I woke up with the reassuring sensation of Mordred pressing up against me. Despite the gravity of yesterday's news, I had somehow managed to get a moderate amount of sleep. Not the best, mind you, but enough to function properly.

As I checked the clock beside me on my nightstand, I saw that we had also apparently slept in late. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. I had suspected that for the next twenty-four hours or so, Chaldea would be eerily quiet. And why wouldn't it be? We lost our first two comrades since completing Singularity F a few months ago, first of all. Secondly, we also found out who the final boss that we would have to face off against and defeat was, and just how powerful he apparently was.

God, how were we even going to defeat Solomon if he would only toy with us like a cat with a ball of yarn? We knew he was powerful, but not the limits of that very power. We knew he had a base of operation, but we didn't know where, or how to get to it! Roman had indicated that the historical era associated with King Solomon when he was alive was fine, so it could be anywhere? Would it be the Seventh Singularity? What would we do if after we accomplished fixing the last of the seven singularities, but Solomon refused to reveal himself? What if—

I felt Mordred shifting against my side slightly, and the ever-adorable sight of a half-asleep Mordred waking up with an incredibly cute case of bedhead had me smiling despite the morbid musings I had just had.

"Morning, Jacob," Mordred greeted. An interesting fact that I had discovered about Mordred: there was no consistency to what type of greeting she'd give me when waking up. If she was the one to do so first, she'd tended to be either more energetic or occasionally mischievous (though thank god not in the way Marie was. More like a small child with friendly ribbing, or something like that). However, if I was the one up, usually I'd be greeted by a grumpy or semi-awake Mordred for about thirty minutes until she fully woke up. Basically, it was a matter of who woke up first, and how long they had before the other also awoken from their slumber.

"Good morning, Mordred," I said softly in response. I nudged her shoulder gently with my own, a gesture that could serve as a substitute for a hug. When Mordred was still waking up, she didn't like hugs, no matter how brief they might be. "Slept well?"

"As well as one can considering yesterday's shitshow," groused the Knight of Rebellion. And there went that brief spark of joy. "You?" My knight asked, propping herself up onto her right elbow while using her other hand to softly rub at her left eye in an attempt to speed up the process of coming to.

"About the same sentiment," I said.

The Saber grunted. "What time is it?"

"11:35 in the morning," I responded, re-checking my clock as I delivered my answer.

"Let's get some food," Mordred muttered as our stomachs suddenly rumbled. I blushed but nodded in agreement.

Ten minutes later, and we were both dressed up in our casual clothing as we entered the cafeteria. Sure enough, there was both a gloomy aura to Chaldea, and a dearth of her residents walking about. Quickly grabbing our normal breakfast, we sat and ate silently at the table that Mordred, Mash, Ritsuka, and I had informally designated as our personal table.

We were almost finished with our food, leaving me fumbling around in my brain as I tried to come up with suggestions for what Mordred and I could do today, when I heard a pair of light footsteps rapidly approaching me from behind. Mordred's head perked up, briefly adopting a guarded look before quickly relaxing.

I was about to ask who it was when the newcomer called out to me. "There you are, Jacob Senpai!" The alarm in Mash's voice was the kind normally reserved for upcoming battles or ambushes when we were on the field, not in the safety of Chaldea. I spun around in my seat to look at her.

"What's wrong, Mash?" I asked, noticing the clear distress on my friend's face. The pink-haired girl fidgeted with her fingers, biting the corner of her lip. I waited patiently, while behind me Mordred waited slightly less patiently, though she did so silently. Finally, Mash exhaled, and looked me in the eye.

"Ritsuka Senpai has been in the training room the two of you use for sparring since early this morning. I just checked on him five minutes ago." I sighed softly.

"And he's still training?" I guessed, and Mash nodded. I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was now half-past noon at Chaldea. What the hell was Rits trying to do? Work himself to death? I sighed, and stood up, pushing my mostly-empty tray towards Mordred as I asked her silently if she could put it away with her own when she was finished.

