one second, tanba appears in kiomi's room from a cloud of black feathers, a wrapped present in his hands, the next, he's gone just as he appeared, the present left on the floor in his place. the box tanba left behind starts to rattle around, however, and soon enough, a crow emerges, specifically, a familiar, one that's been specifically tuned to kiomi's magical energy. all that's left is for kiomi to imprint their control upon the familiar and they'll have a new useful tool! and maybe a pet!
Just once she wanted to catch him off guard when he suddenly popped in her room like that. But Shishou was faster than she could perceive him, as always. Which was why, the senbons that she hurled where the cloud of black feather once poofed into existence clanged as it fell on the floor after hitting nothing but the metallic wall. With a sigh of disappointment, she’ll just have to try again next time. Maybe surprise him and get praised for actually putting his teachings into use.
Just as she was about to retrieve her needles, Kiomi spotted the present that had been left for her there. Rattling and shaking. So it got her curious enough to take a sit beside it; and just as she was about to open it, a crow emerged from within the box, jumped out and looked at her.
“...” She felt a vein pulse.
“HAAAAAAH?! DID SHISHOU JUST PUT YOU IN A BOX?! FOR SOMEONE SO SMART. FOR SOMEONE SO SMAAAART--!” All the while imprinting the crow with her mana to complete their pact as master and familiar. Now that that was done, she’s got a bone to pick with the man. Who puts birds in boxes like this while being wrapped? While she loved this crow with her life now, that was exactly why she was marching out of her room to find Tanba. Of course, before she did, Kiomi grabbed her gift for him too. It’s not a lot, but there were instances when she sees him reading; and wondered if he liked books in general. So when she picked out the book that she planned to gift him with, she chose one that featured mythos and tales from another country. It’d be pretty different from Japanese texts, she thought, and took a chance that he could be fond of stories from other places.
Ah, but that sentiment was set aside for now. Talk, they have to talk about not keeping birds in boxes like that.
Those of the Assassin class always dealt in shadows and secrecy. This was true for true assassins throughout history. And even moreso for the Servant standing before her now. A fine blonde eyebrow raised itself as she looked at him.
Had this been a normal Grail War then she would have fought him to the death. But for the moment, hostilities were under a cease-fire, everyone — enemy Master and Servant alike — were allies until this thing was solved. Since there was something wrong enough to cause such a thing. ❝Hey, Assassin, what say you? Do you want to check out this odd abnomaly? We're temporarily allies right now. And I want to know what in the name of Tartarus is going on here.❞
Tanba drops a large sack of gifts in front of Hakuno, cheerfully exclaiming, "Happy Holidays, Hakuno! Here, enjoy all of this, stuff! From yours truly!" Tanba says 'stuff' because he doesn't actually know what any of the gifts are, on account of him stealing them all from other people-- but Hakuno didn't have to know that! All the lucky moon girl had to know was that her generous, and amazing servant Tanba had showered her with wonderful gifts on this lovely holiday! That's what Tanba wanted Hakuno to think, anyway, but he wouldn't stick around long enough to get her feedback (be it positive or suspicious), vanishing into a cloud of black feathers and leaving her alone with her giant collection of mystery gifts!!!
❝⠀ ah, wait —— ❞ a hand is quick to reach out to the other, it reaches out in a futile effort, only meeting with the jet black feathers left behind at the assassin's escape. her other hand goes limp, dropping a small cube she was just in the process of taking out back into her pocket. she hadn't even fully processed the servant's actions, having sprung into motion the second she saw him; not fast enough, as evidently seen ( a brief moment is taken for her to chastise herself on that, reaction speed is an important thing that she'd surely still need to work on, amongst others ) . had tanba really just come here to drop the bag, drop his season's greetings and then leave ? a questioning glance is given to that particular sack, a look that quickly disappears. his actions have already made that loud and clear. a small sigh leaves her, and she busies herself to look through the contents of this gift he'd left her. she has a sneaking suspicion of just what the contents of it may be, and that chant from halloween come to mind once more — far too late though, for the servant has long made his departure. couldn't even wait to see if she had something to say . . .
