(Attendance… plz…)
….
Iskander was in spirit form behind Waver. Invisible. And Caster was staring straight at him.
Not in his general direction, not at the empty space where his voice might come from. At him, with behind those black glasses pointed right at his face like spirit form meant nothing to his eyes.
That alone told Iskander plenty of things. A Servant who could see through spirit form, some kind of detection or perception spell and that too a high level, thus was more than worthy of his class title.
What surprised him more was that Caster was out here at all, just walking around in the open when every other Master and Servant in Fuyuki had been told to hunt him down.
Though it made sense once he thought about it. The hunt was against Caster himself, and his Master probably hadn't been at the Church meeting, so neither of them would know.
"It's King of Conquerors," Iskander said, keeping his voice even despite the curiosity building in his chest. "Not Conjurer. Conquerors."
Gojo didn't look apologetic or even blinked. He tilted his head like he was thinking about it for a second, then said, "Oh, was that it? They sound pretty much the same to me." He scratched his cheek. "Actually, I think Conjurer sounds scarier and better like those horror movies. Maybe try that one instead."
Iskander's mouth opened, then closed. He wasn't sure if Caster was messing with him or genuinely didn't care. Both felt equally likely.
Gojo's eyes drifted downward to the boy still sitting on the sidewalk. Waver hadn't moved and hadn't even tried to stand up. His palms were flat against the concrete behind him like he was ready to crab-walk away at any second, and his face had gone the color of old paper.
Probably thinking something like, 'Why is my luck so bad?'
"You look scared," Gojo said, looking at his face and expression. He paused, and then changed his words. "No, you are scared. Like, properly scared." He leaned down a little, hands in his pockets. "That teacher of yours really did a number on you, huh? Still haven't shaken it off."
Waver flinched.
Iskander watched the exchange with a different kind of interest now. Caster's tone wasn't threatening or like mocking either, really. It was closer to the way someone might point out that you had food on your face.
Matter-of-fact, a little bit casual considering them being enemies. Which somehow made it worse for the boy, judging by the way his shoulders pulled in tighter.
"You're awfully cheery for someone who's being hunted down," Iskander said. He let the words sit for a second before adding, "Though I suppose you wouldn't know about that. Of course you wouldn't."
Gojo blinked. "Hunted?"
That got his attention. The lazy tilt of his head straightened out, and for the first time in the conversation he actually looked like he was paying full attention rather than just playing along.
"That's new," he said, tapping his chin with one finger. "Why am I being hunted? And are you here to fight me too?"
Waver finally found his voice like fjnally regustering and processing everything, though it came out as more of a wheeze. "He's here. He's here, Iskander." His fingers dug into the pavement behind him, as he went behind like cockroach.
Iskander frowned. Something about this whole situation felt off. Caster didn't look like someone who had been dodging kill squads all day, so he probably hadn't met any other master or servants yet.
He looked like someone who had been out for a walk and happened to bump into an acquaintance.
Which is exactly what had happened, if one think about it.
Gojo, for his part, was watching Waver with his head tilted again. He didn't seem annoyed or amused anymore. But more of confused.
The kid had a Servant right next to him. In spirit form, sure, but right there. Close enough to materialize and fight in under a second if things went bad. So why was he this terrified?
Gojo didn't remember doing anything to him. He didn't remember even talking to him before today.
"So I don't know what's going on here," Gojo said slowly, "and I don't know what you mean about some church or me being hunted, but..." He paused. His eyes narrowed.
"Don't tell me. Is Saber hunting me down because I corrected her grammar? Or because I called her a girl?" He threw his hands up. "Is that something worth starting a witch hunt over? Really? And weren't you also making fun of her?"
Iskander ignored the Saber comment. His eyes had moved to the girl.
She was small and young. Couldn't have been older than five or six. One hand was holding onto Gojo's index finger the way a child holds onto a parent's hand in a crowded place, and she was looking up at the space where Iskander's voice was coming from with an expression that could only be described as mild curiosity but not fear confusion.
Just a calm, quiet look, like a disembodied voice coming out of empty air was something she had gotten used to, though of course she couldn't see him unlike Gojo.
A girl her age should have been screaming by now. Or hiding behind Caster's legs. Or at least looking nervous like where the voice is coming from? But she was standing there with the same composure she probably carried everywhere, and that alone told Iskander more about her than anything else could have.
Then his eyes found her hand. The one not holding Gojo's finger.
Red lines. Bright, unmistakable, tracing across the back of her small hand like veins of light pressed into the skin.
Command Spells.
"Is that your Master, Caster?"
Waver's head whipped toward Iskander's voice first, confusion written across his face. Who was he calling Caster's Master? Was there someone else here? But then he followed his gaze went down to the girl, and his eyes landed on the girl and then her hand.
The red markings on her hand.
"Is she your Master?!" Waver's voice cracked on the last word.
There wasn't really another explanation. A Servant wouldn't just be out walking around town holding hands with another Servant's Master. And the girl's eyes, that strange violet color, and the way she stood next to him like not surprised or scared like a certain someone.
Gojo didn't say anything. Didn't confirm it but deny it either. He just looked at the two of them with that same easy smile, one hand in his pocket and the other still held loosely by the girl at his side.
They got their answer anyway.
…
The Cafe was small and warm and smelled like coffee beans and something sweet baking in the back.
Four of them sat at a corner table near the window: Gojo on one side with Sakura next to him, and across from them, a very large red-haired man who barely fit in the chair and a teenage boy who still looked like he might pass out at any moment.
After a long, incredibly bizarre misunderstanding, which somehow, against all odds, got resolved without a single drop of blood being shed, the tension had dissipated. It was a rather massive surprise, knowing Iskandar's boisterous battle-lust and Gojo's unpredictable personality.
