[27] Fate/Stay Yoru

"...Where are you taking me?"

Celeste's faint, uncertain voice rose over the engine as the Nightstride carried them through another dark intersection, its red headlight washing over the road ahead in a narrow strip before the darkness swallowed everything beyond it.

Voss didn't answer immediately.

Celeste kept her arms around him, her cheek still resting lightly against his back.

...Every kid had heard some version of the same warning growing up.

Don't follow strangers.

There were other warnings too, especially for girls her age.

Don't start hanging around the wrong crowd. Don't get involved with those older boys who smoked behind the shops, rode loud bikes and always seemed to know somebody questionable. Girls who spent their whole lives following rules sometimes reached an age where they got a thrill from breaking the rules. Then eventually they ended up somewhere unfamiliar, surrounded by people they barely knew, having gone much further than they ever meant to, wishing they had gone home when they still had the chance.

And now Celeste was sitting behind a man she had met earlier that day, on the back of his motorcycle, travelling through a dead city at night without knowing where he was taking her.

Her arms tightened around him slightly.

The roads began to change.

The shopfronts thinned. Apartment blocks gave way to wider stretches of road bordered by low industrial buildings, fenced compounds and dark warehouses set farther back from the kerb. Every few hundred metres, the bike passed another junction with dead traffic lights hanging over it.

They climbed gradually; the buildings they had passed began falling lower behind them, and when Celeste glanced back, she could see faint pockets of orange still flickering far behind them where the commercial district had disappeared into the dark.

The Nightstride turned off the main road.

The red headlight swept across a rusted signpost, then along a narrower uphill road lined with old retaining walls and overgrown fencing.

Celeste lifted her head from his back.

There were fewer buildings here, mostly large warehouses. Some had their shutters half-open. Others sat behind chained gates with delivery yards full of abandoned pallets and containers. Weeds had begun pushing through cracks in the asphalt around the edges.

"...Sir?"

"Almost there."

That was all he gave her.

The bike climbed another bend, then another. Warehouses appeared one at a time now, each isolated behind locked gates and long strips of darkness. One compound had an overturned lorry sitting across its entrance, weeds already growing around the tyres.

The Nightstride passed it without slowing.

Celeste looked back. The main road was gone from sight.

Ahead, the hill continued into darkness.

Then the oldest-looking warehouse appeared. It sat farther uphill than the others, pushed back from the road behind a sagging chain-link fence and a wide concrete yard. Most of the exterior lights were dead. One corner of the roof had collapsed inward, leaving sheets of metal hanging over the edge like torn skin. Several windows on the upper floor were black holes where the glass had been broken out.

Voss turned through an opening where the gate had already been pushed aside.

The Nightstride rolled into the yard.

Celeste's arms tightened around him again, as the building only looked worse up close. Broken windows, dark loading shutters, stacks of old material left beneath torn plastic sheeting. A forklift sat dead near one corner of the yard with one fork lowered crookedly against the ground.

Voss guided the bike around the side instead of towards the main entrance. They passed between the warehouse wall and a row of old storage containers, eventually reaching a narrow loading area behind the building. One of the old shutters had been left unsecured. Voss stopped beside it, climbed off long enough to force it high enough for the Nightstride to pass beneath, then remounted and rode inside. The red headlight swept across an empty warehouse floor, abandoned shelving and old machinery before settling on a bare concrete wall at the far end.

He slowed to a stop, the engine dropping into a quiet idle beneath them. Voss walked back and pulled the shutter down behind them.

Celeste stared at the wall.

"...This is it?"

Voss killed the engine. For a moment, the sudden silence made the warehouse feel even larger.

Then he reached up, undid the catches beneath his chin and pulled the helmet free.

"What were you expecting? We're in a zombie apocalypse."

Celeste looked around at the broken windows, dark loading shutters and the damaged roof overhead.

Voss followed her gaze as he set his helmet on the Nightstride's handlebar.

"Sorry. The hotel down the road was fully booked."

"Ha. Ha."

Voss glanced at her, and she looked away almost immediately.

"...You don't really look like the kind of person who makes jokes, sir."

She gave a small cough into her fist, as if to clear away the awkwardness that followed.

"Well, get yourself comfortable. It looks worse than it is."

Celeste looked back at him.

...The same older face she remembered, marked by old scars and the sort of expression that made it difficult to tell whether he was irritated or simply exhausted.

Her shoulders loosened slightly.

Celeste looked around again. There was at least one corner of the warehouse that looked like somebody had made an effort. A battery lantern sat on top of an old cabinet, throwing warm light over several stacked plastic crates, a folding table and what seemed to be a sofa shoved against the wall. Another battered couch sat farther across the cleared space. The one nearest her was covered with an old grey sheet, with two mismatched cushions resting against one arm.

Celeste walked over and lowered herself onto it carefully.

It sank much farther than she expected.

"...Oh."