The blonde knight rolled her eyes but nodded. "Go on, princess. Check on your lady-in-waiting. I'll check on Marie. God knows she's probably getting ready to hunt me down and interrogate me over our mission," she said resignedly. "Might as well beat her to it. You coming with, Shieldy?" Mash's eyes darted towards Mordred, before flicking back over to me.

"But…Senpai…"

"Just let Jacob handle it," Mordred said gruffly. "Besides, you know that after Marie's finished interrogating me, you're the next one she'll be after." Mash chewed on the corner of her lip, distressed and indecisive, before finally (and reluctantly) nodding at the two of us.

"Very well, Mordred. Good luck, Jacob Senpai."

I stepped into the gym in time to see Ritsuka knock down one of the inanimate dummies I had requested Da Vinci to create for Rits and I to practice our sword sparring. Either not noticing or not acknowledging my presence, Ritsuka straddled the human-shaped dummy and began whaling away at it furiously. His face was red, his hair slick with sweat, as he rained a storm of wild punches.

"Are you trying to kill it?" I asked jokingly, trying to stop him from beating his knuckles raw. I almost stumbled backwards at the angry glare my fellow Master shot at me, a thunderous scowl on his lips.

"What do you want?" He spat out the words. I raised an eyebrow, realizing that I had just stepped into a minefield, though over what, I didn't know, damn it. Still, here, at this very moment, I could only move forward as carefully as I can.

"Mash told me you've been training all day, without even a break."

"I told her that I know what I'm doing!" Ritsuka growled. My frown deepened as I stared at the younger magus incredulously. I had never, ever, heard Ritsuka sound so aggrieved regarding the mention of his adoring kouhai. It seems Mash had a right to be concerned.

"She's looking out for you. Mordred would do the same thing for me," I pointed out, before pausing. "Please tell me you didn't tear her head off for voicing her concern to you." To my relief, Ritsuka (violently) shook his head.

"No. She's not the one I'm frustrated at."

"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who would that be?" Ritsuka's blue eyes blazed angrily as he stood stiffly a few feet away from me. I had to force my body to stay calm, even as I felt like I was about to be attacked.

"You." Now both of my eyebrows were raised, but this time it wasn't a dry expression, but actual shock.

"Pardon me?" I asked, but Ritsuka merely glared at me. Oh dear… "What did I do?"

Ritsuka looked at me like I had asked him if it was snowing outside Chaldea. "You…You…You don't even realize?" Ritsuka snarled, his lips curling back as his body began to shake angrily. "I've been relegated to your shadow, Aronson!"

I took a step back, and Ritsuka advanced, shaking even more violently by the second. "You were the one in the lead. You were the one sticking his neck on the line. You are the one who everyone looks to for leadership! You, you, you, you! What about me?"

"Your opinion matt—" I tried to say, before Ritsuka swung a hand aggressively through the air between us, his fingertips narrowly missing the bridge of my nose. I was forced to take another step back as my fellow Master continued his rant.

"I'm just the spare in you all's minds. The dumb Japanese volunteer. You never let me try to lead on my own until now. Even then, it was only because you didn't have a choice! If you had treated me like a damn equal, then maybe I would have been able to ensure that Jing Ke and Erik had survived!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I responded. "This isn't about glory, or personal reputation, Rits! It's about ensuring the survival of our people, damn it!" Ritsuka glared murderously at me, but remained silent, breathing heavily. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly, and he took a half-step forward, his hands still curled into fists. When he finally spoke, the words weren't what I expected, though perhaps in hindsight I should have.

"Fight me."

"What?" I asked. The next second, the world started spinning as pain exploded from my right cheek. The sound of skin smacking skin ringed in my ears as I fell onto a knee. I stared up incredulously at my fellow Master.

"I said fight me, damn it! Fight me, or I'll beat you into a pulp!" Ritsuka roared, spittle flying past curled-back lips. His body shook in anger, and at that very moment, I was glad that he had put away his training sword. While the blunt instruments weren't designed with lethality in mind, that didn't mean they couldn't theoretically be used to bludgeon someone to death.

