Moon Cell Irregular

By psychored1911

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. Yeah, not Fate/Stay Night, Fate/EXTRA. The PSP spin-off with the Hack & Slash sequel Fate/Extella coming in the winter.

Personally, I wanted to make this so I can answer a question that plagued me for quite some time: can Tatsuya kill Servants? Then I also thought just having them duke it out would be a bit boring, so I made a bit of a storyline that follows the Mahouka plotline for a bit before diverging into something more original. Also, I made Hakuno Kishinami the protagonist for the Fate side of this fic, since their code-casting in the Fate/EXTRA universe correlates better with the Mahouka universe's 'magic' than Fate/Stay Night's magecraft. That, and Fate/EXTRA was my portal into the Fate/Stay Night universe, so I connected to them before I did to Shirou. Not that I have anything against Shirou; he's still awesome.

Still with me so far? Good. Now, on with the show!

Chapter 1

There. It is done.

He finally made his wish upon the Holy Grail. Now all he had to do was wait for sweet, sweet oblivion.

Floating around the digital sea, he began to contemplate his short, short life: from the moment he realized his 'school' wasn't really a 'school', to his final battle against Twice and Saver.

Everything he's been through, everything he's done, it was all to survive; from making heartfelt alliances with Rani and Rin, to heartlessly crushing the dreams of his opponents, it was all just to live to see the next day. He knew how… morally questionable some of his deeds were, and if he could avoid them, he'd do it in a heartbeat. But alas, the Moon Cell was a cruel mistress. It was kill or be killed, no exceptions, no loopholes. Even now, their faces still haunt him, their dying words echoing relentlessly within his head.

Despite all that has happened, at least he made sure the future Grail Wars won't end in tragedy. That little tidbit eased his guilt-ridden conscience, if only just a little bit.

Oh, and his Servant. He couldn't forget about them. His constant companion throughout his ordeal. The first person to ever accept him for who he is. The first person, perhaps the only person who means more to him than any other. Even now, as the Moon Cell is deleting every fiber of his being, he can feel their embrace comforting him in his final moments.

"Hey… I know I haven't been the best Master… but it means a lot to me for sticking it out with me till the very end… So… thank you. Thank you for everything…"

Tears rolled down his face as the Moon Cell completed its termination process, permanently erasing the two of them from existence.

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It was early morning when Hakuno Kishinami slowly awoke, yawning and stretching his limbs as the hum of a running car slowed to a halt.

"Another one of those dreams…" He rubbed his eyes as another yawn escaped him. For a second, he wondered where he was, before looking out the window, a suburban front yard greeting his gaze.

"Right, we were in the middle of moving… Must've just arrived." Twisting his back, he could see the back of a moving truck, with his father helping the moving company unload their stuff and his mother talking with another mover. His parents must've left him alone in the car, thinking he was tired. Well, at least they cracked a window open for him.

He got out of the car and went over to the moving truck, picked up one of the boxes, and brought it into his new house.

As he put the box down and went over to get another one, he noticed a young couple, a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman, holding hands at the next house over, staring at him curiously.

Well, he'll introduce himself later. He simply waved at them politely before going back to bringing his stuff in.

Later, after the moving company left and everything had been settled, Hakuno plopped onto his desk and started filling out the online application process for that nearby Magic High School. You see, he wasn't like normal teenagers. He was what people would call a magician, someone who can use magic, or manipulate psions in order to alter the environment. He first discovered his ability five years ago and ended up getting hospitalized for a week because of it. He didn't exactly know how to control it at first, so his parents got him an internship at their job. He gets to practice magic, and they get a guinea pig for their experiments. It wasn't exactly a fair deal, but hey, magicians are a rare commodity, what can he do?

After finishing the tedious application process, his gaze wandered toward a worn-out sketchbook. He picked it up and started flipping through its pages:

A young girl in red, singing and dancing alone in a grand theatre.

A white-haired man kneeling on the ground, surrounded by countless swords.

A fox-eared woman standing alone in an endless field, crying in despair.

A golden king sitting upon an ancient throne, looking upon his great kingdom.

There were many sketches in this old sketchbook, some were as exquisitely detailed as the previous four pages, while others, his earlier designs, were simple, rudimentary, and often random images: a pirate fleet, a yew tree, a book of nursery rhymes; the weirdest had to be an intricate mark on a left hand.