Or perhaps, it was precisely because of their uniquely laid-back personalities that it was resolved so easily.
Maybe it was because neither Gojo nor Iskander actually wanted to fight in the middle of a busy street with civilians everywhere.
Maybe it was because their personalities, strangely enough, didn't clash the way you'd expect two Servants meeting in a war to clash.
Or maybe Gojo had just said "I'm hungry" and started walking and then invited them and then Iskander and Waver followed because… whatever.
Waver didn't know, didn't care, was just glad nobody was dead or a fight broke out.
They had ordered a few minutes ago and the food was still coming, so the table was mostly empty except for some water glasses and the basket of sugar packets that Sakura was quietly sorting into neat rows by color. Gojo watched her do it for a second before turning back to the other two.
And after explaining everything to Gojo. "Well," he said, tapping one finger on the table, "sorry to burst your bubble, King of Conjurer, kiddo, but I'm not the one you're looking for. For I'm not a Caster class Servant."
The table went quiet.
Iskander's brow furrowed. "What are you saying? You announced yourself as one during yesterday's fight."
Waver nodded along, though he hadn't actually heard the announcement himself. He'd been too far away at the time, on that bridge, trying very hard not to die of a heart attack while his Servant watched the battle like it was a fireworks show.
But Iskander had told him what happened afterward, and Caster had clearly identified himself as one. That was what everyone believed.
"I said I could fit in the Caster class like me being a sorcerer and all," Gojo corrected. He held up one finger like a teacher making a point to a slow student. "I never said I was Caster class. There's a difference. And you weren't even there at that time when I said it," He leaned back in his chair and spread his hands.
"And when you guys call me Caster, I answer because I know you're talking about me. That's all. If you called me Steve I'd probably answer to that too or maybe not."
Iskander stared at him. Waver stared at him.
"Huh?" was about the only thing written on either of their faces.
Gojo picked up a sugar packet from Sakura's carefully sorted rows, turning it over between his fingers while the information sank in. "So the Church put a bounty on the Caster class, huh? And now everyone, Saber and whoever else, is out hunting for me? Leaving the actual Caster class." He tossed the sugar packet back. "Except Lancer, obviously. He's on God's side now. Rest in peace."
Waver's brain finally caught up enough to respond. "The Church announced that Caster and his Master have been kidnapping children in Fuyuki. Using their powers openly with no regard for secrecy. Every other Master was told to prioritize eliminating Caster before continuing the War." He counted off on his fingers.
"Everyone knows you as Caster. Saber is Saber. Iskander is Rider. You're definitely not Berserker since you can talk and think clearly. Archer was identified on the first night. Lancer died yesterday." He paused. "That leaves Caster and Assassin, and Assassin was already killed by Archer on the very first day."
Gojo's finger stopped tapping.
"What do you mean Assassin died on the first day?" he said. "I killed Assassin last night. You probably remember the explosion on that crane like a red light."
Waver's mouth opened and closed. "What are you talking about? Everyone knows Assassin died on the first day. I saw it myself through my familiar. Other Masters saw it too. It was one of the first confirmed kills of the entire Grail War."
"Didn't you notice him watching from the start when I showed up at the warehouse?" Gojo said. "He was there the whole time. Keeping an eye on the fight, hiding in the shadows like a ninja. I spotted him at the beginning and after I was finished with Lancer and your entrance and all, I took care of him before going home." He said it the same way someone might say they had taken out the trash on the way in.
Waver pushed himself up from the table, his chair scraping back. "But that's impossible!"
"Sit down, boy," Iskander said, his voice filling the small Cafe. "Why are you shouting? And you say that I'm the loud one." A couple at a nearby table glanced over nervously. Iskander didn't notice, or more likely didn't care.
Waver was confused about why Rider was acting like this today, and so calm too after meeting Caster, was he trying to play some cool character, like a detective from a show he'd seen or something?
Though other Customers were staring at them because of Iskander's costume rather than Waver shouting.
"And what does it matter if the Assassin is alive or not? Even if he is, we can simply crush him."
Gojo smiled at that. He liked this guy. "Well, well, well. Just when I thought this whole thing was going to be boring outside of the actual fights, turns out it's not boring at all. I was just behind on information." He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand.
"As for Assassin, here's what I think. If what you're saying is true, and everyone saw him die on day one, and yet I definitely killed one last night, then the real Assassin probably isn't dead even now. Some kind of ability, maybe. Like how ninjas in those old stories make body doubles of themselves." He shrugged. "The one I killed on that crane is dead. I'm pretty sure of that much. But if the Assassin everyone saw die was also 'dead,' then yeah, the real one could still be out there."
Waver slowly sat back down, processing Gojo deduction. Two Assassin. And a supposed Sorcerer who wasn't actually Caster. This Holy Grail War was giving him a headache.
"You still haven't answered the important question," Waver said, leaning forward. "If you're not Caster, then what class are you?"
Gojo opened his mouth though not to Waver question but to the waitress that just came with their order.
"Sir, your orders."
"Thanks."
Two waitresses appeared at the tableside carrying trays. One set down a plate of pancakes in front of Gojo and a smaller plate of fruit and toast in front of Sakura. The other placed a truly unreasonable amount of food in front of Iskander, who brightened immediately, and a modest sandwich in front of Waver, who had lost his appetite about fifteen minutes ago.
Gojo picked up his fork and smiled at Waver like the interruption was the funniest thing that had happened all day.
"So, do you want that Command spell from the church?"
….
A/N: So, How was it? Hoped you liked it and if you do don't forget to send some stones too. See ya in the next chapter.
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