I opened my now-sore mouth in a final attempt to peacefully resolve the situation, but before I could even start forming the first syllable of my sentence, another fist was rushing at my head. My eyes narrowed in concentration.

A split-second before Ritsuka's knuckles could smash against my nose, I tilted my head to the side. At the same time, both of my hands darted forwards and grabbed Ritsuka's forearm, roughly halfway between the elbow and wrist. With a soft grunt, I threw him over my shoulder.

The younger Master landed with a dull thud onto the floor, groaning briefly. Instead of staying down, however, Ritsuka got back up onto his feet. Both of his fists swung out rapidly as he lunged at me. I raised both of my forearms, absorbing the powerful blows with them instead of doing it with my face. However, at the same time, my defense briefly obscured my vision.

Therefore, I was caught unprepared for the impact of Ritsuka's right boot to the right side of my torso. I twisted to the side, some spittle flying forcibly past my lips. Instead of coming to a stop, however, I used the momentum to power my own retaliatory strike.

Turning a full 360 degrees, my right fist arced upwards after being swung low. My knuckles satisfyingly slammed into the pit of Ritsuka's gut, bending him over. "I don't want to fight you, Rits!" I spat, leaping backwards and adopting a boxing stance. "But if violence is all that you can speak of in the moment, then I have no choice but to answer in kind."

Ritsuka's only response was a feral growl, and the next five or so minutes (at least, that's how long it felt like to me) passed by in an extremely chaotic blur. One moment, I was on the offensive, unleashing a series of light but accurate punches, the next minute, I felt my head spinning slightly as both pain and a coppery taste entered my mouth as a violent strike from Ritsuka split my lip.

I quickly retaliated with a right hook to his face, lashing out more instinctively at this point, with the sole intent of working out Ritsuka's anger while simultaneously taking him down before either of us could badly hurt each other.

I had no recollection of who landed the final blow, the last few seconds of the fight becoming an indistinguishable blur, but I found myself splayed out on the floor, my body aching and bruised, but thankfully nothing broken. From the sounds of it, Rits was in a similar state. "Had enough?" I finally managed to say after several minutes of heavy panting to regain my breath.

"Asshole," Ritsuka wheezed next to me, sounding every bit as exhausted as I felt. Despite the soreness of my face, I couldn't help but smirk, even though I didn't turn my head to look at him.

"For what? You started it," I shot back. Okay, maybe that was a bit immature of me, but fuck it. I didn't want to punch it out, but I had. That didn't mean I was going to take any shit for fighting back as best I could.

"You're…still…a bastard of a fighter." I chuckled, ignoring my bruised ribs that cried out as I did so.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself. I see Chiron taught you some of his pankration techniques."

"He's a good teacher." I grunted in agreement, breathing in slowly and holding my breath before exhaling. From the sounds of it, Rits did the same thing. "I'm not weak, Jacob." The words were delivered with the same defiance that had filled his voice earlier, but thankfully there was very little aggression mixed in, if any. I exhaled slowly.

"I never thought you were. Like I said, I was placing myself in the front because I wanted to protect you, Rits. Not just physically, either. You're a good man, even if you are sometimes hopelessly clueless. I couldn't think of a better person I'd trust to save the world with."

"Then why did you keep me in the rear?" This time, Ritsuka asked it in a questioning manner, rather than the earlier accusatory tone. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, though I quickly regretted it as my muscles screamed in protest. And that was when I tried to move my body slowly! God help me for when I had to walk back to my room or the infirmary.

Still, that wasn't as important as fixing my partnership with my younger co-Master. I turned to look at him, and winced. While it wasn't in its full glory yet, I could tell that I had given Ritsuka a black eye. God, I hope Medea had a spell or two up her sleeves, or maybe we could convince/bribe Marie to use Guillotine Breaker before Mash and Mordred find out about the full extent of the damage we rendered upon one another.

"Because you have a good heart. You're an optimist. In a way, sort of like the heart or soul of the two of us. If we have to dirty our hands in order to win, I'd rather it be my hands that are stained."

"But that's not fair!"

