William POV
I can't think straight my mind's a mess spinning with too many thoughts to process. I can barely register the weight of Saber pressing against my back her arms wrapped tightly around my waist as I sped down the road on my motorcycle. I grip the handlebars harder trying to focus on the road ahead but all I can see is Ayako's pale lifeless body.
Since I came on my cycle only one person could ride back with me, and it was decided that Saber would be the one. Shirou would walk back with Rin and Archer leaving me alone with my thoughts and Saber's silent presence.
We were friends since childhood Shirou, Ayako, and I sure we argued a lot but I still cared about her. I tighten my grip the cycle surging forward faster as regret claws at me. Why did I waste time fighting with her? Why didn't I cherish our friendship more? Why the hell didn't I do something when I saw that bruise on Sakura's hand? Why didn't I act when it mattered most?
The taste of iron fills my mouth I've bitten the inside of my cheek so hard I've drawn blood but I don't care. All I can think about is how I failed them both time blurs as I drive, and before I know it, we're back at the house. I don't say a word to Saber as I dismount, nor do I acknowledge her following me as I head straight for the shed pushing aside the shelf to enter my workshop.
Saber looks around, awe and wonder in her eyes, but I can't appreciate it. The room is filled with weapons—daggers, arrows, swords, even modern firearms. All the things I would ever need to be the kind of hero of justice I wanted to be heh now look at me…what a joke.
I strip off my coat, vest, weaponry, and belt leaving me in a tight, sleeveless black shirt. Discreetly I catch Saber avoiding her gaze away from my exposed arms with a slight red hue on her face.
My circuits are screaming in pain from being overused when I should've been resting, but I don't care, I'm too angry, too lost. My feet move on their own taking me to the shooting range. I grab a nearby gun and some rubber bullets, the ones I use for practice and head into the range. Without thinking I disassemble the gun, then reassemble it, before snapping a fresh clip into place.
Aim. Breathe. Fire.
The first shot hits the target, and a memory flashes in my mind.
"What happened to your hand?" I remember asking.
"Oh, this... this is nothing, William-senpai," Sakura replied, her voice and image shattering like glass.
I fire three more shots in quick succession.
"Why the hell do you keep avoiding us? We're your friends!"
"You're such... a complete asshole, William Emiya! Do ya hear me?"
"I told you I've got better things to do than wasting my time on your dumb club, unlike Shirou!" I snapped at her once, and the disappointed, saddened look she gave me froze. Then, her image disintegrated like dust in the wind.
My heart pounds in my chest, each beat echoing in my ears. My hands tremble, but I keep firing, the memories bombarding me.
"Thank God you're both alive, thank you," a crying man's voice rings out.
"I'll be a hero of justice for you," a boy and his little brother tell their dying father.
"Just call me the... Taskmaster," I told the first person I ever saved.
Then, an explosion engulfs my vision, and I feel my breath catch in my throat.
"I thought I was a hero, so why... why couldn't I have saved them?!" I scream into the inferno around me, the words lost in the roar of flames.
"A hero cannot save everybody," Yashiro's voice echoes faintly in my mind.
"She's... she's gone, William. We were... too late," Ayako's lifeless image flashes before me again, and suddenly, I can't breathe.
A voice calls out to me, but I can't hear it. The world is nothing but pain and regret until a sharp sting snaps me back to reality.
Artoria POV
When I struck him, I felt his body tremble, the tension coiled so tightly within him that he seemed on the brink of shattering "have you finally calmed down… William?" I ask, forcing my voice to remain steady, though the concern I feel for him almost overwhelms me.
He exhales shakily, like the air is heavy in his lungs. "…yeah," he mumbles his voice thick with the weight of everything he's holding in.
I watch him my heart aching for this man who carries so much pain, so much guilt. I understand him more than he realizes perhaps more than anyone could. I think of the people I've lost the weight of my crown, the sacrifices I made for my kingdom. I know the hollow emptiness that consumes you when those you love are gone, the need to lash out at the world for taking them from you.
"William… I understand more than anyone what it's like to lose someone you love," I begin my eyes drifting to memories long past—my beloved knights, my brother Kay, and my adopted father Ector "I also know how crushing… the hollow emptiness that comes when they're not in your life anymore, the need to lash out," I continue recalling how I had closed off my emotions to become the 'perfect' king for my people.
He's listening to me, and I can see the turmoil in his eyes start to ease, just a little.
"But the people who loved us wouldn't want us to hurt or break ourselves down because of their passing. They'd want us to move forward with our lives and be strong," I finish remembering the words Sir Ector spoke to me before he passed.
Wiliam is silent for a moment before chuckling with a not so subtle tone of bitterness "hahaha yeah she'd definitely smack me on the head for the way I am acting right now...I only just wish I hadn't wasted all those years pushing her and Shirou away because of my own fears... To have just a few of those moments back," he replied.
He looked up his eyes no longer seem so cold there was now a hint of lightness in them nothing like Kiritsugu Emiya right now I see William Emiya "thank you Saber," he said.
A small smile spreads itself on my face "of course it is my duty as your servant to ensure you're well, both in body and mind," I replied with a nod.
Silence soon followed as we stared at one another for a while before William coughed "right well..." his gaze trails back to his weapon "I don't think I'll be able to rest for the day so I'll be here your welcome to stay and observe if you want to," he says placing a new rectangular object into the bottom of his weapon.
"While I do not approve of you not resting when you should...I suppose it will be okay to not do so this one time," I relented a bit reluctantly and took a nearby seat to observe.
-end of chapter thirty-one-
Finally I got this chapter out I am a bit nervous with this one since since I planned on using this chapter as another moment for a Saber x MC build up just not sure if I did the execution correctly...let me know how it turned out.
You can also thank reviewer Pechenufkoo for giving me the motivation to release and create this chapter...next chapter will hopefully cover the plan to deal with the Matou till then.
Also Fate/Dark Knight is still in progress....may be a while longer for a new update as I figure that I should update Fate/Lost Path after the release of this chapter for Fate/Survivor.