Chapter 1: Unexpected Guests
Fujimaru Ritsuka was many things; Humanity's Last Master, an agent of Chaldea, a Cause-Rank Mage of the Clocktower, the man responsible for the genocide of entire timelines worth of people, a husband and a father. Not bad for a First Generation Mage who was born to otherwise mundane parents.
Sadly for Ritsuka, he had not had any contact with his mother Aki, his father Kentaro nor his younger sister Gudako since the Incineration. As far as the Fujimaru family knew, Ritsuka just vanished from their lives one day. UN sanctions prevented Ritsuka from contacting the outside world after restoring humanity, and the Foreign God's invasion dashed any hopes of a family reunion.
Or so Ritsuka thought...
In a certain room in Novum Chaldea, Fujimaru Ritsuka awoke to the pleasant smell of a home cooked meal. After he got out of bed and stretched a little bit, he made his way to the source of the smell and saw Kiyohime, his wife, having just finished laying out breakfast on a table in the centre of the room. Although Ritsuka and Kiyohime never had an official marriage ceremony, they nonetheless fit into the roles of husband and wife seamlessly. Jack the Ripper, their daughter, had already started digging into her own breakfast.
Jack had imprinted on her Master and his wife within moments of her Summoning; she saw Ritsuka as her 'Mommy' and Kiyohime as her 'Also Mommy.' This phenomenon had an odd interaction with Kiyohime's Madness Enhancement as well: the Berserker similarly perceived Jack to be her and Ritsuka's own daughter. Ritsuka for his part was simply happy to see both of them get along so well. As far as the three of them were concerned, they were a family.
Due to his status as Humanity's Last Master, the Nemo Marines built Ritsuka's room in Novum Chaldea to be a bit larger than normal in order to accommodate Ritsuka and his family. The bed was large enough for the couple to fit comfortably in, and it even had some room left over in case Jack wanted to climb in next to her parents.
There was a desk with a terminal for Ritsuka to type mission reports, or for Kiyohime to work on her doujinshi. On one of the walls was a screen that could function as a television and on another wall was a closet that held everyone's clothing, Ritsuka's Mystic Codes and other equipment (such as Kiyohime's Naginata). On one side was a private bathroom and on the other was a small kitchen that Kiyohime used extensively. In the centre of the room was a dining table large enough for six people, handy for when they had guests over.
There was even a smaller room in the back just for Jack. Jack's room was complete with a bed, a personal terminal for Jack to watch cartoons and a footlocker to store her toys, knives and other belongings. All in all, this was a quaint little home that Ritsuka looked forward to returning to after each mission. With his tiredness now gone, Ritsuka silently approached Kiyohime with a Shinobi's stealth and mischievous smile.
"Good morning, Kiyohime." Ritsuka said as he hugged the dragon woman from behind. He then gave Kiyohime a peck on the cheek, which caused her to giggle. "Something smells good." He remarked.
"Good morning, Honoured Husband." Kiyohime greeted politely as Ritsuka let go of her. "Breakfast is already on the table, as you can see. Your Mystic Codes have also been washed, dried and ironed. I hope you don't mind being a little bit late for work today, but you just looked so peaceful that I decided to let you both sleep in a little bit longer than usual." Ritsuka looked at a wall mounted clock and noticed that it was twenty past eight. Normally he would be awake by six and start his daily training by seven. Ritsuka would have to apologise to Leonidas later for missing out on the morning reps, however breakfast came first.
"Good morning Jack." Ritsuka greeted as he and Kiyohime sat down at the dining table to eat. This morning for breakfast, Kiyohime had served fried salmon fillets, with rice and miso soup on the side. It was a simple yet nutritionally balanced meal meant to provide enough energy for a full day of activity. It also tasted good, so good in fact that Jack didn't even wait for her father to sit down before she started digging in.
"G'morning Mommy." Jack replied between mouthfuls of food. "All done." She said before she left to put her dishes in the sink like a good little girl. The wraith child returned just as quickly as she left, idly swinging her legs in her chair and smiling at her father in hopes that they would have fun together just like the day before.
Yesterday was a good day for Ritsuka. He had finally come back from resolving the latest Minute Singularity in the early morning, then he used the Saint Quartz gained from said Singularity to successfully Summon three Valkyries. The afternoon was spent sharing chocolate with Jack while they watched a Magical Girl anime marathon together. At night Ritsuka ate Karaage cooked by his wife for dinner, then he spent the rest of the evening transferring Mana to Kiyohime before falling into a pleasant sleep.
Today, Ritsuka was hoping to get his daily training out of the way quickly. That way he could spend some more quality time with his wife and daughter to make up for the lost days stuck in that Minute Singularity: killing the same enemies over and over again for Saint Quartz and Materials. The grind never ended in Chaldea.
But that was neither here nor there. Right now, Ritsuka could relax and enjoy a nice hearty breakfast lovingly prepared by his dear wife-
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, please report to the Command Room." Came the voice of a certain genius over the intercom suddenly, tossing all of Ritsuka's plans out the window. The entire Fujimaru family froze for a few seconds. Kiyohime looked down in disappointment. Jack gritted her teeth in frustration. Ritsuka sighed loudly in resignation as he got up out of his chair.
"Duty calls." Ritsuka said bitterly. Family bonding would have to come later. He wasted no time to leave for his mission briefing. The sooner he started this mission, the sooner he could finish it and come back home. "I'll be going now." He called out as he walked out through the door.
"Have a safe trip." Kiyohime replied as the door closed. After finishing her own breakfast and putting the plates away to be washed later, Kiyohime walked over to Jack, who was still pouting, and gently grabbed her hand. "Come along, Jack." Kiyohime said, forcing herself to smile as she gave her daughter's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's see if your little friend Alice wants to play."
"I'm here. What's the situation?" Ritsuka asked impatiently upon entering the Command Room. While Ritsuka was normally one of the nicest people in Chaldea, getting between him and his family time was one sure fire way to earn his ire. Already seated in the Command Room was Goredolf, Leonardo, Sion, Holmes and Mash, the last of whom stood at attention once Ritsuka entered.
"Good morning Senpai." Mash greeted. The ever diligent Kouhai was already wearing her Ortinax suit in preparation for deployment. Mash's polite greeting instantly lightened Ritsuka's mood, and he smiled in reply to her.
"Glad you decided to show up to work, Ritsuka. It's nearly eight-thirty." Leonardo said playfully. Ritsuka looked sheepishly at her while he made his way over to his seat.
"Kiyohime said that I looked peaceful when I was sleeping, so she let me sleep in." Ritsuka explained. Holmes chuckled at Ritsuka's excuse.
"Well, sorry to interrupt your quiet peaceful life but something's come up." Holmes said as everyone turned to the Director of Chaldea, Goredolf Musik. Goredolf cleared his throat before speaking.
"Now that everyone's here, we can begin the mission briefing." Goredolf started. As Director of Chaldea, it was his duty to open each meeting with the upper echelons. "Da Vinci, report your recent findings, if you would." The Renaissance girl nodded in affirmation before standing up to speak.
"At around 0400 today I decided to scan the Bleached World, just to check if the Crypters had made a move against us." Leonardo explained as she tapped some buttons on the console to bring up a hologram map of the world. "While scanning, I picked up some barely detectable radio signals, accompanied by some heat signatures." A red dot then appeared on the map some distance away from Novum Chaldea's location. "The radio signals stopped before I could analyse them further, but the heat signatures remained. I know it's not much to go on, but I think it might be worth checking out." Leonardo sat down as soon as she was done speaking. Holmes then raised his hand to get everyone's attention.
"If I may invoke Occam's Razor, the simplest explanation is that some form of radio equipment in a bleached ruin just gave its last signal before running out of power. On the other hand-" Holmes said, deliberately drawing out the last word and pausing to prompt someone else to speak.
"-It could be actual human survivors calling for help." Ritsuka finished for Holmes, having come to the same conclusion.
"Precisely." Holmes said with a smile, most pleased that Humanity's Last Master was so quick on the uptake.
"If there are people out there, we should find them." Ritsuka stated. Humanity's Last Master's mission, indeed the mission Chaldea itself, was to save humanity. Sion nodded in agreement.
"The Nautilus can carry Ritsuka, Mash and Da Vinci over to the mainland, and the Shadow Border can take them the rest of the way." Sion suggested. "It'll be just like when you first arrived at the Wandering Sea, only in reverse." She finished, grinning as she made that last realisation.
"You should bring some backup in case this turns out to be a trap" Goredolf said. While Ritsuka thought that Goredolf was being a little bit paranoid, he was right in that they shouldn't leave the base unprotected. Fortunately, swiftly deciding on what tactics to use had become second nature to Humanity's Last Master.