"Life rarely is," I said in agreement. I wiped away some of the drying blood from the split lip Rits dealt me . While not as strong as before, I could still taste that blasted coppery scent in my mouth. At least he hadn't hit my nose and broke it. That would have been worse. "As I said, it was never my intent on making you feel insignificant. While I won't apologize for doing what I thought was right, I will apologize for not considering the matter from your perspective, or for not talking to you about it sooner. It won't happen again."

No sooner had I finished speaking then Ritsuka propped himself up into a rudimentary sitting position of his own. His dark blue eyes twinkled with an excited yet hungry glint of their own. "Does this mean you'll let me fight beside you properly?" He pressed me in a hopeful tone.

I wanted to say no, and to hell if that made me a two-faced hypocrite on that matter. However, the fight had proved to be an unforeseen consequence of my earlier actions.

What if this had happened while we were out on a mission? We very well could have gotten one or both of us killed, and doomed everyone else, human or Heroic Spirit. Honestly, we were all lucky that this brief falling-out between Ritsuka and I had occurred when it did. Neither of us could afford the possibility of another such incident happening. Chaldea and the world couldn't afford that.

"It does," I say. Despite looking like hell, Ritsuka beamed excitedly at me. I raised an eyebrow. "Please don't thank me yet," I grunted as I pushed myself up onto my feet. As much as I would rather remain sitting/laying down for the rest of the evening, I would regret it in the long run.

I shuffled over to Rits, wincing silently at most every movement. I bent down partially and offered my fellow Master a hand. Reaching up, he gripped the offered limb, and I suppressed another groan as I helped Ritsuka back up onto his feet. "Let's get to the infirmary. Hopefully, Medea is the one running it, and not Doctor Roman."

"Why's that?"

"Do you really want to risk Mash and Mordred seeing us bloodied and looking like shit? You already know how temperamental Mordred can get at times, and I highly doubt that Mash is just going to let this slide, either." To my grim amusement, Ritsuka quickly paled.

"E-Excellent point," Ritsuka stammered after swallowing nervously. He started shuffling over to the door. "Come on! Time's a wasting!" I rolled my eyes at the rapidly retreating Ritsuka. There was no way either of us could escape the reprimands of our respective partners, but honestly, we kinda deserved it.

That didn't mean I was looking forward to it, though. I tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling, letting out a long sigh.

"Mordred's going to tear into me over this…"

"Are you a fucking moron?" Mordred growled, not so gently prodding my sore chest with her right index finger. I winced and breathed in sharply, causing Mordred's brow to furrow deeper. "Why the hell didn't you call for one of us instead?"

"When you were a knight at Camelot, did none of your comrades ever get into a fisticuff or some other kind of duel over personal reasons? Not honor duels to the death, but just a regular old brawl?" Mordred's only response was an aggravated growl. "And did they not end up becoming friends again and all?"

"…Usually," Mordred admitted with a huff. I walked over to the bed, resisting the urge to lay down. Instead, I sat down on my side of the bed, my elbows resting on my knees. God, someone needs to start paying Medea for all the help she gives us at the medical bay. Even if she beat Mordred and Mash to the punch regarding the whole 'chewing us out' treatment. It was rather interesting hearing the refined Caster cursing up a storm in Ancient Greek.

When she had finished up healing the worst of our injuries, like my split lip and Ritsuka's black eye, Medea had said that she had left the soreness in our muscles as a reminder of, quote, "your shared boneheaded, brutishness and miscommunications!" That, and that if we came to her again in such a state, she'd show us how injuries were treated in her day. Without magic or painkillers.

The Caster had apparently also taken the privilege of letting our respective partners know about what happened while she had been treating us, for we met the extremely stern glares of Mordred and Mash the instant the door for the medical bay slid open. The Saber had her arms crossed, while Mash had her arms on her hips.

In unison, the two had grabbed one of the arms of their respective partners, and then proceeded to drag us to our rooms. While Ritsuka tried to talk Mash down in vain, I kept silent, knowing that Mordred wouldn't respond to me until we were both back in our shared room and she had said her fill.