However, it wasn't as if these images had no origins. Recently, he's been having these 'dreams', perhaps figments of his imagination. They came in and out at random intervals, but have been increasing as of late. At first, they were random objects, and he blacked out for a split second or two before coming to his senses. And then the longer ones came in. Either small scenes into a person's life, or… well scenes involving him. These ones could've only been a couple of minutes long at best, but apparently, he blacks out for hours. Why he was having them, or the hidden meaning of them all eluded him; he'd have to take it up with his doctor the next time he saw him.

Picking up a pencil, he flipped to an empty page and started drawing his newest dream onto the white paper.

After finishing up the sketch, he tossed it onto his desk, and plopped onto his bed, muttering about the stupid vivid dreams throwing off his sleep cycles as he stared at the ceiling.

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His opponent was astonished, as if defeat didn't even compute with him.

"I don't understand. I lost, yet somehow… I feel fulfilled."

The firewall cut himself between them, condemning his opponent to his inevitable death.

It was right for him to be surprised, but he eventually took a deep breath in acceptance. "Ah, I see. This is how defeat is supposed to feel like." He put his arm to his chest, feeling something he never felt before "What a complex feeling. I feel grief and fear, yet also courage. It's strange; this must be how others feel like."

"You learn more from defeat than from victory," Hakuno said.

"If only the Moon Cell allowed for the defeated to live." His opponent chuckled. "Tell me, would you have believed me to be a great ruler of the human race?"

"Leo, killing off all of Asia is an act a murderer would do, not a ruler." Hakuno's Servant placed their hand upon his shoulders, silently agreeing with him.

"I see." His opponent- Leo- smiled sadly, his limbs blackening from the deletion process. "I would've never been able to lead the human race, at least not into greatness." He turned towards the knight at his side, who knelt upon meeting his gaze. "You knew all along I lacked what it took to become king."

The knight furiously shook his head. "My lord-no, my King, I-"

"You knew I needed most was to face defeat for the first time, yet you still helped me win." Leo continued. "You knew I would one day be defeated, yet you tended to my growth anyway. And for that, I thank you."

He paused again, this time due to his chest being deleted rather than to let his words gain depth.

"If it wasn't for you, I would have seen this defeat as a stroke of poor luck and would not have learned from it."

"My king," The knight- Gawain- said near reverently, despite the leg he knelt upon being reduced to nothing more than ruptured codes. "I am nothing more than your knight. However, it brings me great joy to see your ascension to a great king. For me, that is rewarding enough."

The knight shortly succumbed to deletion. Yet he had no regrets. He had given his all to serve Leo; there was no reason for him to be ashamed.

Leo then turned towards Hakuno and his Servant, crying. Why wouldn't he? Only now did he understand what he lacked to become king- to become human. Yet by the rules of the Moon Cell, he can never get the chance to improve upon it.

"So, this is the end." His voice is quivering. "Hakuno, can you do me one last favor?"

Hakuno nodded quietly "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you please stay with me? I don't want to die alone…" Leo put his remaining hand on the firewall, hoping his friend would do the same.

"Sure buddy. Anything for you." Hakuno said, mirroring his friend's action.

"Thank you." Leo quietly wept, his face corrupted by the SERAPH. "You really are a true friend…"

And with that, Leo had vanished, gone without a trace.

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A couple of days after that tear-jerking scene of a dream, it was time for Hakuno to take the First High application exam. Now, the written exam was somewhat difficult, but he figured, with all the all-nighter cramming he did for it, he got a decent enough score to pass. Now, all he's got left to do is the practical exams. Shouldn't be too hard. Once this was over, he could finally go home and get some sleep. And some good sleep for once.

Stifling a yawn, he stepped forward when the proctor called his name up and started up an activation sequence at the console.

"You may begin."

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"Burn the witch!"

"Burn the witch!"

"Burn the witch!"

A crowd of angry villagers chanted as the prisoner was brought towards the giant wooden stake in the city's center. The prisoner, a young woman in armor, calmly walked towards the stake, accepting her fate without a word.

