I never told you...

       Her servant was actually very serious. “What do you mean, it doesn’t? Here, I can—”

       He was about to take hold of her void, but then shook his head violently. “Hold on, hold on! We can chat later, but right now there are more important things we need to do! Like check those command seals!”

"A-Alright, I understand, I'll check right now!" Without much more resistance, she let herself be pushed into the bathroom and closed the door. With a sigh she began to unbutton her school uniform, it was interesting how they had brought her back from how she was last. Staring at the mirror, she stared at the area right above where her heart should have been.

A thousand curse words were going through Ragna’s mind. All the kind that aren’t to be used in front of children, animals, houseplants, churches, and the elderly. Less vulgarly, however, Ragna also thought to himself, What the hell did I deserve to get stuck in this horrible blizzard for?!. Sure, the weather was cold; Ragna had known that going out. Maybe it was a side effect of his rather poor Luck, though, that he decided to go for a walk just before the snow and cold kicked up. Luckily for him, he happened to be just outside a rather large building just near Shinto. The door was unlocked, and so Ragna came inside. Something about the building felt a little…off. Actually, hadn’t he heard of this place before? Familiarity rushed through Ragna’s mind almost as quickly as he heard the door creaking open behind him. With the speed of someone you’d expect sprinting to the hospital for a life-threatening operation, Ragna dove behind a couch.

"S-stay away! I ain’t dealing with any of your spooky bullshit in a blizzard, you damn ghosts!"

Thus, she tried to run for the nearest shelter she could find, seeing a slightly ajar door, she nyoomed over and entered the area. What she hadn't expected was for someone else to be there already. Now, it wasn't their sudden cry that surprised her, what did surprise her was how slippery the floor had been from their earlier entrance. As she walked further in to explain herself, she had slipped, causing herself to fall backwards while the door closed behind her.

"O-Ow!" 

           Frigid winds carrying frosted droplets of water blew through the city without so much as a second thought for the creatures that would have to persevere through to survive. For the Knight who has lived through many a storm similar, there was something eerily off about the weather’s violent nature. 

           Not that his current situation was any less strange.

           Looking upwards to take a glimpse of the monotone sky, beryl optics stopped short at a figure, who just like him, was trudging through the mountain road. That is, until their forward movement stopped. They weren’t too far ahead and a well-voiced word would reach them without having to shout. “Excuse me,”The Knight’s voice reaches out to the other; concern, curiosity, and a desire to help evident in his tone. 

It was probably her fault that they were currently separated right now, how this had happened, she could only blame the snow.

It was really too cold, she attempted to warm her hands up as her Void swirled around her, plainly in sight. If she wasn't careful, she was going to be in trouble.  

“Are you perhaps alright? Do you need any assistance?”

        He placed his hand on top of hers, eye widening. "What, what is it? Do you feel something strange there? We really ought to check now—” Realizing what that implied, he hurried to correct himself. “W-Wait! I-I don’t mean here, like….” making vague hand gestures, he made a face and rubbed the back of his head agitatedly. “A-anyway! We better check soon, just in case! U-uh, don’t you have a bathroom here or something?”

        Kouta stepped back as he listened to his master explain, watching her void float about her. “So this person literally pulled your heart out like this, huh? I guess that kind of counts as magic?”

"I-I'll check later, I promise!" It would be much too embarrassing to check it now even if she turned around or went to the bathroom. Really, couldn't it just wait? Hopefully he understood that, actually, why hadn't she just kicked him out of her house yet? Was she really believing the things he was saying... well crazy things happened back in her city too... so maybe it wasn't too unbelievable. The whole thing about Magi and a war...

Hare nodded. "There were some bad things happening in our city, but we all wanted to do our best to make things right... he didn't always seem so willing, after all it is a person's heart, but he did what he had to because he was the only one he could." She stopped, a blush on her face at her ramblings. "S-Sorry! But, I guess?"

     He stepped back, rubbing the back of his head in thought. “A magus is, well, someone who can use magic?”

      “Anyway, they’re capable of summoning servants— like you just did! Command seals are a sign of being a master, they show up somewhere on your body I’m sure— aren’t you feeling any, um, weird sensation somewhere in your body or something?” 

        Kouta flinched as she addressed him. “Oh, you don’t have to be so formal with the honorifics—w-woah!” the name didn’t really sit well with him, but he didn’t really have time to mull on it, as his master’s heart was now on him, healing the scratches from his fall while she explained. 

"Magic? I don't know how to use anything like that... though I suppose my Void is something like magic?" She looked at the bandages, wondering if this power somehow made it a Magus. It wasn't really hers though, it was her heart but she wasn't the one that brought it out into this world.

"Um... a weird sensation..." She paused, then remembering earlier, her cheeks suddenly turned a light shade of red as she nodded. "I think I've had one then, but..." Placing a hand over her chest, she implied where it could possibly be. She silently hoped that he wouldn't ask her to check right then and there, surely it was something that could be addressed later... and by herself.

     ”Um, well, let’s see, you are a magus, aren’t you? Since you summoned me, you ought to have command seals somewhere on your body.” He took her hands, as though to check if they were there. “Ah, how stupid of me to forget introducing myself! I’m your servant, Ko—”

     He cuts himself off, and makes a face.

     ”Saber.”

"A magus? I'm not sure I understa-huh!?" When he suddenly took her hands, she was of course surprised. It wasn't that she was unused to boys, but he was a stranger. She did her best not to overreact though. "Command seals? I'm not sure I follow-" though if she thought about it, the place where her heart should be seemed to burn? 

    The young girl stepped forth with a deep breath, ignoring his statement.

      “Um—”

     She raised her hand wordlessly, and what appeared to be strips of cloth began to float their way to the… entry point Kouta made. He watched, wide-eyed as the bandages began to glow and gradually…. magicked the hole away. There was no other word for it! It was now as if he didn’t fall through it just moments ago, the only tell-tale signs left being the crack he made on the floor (and his slightly dishevelled appearance, probably).

After fixing up the damage done to the floor, she had finally turned back to look at the mysterious stranger. Her Void was lightly floating around her as she took a deep breath to really calm herself before responding.

      Kouta hissed from the pain of the impact— as one who was used to more… efficient entrances at that point, that hurt quite a bit more than he anticipated. 

     Wishing inwardly that no one had to see that, he lifted his head and pushed himself off the ground, raising his eyes to view his surroundings.

     Before him, a few feet away, was a young girl—younger than he was, it would seem—with eyes understandably wide in shock.

     ”A-ah! W-wait, um—”

So much for a graceful first impression.

     He began to stutter, trying to get up— another flash of light enveloped him, and he reappeared before her, without his armor and in his human form. It would appear that he could not hold his evolved form for long, for whatever reason. But currently, there were more pressing matters at hand—

"H-Huh, blonde... then black, and clothes-?" Please do forgive her, everything is kind of happening pretty fast. And for some reason she was also feeling a little weak, but that wasn't a big deal, right?

Whomever they were... they actually seemed pretty nice? They were worried about her, at the very least.  She nodded, unable to form words at the moment. She looked at him and then at the floor realizing how his arrival had caused such a mess. The roof had an unintentional skylight and Hare was not having this. Taking in a deep breath, she stood straight up and lifted up her hand to move her Void over to the roof.

A war awaits you, Master Hare Menjou.

You will be housed in House Theta with your Servant Kouta Kazuraba. You will be given a Phoenix Scarf.

Enjoy your stay, and good luck.