At least it really was a sofa. She adjusted her injured leg and rested her bag beside her while Voss moved farther into the cleared section. Only then did she start noticing everything else. Bottled water had been stacked against one wall in unopened cartons. There were tins, instant noodles, biscuits and other packaged food filling several shelves. A portable power station sat beneath the folding table with cables running towards two lanterns, a small fan and what looked like an old mini-fridge wedged into the corner.

Nothing matched.

Some of it looked like it had come from offices. Some from supermarkets. Some from houses.

But there was enough of it to make the place look less like an abandoned warehouse and more like someone had been quietly preparing to live here.

Voss pointed towards a narrow passage behind one of the partition walls.

"If you want to shower, it's over there. Actually, please shower. You're going to dirty my couch."

...Rude.

Still, Celeste straightened immediately.

"...There's a shower?"

"Sort of. Makeshift setup. Hose hooked up to a storage tank, curtain around it, drain underneath. I left shampoo, soap and some other stuff in there too. Nothing fancy. Probably not enough for whatever skincare routine you have."

Celeste blinked at him.

Then her hand went unconsciously to her hair.

It had been days.

Their shelter had never had a proper bathroom to begin with, only the old sink in the rear room, and even that had become something they used carefully once the water stopped running through most of the surrounding buildings.

Washing had meant bottled water when they could spare it. A wet cloth. Maybe rinsing her face and arms over the sink.

Not standing underneath actual running water.

Her eyes shifted towards the passage again.

"...How do you even have clean water? I mean... most places don't even have running water anymore."

"Stored some. Filtered the rest."

"That's it?"

"It's enough for me. It's enough for you."

He didn't elaborate.

Celeste looked at him for another second, then towards the shower area.

She suddenly became much more aware of the dried sweat clinging beneath her clothes, the dust caught in her hair and the grime from being thrown across the service lane earlier.

"...I think I'll take that shower."

Voss nodded towards a plastic crate beside the partition.

"Towels are in there. There's some clean clothes too. Shirts, shorts. Some stuff for girls."

Celeste looked towards the crate.

"For girls?"

"...Yeah. I found a place with clothes. Figured it was easier to grab whatever looked useful instead of going back again."

"...Why girls' clothes?"

"My... daughter."

Celeste went over to the crate and picked up one of the blouses inside.

It was very obviously made for an adult woman.

"...Your daughter."

"Yeah."

"...How old is your daughter?"

"...Twenty-five."

"...I see."

A shower. Clean water. Women's clothes.

Whatever reassurance the place had gained from the sofa and stocked shelves was starting to disappear again.

"Look, I can explain—"

Celeste caught the slightest movement behind him.

Just a glimpse. Something dark slipping past the edge of one of the partitions.

A small "Hup...!" came from behind him.

Voss barely had time to turn his head.

Two arms suddenly hooked over his shoulders from behind, clasping across his upper chest as a pair of legs swung up and locked around his waist.

Celeste jerked back against the sofa. Somehow, a girl was hanging off him like a koala without Celeste having heard her approach. The girl leaned around the side of his head until Celeste could see her properly, then pointed at Voss.

"Daughter."

She shook her head firmly.

"Non."

Then she pointed at herself.

"Wifey."

She nodded vigorously.

Then the girl's eyes settled properly on Celeste.

The nodding stopped.

Her arms remained hooked around Voss from behind as her eyes narrowed.

For just a second, Celeste could've sworn the pupils inside them thinned too, sharpening into vertical slits like a cat's. That couldn't be right. The light in here was terrible. Still, the way the girl stared at her made Celeste straighten against the sofa.

Her upper lip pulled back slightly.

Two small fangs showed beneath it.

"You... home..."

The girl's brows pinched together.

"...whecker!"

Nighttime was practically Yoru's playground.

Still, to flank me in this awkward position...

Her legs were hooked around my waist while both arms curled around my shoulders from behind. Even like this, she was careful not to touch my face, already well aware of what parts of Roadghost she wasn't supposed to disturb.

"Y-Yoru... get off..."

A low growl rumbled beside my ear.

My eye twitched.

"Yoru, bad! Down."

Her ears immediately flattened.

"...Hm."

The growling stopped.

Yoru obediently loosened her arms, unhooked her legs from my waist and slipped down behind me without so much as a footstep.

The girl the mouthy kid had kept calling Celeste was staring directly at us now, both feet drawn a little farther up onto the sofa and the blouse still resting in her hands. 

Yoru stepped around me, and the moonlight coming through the broken upper windows caught her properly.

Her long blue hair fell almost to her thighs, dark azure where the shadows swallowed it and gradually fading into a much lighter blue towards the ends. Thick sidelocks framed either side of her face, while her bangs fell heavily across one eye.

The other remained fixed on Celeste.

Bright cyan.

"...Those are..."

Yoru's ears twitched.

"...Maid outfit..."

Another twitch.

"...Remote-controlled ears?"

I gave a quick nod. "Adult novelty stuff."

Celeste's face coloured almost immediately.

"...A-Ad..." She didn't finish the word, finding somewhere else to look.

Sometimes looking like a pervert was easier than explaining the truth.