A young Englishwoman approached her and put a little makeshift cross in her hands. She silently regarded her with quiet gratitude and only moved again when the soldier yanked at her chains.

Reaching the stake, her hands were bound to it, perhaps a bit too tightly for comfort. The soldier who fastened her restraints glowered at her with a smirk "I'm gonna enjoy burning you, witch." He said, backing away as the bishop started chanting her judgment, reciting blasphemy after supposed blasphemy, heresy after false heresy, before declaring her final judgment and tossing a torch at her feet.

Her form of execution was a cruel one, not for the excruciating pain, nor for the destruction of the flesh. It was cruel since this form of execution gave time for the victim to lose all sense of dignity and cast doubt upon one's lifelong beliefs.

Admittedly, she did wonder what would have happened had she ignored the voices in her head. She could have had a normal life, married a nice man, and had loving children. However, the voices of the Angels were loud, and the path they led her down was more glorious than she could have ever imagined.

Was it foolish? Perhaps. But did she regret it? With all the lives she saved and all the comrades she's made along the way?

Not. One. Bit.

She just smiled, closed her eyes, and waited for the angels that guided her fate to numb her pain and bring her soul to heaven.

"Oh Lord, I surrender myself to you."

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"She's not burning…"

The soldier's earlier bravado rapidly turned to terror when the witch didn't burn.

The witch didn't writhe in pain, nor did she damn the God she supposedly answered to. She just bored her eyes at him and the bishop at his side…

And smiled.

"Kill her…" The bishop stuttered, before demanding it again once again when the soldier hesitated. "What are you waiting for?! Kill the witch!"

The soldier drew his sword and charged the blazing stake, determined to run the witch down with his blade.

Only for the witch to grab the blade inches before it pierced her heart.

"You know, when you shackle a prisoner, you should really make sure they fit." She said, mockingly twirling the shackles in her free hand before, in one fluid motion, attaching one end to the soldier's sword hand, twirling around the stake, and attaching the other end to his other hand, damning him to his victim's original fate.

"N-No…" the soldier uttered in horror as the witch oh-so cheekily plucked his sword out of his grasp and left him to burn. "No! You can't do this to me!"

"You were damned the second you tried condemning me to death. All I did was make thine fate all the more ironic." The witch cackled as she reveled in his screams of agony, before approaching her little 'audience' with a slow saunter.

The mob fled, crying in panic and praying to God to save them from the witch. The soldiers in the audience, once shaken from their stunned stupor, drew their weapons and surrounded the witch, determined to protect the townsfolk from the wrath of that dastardly witch. Fear was overtaking them, but they were honor-bound to stand their ground. How noble of them.

Yet so, so futile.

With nary a sweat broken, the witch pranced around each and every soldier in some sort of demented dance, slashing and stabbing, stabbing and slashing, until one by one the soldiers were all sprawled across the ground, dead, the earth below them becoming a viscous, crimson red.

The witch's hatred was yet to be sated, however, and her cruel gaze wandered over to the bishop, who, instead of running away, thought it to be wise to hide under his little podium and hope she didn't find him.

She grabbed the podium with one hand and threw it aside, relishing in the bishop's cowering face.

"O-Oh, dear God!" The bishop shrieked as he desperately crawled away from the witch.

"He won't save you from me, heretic." the witch slashed at his heel, preventing the bishop from fleeing. Watching him writhe in pain, the witch gave him a spiteful smirk.

"You know bishop, you were right about one thing."

"W-What... is it?" The bishop stuttered, soiling his trousers, tears running down his eyes.

"If God exists, I shall certainly receive divine punishment." The witch growled with a shrug, as if it were no big deal. "But not before I inflict it upon all you heretics first!"

She raised her sword over her head with a menacing sneer, determined to unleash her rage upon the sorry excuse of a bishop.

"Starting. With. You."

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The first thing Hakuno realized when he came to was that he wasn't at the practical testing room, but at the school's nurse's office; he knew that because the first thing he saw upon waking up was a woman in a lab coat, the school nurse, talking to… The couple that lived next door? What were they doing here?

The young man stopped talking and pointed to him, and the nurse turned around.

"Oh, hello there. You had quite a nasty fall earlier, Mr. Kishinami." The school nurse said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Satomi, the school nurse."