When we had arrived, Mordred shoved me into my room, before stepping in and locking the door. Before I could raise my hands in surrender, Mordred stormed over and poked me, and that was how we ended up where we are. I refocused on continuing my counterargument with Mordred.

"This was one of those times. I didn't intend to get into a fight with Rits, especially not one as violent as that. That being said, perhaps it was for the best."

"Why?" The question was delivered brusquely.

"I hadn't realized that some of my actions were hurting Ritsuka. When l had taken the actions done to protect him, it wasn't with the intention of implying I didn't see him as a competent equal. In doing so, though, that was the exact impression I had given Rits. Just like you and I, Ritsuka is my partner, though in a different sense of the word. Chaldea needs both of her Masters, working together as one. Now more than ever. Besides, if this had to happen, don't you agree that it was better to have it happen here, the day after returning from a mission, than for it to happen the day before the next deployment, or worse, during the deployment."

Mordred nodded her head begrudgingly. "I guess you have a point. If this had happened in the middle of enemy territory, then I would have had little choice other than to punch his lights out. We Servants are here to help you both, but my primary goal is to protect you. You're mine, Jacob," she said a bit possessively.

Some people might feel unnerved or put off by that tone. If it were anyone else, I would probably be the same. However, I knew what she really meant with those words. I was her partner before her Master now. Her possessiveness was because of her fear of losing me.

"Always," I said solemnly, and Mordred grunted approvingly. "You shouldn't have to worry about that happening again, though. Like I said, while I would have been more than thrilled to have forgone the pain, Ritsuka and I understand each other almost perfectly now."

Mordred hummed but said nothing, still ticked. The latest stretch of silence lasted for two or three minutes before Mordred spoke up.

"I still don't like it, but I guess there's no point on dwelling over it further. What's done is done." I started to open my mouth, but Mordred cut me off with a sharp glare. I recognized the look in her eyes.

"And if you try anything like that again, without letting me know?" Mordred's emerald eyes glinted in the light. "You'll be my sparring partner for a week. Six or more hours a day, too, with no rest." I paled at that. Mordred wasn't the kind of person to make idle threats. She was a knight of action, after all.

"Understood. With a little bit of luck, it won't happen again."

"It better not," Mordred grumbled. Glaring at me, she not-so-gently slugged my shoulder. I yelped, rubbing furiously at what would soon be my latest bruise. "Consider that a warning. I'd rather take you to task in the sparring ring, idiot, but I'm not that cruel. Don't think I didn't notice how stiff your movements are."

I paled slightly, recognizing that look in her eyes. It was one of her more protective ones. Specifically, the one where she wouldn't let me do a damn thing. I had a feeling that if we weren't already in my room, she'd be bridal carrying me. And this time, there would be more than just a little pettiness in embarrassing me in front of the others.

Even if I did enjoy being carried by her like that.

"Medea fixed Rits and I up, though," I tried to say, but Mordred scoffed disapprovingly.

"Not entirely. I bet she left some of that soreness in both of your bodies as a punishment of her own." Mordred growled and walked over to her side of the bed. "Close your eyes and go to bed, Master. Before you somehow manage to cut yourself on a pillow or something."

I winced once more. Okay, thank god it was late. Otherwise, she'd have already made good on her threat/promise to essentially demolish me in sparring…again. As Mordred went into the bathroom to change into her plain, red-and-gold pajamas I had asked Isabella to make for her, I did the same, before slipping under the sheets of my own bed.

A few seconds later, Mordred stormed out of the bathroom and stomped over to the bed. Without another word, she slid into her side of our bed. I waited a moment for the familiar and welcomed sensation of her slim but muscular arms and legs wrapping around me, but it didn't happen. I suppressed the sigh of disappointment. I figured it would be a one-night thing, maybe two at the most, but dammit I still missed being turned into her quasi-body pillow!

