"... he's a Master?!"
Rias' surprised yell had more or less shook the school. If he were being honest, Lancer found the astonished and horrified look on her face to be quite amusing. "Yes, Master," he informed. "It seems that, rather than meet his death at the hands of the Fallen, he summoned a Servant. The Saber-class, at that." He paused briefly, allowing this information to sink in before he continued. "However, the way she appeared was… odd. It seems the boy must have performed a delayed summoning ritual, though I have never seen one like it before."
"Unbelieveable," the red-haired Devil groaned, face-palming. "I was hoping he'd summon me and I'd save him and give him the offer to join my Peerage. Instead, I find out he's a Master. Mou~!"
This threw a complete monkey wrench in her plans! Now he was a participant in the Grail Wars as well… moreover, his Servant will prevent her from even approaching him at all costs, choosing to kill her, another Master in the war, instead. Why did Fate have to screw with her like this?!
She was so close, too! She knew Haru possessed a Sacred Gear, something extraordinary, and it could have helped her get out of her damned marriage. Unfortunately, the plan went out the window with this recent development. Not only that… but he summed a Saber. The strongest of the seven servants. It was completely unfair. While she was not whining about having Lancer for a Servant, she had hoped she would summon the famed sword master.
"Buchou," Akeno called. "Kiba and Berserker have returned from their outing."
"Thank you, Akeno..." Rias replied gloomily, trying to cheer herself up.
The Vice-President of the Occult Research Club giggled, noting how cute her friend looked when she seemed so sad. Although, she would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to a new member, especially a cute kouhai. The door to the room opened, revealing Kiba and his servant. Surprisingly, unlike most Berserkers, the Servant didn't appear to be much older than the rest of them. In terms of appearance he only looked to be a good three or four years older. He had lightish brown hair and lime green eyes, wearing oval-rimmed glasses with a formal dress shirt underneath a gray vest and a black tie with an orange gem in the center. Below, he wore dark pants with the hems split open, and below wore black boots with a white strip at the front. He wore black gloves over his hands, and over his shoulder was a dark brown jacket.
"Pardon our lateness," Berserker said politely. "We had to make sure we weren't followed."
Lancer smiled thinly. "At least you weren't discovered," he remarked. "So… what did you think of Saber?"
"The same opinion as my master, apparently," Berserker answered, adjusting his glasses. "A beautiful visage with a terrifying blade to match. Truly worthy of the class. I'd hate to fight her. Still, I'm surprised that she's the Servant of the boy Master Rias has had her eye on for quite a while."
At this, Rias' head lowered further. "Please, don't remind me..."
Kiba chuckled. "Now now, Buchou," he said optimistically. "Perhaps we could convince Hyoudou-kun to join us? Provided we explain the situation in full to him."
The initial, and first plan, of course was to save him and then explain everything. Frankly, this plan appealed to her much more so than the second, which would be to reincarnate him in the event of his death. She had hoped it would be the first event that comes to pass, as she had reincarnated many of peerage when they either had no choice in the matter, or were close to death's door. She wanted at least one peerage member who joined of their own volition. That plan, sorely, went out the window with the current events.
Still, Kiba's idea did have some merit. The only problem was Saber. From what Lancer had told her… she made it clear that any and all hostile or malevolent intentions towards her master were more or less declarations of war. She did not want to be on the receiving end.
A Devil she may be, fighting a Servant was damn near impossible. Yes, there were many beings capable of matching a Servant… but that depended on what Servant they were facing, and who was assuming the class. In her case, trying to defeat Lancer would end with her becoming a pin cushion.
"I'll consider the idea," she said after a moment. "For now… I'll inform Sona. After all, we have a new Master in the war."
When Haru woke up, he found himself staring at something he never thought he would in all of his perverted life. It was one of the two heavenly valleys of a woman, the most sacred of areas that only the privileged were blessed with gazing upon. The fact that he was looking at such a place could only mean one thing. He… was dead. B-but I could have sworn I was still alive! his inner chibi self cried, saddened by such a fact. Aw man! I wanted to grab oppai at least once in my life! I haven't even achieved my goal of becoming a harem king!
"... oh, you're awake!" Haru's eyes widened, shifting his head ever so slightly to see the face of Saber, staring down at him with an expression that betrayed her earlier behavior. Rather than the cold and stoic facade, befitting a warrior, he saw the face of a gentle woman, complete with a smile that made his heart skip a beat. "You're so cute when you sleep like that, Master. Almost like a cat."
W-what the heck? he thought in shock. Wait, so I'm not dead?! Whew, that was a close one! It was still a terrifying thought, however, being in the grasp of the woman who had killed Yuuma in front of him so mercilessly. Even though she admitted that she was just going out with him so that she could kill him, it still pained him. He would go so far to say that she was his first love… however sick and demented it may be. And now he was in that same person's grasp. Could this situation be any… more...
… waaaaaait a second here. She's staring down at his face… and he's looking straight at her crotch. And his head feels as if it's laying on something very soft.
C-could this be… the legendary Lap Pillow?!