"Kintoki, Chiyome, Billy and Sanson will come along." Ritsuka said, having already decided on a team. "Kintoki will ride alongside the Shadow Border as an escort. Chiyome will scout the objective ahead of us. Billy will act as ranged-fire support in case turns out to be a trap, and Sanson will give medical aid if there are survivors who need it." Ritsuka initially contemplated bringing Nightingale instead of Sanson, but quickly decided against that notion in case he needed to negotiate with this unknown party.
"Senpai, we should also bring along some extra food rations and water. If there are people out there in the Bleached World, then they've probably only survived this long by scavenging non-perishables." Mash suggested, ever the compassionate soul.
"And what if they turn hostile?" Goredolf asked. Disasters such as the Bleaching made people desperate, and desperate people made stupid decisions, such as attacking an armoured transport in hopes of taking supplies for themselves.
"Then Billy fires some warning shots and we leave." Ritsuka immediately answered. "I doubt that starving survivors could do anything to the Shadow Border, let alone four Servants." Goredolf took a few moments to digest this information.
"Hmm. Sounds like a plan. Gather your team and report to the docking bay for deployment no later than 0900. Dismissed." Goredolf said, prompting everyone to go to their assigned stations. With no other questions, Ritsuka departed, eager to get this mission over with. At least there was still time to say goodbye to Kiyohime and Jack while getting his Arctic Combat Mystic Code. If Ritsuka hurried, he could even finish his breakfast (which was surely cold by now).
The trip itself was uneventful. After the Shadow Border was loaded onto the Nautilus, the submarine left port for the edge of the Wandering Sea's territory. Then it was a (somewhat tricky) matter of deploying the Shadow Border on dry ground and then driving to their destination, with Kintoki riding his motorcycle alongside them for security. Fortunately, nothing attacked the Chaldeans during their drive across the Bleached Earth. Truly, this was a dead land now. Soon enough, they had reached their destination.
Currently, the Shadow Border was parked some distance away from the source of the signal awaiting the return of a certain Kunoichi. Chiyome had already been dispatched to scout ahead and gather intelligence. During her absence, Ritsuka sat in his personal chair on the Command Deck of the Shadow Border. He checked his equipment to help pass the time, starting with the spear that rested upon his shoulder.
Remnant From 1999, a forked-spear gifted to Ritsuka by Cu Chulainn, had been Ritsuka's preferred weapon for self-defence in the Singularities and Lostbelts. Under Scathach's tutelage/torture, Ritsuka had become quite proficient in its use. Many foes had met their end when they expected Humanity's Last Master to be a vulnerable target hiding behind his Servants, only to find themselves masterfully (pun intended) skewered by the false Gae-Bolg. Remnant wasn't the only weapon in Ritsuka's arsenal.
There was also the Calico M950, a 9mm submachine gun given to him by the Mage Killer himself, Emiya Kiritsugu. The Calico was Ritsuka's go-to weapon for ranged combat and while he appreciated having fifty rounds per magazine, it did have a mildly annoying tendency to jam.
Next was Someone's Sword, a short sword that was given to Ritsuka by Sir Lancelot du Lac. Ritsuka suspected that the sword originally belonged to Gilgamesh before Sir Lancelot stole it, not that Gilgamesh would ever admit that one of his weapons was successfully stolen from his treasury. Someone's Sword was normally strapped to Ritsuka's belt, and it mostly functioned as a backup weapon in case Remnant was ever knocked out of Ritsuka's hands, or if he had to fight in confined spaces too small for the spear. If nothing else, the foul-looking mist of corruption that accompanied Someone's Sword was intimidating.
While he wasn't exactly a weapon per se, the divine horse Xanthos who once pulled the chariot of Achilles was nonetheless a valued asset. He normally stayed in spirit form for convenience's sake. Whenever Ritsuka needed swift transportation to keep up with his Rider Servants, a short whistle was all that was needed to prompt the stallion materialise by his Master's side, ready to show Ritsuka the definition of speed. Xanthos was also a surprisingly intelligent conversational partner, owing to his ability to speak.
Even without his equipment, the physical training under Leonidas, Ninjutsu training from Fuuma Kotaro, Bajiquan training from Li Shuwen and Magecraft training from Waver Velvet meant that Ritsuka was not to be underestimated. After losing forty-seven other Masters, Chaldea was not taking any chances when it came to Ritsuka's survival: he needed to be ready for anything and everything that came his way. However, a Servant would still be able to wipe the floor with him: Ritsuka was not a one man army. Ritsuka's musings were brought to an end when Chiyome suddenly appeared.
"My Lord, I have returned." Chiyome said as she knelt before her Master. Ritsuka was not even startled by the kunoichi's sudden appearance.
"Chiyome, report." Ritsuka ordered. It was time to find out whether or not he had just wasted a day that he could have spent with Kiyohime and Jack.
"My Lord, I can confirm that there are indeed surviving humans." Chiyome revealed, causing Ritsuka's eyes to widen. "I counted no fewer than fourteen survivors inhabiting a bleached ruin. Upon closer inspection, I deduced that the ruin seemed to be some kind of radio broadcast station."
"That explains the radio signals I picked up." Leonardo chimed in as Ritsuka digested this information.
"Do you think they would attack us?" Ritsuka asked. This was a delicate scenario that needed to be handled with the utmost care.
"I believe that they are too ill-equipped and malnourished to attempt hostilities against us, should we approach, my Lord." Chiyome replied. That brought some relief to Ritsuka: it simply didn't sit right with him to have to harm or even kill civilians who had survived the Foreign God's invasion.
"What now boss?" Kintoki asked, having come inside to get out of the sun. The rest of the Servants did not have to wait long for their Master to give them his orders.
"Start up the engine." Ritsuka commanded as he fastened his seat belt. "It's time we said hello to them."
In no time at all, the Shadow Border had pulled up in front of a rather large ruined building that was the same pale colour as the rest of the Bleached World.
"Holy shit, is that a tank?!" A survivor who sat at the entrance of the ruin yelled upon seeing the Shadow Border. Inside the vehicle, Ritsuka took a deep breath to steady himself for the task ahead.
"Mash, Kintoki, Billy, Sanson: you're with me. Leonardo, Chiyome, stay behind and hold the fort while we're gone." Ritsuka ordered his Servants. "Open the hatch."
In the time it took Ritsuka and his Servants to exit the vehicle, a small crowd of eight had stepped out to get a closer look at the Chaldeans. Ritsuka noticed that a few people attempting to discreetly peek from inside the relative safety of the ruin. These people were a sorry sight; unwashed for months, clad in filthy rags and clearly suffering from malnutrition. To see a healthy person like Ritsuka suddenly appear with an armoured personnel carrier must have seemed like a hallucination to them. Ritsuka smiled and waved.
"Hi there. Pleasant day we're having, aren't we?" Ritsuka joked in an attempt to break the ice. With the onlookers still too dumbfounded at his failed attempt at humour to respond, he decided to get right down to business. "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. My crew and I picked up a radio signal a while ago and decided to check it out. So now we're here." Ritsuka explained before pointing at the antenna array at the top of the building in front of him. "I take it that the broadcast tower was the source?"
"Yeah, but the damn thing ran out of juice before we could do anything with it." A civilian explained before he winced in pain and grabbed his abdomen "You wouldn't happen to have any food on you?"
"Yes. We can share-" Ritsuka began to say before he stopped short. His blue eyes widened in surprise when he noticed something, or rather someone, in the window of the building.
"Something wrong, Boss?" Kintoki asked, wondering why his Master was acting so strangely.
"...Gudako?" Ritsuka asked incredulously as he spotted a familiar redhead staring at him from inside the ruin. Deftly weaving past the confused crowd in front of him, Ritsuka moved to get a closer look and confirm his suspicions. "Gudako!"
"Ritsuka!" A young woman cried as she ran out of the building. "Mom! Dad! It's Ritsuka!" She then ran to Humanity's Last Master and hugged him as hard as she could. Ritsuka returned the hug, but much more gently so as not to harm the malnourished Gudako. Just as Gudako let go of Ritsuka, two people then ran out of the building; a middle-aged woman with black hair and blue eyes, and a middle-aged man with red hair and gold eyes. The woman had a look of disbelief on her face upon seeing Ritsuka, while the man simply stared at Ritsuka in silence.
"Ritsuka..." The black haired woman began, with tears in her eyes. "Is that really you?" She asked.
"...It's been a while." Ritsuka said with some hesitation, still coming to terms with what was going on. The woman's expression unexpectedly turned to one of anger. She suddenly slapped Ritsuka across the face with a loud 'smack,' much to Ritsuka's surprise.
"That's for never calling us!" The woman cried before she quickly pulled Ritsuka into a hug. "Do you have, hic, any idea, hic, how worried we were?" She choked out before she broke down into relieved sobs. Astounded, Ritsuka could only awkwardly return the hug and pat her on the back in spite of his stinging cheek.