I leaned in to give her a goodnight kiss, but instead of the pleasant sensation of my lips meeting her own lips, cheek, or forehead, they met her palm. She glared at me. "Not tonight, idiot princess. Just because I love you, doesn't mean you're not in the doghouse tonight!" Mordred said crossly. "You're lucky your bed is comfier than mine. Don't push your luck." I sighed and nodded my head reluctantly.

"Alright. Message received," I said softly as I laid back down on my side of the bed. While she didn't wrap herself against me like she normally did, Mordred still kept her body pressed against the side of mine. An indicator that despite her crossness, come morning she would probably be in a more forgiving mood. I did have one last thing to say as I closed my eyes, though.

"Goodnight, Mordred." Her response, while sounding cross, did have that subtle note of affection she had when we were together in private.

"Goodnight, my idiot."

"I don't know how to start expressing how disappointed I am in you, Senpai." Ritsuka flinched at Mash's words. They were delivered with her usual quiet yet stern tone, her arms crossed over her chest. The magus was sitting on his bed, hunched over slightly in shame and guilt over his actions. The initial rush of satisfaction over finally getting his long-building frustration out, and the clear agreement that he and Jacob were equals, had faded. What had avoided being dampened by Medea's stern rebuke was finished off by Mash's look of utter disappointment in her senpai.

"I thought that everyone viewed me as a spare. After everything that happened yesterday…I thought that no one would ever trust me to take a leading role ever again. That it had been my one chance to prove myself."

"You've already proven yourself, Senpai. As has Jacob."

"Yeah, but everyone was always focusing on Jacob, in my eyes. I know it sounds selfish, but I wanted to feel special, too." Mash stared at him with a furrowed brow. Ritsuka squirmed in place, unable to meet her steady gaze.

"You're wrong, Master. You are special. You always have been. Especially in my eyes." Mash paused, looking like she had more to say. Ritsuka watched as her face twitched slightly, flickering between emotions faster than he had time to track and identify, before returning to her earlier look of disappointment.

"I had something I wanted to tell you this evening, Master, but not now," Mash huffed. Drake and the others really had done a good job in nudging Mash out of her shell of shyness. Something Rits was extremely grateful for, even if he was on the receiving end of a scolding. "I guess it will have to wait."

Ritsuka bowed his head. "Understood. For what it's worth, Mash, I am sorry. It won't happen again. I promise." Mash started to head to the door, pausing by it as it slid open. She looked over her shoulder at him, and the disappointed look on her face seemed to lessen ever-so-slightly.

"That's good to hear, Senpai. Now, get some rest. You and Jacob Senpai will have a long day tomorrow."

"Alright. Good night, Mash."

"Good night," she said softly, turning off the overhead lights and heading towards her own room. The door slid shut, and Ritsuka stared at it for a few minutes. "I wonder what she wanted to tell me," he muttered, rubbing his chin before sighing and shaking his head. He got up to quickly change into his pajamas and then got into bed "Guess I'll have to wait."

Original Endnotes: And done! What did you all think? Perhaps it wasn't very noticeable, but I had hoped that it was noticed some friction between Jacob and Ritsuka slowly being formed. Mainly because Jacob's more protective approach feeling stifling perhaps to Rits. I hope I played it right? Also, obligatory 'Damn it, Ritsuka!"

Don't worry, Mash is going to have her chance. In chapter 101. I promise it! Next chapter is going to be from Mordred's point of view, so I hope you stay tuned!

Now, for the question(s) of the chapter! First up: What is the most hilarious classical story you have ever read? For me, it is the Tain, about Cu Chulainn basically trolling Medb and Fergus over a bull. Second question: Have you ever gotten into a bad argument with your friend, and come out with them stronger?

As always, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for all the support y'all have given me for writing this. It means a lot, and I still can't believe how far I've gotten along with this story! Please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments down below, and I can't wait to read them! Have a wonderful day!

Updated Endnotes (12/08/22): Sorry for being absent. The site has done some things recently that I don't approve of, like the opt-in for email alerts, and I had some heavy IRL stuff to deal with. I'm better now, though, and will go back to a more consistent updating schedule here like I was back in September. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, the full, up-to-date copy of my story can be found at Archive of Our Own.