Bone of my Bow

Chapter 1

[Yumiko's theme: THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND by BAD OMENS]

  "Yumiko, help me move this." Rin grunted while trying to clear the floor in the dark room. She was struggling to push a table that was heavy and bigger than herself. Placing my hands onto the edge next to her, I dug my feet into the floor and pushed.

  Once the symbols on the floor were uncovered, Rin glanced at the analog clock on the table. Seeing the time, she turned to me with a serious expression on her face.

  "Just wait upstairs, okay?" Nodding, I turned and left the room. I wasn't actually comfortable with Rin participating in this Holy Grail War, but it wasn't like I could tell her not to. She was determined, and I wasn't her parent.

  Every time I tried to talk her out of it had ended with no success on my part. She would keep bringing up how skilled she was and how she'd trained for this since she was a young child.

  Going to the second library, I sighed through my nose as my finger ran over the spines. It probably wouldn't take Rin long to summon her warrior, but she'd no doubt fawn over her success which might take a while. Looking over the titles on the shelf, I wasn't sure what I was in the mood to read.

  Daring adventure? Wonderous fantasy? Captivating mystery?

  I settled on an average-sized fiction novel and pulled it from the shelf. This room was dedicated to my books alone, so all of the nonfiction and textbooks Rin and her father had collected were in the main library. I also enjoyed learning facts from time to time, but I adored fiction so much more.

  Opening the book, it was right before I turned to go sit down that a loud bang came from behind me as wind rushed through my hair. The sound hurt my ears, making them ring for a few seconds before I turned to see what had made the noise. I felt my face pale at the destruction in the room and the man that sat among it all.

  Shelves were knocked over, curtains were torn, and books were scattered about. The man simply sat there casually, elbows propped up on the fallen clock behind him as his ankle was resting on his other knee. My eyes drifted to the broken ceiling, now knowing where the extra furniture came from.

  He looked at me with a calculating gaze, and the book in my hand fell to the floor out of shock before Rin burst through the door.

  "Damn it! Yumiko!" Her eyes darted over the room, spotting the mess, the man, then me. She groaned while ruffling the side of her head, turning on her heel before crouching and having a small crisis while on the broken door. "So, what are you supposed to be?" She glared at the man when she regained her composure.

  "That's the first thing you say to me? Looks like I've been drawn by quite the unusual little Master. Oh, dear." The man waved his hand while turning his face away as he closed his eyes. "Or was it I who drew the short straw?"

  "Just to make sure.... You're my Servant, right?"

  "And are you my Master? You weren't the one present when I was summoned." He glanced at me before turning to Rin.

  "You aren't a baby bird." She crossed her arms. "Don't joke and make it sound like you imprint on your Master when you first open your eyes. Oh, well. I'm simply asking you if you really are my Servant, and no one else's." Rin acted uncaringly, and I slowly bent over to pick up my book. I paused as my hand was wavering over the book, then began to nervously sweat while quickly thinking.

  I hadn't been downstairs when Rin did the summoning, I wasn't present for anything once clearing the floor, so I knew that wasn't it. Glancing around, I did some quick mental mapping, figuring out the layout of the building.