"Good to see you alive, son." The red haired man said calmly. "I knew something good would come from fixing the radio."
"Do you know them, Senpai?" Mash asked as she and the other Servants caught up to their Master. Ritsuka nodded.
"Yeah. They're my parents; Kentaro and Aki, and my little sister: Gudako" Ritsuka explained. Looking at the family, it was obvious that Ritsuka inherited his eyes and hair colour from his mother while his sister Gudako got her hair and eyes from their father.
The impromptu family reunion seemed to completely dissolve the tension between the survivors and the Chaldeans. No longer suspicious of the newcomers, there was an unspoken agreement among the civilians to welcome Ritsuka and his Servants. Ritsuka then broke out of his mother's embrace when he remembered that he still had a job to do.
"Before we do anything else, does anyone here need medical attention?" Ritsuka asked the others, which made Sanson to stand at attention. A woman then stuck her head out of a window.
"My daughter isn't able to get out of bed." The woman said, clearly distraught. "She's barely able to eat anymore."
"Sanson, get to it." Ritsuka ordered in a commanding tone that his family had never heard from him before. The executioner and part-time medic nodded and followed the mother deeper inside to begin his assessment. "Mash, Billy, Kintoki, distribute the extra supplies we brought while I catch up with my family." He ordered the others. As the Servants headed back to the Shadow Border, Ritsuka faced Gudako and asked. "Gudako, do you know somewhere where we can have some privacy?"
Gudako nodded and lead Ritsuka into the ruins with their parents following closely behind. She brought him to a spartan room, possibly an office of some sort, that had three blankets laid out on the floor and not much else. The four of them sat down on the ground to begin their family discussion. For a while, nobody said anything as Ritsuka found himself fidgeting under the gaze of the other three.
"I.." Ritsuka began, but found himself to say anything else. It wasn't often that Ritsuka encountered something that caught him by surprise. Years of facing certain death and bizarre events (which mostly happened around Halloween, oddly enough) meant that there few times when he found himself at a loss for words. Now however, when confronted with the family that he was certain had long since perished, Ritsuka found himself unable to say anything: he didn't even know where to begin. Fortunately, Gudako had a pressing question on her mind, one that she had wanted to ask him for years.
"What happened to you?" Gudako asked. "I remember that you left to donate blood one day, but you never came back." Ritsuka inhaled sharply as he thought back to that day.
It all seemed so simple at first; just go to the blood donation drive, donate blood, get some complementary chocolate out of it and come back home in time for dinner. However he soon lost consciousness after eating said chocolate and awoke a considerable amount of time later in an unfamiliar place. On the floor, no less. At least the chocolate was good.
That was his first day in Chaldea. After meeting with a certain Kouhai, sharing cake with a certain doctor (whose death still weighed heavily on Ritsuka's conscience) and barely missing an explosion, Ritsuka had become Humanity's Last Master. Thus began Ritsuka's Gruelling Journey to restore humanity: gaining many scars and losing many friends on his mission to drive back the enemies of mankind.
Even after undoing the Incineration, Ritsuka (as well as the rest of Chaldea) was still forbidden from contacting the outside world under United Nations law. The legal nightmare that followed the Salem Pseudo-Singularity didn't help matters. After the Foreign God Bleached the world, Ritsuka had simply accepted that his family was no more at that point.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, however. Over the years, Ritsuka had found loyal companions, met his wife, became a father and amassed a great wealth of QP. He himself had grown as person because of the countless obstacles he had overcome: growing from a carefree chocolate-addicted mecha enthusiast into an experienced tactician and responsible leader (though he still enjoyed chocolate and mecha anime). If given the choice to undo his fate and give the mantle of Humanity's Last Master to someone else, Ritsuka would refuse: the burden was his and his alone to bear.
For obvious reasons, Ritsuka could not tell his family about Chaldea's purpose, truth behind the Missing Year, nor the nature of the Lostbelts. At least not before bringing it up with Goredolf and the others first. He had to quickly come up with a broadly accurate version of events while omitting the more classified details. Ritsuka just hoped that his wife Kiyohime didn't burn him alive for doing so when he came home.
"After I donated blood, I was offered a job working for the UN, and I've been an agent for them ever since. I wasn't allowed to contact anyone while working for legal reasons. Then the world got Bleached. Now I live in an offshore base with my wife and daughter, as well as with other survivors. I'm sorry that it's taken this long to talk to you about it." Ritsuka explained calmly. Then his brain registered that he had just revealed some very surprising news to his parents, as evident by their widened eyes. "You're grandparents now, by the way."
"G-g-grandparents?!" Aki stuttered as she nearly fainted. While she was overjoyed that her son had settled down and started a family of his own, it didn't stop the shock that came from learning that she was now a grandmother. As if she wasn't finding enough grey hairs...
"Whoa." was all that Gudako said. Of all the things she imagined Ritsuka was doing while away, she never expected him to be some sort of government agent. One thing was for certain though: Gudako was going to spoil the heck out of her niece when they met.
"I'd like to meet them." Kentaro said plainly, his face unchanging as he took the news much better than his wife. It seemed neither the end of the world nor learning of his son finally becoming a man could phase the Fujimaru Patriarch.
"If things go my way, you can." Ritsuka replied. He then got up to leave the room. "I need to see if Sanson's done." A short walk later, they took Ritsuka to what seemed to be the break room where a young girl lie motionless on a dirty mattress. The child's mother stood anxiously on the other side of the room, her apprehension obvious. Sanson was kneeling at the child's side, holding her arm while a serious expression crossed his face.
"Your thoughts?" Ritsuka asked Sanson as he finished examining the bedridden child. His face turned grim as he shook his head.
"Not good. She'll need intravenous nutritional supplements and physical therapy to get her back on her feet." The executioner explained. Then he gave a slight smile. "The good news is that we already have what she needs back in Novum Chaldea." Sanson then stood up to look his Master in the eyes. "Master, the sooner we get her treated, the better her chances of survival will be."
"Is that true? Can you really help us?" The child's mother asked with renewed hope. This must have been the first piece of good news that these people had heard since the Foreign God invaded.
"It may not look like much, but the Shadow Border has more than enough room for everyone onboard: there's enough food and shelter for all of you back at our base." Ritsuka explained to the survivors. He had just found his family again, and they were coming back to Novum Chaldea with him even if it was the last thing he did.
"I'm sensing a 'but' there." Kentaro said, suspecting that this was to be too good to be true. Ritsuka had the decency to look sheepish.
"Yeah. I gotta ask my boss first." Ritsuka confessed, already dreading the inevitable hurdle of convincing the Director to allow the refugees to stay. "Wait right here, I'll make the call now."
Ritsuka headed back to the Shadow Border as Billy and Kintoki amused some of the children. Billy fired his revolver while Kintoki tried to catch the bullet. After telling Billy to 'shoot slower,' the Golden Rider managed to successfully catch a round, much to the amazement and disbelief of onlookers. Mash meanwhile was confronted by Aki and Gudako, who asked Mash if she was Ritsuka's aforementioned wife.
Ritsuka had gone back to the Shadow Border alone to report back to the Director. After bringing Goredolf, Holmes and Sion up to speed, he had asked for permission to bring the refugees back with him.
"Bringing them in is a massive security risk." Goredolf pointed out to his subordinate. "Not to mention they're extra mouths to feed."
"I am bringing my family back with me. That is non-negotiable, Director." Ritsuka said as he gave his boss a glare that would have made a Bel Lahmu shrink back. Oddly enough, this action actually caused Goredolf to soften his expression, rather than recoil in fear or explode in defiant rage.
"I know you miss your family, but do you really want to risk exposing them to the Moonlit World? Or the other survivors? You do realise what the Mages Association would do to them all if word of this ever got out, right?" As a Mage of the Clocktower, Goredolf knew full well that a horrid fate awaited those who stumbled upon Magecraft. Since neither of Ritsuka's parents were Mages, the Mages Association wouldn't think twice about silencing them. However Ritsuka was undeterred.
"After surviving for this long out here, there's no point in keeping them in the dark." Ritsuka answered. "Our only other option is just to leave them out here to starve to death. There isn't any food or water here apart from what was stored in the ruins, and that'll run out soon. I can't just leave these people to die out here when saving humanity is literally my job." Ritsuka reasoned. While many had praised Ritsuka for his compassion, more often than not Ritsuka's chronic case of heroism gave Goredolf a headache.
"I understand what you mean, but we're not running a charity here. We can't just give these people food, water and shelter without something in return." Goredolf stated. Fortunately, Ritsuka had already thought of something.
"They'll earn their keep. Ask around to see if anyone at Chaldea could use some extra hands and then put them to work." Ritsuka added, deciding to change negotiation tactics. It seemed to have an effect, as Goredolf contemplated Ritsuka's words.