❝⠀ assassin, you idiot. ❞
when tanba makes his return, he'd be greeted with a sight of a stern - faced hakuno kishinami, standing perfectly still with her hands folded neatly by her lap. kind of like a parent waiting for their child to return from a party to give them a stern lecture on the dangers of going to such a place so late at night.
❝⠀ assassin, ❞ she greets, tone flat. the sack he'd gifted her lay almost slumped down by her side. ❝⠀ it has come to my attention that you ought to receive a talk on the etiquette of gift - giving, and that i have to be the one to give it to you. i'm hardly the right person for the task, but it can't be helped, i suppose. ❞ a quick clearing of her throat ( not a very necessary one considering her voice is as clear and understandable as always ) as she prepares herself for, what the other would soon realize is, a very lengthy monologue.
❝⠀ gift - giving is quite the particular thing, no ? they're given with the intent of giving to a specific person in mind, it's a very special thing and the thought really does count. take yourself for example, let's say there was someone trying to think of what to give you something. the first thought that comes to mind : knowing your .. means of entertainment — ❞ she just gives him a quick look of moon girl displeasure here. ❝⠀ — one can instantly think of a number of gifts. just think of assassin's style and abilities in combat and you'd be able to think of a lot that could serve as a pragmatic sort of gift for him, but what if you're someone who doesn't want to encourage his violent tendencies ? that narrows these gift options by .. a decent amount. that shouldn't deter you from gift - giving, however, taking all of these into account is simply part of the process. speaking of . . . your golden rule skill. most material gifts — most lavish gifts, i'd imagine — must be something you're well acquainted with. with this in mind, we can conclude that material gifts wouldn't likely be the best option as a gift for you. it'd likely be something you can buy yourself if you want to and opens up an incredibly unsatisfactory outcome : getting you something that you already have. ❞
❝⠀ that's just thought one out of . . . who knows how many. gifts are a type of love language, or so i heard. it does make sense when you really think about it. there's a lot to take into account, a lot of thought in the process of it. the period you grew up in .. the lifestyle you had .. whether you'd prefer a gift that's more practical or otherwise .. questions like that come to mind one after the other, and it's not like you could outright ask for their preferences, that sort of ruins the purpose. giving something after carefully thinking it out yourself . . . that's much more special than asking someone what they'd want, isn't it ? of course, even receiving silly things that don't come without all this thinking is just as sweet. hm. maybe it's just the thought behind it that makes it special . . . " this reminded me of you " , " i saw this and thought you might like it " — things like that. it's .. heartwarming.⠀ well ~ on a very lighthearted note, knowing of your affinity with crows make the idea of gifting you a crow plushie sound very tempting. it's an oddly amusing thought, and i suppose that would suffice as a gift, but it still doesn't seem quite enough. it is christmas, after all, so it should be something a bit more special. ❞
❝⠀ hobbies and interests, when you think of that, it'd be easy to get some ideas on what to give them. i do notice the interest you seem to have with your homeland. i'm not so certain, but based off the books i've seen you pick up, it might be safe to say that you'd hold an interest in modern - day japan. you can narrow things down from there — i did rule out material gifts, material gifts from your time period, to be exact; but i doubt you'd have something from the japan of this time. so, what could i get from today's japan ? would an item do ? what kind of item ? food, maybe ? what kind of food ? if i give you poultry to eat, would that be a form of cannibalism ? again, lots of questions . . . but i think the best way to get to know modern - day japan is —- well, to be there yourself. i might be biased, but travelling and exploring is fun. an experience would be a kind of gift too, wouldn't it ? an experience visiting a simulation of this japan .. even a literal walkthrough of japan throughout the years would be possible. though it isn't the real thing, the moon cell is an observatory device first and foremost. it'd be quite the experience i'd say. still not the best gift, but .. you'd be able to enjoy it, i hope. ❞
— there's something a flustered choking sound that leaves her at the end of this tangent, hakuno then coughing rather awkwardly into her fist. what had she been going on for so long for ? and for what ?! ❝⠀ w - well then, now you know of the pretty tedious thought process of gift - giving .. ! a rushed and summarized version, at least. though, even with all that thought, you'd still run the risk of gifting them something they don't like. ❞ going through all of this only to end up with a risk of the person you've been thinking of all this time not liking your gift, when put like that, it makes one wonder why you'd even go through with gift - giving in the first place. hakuno wonders that herself at times, but in the end, just seeing the recipient's face light up at the reveal of their gift always made it worth it. hopefully such would be the case this time as well.
