Steel Eyed Faker

Chapter 6: First Meeting

Beta read by Shigiya and Paragon of Awesomeness.

.

.

.

-Night Raid Hideout-

"Is he still in his room?" Leone asked while sitting at the dining table, where the members of Night Raid had gathered for their dinner — a decision Najenda decided to enforce after Emiya claimed dominion over the kitchen. Despite the somber topic brought up by the blonde concerning the young boy, the atmosphere as a whole was surprisingly upbeat for the most part. Bulat, Najenda, Mine, Sheele, Akame, and Leone herself were all in the middle of enjoying their meals. The black-haired assassin, in particular, was her usual ravenous self, devouring multiple servings in record time, fast enough that Emiya almost had trouble keeping up.

At the moment, Emiya was busy stir-frying a Chinese dish he recalled making from his past world, but one notable difference was that this one utilized meat from a Danger Beast that Akame hunted down for him just that morning. However he did not mind it in the least, as the meat was similar to that of chicken.

"How long is he going to mope in there? I get that he's worried about his friends and blames himself for what happened, but they aren't dead!" Mine cried out in frustration, her hands hitting the table and inadvertently making her food nearly fall to the ground before quickly grabbing it. She didn’t want the best food she had in her entire life to go to waste. "He should be thanking his lucky stars that they are still breathing, especially after what happened to them. With how you found them, they should be six feet under by now! With all the messed up things that were done to them by those sick fucks of a family, what else would you call this other than a miracle?"

"A miracle, huh?" A bold statement if the former Counter Guardian had anything to say about it, but not one he could dismiss so easily, as he himself saw it as something of a minor miracle if he was honest. 

Truth be told, he didn’t really expect those two to survive even when he had decided to save them. It was a belief that contradicted his own actions, something he was more than aware of than he was willing to admit. Recalling that particular moment of the past once again, it dawned on him that he would have most likely taken the same course of action as well… Tch, he could practically feel the smugness of Emiya Shirou from an entire reality away. 

He didn't know how to feel about what happened; his actions were far too in line with what an entity like Emiya Shirou would do rather than himself. In the end, it was better to let it go and just chalk it up to a spur-of-the-moment whim where he got lucky, and his actions actually led to those people surviving. He didn't have any plans of continuing to act on such impulses any time soon.

"Don't say that, Mine!” Leone spoke up, pointing her fork at her, “Those two have survived so far, so let's not jinx ourselves now. I can't say if our docs are on the same level as those in the Emperor's staff or that Dr. Stylish guy, but they’re no slouches either. Look at those two, still kicking after all this time. I don’t know about you, but I see this as a major victory on our part and we should celebrate,” and then she was suddenly holding a mug full of ale. “Cheers!”

“Oi, don't drink too much! You’re a bigger pain in the ass when you get drunk, you fat cow!“ The pink-haired assassin shouted, not wanting to deal with a drunk Leone once again. The woman would get very chaotic if she had too much alcohol, and it didn't help that in many cases she ended up being the one having to reign her in somehow. The twin-tailed archer recalled one time when the blonde — out of nowhere — activated her Teigu and decided to have a spar with Bulat in the middle of the base! 

Thankfully she didn't have to step in at that time, as her teammate soon fell on the floor unconscious, Leone having drank a bit too much that not even her Teigu was able to help.