With fewer than twenty people surviving the raid on the original Chaldea, Novum Chaldea was significantly understaffed. Goredolf knew many hands made for light work, and the smoother that Novum Chaldea ran, the sooner the world would be restored.
"I'd like to say that I think we should let them in." Leonardo said, now deciding to take part in the conversation. "Saving these people is sure to boost morale around Novum Chaldea, and inspire everyone to work harder to restore humanity." Her input prompted the others to voice their opinions on the matter.
"What's the harm? Giving them food, water and shelter should be incentive enough for them to behave." Holmes said with a shrug, essentially voting in favour of letting the survivors on board.
"We can afford a few extra mouths to feed, and I already know some people who would appreciate some extra help." Sion added, remembering Nemo Engineer's recent complaints about the Nemo Marines. With a majority voting in favour of letting the refugees stay, Goredolf relented.
"... Fine. But they're your responsibility from now on, Ritsuka. I'd better not hear about them causing any trouble, because I'm going to work them to the bone. Load the refugees onto the Shadow Border and get back to base. Dismissed." Goredolf announced, closing communications with the Shadow Border.
Ritsuka gave out a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe it: not only did he actually save people for a change, he was also reunited with his family. It almost made all of the lives he had ended to get this far worth it. With a tiny fraction of his guilt absolved, he headed out of the Shadow Border to tell the others the good news.
The return trip back to Novum Chaldea was not as boring as the departure. The refugees readily agreed to go with the Chaldeans, if only because it was better than starving to death in the middle of nowhere. After their initial wonderment over how the Shadow Border was bigger on the inside, they soon settled down into quiet boredom as the Shadow Border drove across the Bleached landscape for hours.
Things picked up after reaching the Wandering Sea. Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle at seeing the survivors panic when the Shadow Border started sinking into the water, thinking back to the first time he experienced the same thing. Shortly thereafter, the Nautilus picked up the Shadow Border, much to the relief of its passengers. Soon enough, the Nautilus surfaced in Novum Chaldea's Docking Bay and the refugees began to depart, thankful to be on solid ground once more.
Standing in the Docking Bay awaiting their arrival was Goredolf. It seemed that the Director had decided to personally welcome the newest residents of Novum Chaldea. Putting on the most dignified air that he could, Goredolf spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Novum Chaldea. I am Goredolf Musik, Director of this fine organisation. After each of you get a medical examination, we'll give you the rest of the night to settle in and familiarise yourself with the base's layout. Tomorrow, you'll be assigned jobs to help out around Chaldea. If you want to eat, then you have to work. Dismissed." Goredolf then walked over to Aki and Kentaro, deducing that they were Ritsuka's parents. He studied them intently for a moment before speaking.
"Hmph. So you're Ritsuka's parents then." Goredolf said as he stared them down. Aki fidgeted under the Director's gaze, while Kentaro retained his stoic stony visage. Then unexpectedly, Goredolf smiled at the couple. "Ritsuka is one of our finest agents. You must be proud of your son." That was all Goredolf said before he turned on his heel and left the bewildered refugees. Ritsuka then stepped out of the Nautilus with Sanson, carrying the malnourished child from earlier on a medical stretcher.
"Let's get this girl to the infirmary." Ritsuka ordered Sanson. "Please follow us: Nurse Nightingale will look after the rest of you." He told the refugees. Since Sanson had already examined that girl, it would be quicker to simply let him continue her treatment rather than spend time bring Nurse Nightingale up to speed. The group then followed Ritsuka and Sanson deeper into the base.
Along the way, the refugees only became more perplexed as they passed by some of Ritsuka's Servants. They saw a fox-eared woman wearing only an apron, a man with a lion's head, a child with doll jointed limbs, some kind of winged robot girl and Angra Mainyu. A white furred cat-thing even leapt up onto Ritsuka's shoulder and nuzzled against his face briefly before hopping off and darting away. Soon they reached the doors of Novum Chaldea's infirmary.
"Wait here." Ritsuka said to the refugees as he and Sanson carried their patient into the infirmary ahead of the group. Nurse Nightingale stood at attention as soon as they entered.
"Prepare the emergency room!" The Angel of Crimea shouted upon seeing the bedridden child. Before she could act, Ritsuka intervened to stop her.
"Not so fast, Nurse Nightingale." Ritsuka said as he and Sanson placed their patient down on a spare bed. "Sanson can handle this patient, but I need you to perform a medical evaluation for all of the people waiting outside." He commanded. Nightingale nodded, trusting her Master's intentions.
"Then there's no time to waste." Nightingale then kicked the infirmary doors open and pointed at the nearest person. "You, redhead. You're first." Nightingale said as she grabbed Gudako by the wrist. Nightingale practically dragged her Master's sister over to one of the patient beds and then pulled out a defibrillator. Why exactly she needed a defibrillator for a medical checkup was a question that only the medical Berserker knew the answer to.
"So, uh, is anyone gonna explain why everyone is dressed up like this place is a cosplay convention?" Ritsuka heard Gudako ask nervously before he left the medical professionals to do their work. He offered a silent prayer to his little sister for what was about to happen to her. Ritsuka would rather face all seventy-two Demon Pillars again than have to undergo another one of Nurse Nightingale's medical checkups.
After agreeing to never speak about what happened in the infirmary again, the refugees were provided with clean Chaldea staff uniforms as a change of clothes. They were then taken to the cafeteria to get a decent meal for the first time in months, much to their delight. Ritsuka however decided to take his mother, father and sister back to his own room for dinner. It was the perfect opportunity to introduce them to Kiyohime and Jack.
"This is my room. There are two people inside that I want you to meet." Ritsuka told his family as he opened the door. Anticipation built up in Ritsuka's relatives: it was finally time for them to meet Ritsuka's mysterious wife and daughter. "I'm home!" Ritsuka called out.
What greeted them was a clean, well-lit room with a bed, a desk and a dining table. At the table there was a small white haired girl wearing a sleeveless white dress, who was undoubtedly Ritsuka's daughter, idly playing with two stuffed toys. She looked up after she heard the door open and her face lit up with joy when she saw who was standing there.
"Mommy!" Jack cried as she jumped out of her chair, leaving Mini-Cu and Viy behind. She ran to give her father a hug, which Ritsuka returned. Ritsuka's family then saw a green haired woman wearing a magenta kimono walk out of one of adjacent rooms, having heard Ritsuka's voice. She must have been Ritsuka's wife.
"Welcome back, Honoured Husba-" Kiyohime began to say before noticing that her husband had brought three extra people into their home. "Oh my, I wasn't expecting guests tonight." Ritsuka took this opportunity to introduce the two most important people in his life.
"Mom, Dad, Gudako, I'd like you to meet Kiyohime: my wife." Ritsuka said to his family. Kiyohime's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing who their guests were. Although Ritsuka had long since told Kiyohime all about his family, she never expected to actually meet them before humanity was restored. "And this is Jack: our daughter." Ritsuka said as he gave Jack a headpat, much to her delight. Kiyohime then regained her composure.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I know that we don't have much, but please make yourself at home." Kiyohime said with a bow, having quickly recovered from her surprise. She would have to ask Ritsuka for the details later: right now she needed to show her in-laws the proper courtesy as a host. "I'll prepare some tea for you. Please have a seat while you wait." The others then made their way inside of Ritsuka's home while Kiyohime went back to the kitchen. Jack remained at her father's side as she observed the strangers.
"You look like Mommy." Jack said to Aki as she entered, having noticed her similar black hair, blue eyes and general facial structure to Ritsuka.
"Yes. They are my parents, and also your grandparents." Ritsuka explained to his daughter. He then pointed at Gudako, who was practically jumping with joy after seeing how adorable her niece was in person. "And she's my little sister Gudako: your aunt."
"Hmm. Mommy's Mommy and Mommy's Also Mommy and Mommy's Sister. Yep." Jack stated with a nod, her unique mind giving alternative names to Aki, Kentaro and Gudako respectively.
"So you call your father 'Mommy?'" Gudako asked, genuinely confused at her niece's choice of words.
"Yep. Mommy is Mommy." Jack answered her aunt with an affirmative nod. Jack never bothered to refer to anyone by their real name.
"What do you call your mother then?" Gudako questioned. Surely this must get confusing for her brother's family?
"Also Mommy is Also Mommy." Jack replied: in the wraith child's mind, she had two mothers instead of a father and a mother. Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle at his daughter's antics.
"I'm going to go change out of my uniform." Ritsuka told his family before he grabbed a fresh set of clothes from the closet and walked over to the bathroom. After changing, Ritsuka put his Arctic Combat Mystic Code in the washing machine. When he returned, his family was seated at the table and in the middle of listening to Jack.
"We gave a big chocolate heart that was this big to Mommy on Valentines Day. We carved it ourselves." Jack told her new relatives with a confident smile and nod. Everyone, even Kentaro, couldn't help but smile at Jack: she was just too cute. They were all looking forward to spending more time with her in the future.
