Fate: Esdeath Is My Servant?!

Sliding open his front door, Reiji found a boy his age standing lazily outside.

He had ordinary black hair and yawned as he leaned against a sign.

"You should've told me if you were ditching school," he said, shaking his head with a betrayed expression.

Reiji smiled awkwardly, trying to remember who the guy was.

'Kenta,' he thought. 'Been friends for a few months, but we don't talk a lot outside school since he's a shut-in.'

"Really, I could've used the time to watch some of the latest anime," Kenta said, letting out a dramatic sigh.

"Anyway, teach asked me to check up on you," he continued, shaking his head again. "You are heading to school tomorrow, right?"

Reiji chuckled at his ridiculous behavior. "Yeah, I'll come in tomorrow," he said, smiling.

"Good," Kenta said, already turning away. "I've got anime to catch up on."

As Kenta's figure disappeared, Reiji shook his head with a smile.

'Nice guy,' he thought, stepping outside. 'I should walk around a little… and get used to my body.'

After locking the door, Reiji walked down the quiet street, humming as he looked around.

It all felt so real.

He jogged a little, surprised at how light and responsive his body felt. Nothing like the scarred mess he once called home.

"I could get used to this," he muttered, stretching his arm over his head.

Reiji wandered through the city, his thoughts drifting as lights and familiar sounds passed him by.

Eventually, he stopped on a hill overlooking the skyline.

'If this is just a dream, I'll wake up eventually… so why not enjoy it?'

He paused, glancing at the bustling city below.

'And if it's real… what's wrong with enjoying it anyway?'

By the time he got home, the sun had long set. He ate some instant noodles, collapsed onto his mattress, and stared at the ceiling.

'Walking helped,' he thought. 'Even if I'm still not sure this is real.'

As he closed his eyes, a single event kept replaying in his mind.

The muzzle flash.

The shock.

And finally, the empty space he'd floated around in for god knows how long.

Even after everything he'd seen in the military… even after all the decisions he'd made that had ruined lives as a strategist… dying was something completely different.

'Getting any sleep tonight is going to be rough, huh.'

The morning came too fast.

He jolted up as someone banged on his door.

"Reiji, wake up!" a familiar voice shouted. "We don't have a lot of time!"

Reiji threw on his uniform, barely managing to fix his bedhead before racing out the door.

Kenta was already waiting at the street corner, sipping from a juice box with the expression of someone who hadn't woken up properly.

"Barely made it," Kenta muttered, handing him a spare sandwich. "I figured you'd forget breakfast."

"Thanks," Reiji said, taking a bite as they started walking.

The streets were buzzing now, several students on bicycles and people heading to work driving past them.

By the time they arrived, the school day was in full swing. Students gathered in noisy groups while teachers shouted orders across the yard.

Reiji split off from Kenta, heading to his classroom on autopilot.

That's when he saw a familiar person.

A boy with orange hair standing on some boxes, fixing something near the ceiling.

Emiya Shirou.

'It really is the Fate Universe,' he thought, staring at Shirou.

Sure, he'd seen him in memories, but seeing him in person was different.

'So this is the protagonist of the universe,' he thought, eyes narrowing. 'More normal than I expected.'

His eyes fell on the system interface floating beside him.

[Estimated Unlock: 14:51:33]

Reiji was shaken from his thoughts as the bell rang.

'First class is starting,' he thought, heading down the corridor.

By the time school was done, Reiji was bored out of his mind.

'I've already gone through all of these subjects once before,' he thought. 'Can't say I'm a fan of doing it again.'

[Cooldown: 06:35:22] 

'Just a few more hours.'

Kenta waved from a distance, heading off while Reiji unlocked his own door.

A few hours went by in which he stretched and did some light exercise, trying to improve the coordination with his body.

Sitting down with sweat dripping down his back, he glanced at the setting sun in the distance before looking at his system's golden interface.

A message with bold golden letters popped up.

[Summoning unlocked.]

'Let's see,' he thought, a grin spreading on his face.

His heart pounded with excitement as he tapped the summoning tab.

[Do you wish to summon your servant now?]

He glanced at the time and saw that it was only 11 p.m.

'Not yet,' he thought, declining the system. He remembered that the mana was the strongest to summon a servant around two at night.

'If I'm going to summon a Servant, I want to use every damn advantage I can get.'

The remaining three hours passed slowly.

Reiji tried to contain his interest and excitement, but it wasn't working very well.

Finally, as the clock was about to hit two a.m., he opened his system again.

[Do you wish to summon your servant now?]

As his clock hit two a.m., he clicked yes.

[Initiating compatibility scan…]

Reiji swallowed, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Suddenly, a massive blue magic circle spread under his feet.

Jumping up, he looked around, eyes wide.

[Match found.]

His vision spun as he felt a warm current leave his body at a rapid pace.

The temperature in the house dropped as a gust of icy cold wind blew through.

His breath turned into mist as the walls around him froze. He couldn't move, ice was already climbing up his legs, holding him in place.

"What is this…?" he muttered, the world spinning violently around him.

[Congratulations. You have summoned—]

The system interface shone brightly as Reiji collapsed on the ground.

As the last bit of mana left his body, everything went black.

—

When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he felt was the sting of something cold against his skin.

Standing over him was a woman with long, pale-blue hair and an entertained but wary gaze.

"You brought me here," she said coldly, a wicked smile on her face. "So start explaining. Where the hell is this place?"