perfectly still behind Saber. She didn't say a single word, mostly because she was completely and utterly lost on how to handle the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Saber, completely taken aback by how pushy the giant man was being over a casual lunch, furrowed her brow. "Why are you being like this?"
"Like what?" Gojo asked innocently.
Saber sighed, deciding it wasn't worth the headache. She dropped it. "Nothing. But no, we cannot go to eat. We have somewhere important to go."
"Haah..." Gojo dramatically deflated, letting his shoulders slump. "Tsk tsk… Well, too bad for you. Their pastries were really good, not to mention the pancakes."
…
A/N: Tsk tsk…