"Let me guess: your... 'Mommy,' ate the entire thing?" Aki asked her granddaughter, still trying to get used to Jack's speech patterns. Jack nodded, which made Aki smile shake her head in amusement. "Of course he's still obsessed with chocolate even after all this time." Chocolate was in fact Ritsuka's favourite food. It was fortunate, because if he didn't enjoy the treat so much then Ritsuka would have long since lost his mind from the sheer amount of chocolate he received each Valentines Day.
"That chocolate heart tasted great." Ritsuka remarked as he took a seat at the table next to Jack. "I'm so proud of Jack for making it anatomically correct. My little girl is quite the artist." He said confidently as Jack beamed at the praise, much to the confusion of Ritsuka's parents and sister. He must have been joking about it being anatomically correct, right?
"Your tea, Honoured Husband." Kiyohime announced as she returned with a tray carrying a teapot and enough cups for everyone. As befitting a Yamato Nadeshiko, she poured everyone a cup. "I will prepare dinner now. We're having Sukiyaki tonight." Kiyohime bowed to her in-laws once more before departing to the kitchen.
"She's nice." Kentaro remarked to Ritsuka, thoroughly enjoying his first hot cup of tea after so long. Both Aki and Kentaro were relieved to learn that their son had found such a polite and dutiful wife.
"Yes. I'm very lucky to have her." Ritsuka said with a warm smile. He simply would not be able to confront the horrors he faced on a daily basis without Kiyohime's support and affection. Ritsuka held Chaldea together and Kiyohime held Ritsuka together.
"Come on, come on. Give me details." Gudako begged excitedly with a wide grin. "How did you two end up together?" Ritsuka smiled fondly as he reminisced over the progression of his and Kiyohime's relationship.
It started in the Orleans Singularity, after Jeanne d'Arc Alter was defeated and the Holy Grail was secured. Ritsuka, Mash and the Stray Servants took some time to say their goodbyes to each other before the Singularity corrected itself. The last Stray Servant to speak with Humanity's Last Master was none other than Kiyohime.
"I am dreadfully sorry that you had to see such a repulsive sight." Kiyohime apologised with closed eyes and a bow.
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka asked, genuinely confused about what she could be referring to. Kiyohime had been an invaluable asset to the Chaldeans: her Noble Phantasm incinerated entire scores of Wyverns and Zombies that Ritsuka had no hope of defeating on his own.
"My Noble Phantasm." Kiyohime answered. She was very self-conscious of Transforming Flame-Emitting Meditation and what it represented. "That hideous serpentine dragon: the manifestation of my sins-"
"What are you talking about?" Ritsuka interrupted, breaking Kiyohime out of her monologue of self-loathing. "I thought it was amazing." Kiyohime was not amused.
"Hmm. I do not appreciate you lying to spare me my... My..." Kiyohime trailed off as her face turned to one of surprise. "Wait. Wait. You are... Being truthful?" She realised as her face flushed red. One of Kiyohime's skills as a Servant was the ability to determine if someone was lying to her. Much to her shock, Ritsuka's complement was completely genuine.
"Yeah!" Ritsuka confirmed with a wide grin. "I'm actually a bit sad that I won't be able to see it again after this Singularity disappears." With scant few moments worth of her Mana remaining, Kiyohime wasted no time to act.
"Ritsuka, please hold out your little finger." Kiyohime asked. Ritsuka saw no harm in doing so and did as she asked. Kiyohime swiftly hooked Ritsuka's little finger with her own. "May we meet again in another life." Was all Kiyohime said before she dissolved into golden particles along with the rest of the Stray Servants.
"Goodbye, Kiyohime." Ritsuka said solemnly to the now empty space in front of him. With his mission complete and Holy Grail in hand, Ritsuka Rayshifted back to Chaldea for a well-earned rest. Little did Humanity's Last Master know, there would be quite the surprise waiting for him.
"Good morning, my dear Master." A familiar voice said to Ritsuka when he awoke the next morning. The sight of a certain green-haired Yamato Nadeshiko's smiling face so close to his own nearly made Ritsuka jump out of bed.
"Kiyohime?! What are you doing in my room?!" Ritsuka yelled in surprise as he quickly backed away from her. Kiyohime simply giggled and held out her little finger.
"Did we not promise that we would meet again in another life? Well, here I am." Ritsuka's mind raced as he tried to figure out how Kiyohime was standing before him without a Summoning Ritual. Then he remembered what Kiyohime asked of him before dissipating and everything fit together.
"Are you saying that our pinkie promise turned into a genuine Servant Contract?" Ritsuka asked, astonished that such a thing was possible. The Berserker giggled before responding.
"Indeed I am, Master. Now, I believe that proper introductions are in order." Kiyohime said. She backed away from her bewildered Master and straightened her posture before formally introducing herself. "I am Servant Kiyohime. Do I look like a Berserker to you? It is nice to meet you, my Master." She recited with a smile and a bow.
Kiyohime then became a constant in Ritsuka's life; accompanying him on missions, preparing meals for him and sleeping under his bed (for some reason).
'So beloved, so precious, so beloved, so precious, so betrayed, so sad, so sad, so sad sad sad, so hateful hateful hateful hateful hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate... That is why I burned him to death.'
Ritsuka jolted awake, drenched in sweat with tears running down his face. This was not the first time that Ritsuka had experienced one of his Servant's memories through his dreams. While they were mildly annoying for robbing him of a good night's sleep, said dreams also resulted in Ritsuka gaining a deeper understanding of a Servant, which then lead to a stronger Bond between the two.
Tonight however had been Kiyohime's turn to share her Legend with her Master. It was unlike any other dream that Ritsuka ever had before. He felt it all; Kiyohime's deep love for Anchin, her joy at his promise of marriage, her misery at his abandonment, her rage as she pursued him, and even her regret over killing him. Most of all, Ritsuka felt Kiyohime's pain at Anchin's betrayal. Feeling first hand what the woman who was so close to him had suffered made Ritsuka's heart ache in sympathy.
"Kiyohime." Ritsuka called out in desperation: he needed to see her. Right now. "Kiyohime!" Fumbling around under the bed sheets, Ritsuka accidentally fell to the floor, waking the dragon woman who slept under his bed.
"Is something wrong Ritsu-" Kiyohime was interrupted when her Master suddenly grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her out from under the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Ritsuka tightened his embrace, as if he were afraid that Kiyohime would disappear if he let go of her. "Ugh. What am I going to do with you..." Kiyohime muttered as she awkwardly returned Ritsuka's hug and gently rubbed his back. That seemed to calm him down enough to look her in the eye.
"Kiyohime." Ritsuka choked out, his voice quivering with emotion. "I swear that I will never hurt you like Anchin did." He declared. Kiyohime nearly cried tears of joy to hear Ritsuka say that, because she knew that Ritsuka was being entirely honest with her.
The two only grew closer over the next few months, supporting each other in battle and spending their free time together in Chaldea. Ritsuka trusted Kiyohime with his life, and he allowed himself to become vulnerable around her as she became his confidant. Come Valentines Day, their Bond would grow even deeper.
"Please go ahead and enjoy this present. Come on, come on, come on, come on!" Kiyohime invited playfully, holding her arms out to Ritsuka as she knelt on Ritsuka's bed. She wore only pink ribbons around her body: Kiyohime herself was to be her gift to her Master this Valentines Day.
"Kiyohime." Ritsuka swallowed as he took in the sight of Kiyohime in Ribbons. "Are you sure you want this?" Ritsuka would never do anything to Kiyohime that made her uncomfortable. Kiyohime grabbed Ritsuka's hands in response.
"Please touch me." Kiyohime affirmed, looking Ritsuka in the eye. She gently guided Ritsuka's right hand to her cheek and his left hand to the bow that tied the ribbon around her chest. "Touch me wherever you want, just don't lie. That is what I want." Kiyohime then leaned back to lay down on the bed, and Ritsuka joined her.
Ritsuka had accepted Kiyohime entirely, and that night he filled her Saint Graph to the brim with his Mana. They then slept together in the same bed for the first time. The following morning, Ritsuka and Kiyohime awoke in each other's arms. Kiyohime smiled at Ritsuka.
"We're tied by a strong bond. This is because of my love and yours, right?" Kiyohime said as Ritsuka gently rubbed her back. "Next comes, let's see. A ring. An engagement. A wedding dress." Kiyohime then giggled as she snuggled deeper into her Master's bare chest.
From that day on, Ritsuka and Kiyohime were a couple. Nine months later, Jack was Summoned and their little family was complete.
Snapping out of his memories, Ritsuka decided to give a condensed version of what happened.