Hakuno rubbed his eyes. "What happened to me?"

"You fainted while taking the practical exam, and you were out of it for about two hours. From what it looks like, you passed out due to exhaustion." Dr. Satomi frowned "You shouldn't do that, Mr. Kishinami; another event like that could make you lose your ability to use magic."

"I'll keep that in mind-"

"And furthermore, tattoos are against the dress code policy." Dr. Satomi chastised. "Unless you're an Ancient Magic practitioner and it's part of your craft, then I suggest you make an effort to try and hide the one on your hand."

Hakuno rolled his eyes "Will d- wait, a tattoo?" He quickly glanced at his hand; an intricate mark had suddenly adorned itself on the back of his left hand. Noticing Dr. Satomi's glare, he opted to just roll with it. "I-I mean, sure. I can do that."

"Good," Dr. Satomi's frown eased into a smile. "Now that we're done here, your friends offered to bring him back home." she gestured to his neighbors at the door, who either waved or nodded in return.

"I will. Thank you, doctor."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Hakuno said nothing to the couple, and they didn't say anything to him either. The only time they actually said anything to him was about how they were gonna split the fare for the train (which, in his opinion, was more of a mini-streetcar than an actual train). Well, it didn't really matter to him; after all, they were nice enough to wait for him to wake up and all. Besides, they seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversation. It'd be rude to interrupt. Instead, he just glanced at the tattoo that suddenly appeared on his hand-

"That wasn't there before." The boy suddenly turned to him and pointed at the tattoo.

"Huh?"

"I was watching you perform the practicals. That wasn't on your hand until the moment you put your hand on the console."

"Onii-sama, what are you talking about?" The girl asked, confused.

"Miyuki, look at this." The boy, completely violating Hakuno's personal space, reached over and raised the hand containing Hakuno's tattoo. "When he took the practical, I believe he was-" It took him a few seconds to realize that Hakuno was staring at him incredulously, dropping obvious nonverbal hints for the latter to let go. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Tatsuya Shiba. This is my sister, Miyuki."

Miyuki gave a short nod. "It's nice to meet you, uh..."

"Hakuno Kishinami. Nice to meet you guys too." Hakuno said, yanking his hand out of Tatsuya's grasp. "So, what were you saying about my… tattoo?"

"Oh, yes." Tatsuya pointed at the tattoo once again. "I believe, that during the practical, you might've been targeted by a certain spell; specifically, a spell that engraved that mark on your hand. Your dip into unconsciousness was either a side-effect of the spell, or an initial spell designed to numb the pain of a subsequent engraving spell." He cupped his chin with his left hand. "Then again, I don't see why someone would go through all that trouble just to do something like that. It's an interesting design, sure, but it sure doesn't look like an activation sequence, at least not one used in modern magic. Perhaps they wanted to send a message." He paused and looked at his new friend. "Kishinami, does this symbol have any significance to you?"

He stared at the mark for a good second before shaking his head. "Sorry guys, I'm drawing a blank right now."

The 'train' skidded to a halt as the trio disembarked and made it to the street.

"Thanks again for waiting for me earlier." Hakuno gave them a thankful bow. "I guess I'll be seeing you guys on campus, provided I didn't blow my shot earlier." he said as he walked away from the two… away from his house.

Miyuki gave her brother a troubled look. "Onii-sama, should we tell him he's going the wrong way?"

Tatsuya shook his head. "Give him a minute," he said as their new friend paused in confusion and looked around before spinning on his heels and going in the right direction, with the two Shiba siblings following in tow.

Later that night, Hakuno opened his sketchbook and stopped at one page in particular.

"Found you."

The image on that page mirrored the one on his hand.

Of course, he recognized the mark. After all, it was the first thing he saw upon having these… stupid dreams. But he didn't tell them. How could he? As nice as Tatsuya and Miyuki were, he only just met them; it's not like he was gonna divulge personal information to them after meeting them for the first time. No, if he was going to find out what this mark was, he's gonna have to do it alone.

Now, if only he knew what the damn thing was. At most, this, this thing told him that his 'dreams' were the effects of some sort of spell rather than of his own volition. And even then, the contents of his dreams were just so... bizarre. As far as he knew, they were just glimpses of random events. What did they matter to him?!

