Snippet #1048959

Fuka Narado stepped into the posh black luxury sedan that met her when she arrived at the airport. One of her bodyguards opened the back passenger-side door for her, and she demurely seated herself, making sure to tuck the back of her business suit's skirt forwards lest it get wrinkled.

"Lady Narado, I hope the flight was to your liking," her driver told her as he started the car and began to pull away from the airport curbside. Her other bodyguards all hopped into another black car which followed closely behind hers.

"It was fair," Fuka told the man, though she thought otherwise. The half Japanese, half British woman absolutely hated flying. She despised the cramped seats, the noise, the people. Yet she knew that she had to make the sacrifice of coming to this city so that she would be able to save the one thing left that truly mattered to her.

Her clan's future.

As the sedan and its escort pulled into the highway, Fuka turned her attention to the view out of her window. Outside, the city lay: a sprawling modern edifice, much like innumerable other human habitations littering the planet. It was neither different from nor similar to Tokyo, as all cities tended to be nowadays. It was a concrete jungle, with various species of human wildlife living in it.

"Archer," the Yakuza boss spoke up.

There was a slight shimmering in the air above the seat next to her. Within a few moments, that shimmer solidified into the solid form of a tall, black haired man in a brown duster and wide-brimmed hat. Although his face was young, his eyes betrayed his true age and that of the soul within. The dark blue orbs looked old; they were the eyes of a man who've seen too much bad in his time, and mayhaps had participated in many of those bad things himself. The driver saw his appearance from the rear-view mirror, but as he and the other members of the Narado Yakuza had met the Servant before, he gave him no mind.

"Yes, master?" Archer asked the woman whom he had signed a pact with.

"How does the city look?" Fuka continued to watch said city roll past her from the side window, trying not to let the slight tinge of nervousness she was feeling show on her voice. "And what of the others? Have they arrived as well?"

"The city's as to be expected," the tall man shrugged. "It's a place with lots of people. Gonna make our jobs a lot harder, trying not to get noticed while fighting to the death. But, whatever. I've been through tougher things. As for the other Servants and their Masters... well, I have found no sign. Yet."

Fuka nodded, hopeful that this meant that she was the first of the Magi participating in the Grail War to arrive in the city. It would buy her and her forces time to prepare. The more time she had, the better the odds that she and Archer would be the ones to win this conflict.

"Very good," she dryly told him. "Continue to keep watch for any sign of the other Magi or their Servants. If we can take one or two of them out before they are prepared, then it just makes our task easier to accomplish."

Archer nodded before vanishing.

Fuka continued to stare out at the city, her eyes distant and not truly seeing the impressive view. Her thoughts, as always, had drifted to her father and what he had entrusted to her in his last, dying days.

"Don't worry, father," she thought to herself. "The Narado Clan will once more be powerful. Our days of hiding and kow towing to our enemies shall soon be at an end. Once the Holy Grail is mine, I will see to it that your dreams are realized. I promise you, father. Your faith in me shall be rewarded."

And thus, the first player in the next Holy Grail War entered the fray.