At a glance, Yoru's clothes really did resemble some elaborate Victorian maid uniform. Black fitted sleeves covered her arms beneath frilled cuffs, while layers of dark fabric formed something like a pinafore apron over the front.

The moonlight caught parts of it differently.

Several sections gave off the dull sheen of smoked glass instead of cloth. Thin crystalline plates overlapped the fabric around her torso and hips, faint cyan markings glimmering across them whenever she shifted. Both forearms were wrapped in carbon-black guards that reached almost to the elbows, far too solid-looking to be props. 

Celeste's fingers tightened slightly around the blouse in her lap.

The narrow opening beneath Yoru's throat was crossed horizontally by a single black strap. Above it sat the collar. Thick, black, and fitted closely around her neck. Several red scratches ran vertically across its front, with one longer line cutting through them horizontally.

Celeste went very still.

"...Oh."

Her face somehow grew redder.

Meanwhile, Yoru tilted her head, as if something had finally clicked. One ear twitched towards Celeste.

By then, some of the hostility had left Yoru's face. The wolf-girl had at least stopped bristling at her. ...Though calling Yoru a wolf-girl was probably only half-right anyway. She had the ears, sure. No tail. No fur either, unless I counted the strange softness of her hair, which sometimes reminded me of my late pet mauzer. If I had to put her on one of those furry charts people argued about online, she'd probably sit about one step away from completely human.

I remembered noticing the same thing when I first saw her in person.

Three weeks ago, right after I'd used the cube.

[STRONGHOLD MISSION I — COMPLETE]

Deploy the Stronghold Cube and establish a Stronghold.

When I first stepped into the newly formed Stronghold, the reward was already waiting for me.

Familiar shape. Familiar opaque glass.

Except this one was glowing yellow.

I knew what that colour meant before I even reached it.

Five-star.

The moment my hand touched the chamber, yellow light raced beneath the glass.

The opaque surface cleared.

Blue. That hair, those ears, the frilled headdress, the black crystalline maid uniform and the unmistakable collar around her throat. I didn't need the result screen to know who she was.

✦✦✦✦✦ Yoru

One of my favourite Operators in the game.

Her eyelids lifted.

The line I'd heard countless times back in CWO immediately played in my head.

Welcome home... Master.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I stepped in immediately.

"This is Yoru," I said. "And yes, you heard her."

Yoru's head whipped towards me.

"...She's my wife."

Her visible eye practically lit up.

"Master! Yes! Wifey!"

Yoru nodded furiously, already wrapped around my arm and pressing herself against my side with an expression of absolute satisfaction.

Celeste stared at us for a moment longer than necessary.

Whatever conclusion she came to, she kept it to herself.

I cleared my throat.

"Sorry about the scare. And the daughter thing."

"Ah... no... sorry to intrude, really... sir."

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't exactly planning to bring anyone back tonight, much less introduce my wife." I glanced down at Yoru. "She's from overseas. I'm still teaching her English, so she doesn't always have the words for what she's trying to say."

Yoru nodded against my arm.

"Engeesh. Learn."

"And she's... not great with strangers. We're... working on that."

"...Sorry. I just thought..." Celeste's shoulders had loosened a little.

At least until Yoru suddenly stopped moving, nose twitching as she leaned around behind me and started sniffing the back of my windbreaker with alarming concentration.

Shit. I forgot.

"Yoru, stop!"

"No, Master."

This... ridiculous strength! 

If I fought her grip any harder, I was going to break something.

Celeste made a small sound. "U-Uh..."

"Don't worry about us... you should go shower quickly...!"

Yoru sniffed again, tightening around my arm as her visible eye narrowed and a low growl returned to her throat.

Across from us, Celeste shivered.

"Yoru."

No response.

Her nose pressed closer to the back of my windbreaker.

"Yoru!"

Grrrrr...

I gave her a firm chop on the head.

"Enough."

"Nnh...!"

"She's a guest. Leave her alone, alright?"

I caught the fabric at the back of her neck before she started something.

"Come on."

"Master..."

"Other couch."

I pulled.

Yoru let herself be dragged across the warehouse with surprising obedience, boots sliding lightly over the concrete while she kept her head turned towards Celeste the entire way.

Grrrrrr...

"Stop that."

I deposited her beside the second couch in the opposite corner.

"Sit."

Yoru sat.

Still staring.

"Stay. I'll get angry."

"...Hm." Her ears flattened.

Celeste had relaxed somewhat on the sofa.

Adult novelty ears, a maid outfit, that collar, and an extremely possessive foreign wife.

Celeste quickly dug through the pile, conspicuously avoiding anything remotely revealing before settling on a plain oversized blouse and a pair of loose shorts. She hugged them against herself and stood.

"...I'll shower now."

"...Go ahead."

She gave Yoru one last cautious glance.

Yoru stared back.

Grrrr...

"Yoru."

The growl stopped.

Celeste limped towards the passage a little faster than before.

Judging by how red Celeste's ears had gone as she disappeared behind the partition, she'd apparently settled on me being some middle-aged guy with very questionable bedroom preferences.

Well. I could live with that.