Better yet, why him?! He's a nobody! The most he's accomplished was being the first magician in his family, and that's it! He barely passed the First High Entrance Exam (if his dip into unconsciousness during the practical didn't kill his chances). Why would he be targeted? And by whom? Who in their right mind would target him and why?

"Hakuno, sweetie? We're home! We brought dinner!" He heard his mom call out to him as the front door opened below him.

Hakuno closed his sketchbook and threw it onto his desk. He guessed his little problem had to be solved another time.

"Coming Mom!"

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"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

With an ear-shattering roar, the maddened master of Bajiquan disappeared into nothing more than ones and zeroes.

As he disappeared, Berserker's master, Julius, already partially eroded by his earlier defeat, cringed as the pain of deletion once again caught up with him. His command spells, the mark that bound him to both his servant and to the Moon Cell, vanished from his hand. Gone was the bloodlust from earlier. Gone was the cold, emotionless person that was once Julius Berkisk Harway. In his place was nothing more than a sad shell of a man, a sad shell of a man who would eventually fade away before his eyes.

Hakuno no longer feared him, despite all he had done. He no longer hated him, despite having every reason to do so. He no longer wanted to kill him, despite all the attempts on his life.

After all, anyone could have been dealt a damning hand like the man before him.

"So this is the end…" Julius breathed deeply, before acknowledging the sad look in his opponent's eyes. "Though it's beyond me, you somehow have some pity for me…"

He looks up, towards the digital sea surrounding them.

"Remember when you asked me, right before our Elimination Battle… 'Why do you kill?'" He asked weakly.

Hakuno nodded. "Of course I do."

Julius looked at him with a sad smile. "...Well, you were right. The Holy Grail, the Harways… none of that really mattered to me…" He paused, as if reminiscing of a long past time. "When I was young, only one person ever loved me, who told me my life had worth… And then she was gone, died without warning…"

It was clear Julius wasn't even paying him any attention anymore, and was instead caught up in memories.

"Her family killed her, in order to ensure Leo inherits the family fortune. She then said… to her killer… she asked them to protect my brother." he shook his head in disbelief "It was akin to a bad movie scene, poorly executed, and in poor taste."

Julius paused again. "But then my purpose was clear. I would fulfill her final wish, and join her in death. After that, people began to hate me, like I was some disgusting burden to them. Yet, I kept going. In fulfilling her last wishes, for the first time in my life, I had something to drive me." He finally turned towards his opponent, who had been standing before him all this time. "But you, despite tearing down my one purpose in life, you didn't end my life itself… Why?"

Hakuno hesitated a bit before giving him an answer. "Well… because it seemed you wanted to be saved…"

He didn't lie. Even someone like him could see Julius was hiding all the tears behind that cold exterior.

Julius seemed surprised by Hakuno's answer. "I wanted… to be saved? Perhaps you're right… I've lived too long in the dark, trying to chase that one light on the other side… Even if it meant all the pain in the world."

Hakuno found himself crying. What could he say to someone who suffered that much?

"Kishinami… are you... crying for me?"

Julius looked almost touched.

"No… please don't cry. You're the only one who tried to save me, after all."

Hakuno's servant slowly stepped aside as Julius summoned what was left of his strength and trudged towards the crying master, only for his arm to dissolve before he could wipe away the tears from Hakuno's eyes.

"Oh, I see…" Julius closed his eyes in acceptance. "I guess this is goodbye."

Hakuno's heart stopped as Julius disappeared before him, leaving only a faint smile on his face.

"..."

"..."

Hakuno felt his knees give way in despair as his Servant immediately went to his side in concern.

"No, don't worry. I'm okay…" He wiped the tears off his face as his Servant pulled him back to his feet. "Come on, let's go, I can't take anymore today."

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A/N: And done! Now, while you haven't seen much of the Mahouka cast so far, don't worry. We'll be seeing more of them very soon. Also, many of you might've noticed how I kept Hakuno's Servant ambiguous; I did that on purpose. If every route in Fate/Stay Night is 'canon', why not Fate/EXTRA? In fact, Hakuno could've theoretically had any Servant besides Saber, Archer, and Caster; I already threw out two possible options for his other prospective Servants, so who knows?

Now that all's said and done, please review!