Ritsuka Fujimaru looked trough the window while drinking his coffee. An endless blizzard awaited outside, while a report did so in his hand. He was one of those people that felt little in the moment, but only later, once they could reflect on it, reacted.
The director, Olga Marie Animusphere, had told them in no uncertain terms that humanity outside of Chaldea was done for. Incinerated. Burned to ashes. Only they remained, and the blizzard outside would rage until the incineration reached them too.
She was always straightforward and brutally honest. She did not care for others feelings when it came to the realities of life, and he admired her for that in a way. Still, she had relented a little after the Fuyuki singularity. Her life had been saved by people she considered inferior, her pillar of support had betrayed her, forty six lives now where resting on her shoulders, and humanity was on the brink of dying out.
She appeared to be going strong, putting a front to keep the others going, and was now generally more considerate of the health and feelings of the staff, telling them to take breaks every so often or trying to relieve them in their positions.
She was even kind to Doctor Roman in a way, and no one was nice to Roman, except for Fujimaru.
He looked outside again. The raging blizzard didn't stop one bit. He could undo it. He had to undo it, not only for humanity, but for his loved ones, and his compatriots at Chaldea.
Still, he was only a regular teenager in a base full of talented engineers, Magi, Demi-servants and a thousand other applications that required exceptional skill in a field. Even Roman was a doctor. But Ritsuka was only a Master, and that role was pure luck of the draw. He never expected to live after going into the flaming Rayshift Bay. But he made it out. He saved at least two lives. A boy who did something stupid for a girl lived, while the qualified professionals died.
"Whatcha doing, Fujimaru?" Asked a voice from his left. He felt alone, except those times when the girl that became his Rayshift partner was not with him.
"I have to finish this report." He said, looking at the tablet in his lap. Others could say he was looking away from the girl.
"You haven't finished yet?" She asked. A flash of orange hair was suddenly in front of his tablet. Fujimaru grimaced. She then grinned, and a hint of the devil within sprung fort. "I didn't take you for a slacker. Maybe I should report this to the Director." She said. That was Fujimaru's limit for staying quiet.
"What human could finish this!? I have to record hours and hours of battle!" He yelled with frustration in his voice. At this, the girl snickered.
"Right. You are just human. Even so, most people would finish this first thing in the morning." She said, returning to her neutral expression just like that. She was right of course. Ritsuka had taken a break after the Singularity. A long one. They had three days before the next mission, and he had used two of them to sleep and slack off, avoiding the bad thoughts altogether. He wasn't a lazy person of course, he just had a lot on his mind.
"When did you even do it anyways?" He asked. She looked at him curiously.
"First thing after the Director told us to. It took all day. But when your mind starts working, you stop thinking about how long it takes, and you just do it." She said, looking to nowhere in particular.
"Still. Did you even sleep at all Senpai?" he asked. It was a stupid question. But he was in a land of strangeness, and the people here had weird habits. His senpai, the girl with orange hair, had an inordinate amount of energy. She always seemed to be doing something, wether it be related to magecraft or simply playing on her phone. And if she wasn't doing something, she was teasing people. Her prescense was always evident in Chaldea. It was like she didn't have a private life.
"I slept a little. But I don't really feel tired. Must be because I don't have a contract." She said.
"Even after all that happened? Don't you feel exhausted? Even now, I feel tired." He said. At that, she smiled at him before poking his forehead.
"You're thinking too much and doing too little. Just like a slacker would." She said. At this, he removed her finger with a slap.
"Sorry for having people to think about." He replied sarcastically. He looked at the window, at the world that was no more. He then looked back, and his Senpai was frowning.
"I have people to think about too." She said. Of course she did. Everyone, magus or not, had some family or human connection. He had been insensitive.
"Sorry. It's just that…" He hesitated. The attitude of his Senpai, though it lifted his spirits, unnerved him at times. Her confidence, her cheerfulness, her teasing, everything about her was so familiar and so out of place at the same time. She acted like a normal person, but she was in reality a Magus. He had been told by the staff to not trust mages, but she was also in the same situation as him. He wanted to open up, but he wanted her to not brush if off. He wanted to know that she was human.
He took that plunge anyways.
"I can't help thinking… What if they suffered?" He said in a strained voice. That simple thought made his eyes sting. He looked away from her.
"Doesn't that happened to you?" He asked. He needed that humanity. An awkward silence ensued, and in less time than he expected she answered.
"Maybe. Thing is, when I was a kid… when I got into this whole magus thing, my mom told me "To be a magus is to walk with death". A spell could go wrong, an enemy mage would get Jealous, or you would discover more than you bargained for. They were all risks. At first I didn't think much of it, then I knew that someday, there was the possibility that mom would one day not come back from work." She said plainly. He looked back at her, but she was looking past him, trough the window. "And then there was my dad, who was a… mmm… let's say mercenary. His work was dangerous too. So… at any time, I could be orphaned. I could be alone. My mom trained me for that, and my dad too. But at the same time, they made it sound like a distant possibility. Like it would never happen. So, I guess that a part of me has already accepted everything, while another just rejects the notion completely. I… I don't know. It's complicated." She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Fujimaru looked at her, stunned.
