A peek of things to come (Patreon)

The duties of a president of the student council were as many as they were complex. It was therefore very often that Issei Ryuudou, the youngest son of the head monk at the homonymous temple, found himself working long past even the most hardcore sports club member had returned home. It used to be a much simpler activity, back when the workload was shared with Emiya Shirou, but in recent months his long time friend had other things to worry about, and could scarcely afford to help on a regular basis. Under ordinary circumstances, Issei would have avoided asking for help, but having to allocate the budget available to each club for the current semester left him little choice in the matter. No man could do everything on his own. 

Even with the help, it took him all of the afternoon and a good part of the evening to iron out a budget that wouldn't have him crucified in the courtyard by one club or the other. Mitsuzuri, for instance, would use him for target practice if she thought he had cut her short. He was physically fit enough to outrun almost anyone. Arrows were a bit more troublesome, though. Since Issei had no desire of emulating Benkei's valiant last stand, he did everything he reasonably could to appease everyone, and especially the archery club. 

By the time he was done double checking everything,  it had become completely dark outside. At that hour Emiya had to have returned home already, so it was up to Issei to do the last round and make sure everything was locked properly. He started to make his way down floor by floor, checking every door and window. He was just about done when he heard a loud crash coming from the grounds behind the school. His first thought was that Emiya still around, but he quickly dismissed that notion when he heard that sound again several times in a row. It was almost like someone was using a jackhammer, though the interval wasn't regular. If it had been slower, he'd have thought it was two people fighting, but no human being could swing a something that fast.

He was understandably curious, not to mention that he had a duty to figure out what made that noise. School were notorious for being haunted place, but despite being a monk, Issei was a man of reason. Surely there was a rational explanation to what he was hearing, that would become apparent as soon as he saw it. He confidently walked around the building until he came into view of the track field. 

That's where he stopped dead in his tracks, mind failing to make sense of what transpired before his eyes. 

Two human figures clashed against each other, moving about at speeds that Issei had trouble following, even at a distance. One wore a strange blue leotard and wielded a menacing red spear. The other one was ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛.

'What? What?' his mind asked, desperately trying to make sense of something, anything at all. He would have remained rooted on the spot indefinitely, if the eyes of the blue-clad spearman didn't meet his own. 

To be precise, they were so far away that Issei couldn't possibly discern the other's facial features in any significant way, but he felt it into his bones that he was being started at. His legs started running in the opposite direction without him having to consciously think about it. If the spearman caught up with him, he would be as good as dead. It was awareness born out of instinct, just as the hare knows it must run and hide when a wolf spots it. without being taught about it. 

However, Issei was no mere animal. He was a thinking man and an intelligent one at that. He knew he couldn't hope to outrun something that moved as fast as those things. On a open field he’d be dead meat. Therefore, he dove inside the school through the same door from which he had exited.

The layout of the school was, for obvious reasons, pretty easy to navigate. Issei wasn't hoping that the spearman would get lost inside the building, of course, but he thought that breaking line of sight would increase his chances of getting away with his life. Counter-intuitively, he took the stairs up, because that was the least likely thing to do and therefore something that a pursuer wouldn't think he'd do. 

That was what Issei believed, anyway and since he couldn't hear any footsteps behind him, he thought he had successfully lost the spearman. 

Therefore, his surprise was amplified when, upon arriving on the third floor and turning around the corner from the stairs to the hallway, he slammed into a human shaped brick wall clad in blue and fell on his back from the impact. Issei looked at the very thing he thought he just got away from in mute horror. This person, this… thing had anticipated him both physically and mentally, waiting for him to arrive. 

"What? Who?" he asked. Not because he really wanted to know, but because he desperately wanted to make sense of things. The spearman's mouth twisted into one of obvious displeasure. 

"You know, I don't really like killing bystanders, but the rule is no witnesses. At all. Sorry kid. I hope you have better luck in the next life." 

Before Issei could even beg for his life the red spear descended towards his chest. The fatal blow never came, though, as the spear stopped scant inches from his uniform before twirling around to deflect something coming at him from behind. 

There was a clang of metal and two curved swords, one black and one white, fell to the ground next to Issei’s body, stabbing their points through the ground.

The blue spearman stood with his back turned to Issei, staring down to the opposite end of the corridor. The same place where Emiya Shirou stood, wielding two swords identical to the ones he had just thrown.

A dream, it had to be, because otherwise nothing made any sense at all.