"Kiyohime's been with me almost since the beginning. I met her while on a mission in France, back when I started working for Chaldea. She came back with me after the job was done, and the two of us just 'fit' together. We soon got married, and then later we had Jack." Ritsuka recounted. His smile then turned melancholic. "I wanted to tell you about Kiyohime and Jack, so much." Ritsuka said with complete honesty. "But rules were rules: no contact with the outside world until my contract ends."
"Didn't stop you from bringing us back with you." Gudako pointed out. She had the feeling that Ritsuka was hiding something from them, but she understood that her older brother must have had a good reason for keeping them in the dark.
"It's a stupid rule..." Ritsuka muttered before brightening up. "Regardless, I'm glad things worked out the way they did, otherwise the most interesting thing to happen to me today would have been sleeping in before work." Ritsuka explained, taking a sip of his tea.
"Apologies again for leaving you asleep." Kiyohime called out from the kitchen. That caught Gudako's attention.
"Did something happen?" Gudako asked out of curiosity. Before Ritsuka could answer, Jack beat him to the punch with her own unique view on things.
"Yep! Mommy and Also Mommy were doing a lot of this last night." Jack explained as she lay Mini-Cu on the table face down and lined up Viy behind him. She then quickly moved Viy back and forth across Mini-Cu's back with an innocent smile on her face.
Ritsuka spat out his tea at the implication while Gudako nearly fell out of her chair laughing. Aki covered her mouth in shock and Kentaro tried not to crack a smile at the vulgarity. Kiyohime was fortunate to be away from the table, otherwise she would be too embarrassed to face her in-laws after her daughter's reveal. It seemed that Ritsuka's Noise-Cancelling spell was not enough to keep Jack from noticing her parents' Mana Transfer. In retrospect, it was inevitable that Jack would find out about her parents' intimacy.
"My marital life aside," Ritsuka began, deciding to change the subject in an attempt to save face. "Fuck it." Ritsuka thought to himself: he was going to tell his family everything. "Now that we're in the safety of Chaldea, I can finally tell you the truth about why I left and what my job is." Ritsuka said with a serious expression. "The real reason I never came back home was because I'm a Mag-"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, please report to the Command Room." Came Leonardo's voice over the intercom. Ritsuka merely closed his eyes and sighed deeply, barely concealing his frustration. Poor Jack looked like she was on the verge of tears. Kiyohime then returned, only instead of bringing the Sukiyaki pot she instead went straight to the closet to fetch Ritsuka's Chaldea Uniform Mystic Code.
"Your uniform." Kiyohime said calmly as she held out the Mystic code to her husband. Although Ritsuka noticed that her arms were shaking, he quickly thanked his wife and grabbed his uniform.
"What's going on?" Gudako asked, concerned over her everyone's sudden change in demeanour.
"Duty calls." Was all that Ritsuka said before he stood up from his chair and walked over to the closet to retrieve his weapons, wasting no time to prepare for his next mission.
"I'm terribly sorry, but there has been a change of plans: Ritsuka has just been called for another mission." Kiyohime apologised to the others. "Jack, would you be a dear and take the others outside while your father gets ready?"
"Yes Also Mommy..." Jack said morosely as she got up out of her chair and tugged on her aunt's sleeve to get the rest to follow her. "Come on, Mommy's Sister."
After they left the room, Gudako, Aki and Kentaro looked back inside just as the doors were closing and saw Ritsuka take off his shirt. To their shock and horror, his back and arms were covered in an assortment of scars including cuts, stabs, bullet wounds, burns, scratches and even bite marks. They were now more concerned than ever about what exactly Ritsuka had been doing ever since he joined Chaldea all those years ago.
Back inside of Ritsuka and Kiyohime's room, neither husband nor wife said anything. Ritsuka had removed his casual clothing and started to change into his Chaldea Uniform while Kiyohime stood still nearby.
"I do hope that this mission doesn't take as long as the last one." Kiyohime said, breaking the silence. Kiyohime and Jack always missed Ritsuka dearly whenever he went out on a mission for more than a few days. Lately it seemed that Ritsuka had been spending more time away from home than with his family.
"It's probably just another mop-up in a Singularity that I already resolved." Ritsuka scoffed as he pulled up the pants of his Chaldea Uniform. "The only upside to this is that I'm guaranteed to get some Saint Quartz out of this." Ritsuka's flippant attitude caused Kiyohime's anger to flare up.
"Is Saint Quartz all you think about these days?!" Kiyohime snapped. The stress from Ritsuka's frequent absence combined with her own Madness Enhancement had caused Kiyohime to lash out at her husband. Ritsuka calmly turned to face his wife, gently grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes before speaking.
"Kiyohime." Ritsuka said gently. "Everything I do, I do for you and Jack. We need every available resource to keep Chaldea running. With the refugees here, our family just doubled in size so we all need to work twice as hard to keep them safe." His words instantly had an effect on Kiyohime, who immediately calmed down and looked down sadly.
"I know. I'm sorry." Kiyohime apologised, disappointed in herself for the outburst. "It's just that you've only just come back from your last mission and now you have to leave again for who knows how long. And then there's Jack. You don't know how much she was looking forward to spending time with you again." Ritsuka winced when Kiyohime mentioned Jack.
"I'll have to make it up to Jack when I get back." Ritsuka said, ashamed that he couldn't be there for his little girl. "Headpats, chocolate, another Magical Girl anime marathon, whatever she wants." That seemed to improve Kiyohime's mood a little bit.
"All the more reason for you to come back from this in one piece." Kiyohime admonished, poking Ritsuka's bare chest with her right hand. "I can't bear to see you in danger." She said sadly as she slowly traced her finger over one of Ritsuka's many scars.
"Danger is part of my job: to be a Mage is to walk with death." Ritsuka recited in a grave tone as he let go of Kiyohime. That was a lesson that Waver had drilled into Ritsuka time and time again during his Magecraft training. As the years went on, Ritsuka found that the statement only became more true with each mission.
"Please don't talk about dying. I'm finding too many grey hairs on my head as it is." Kiyohime joked with an uneasy smile. "That's what I get for marrying a Mage..." She muttered to herself as she looked away. Ritsuka didn't even know what to say in response to that last part, so he went back to putting on his uniform.
"I shouldn't keep Leonardo waiting any longer." Ritsuka said when he finished gearing up. "I'll be going now." He called out from the doorway. Pity whoever was behind this latest Minute Singularity, for Humanity's Last Master would show no mercy to the one responsible for forcing him to leave his family.
"Have a safe trip." Kiyohime replied as her husband left their room. Now alone, Kiyohime finally allowed herself a moment of vulnerability as she wiped away her tears. Despite this same scenario having repeated countless times over the course of their marriage, it still broke Kiyohime's heart to know that her husband could be killed at any moment while he was away. Bringing her emotions under control, Kiyohime steeled herself before she left to take her extended family over to wait at Rayshift Chamber.
Ritsuka had kept his promise to never hurt Kiyohime the same way that Anchin did. Instead, Ritsuka had unintentionally found a new way to hurt her.
"Emiya Kiritsugu, Mephistopheles, Robin Hood, please report to the Rayshift Chamber for deployment." Leonardo's voice announced over the base-wide intercom while Kiyohime stood outside the Rayshift Chamber.
"Ritsuka must have decided on a team already." Kiyohime muttered to herself as Jack impatiently paced back and forth. Aki, Kentaro and Gudako sat on a nearby bench, still wondering what was going on.
Further down the hall, Aki noticed that another group had made their way there. At the front was a dark skinned man wearing a red hood, followed by a white haired woman wearing a white dress, a white haired little girl wearing a school uniform, a dark skinned little girl wearing a matching uniform and a muscular dark skinned man wearing an apron over some sort of red jacket.
The white haired woman accompanying the hooded man gave him a quick hug. Then he received a hug from both of the girls, who smiled as he gave them both a headpat. The muscular man in the apron simply placed his hand on the older man's shoulder and nodded. The hooded man then left their embrace and made his way alone into the Rayshift Chamber.
"A husband, a wife, two daughters and a son." Aki realised after witnessing their interactions. It seemed that her own family wasn't the only one affected by whatever was going to happen. For now, Aki, Kentaro and Gudako had the good sense to wait until everyone was done with their goodbyes before asking any further questions.
"Mommy!" Jack cried, grabbing everyone's attention. She ran to her father and wrapped her arms around Ritsuka as if it were the last time that she would ever see him. Truth be told, that was a very real possibility, considering the dangers associated with Singularities. "Do you really have to go?" Jack asked, clinging to her father with tears welling in her eyes.
"Yes, I do. Be a good girl while I'm gone, Jack." Ritsuka said as he gave his daughter a headpat. The gesture did little to comfort the wraith child.
"Yes Mommy..." Jack mumbled without looking her father in eye. Ritsuka frowned: he needed to improve things between them before he left.
"We can spend the whole day together when I come back. Just the two of us." Ritsuka suggested. Having some family time after this mission would do them both a lot of good and give them peace of mind.