He silently cried tears of joy. For so long… for SO LONG … he wanted to experience this sensation that eroge protagonists experience… now his wish had been granted!
"Master?" Saber tilted her head. "Are you alright? You're crying."
Oh, he was. These were tears of a man who had one dream fulfilled! Actually… was it just him or… was she acting much more… cute? Slowly, he pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his head. On one hand, he was still absolutely terrified of her… but at the same time, she did save him. It was a dick move to reject her like he did earlier. He should have at least given her the benefit of a doubt. "S-sorry about earlier," he apologized, deciding to break the ice. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. It's just… a-after what Yuuma told me… I..."
"It's fine, Master," Saber assured him, offering a gentle smile. "I'm just glad you're alright."
For a moment, Haru's mind blanked out. ... too cute, his perverted self declared with gusto. Too goddamn cute. Quickly shaking his head lest he becomes fully immersed in such thoughts, Haru decided to get back on track… such as getting answers to what the hell just happened earlier!
"... So… can you please tell me what all that was about before? When Yuuma was about to kill me?"
Saber nodded. "That woman, Raynare, was a Fallen Angel," she explained. "Once an emissary of God. For one reason or another, by committing a sin, an angel is cast from Heaven, and their divine power is tainted, which is reflected by their wings."
"W-wait, Yuuma-chan was an Angel?!" Haru gawked. Sure, she had wings… but she was an actual effin' angel?! He thought that was just in anime and manga!
Regardless, Saber nodded again in confirmation. "Mm. From what I could tell… she was after your Sacred Gear."
Sacred...Gear...?
Now that she mentioned it… he remembered Yuu—Raynare mentioning that before. It was the reason why she was even after him to begin with. Seeing his confused expression, Saber continued with her explanation. "A long time ago, God created a system with the purpose of enacting miracles. These 'miracles' came to vary in forms. These were the Sacred Gears—artifacts forged by God. Do you recall anyone from history, such as the Chinese hero Cao Cao to the Greek demi-god Heracles? Or perhaps even someone from the old days, such as the likes of Oda Nobunaga, Robin Hood, or even King Arthur? Chances are, they had Sacred Gears as well. Anyone with a Sacred Gear is guaranteed to have their name mentioned in history, or made their mark in the world in some way."
Haru's jaw hung open. Seriously? Sacred Gears were that rare? Such things existed? A-and he had one inside of him? "B-but why me?" he asked, confused. "I'm not anything special. Hell, if anything, I'm as ordinary as you can get! I practically peep on girls for a living! How'd I end up with one of these Sacred Gear things?"
"You don't get one by chance," his Servant answered. "You are born with one. Unfortunately, even I don't know how one is chosen to bear a Sacred Gear. Usually, when a Servant manifests in this world, any and all knowledge in the world is already in our memory. This includes all of history as well."
The redhead blinked. "... Servant?" he asked, confused. "Wait, is that why you call me Master? Because you're.. .my Servant?"
"Yes," Saber answered, smiling brightly. "The Command Seals on your hand prove as much." Haru looked at the red dragon tattoo branded on his hand. So these were called Command Seals? "The Command Seals prove that you are my Master, and I, your Servant. Still, I'm surprised… I would have thought you would know that."
Lady, I am confused all to hell right now, and I don't even know where to begin.
It was true… everything that happened earlier was too much. He… he really needed time to process this. Saber seemed to understand this, and allowed him time to think.
Within the span of these past few days, he learned that his grandfather was some history fanatic and collector of relics, his first girlfriend tried to kill him at the end of their date because of his Sacred Gear, and that he was now the Master of a beautiful yet deadly girl who in turn killed his ex. He would've thought the entire experience to be one massive hallucination induced by stress and bad food… but the pain he experienced earlier told otherwise. It just felt all too real… meaning everything, all of this, was real.
Just… what did he do to find himself in this situation? Did all of this start… because of him unlocking that trunk? Would any of this happen if he just left it alone?
He gave a sigh, resting his face in his hands. He was too tired to deal with this. God, he just wanted to lie down in his bed and hope that all of this was just one bad dream. Actually, home sounded really good right about… now...
… wait.
"... OH SHIT!"
Saber let out an "eep!" when Haru suddenly shot up to his feet, eyes wide with panic. That's right! He had completely forgotten! It was already night time, if the starry sky above him was any indication, and he had promised he would be home before dinner! His head whipped around, looking at the clock hanging from the pole nearby. His panic increased when he saw the time. It was already way past ten!
"I'M SO SCREWED! KAA-CHAN IS GOING TO MURDER ME!"
This was bad. This was bad. This was so bad. This was absolutely horrible! Haru was officially panicking. He's been out this long without contacting his parents! They're going to flip! They're gonna think he was kidnapped or something! Did they already call the police?! Oh man… He was toast!
"M-Master?" Saber asked, a bit startled by her Master's behavior. "Is everything okay?"
Haru blanched further. How in the hell was he supposed to explain Saber?! It wasn't like he could pass her off as Yuuma—
… wait.