❝⠀ as for our .. hypothetical gifting tanba scenario, you're probably the only one to have the answer as to whether he'd like or not, so, ❞ from her pocket, she once again takes out that small cube of data, properly this time, thank goodness. she holds it out to him, a bit of a playful look on her face and it takes no more than a couple of seconds for the cube to swiftly decompress into its original form at her silent command; it's a process made possible due to the digital world they inhabit, especially handy for storage of recovery items and the like, and —- cool little reveals like these. ❝⠀ why don't you tell me ? ❞ the item is still obscured, however, hidden behind a clumsy wrapping of paper, a very christmas - themed one with snowmen against a red background. those little hints of hers should already be telling of what this particular object is though, and hakuno chuckles as she hands it over to the assassin. the softness that can still be felt from it even when wrapped by the decorative paper would surely be the final nail to the coffin that is this not - quite " mystery " .
❝⠀ merry christmas, and this should be a given, but no stealing on christmas, tanba claus ! ❞
❝⠀ we're gonna be returning these to their rightful owners, by the way. better be quick, the more time you take, the less time for that simulation i mentioned ! ❞
While in the middle of twisting an enemies head right off their shoulders, Tanba cheerily calls out to Yuuki, "Hey once we're finished up here and we get back to headquarters, we should treat ourselves to something neat! I wonder if they have any mochi in the cafeteria, that would be nice, don't you think?"
It doesn’t come easier, seeing how some Servants kill and deal with corpses over others. Tanba seemed happy, to remove the head from the body. She didn’t comprehend it, and as someone who embodies life, she sort of chose to ignore it. Her assassin was efficient, and how he liked to do things was how he liked to do them. She wasn’t going to stop him, as she hadn’t quite figured it out. “I can always ask Archer to make more if we don’t have any mochi in the cafeteria. It would be rather nice to treat ourselves after such a laborious fight. Do you have any injuries? I’ll heal them right away.”
She puts her book down like she’s a strict librarian, not a flortist/failure of a magus who’d jump at even the slightest creak in her home. This is probably the only place she can be brave, apart from the sanctuary of her own, far too large home. After all, it’s one of two places, alongside Garden, that she can truly call her own.
❝ Tanba, I know you’re always supporting me in everything but you don’t understand. ❞ Karaoke was a horrible idea! Karaoke with others was even worse! She didn’t want to sing in front of anyone, much less him. It was embarrassing, if not all together humiliating! ❝ I can’t sing, Tanba! I really can’t! ❞
She knew him well enough at this point; he wanted to try everything the modern era held. Of course he’d be curious of this time, it offered far more than what he had gotten to witness within the Warring Period. Wanting to see how the world changed around him? Who wouldn’t want that!
But why did he have to pick karaoke?
He wasn’t backing down &. as music flared forward, Sylvia meekly took a mic in her hands. ❝ Alright...You asked for it... ❞ She would sing, but the sound was broken &. held no true rhythm. In fact, it came out cracked, pitch never once matching what it should have.
Surely by the end of this, Tanba would regret asking. Sylvia already did, her cheeks flushed red. She was sure everyone would have gone deaf by the time she had finished this song.
@getsuruito asked: Tanba, tossing a loud, but otherwise harmless explosive at Semiramis, "I think they call this a 'vibe check' !"
⤷ unprompted.
A CRACKLE IN THE AIR is the only warning semiramis gets before bright red lightens her throne room and decorates it with black soot. eyes wide, hands tightened around armrests, nails digging in wood; she practically resembles a frightened cat, the baby hairs on her neck standing straight up. words echo throughout the room, so loud and full of themself and semiramis knows there's only one person who would try something like this. fingers, one by one, loosen, the tension slowly falling from her shoulders, eyes spitting fire. semiramis stands slowly, eyes raving about her surroundings, glaring and searching for that CROW. soot still dusting her cheeks, she wipes her fingers across them. magic wavers and crackles through the dark, lightening up as if it's charging itself up, the clacking of her heels the only sound breaking through electricity as she descends her stairs. "how about i'll give you a life check, tanba ?"