"Won't the fat man that always yells at you get mad?" Jack asked. Being the young child that she was, Jack didn't understand the Director's role in Chaldea, so it always seemed to her that Goredolf simply existed to get angry at Ritsuka and eat cake.
"Let him get mad." Ritsuka dismissed. "Your happiness will always come first for me." Ritsuka stated confidently. His one of his main motivations for continuing to fight for Chaldea was to one day give Jack a future.
"Yay!" Jack cried happily, much to Ritsuka's relief and delight. He gave his daughter one last headpat before saying his peace.
"Now run along and have fun with your aunt and grandparents. That's an order." he joked. As Jack skipped away merrily, Kiyohime walked up to her husband and stopped just in front of him.
Ritsuka and Kiyohime said nothing to each other: they simply approached to embrace each other and shared a kiss. After a moment they broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes with their foreheads touching.
"I'll be going now." Ritsuka said as he held Kiyohime in his arms.
"Have a safe trip." Kiyohime replied as she forced herself to smile. She leaned in and gave her husband one last goodbye kiss before Ritsuka let go of her. Ritsuka then walked over to his parents and sister.
"I'm sorry that we couldn't spend more time together." Ritsuka apologised. Gudako then stood up from the bench impatiently.
"Okay, you mind explaining what's going on?" Gudako demanded. "Everyone is acting like you're going off to war or something." Ritsuka winced a bit: his sister didn't realise how surprisingly accurate that statement was.
"There just isn't enough time right now. The short version is that my job involves fixing what's wrong with the Bleached World outside." Ritsuka explained. Gudako's, Aki's and even Kentaro's eyes widened at what Ritsuka was implying. "I can explain everything when I'm finished, or you could ask Leonardo for more details while you're waiting." Ritsuka trusted that Leonardo would give a satisfactory answer.
"...Fine, but you'd better tell us everything when you get back." Gudako pouted. Though Gudako was not satisfied with that answer, she decided to let it go for now. Aki however, decided to press the matter.
"We only just found you, and now you're leaving?" A distressed Aki asked her son. "Can you at least tell us when will you be back?" This was all happening too fast for the (grand)mother.
"When my mission is complete." Ritsuka stated plainly. It was impossible to know how long it would take to resolve a Singularity, even a Minute one.
"And when will that be?" Aki pressed on. This conversation was beginning to sound irritatingly familiar to Ritsuka.
"When my mission is complete." Ritsuka repeated in a slightly firmer tone. He immediately regretted doing so and softened his expression. "Sorry Mom. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. I'll try to finish this as quickly as I can." His mother was at a loss for words.
"Just...Stay safe. Okay?" Aki said sadly. Nothing about this felt right to her, but Ritsuka had made it clear that he was not changing his mind about leaving. Kentaro took this opportunity to speak.
"Good luck." Was all that Kentaro said to his son. He had the utmost faith that Ritsuka would overcome any challenges awaited him and come back alive. If Ritsuka could survive whatever caused the outside world to end, then he could handle this. Ritsuka nodded, thankful that his father wouldn't drag this out and make him more late than he already was.
With his goodbyes said, Ritsuka turned around and joined his Servants in the Rayshift Chamber, ready to face whatever threats awaited him in the latest Minute Singularity. After the doors to the Rayshift Chamber closed, Kiyohime spoke up.
"Well, no point in lingering here." Kiyohime said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "You are all welcome to come back to our room for that Sukiyaki I promised." Kiyohime told the others as she held Jack's hand. "Let's go home, Jack."
Primate Murder, or Fou as most called him, contemplated the recent goings-on in Novum Chaldea. The arrival of these human refugees was an interesting turn of events, even more so when Fou found out that three of them were Ritsuka's relatives. Oh, the antics that Fou would get up to with them.
Fou had nothing but the utmost respect for Humanity's Last Master, even though under normal circumstances the two of them would be at each other's throats. As a Beast Candidate, a conflict between Master and Familiar was inevitable, so coexistence would normally be impossible. However, Ritsuka seemed to have a habit of doing the impossible;
Ritsuka had figured out how to use the leftover energy stored in Fou's shed hairs to permanently strengthen his Servant's Saint Graphs beyond their intended designs. Clever little Mage.
Ritsuka had defeated no fewer than three of the Beasts and prevailed, albeit at the cost of many of his allies. In addition, Beast IV had surrendered without Humanity's Last Master ever throwing a single punch: as Fou had actually given up the vast majority his power to resurrect Mash on Ritsuka's behalf.
When this Foreign God invaded, Ritsuka not only survived the initial assault but pushed forward onto battlefield after battlefield and emerged victorious every time. Two of the seven Lostbelts had already fallen at the hands of Humanity's Last Master.
Perhaps most surprising of all, the Master had somehow managed to find happiness for himself during world-ending catastrophes. Ritsuka was currently raising a family while a war for humanity's very existence was still being waged.
However, Fou could not help but feel disappointed at his Master's decisions as of late. These Minute Singularities were beneath both of them: Fou did not even bother accompany Ritsuka whenever the alarm sounded these days. Did Ritsuka not realise that these Minute Singularities would resolve themselves without his intervention? Was he that greedy for QP, Materials and Saint Quartz?
No, Fou believed that this obsession with resolving Minute Singularities was nothing more than a distraction: a symptom of an underlying problem affecting Ritsuka's heart and mind. Fou hoped that Humanity's Last Master could pull himself out of this rut. He needed Ritsuka at his peak condition if they were to take their revenge on the Beast of Taming, who was perhaps the only being that Fou despised more than a certain Incubus.
The thought of that Dick Wizard had soured Fou's mood. Perhaps relieving himself on Merlin's bed instead of in a litter box would cheer him up?
"Please make yourselves at home... Again. I will prepare the Sukiyaki for you shortly." Kiyohime announced as the family entered Ritsuka's room. "Jack, why don't you show Auntie Gudako around your room while we wait?" Kiyohime suggested to her daughter.
"Yes Also Mommy." Jack replied as she lead Gudako to a door in the back of the room, where Jack's bed and toy box were kept. As the aunt and niece went off on their own adventure, Kiyohime made her way to kitchen.
"I'll help you, Kiyohime." Aki said as she followed her daughter-in-law into the kitchen, eager to just do something to help take her mind off of her son's absence. Kentaro however was content to sit at the table in silence and contemplate everything that had happened today over a (now cold) cup of tea.
It was a bit awkward to work in the kitchen, as it was designed for only one person to use at a time. Kiyohime sliced thin strips of beef while Aki gathered the ingredients for the broth. After some time slicing and mixing in silence, Aki spoke up.
"How are you holding up?" Aki asked, feeling empathetic towards her newly discovered daughter-in-law. Kiyohime paused her knife work and looked down sadly.
"Truthfully, I am terrified." Kiyohime confessed in a quiet voice so Jack would not hear from the other room. "Was this the last time that I ever see my husband? Will our daughter have to grow up without her father? Even after all these years, this never gets any easier." Not that Kiyohime realised that if Ritsuka died then both she and Jack would be unable to sustain their own existences as Servants. Madness Enhancement does that to one's mind. She then suddenly straightened up, with a determined expression on her face.
"But I need to be strong; for Ritsuka's sake, and more importantly, for Jack's sake." Kiyohime declared. "I will fulfil my duty as a wife and maintain the household while my husband is away, so that there will be a warm plate of food waiting for Ritsuka when he comes back home. Alive." Aki was awestruck.
"...You're holding up better than I ever could in your position." Aki remarked with a newfound respect for her daughter-in-law's strength and resolve. She could see why her son had chosen Kiyohime as his wife.
"Thank you, Mother." Kiyohime said appreciatively. With that, the two resumed preparing Sukiyaki: Kiyohime needed to show her mother-in-law the quality of her cooking.
Back in Jack's room, Jack was in the middle of telling her aunt Gudako about her friends in Chaldea, who also happened to be magical girls. After all of the bizarre folk that Gudako had seen in Novum Chaldea today, she was ready to believe that Attila the Hun was an alien or that King Arthur was a woman.
"Illya's nice, but We're not sure We like Chloe. She keeps trying to kiss Mommy." Jack explained with a look of distaste. Gudako wanted to believe that it was just a childish crush on Chloe's part, otherwise things just got a lot more disturbing around here. Speaking of disturbing, it disturbed Gudako that Jack was allowed to keep so many knives in her toy box. It just seemed so irresponsible for Ritsuka to leave such dangerous objects within the reach of his daughter.
"So are those, uh, your dad's knives?" Gudako asked nervously as she made sure to keep her distance from said weapons. Jack shook her head.