"I'm sorry I asked." He said. But his words could be misconstrued, so he corrected himself. "I mean, it seems like you really love you parents, and- and I didn't want to make you sad. Not when the mission is so important." He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarassment. But the girl only grinned.
"I don't know if I can forgive such an offense. I'll need to sort of compensation." She said, and again, Fujimaru grimaced. Before he could say anything, she continued.
"Yeah. My mom was really cool. She was so stuck up when it came to being a magus, but when no one else was around, she was a total softie." She said with a smile. Her amber eyes glinted, as if enchanted by the happy memories.
"And your dad?" He probed. She looked at the ground, smile dissappearing.
"He was…" She sighed. Fujimaru did the same, internally. Daddy Issues. "… complicated. I loved him. But tt was like he loved everyone except himself. He was never home. And when he was home he was sweet and caring. But that just made his absence even worse." She said.
"What a guy." Said Fujimaru. He could have said nothing, but felt the incessant need to talk. It was a thing he hated about himself.
"Yeah. Still, he was awesome in his own way. And made killer meals." She said. Then looked at him.
"Now for the compensation." She said, grinning with a hint of evil. The boy shivered.
"What?" He asked.
"Tell me about your parents." She said, all evil vanishing. He was stunned for a moment. But being a blabbermouth, he spoke nonetheless.
"They were normal people, I guess." he said, looking trough the blizzard, trying to locate his house on the other side of the world. "My mom loved to garden, and kids. She was always with kids, since she worked at a pre school. She was, extremely sweet, if not a little neurotic. She got nervous with everything. It was annoying, and endearing." He said, the image of a brown haired lady popping in his mind. Her shoulder length hair combined with her pink sweater made her look like an ideal housewife.
"And my dad was a sports maniac. Loved working out. Also was extremely bold and at the same time calm about everything. Nothing fazed him. And he seemed to want me to turn out just like him. And I did want to be like him. But now…" His words got stuck in his throat. His dad's dream was over. His mom's garden was gone.
How many people had parents like that? How many loved them? How many hated them? How many wanted to return to the people they loved? He wanted to go home, but that was not possible. Not anymore. Unless they won. Unless he, Ritsuka Fujimaru, saved humanity. It was a duty to his parents. To himself. To everyone out there.
He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He was crying, and his senpai wanted to comfort him, to give him hope, to tell him to go forward. All with that hand.
"Sorry." He said, wiping himself. "I know. I'll get them back. All of them. You'll have killer meals again." The hand in his shoulder squeezed harder, catching his attention. He looked back the girl, the frowning girl.
"It's not just your burden. It's mine too. And Mash's, and the Director's, and the Doctor's, and everyone here at Chaldea. We are in this together, you and me." She said, looking at him with a gaze that seemed to be made of steel. "We'll get trough this. We'll get them back." She said, and extended a hand while retracting the other. An invitation to companionship.
She was human after all. Her eyes were strained, holding something back as well. All steel was gone. Fujimaru smiled.
"Together." He said, standing from the window sill and taking her hand with a strong grip. She smiled.
Before anything else could be said, the P.A system spoke in an echoed voice.
"All masters report to the Command Room. Repeat. All Masters report to the command room."
"Guess it's time to go." He said.
"Agreed." She answered. However, in the space between them, a white creature appeared.
"Fou! Fou!" It said, running away from the Command Room.
"What's with him?" he asked.
"No Idea. But I better catch that cutie. No way I'm going anywhere without my personal fluff ball." She said, beginning to chase after Fou. Fujimaru sighed. She was back to her antics.
"Jeez. I guess I'll see you there." He said. It had been a pleasant talk. In Fuyuki, they had no time to talk about anything other than the mission. He looked back. He didn't know how long the next Order was going to take, so it was better to ask now for the thing that was still a mystery to him.
"Hey, Senpai!" he yelled, even tough she wasn't that far away. She turned around, and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What's your name?" he said, fighting trough the akwardness. Hearing him, she turned fully, smiling while putting her hands on her hips.
"You're very forward, Casanova." She said, a blush in her cheeks. The boy's face heat up at the insinuation.
"It's nothing like that! I just feel weird calling you senpai and Mash calling me senpai and you senpai and stuff!" he yelled with awkwardness. "I just feel like it would be better to call ourselves with our real names."
"So many excuses. But oh well..." She said with a shrug. "I'm Emiya. Ritsuka Emiya. A pleasure to meet you… again." She said with a smile that threatened to melt his heart.
"I'm… Ritsuka. Ritsuka Fujimaru." he said simply.
"Huh." She said, and an awkward silence ensued once again.
"Yeah. See you later then, Emiya-san." He said, turning around and leaving before the awkwardness overwhelmed him.
"Don't trip, Casanova." She said from behind him.
Saving humanity. It would be a difficult trip for the novice Master. But at least he wasn't alone. He could share the burden with the Magus that acted like a Human.