"Nope! They're all Ours! " Jack replied happily before she reached into her toy box to pull out four knives. "This one's the Slicer, this one's the Slasher, this one's the Chopper, and We call this one Mister Stabby!" Jack introduced her favourite implements of murder with great enthusiasm. There were still many other knives in the toy box. "Mommy sometimes gives Us new knives after he comes back from work." Some fathers brought home fridge magnets after long business trips, Ritsuka brought home knives after resolving Minute Singularities. He understood what his daughter was interested in. Gudako had never been more terrified in her life.
"Dinner is served." Kiyohime announced from the dining table, much to Gudako's relief. The further away she was from the knives the better. "Please have as much as you would like." With that, Gudako and Jack joined the others for dinner.
Arranged on the table was a large pot on top of a portable stove. At each person's seat was an empty plate, a set of chopsticks and a small bowl with a scrambled egg for dipping. Kiyohime removed the lid of the pot and revealed her culinary masterpiece, filling the air with the luxurious smell of her cooking. Simmering in the sweet and salty broth were slices of beef, cabbage, onions and mushrooms, all neatly arranged of course. It was time for Aki to test how her daughter-in-law's cooking tasted.
Aki had been anticipating this moment ever since the savoury smell of the simmering broth filled the room. She brought a slice of beef up to her mouth with her chopsticks. It was simply tender and fell apart between each chew. The broth coating the meat had just the right balance of sweet and salty. Even if Aki hadn't spent the prior months living off of bland canned food, she would have loved this Sukiyaki. Aki decided to pass her judgement.
"I approve." Aki stated with a smile, much to Kiyohime's relief: Kiyohime simply didn't know what she would do if her mother-in-law didn't like her cooking. Now that Kiyohime had shown her mental fortitude and superb skills as a housewife, Aki was more than happy to leave Ritsuka in Kiyohime's care. She had accepted Kiyohime as part of her family.
"First decent meal I've had in months!" Gudako agreed with her mother as she enthusiastically dug into her food. No more baked beans and flour packets for her.
"It's a shame that Ritsuka isn't here to enjoy this." Kentaro remarked off-handedly, instantly bringing the mood down. "Sorry." He apologised when he noticed Jack had stopped eating.
"It's okay. We're used to Mommy always leaving..." Jack said glumly as she idly pushed her food around with her chopsticks. The sight of his granddaughter depressed stung Kentaro.
"We can come over and have dinner together again when your father returns from work." Kentaro suggested. There would always be more opportunities for the entire Fujimaru family to get together. Hopefully. That got Jack to eat again, at least. Soon enough, the family had finished their dinner.
After washing the dishes, the rest of the evening was spent idly chatting; Kiyohime recounted parts of their lives together in Chaldea and in turn Ritsuka's family told Kiyohime and Jack about their lives before the Bleaching.
"There was this one time when someone gave Ritsuka a life-sized bull made out of chocolate." Kiyohime recalled. "He obviously couldn't finish it by himself, not that it stopped him from trying, so the rest of us to helped out." Everyone laughed at the memory.
"Ah, Ritsuka and his addiction to chocolate." Gudako chuckled. "I remember back in middle school when Mom told Ritsuka that she'd give him a piece of chocolate for every question he got right on an exam." Gudako recounted. "He forced himself to study until he got every question right, and then he got a stomach ache after trying to eat every piece!" Chocolate was a powerful motivator for Humanity's Last Master. After another round of laughter, Kiyohime looked at the wall mounted clock and noticed that it was almost nine-thirty.
"I beg your pardon, but it seems that we will have to stop here." Kiyohime informed her in-laws, bringing an end to their reminiscing. "It's almost Jack's bedtime."
"Aw. We wanted to hear more stories." Jack whined. If she couldn't be with her father in person then hearing about his childhood was the next best thing.
"You may come with me while I show your aunt and grandparents to their room." Kiyohime suggested to her daughter. "But after that it's straight to bed." She added firmly.
"Yes Also Mommy." Jack replied. The family got up and followed Kiyohime out into the hallway. The walk itself was rather uneventful, as few of the staff or Servants were awake at this hour. Aki, Kentaro and Gudako nearly screamed and ran in terror when they saw a massive wolf down the hall walking towards them.
"Don't mind Lobo: just stay out of his way and he won't bite." Kiyohime dismissed as she ushered her extended family to the wall, away from the Wolf King. "Usually." She added. Once Lobo had passed, they resumed their journey.
In no time at all, Kiyohime had brought Aki, Kentaro and Gudako to a spare room in the living quarters. There was not much to the room; two beds, a desk with a terminal and an adjacent room with a toilet and shower. This was to be their home for the foreseeable future. While most would have been underwhelmed by the blandness of this room, the Fujimaru family were more than thankful for what they had been given.
"Wow, actual beds!" Gudako remarked happily as everyone entered. Anything that remotely resembled modern comforts seemed like a luxury after being stuck in that Bleached Ruin. Months of sleeping on the hard ground had given all of them quite painful back aches, not to mention how good a functional toilet and shower would feel. Aki turned back to the doorway to face Kiyohime.
"Thank you for tonight." Aki said appreciatively. Her family was now safe, had a home, and now all that was left to do was wait for Ritsuka to come back. Kiyohime smiled.
"You're welcome. Feel free to come over any time: we're family, after all." Kiyohime said to her in-laws from the doorway. "Have a good night and sleep well." Kiyohime bowed. "What do we say, Jack?" She prompted her daughter, who was starting to feel tired. Jack quickly snapped to full attention.
"Good night Mommy's Mommy. Good Night Mommy's Also Mommy. Good Night Mommy's Sister." Jack said to her grandmother, grandfather and aunt respectively. Gudako practically squealed with delight.
"Good night." Kentaro said to his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. With that, the door closed and Kiyohime and Jack departed to get some sleep themselves. The Fujimarus wasted no time to settle into their new home.
After they each took turns thoroughly enjoying a hot shower, exhaustion quickly started to set in for the Fujimaru family. Aki and Kentaro shared one bed while Gudako took her own bed before they bade each other a good night. As they drifted off to sleep, one last question crossed their minds: why did Kiyohime have horns?
"RAAAAGH!" Humanity's Last Master yelled as he thrust Remnant into the throat of the last Demonic Boar. The Phantasmal Beast thrashed in its death throes, but Ritsuka was undeterred. He forced the polearm deeper into the Demonic Boar's flesh and twisted the forked-spear until at last the creature fell limp and died.
"Well, someone's having a good time!" Mephistopheles said gleefully, grinning as he wiped the blood from his shears. "I can't remember the last time you were this eager to kill something, Master." Lately it seemed that their Master was just going through the motions when on missions, however today Ritsuka had been unusually aggressive when he repelled this ambush by the Boars.
"Kerry, status report." Ritsuka said to Kiritsugu, ignoring the Homunculus. The Mage Killer holstered his weapons and faced his Master.
"Master, all hostiles in the immediate area have been neutralised." Kiritsugu confirmed before scowling. "And stop calling me Kerry." He added as he glared at Robin Hood, who snickered at the Mage Killer's nickname.
"Good job everyone." Ritsuka said as he rested his spear on his shoulder. "Search the corpses for any usable Materials. We leave in five." He then noticed a familiar rainbow glint from the corner of his eye. Down on the ground was a Saint Quartz crystal, which Ritsuka was quick to grab and pocket for later use. Each fragment of the precious crystal helped ensure the success of Chaldea's mission and brought him one step closer to ending this war against the Foreign God.
After enduring the atrocities of the Lostbelts, Ritsuka was on the verge of ending it all. The overwhelming guilt that came from ending countless lives, whose only sin was being born into worlds that should never have existed, crushed Ritsuka's soul more and more each day. The affections of Kiyohime and Jack were the only things stopping Ritsuka from firing his Calico into his own skull in atonement.
However, rescuing this pocket of survivors and reuniting with his remaining family had reignited the blazing resolve within Ritsuka. He strode forth into the Minute Singularity with a newfound sense of purpose. Ritsuka would conquer the remaining Lostbelts, restore humanity and give his loved ones the future that they deserved in the new world. The pain, sacrifices and guilt that Ritsuka would need to endure would all be worth it in the end.
Author's Note:
There's a bit of a funny story behind how this fanfic came to be. Originally I had the idea for a fanfic, Fate/Grand Homecoming, where Ritsuka reunites with his family after resolving the Lostbelts. He would introduce his family to his wife Kiyohime and daughter Jack, and the entire family would have slice of life antics with guest appearances by other Servants, in the style of Today's Menu for the Emiya Family. I got most of the first chapter written before I hit Writer's Block. To help get the creative juices flowing, I decided to work on another fanfic with a slightly different premise: instead of Ritsuka reuniting with his family after the Lostbelts, he would reunite with them during the Lostbelts. Somehow, this second idea grew into a 13000+ word long first chapter. Truth be told, I'm not fully satisfied with how this chapter turned out, but I decided to bite the bullet and post it anyway.
I'll post the next chapter when it's done. Please feel free to leave a review in the meantime, and thank you for reading.
