"What do you think they're talking about?" Romani asked Holmes in a conspiratorial whisper as they waited for Ritsuka and Fu Hua to return. The greatest detective in history would sure have an idea what his assistant of many years wished to discuss with her husband, right?

Holmes, however, only chuckled as he continued smoking with his pipe. "Oh, it's not my place to wonder what they get to in their private time."

"Aww…"

"I'm sure with your technology, you could simply listen in on them, could you not?"

"Well… yes, but that'd be incredibly rude."

"And making up ideas of what they're doing isn't?" Mordred snorted as she leaned back into her seat. "But damn, waiting around is killing me."

While the others were more onto what Ritsuka was up to, Mash had differing thoughts. Her mind was drawn more towards the other person with him: his mysterious future wife. "...Mr Holmes, if you're willing to, can you tell me— I mean, tell us more about Fu Hua?"

An amused smirk appeared on Holmes's face. It wouldn't surprise anyone if he had been expecting this conversation to happen. However, his answer was not to anyone's expectation. "Ah, I wouldn't be able to help you with that. At least not as much as you think I could."

"What? Hasn't she been your assistant for years now?" Romani naturally pointed out but Holmes was quick to reply.

"That may be true but if you think she's one to share her past with anyone, I'm afraid you're mistaken. Her appearance betrays her true age and experience; most of what I truly know about her are things I had to deduce on my own." A languid sigh escaped the detective as he settled into his velvet seat. "She prefers being a closed book to all including me."

"All except Senpai."

"Yes, all except him," he hummed in agreement with Mash. "Though it's less she wishes to share her past with him and more that they do share a past. You've seen the way she looks at him, have you not? She sees him as the person she married but unfortunately for her, he isn't. Not yet."

The pity Holmes had for Fu Hua's situation was felt by all, even those not physically there. "And how did you learn about Fu Hua's relationship with Fujimaru?" Da Vinci appeared to ask that question.

"It took some time before I began understanding Fu Hua when our partnership began," Holmes began to explain. "She only ever told me the bare minimum, and only when the situation called for it. But try as she might in keeping her mouth shut, she is not as good at hiding her emotions. When she looks at someone, you can tell what she's thinking through her eyes— through the way she acts. Well, at least I can tell. To be frank, it's because of that I became so famous as I am in London."

"What do you mean, Mr Holmes?"

This time, a sound of amusement came from the detective. "I'll admit that I'm only a nightmare to criminals because of Fu Hua. When she meets the culprit, she knows it's them. When I realized that Fu Hua's intuition was always correct, all I had to do was discover the connection between them and the crime and away they go to prison. I don't think I would be half or even a quarter as well known without her around." The humble confession was strange to hear for Mash, but she could tell he was being honest. "But to answer Miss Da Vinci's question, it's when I learned how to read Fu Hua's reactions that I understood more about her past."

Holmes gave an example from an early case they had: a break-in at an affluent family's home. The robber nearly killed the patriarch of the household before running off with a prized heirloom. "I naturally went to the study where they kept the stolen treasure and normally Fu Hua would as well. However, she immediately went to comfort Master Waterson's children, telling them their father would be alright. From that, what can you surmise about her?"

Mash could come up with two options: either Fu Hua was one who put the wellbeing of children above her job or— "Something similar happened to her?"

"Perhaps. As I said, I could only truly guess," laughed Holmes. "It's not a topic she wished to speak about. Her dear husband is a different topic, however."

He began to share the signs he noticed. How she'd watch couples in the street with envy; the way she'd treat widows or those with their spouses away with more kindness than usual; her hostile demeanour towards those who dared break their vows with their partners. "At first, I believed she was a hopeless romantic at heart. I only briefly entertained the idea she had a partner before dismissing it. After all, that seemed impossible."

"So How did you work out that it wasn't as impossible as you thought?"

"It was the most innocuous gesture, such a simple act that I doubt she herself realized she was doing: she was mindlessly tapping on her ring finger. Dr. Jekyll was popping by for a visit at the time and noticed the same thing I did. I still remember the face she made when she realized we knew. The poor girl was trying to deny it before we even said anything." Holmes let out yet another amused chuckle as the image of his usually composed assistant getting flustered flashed in his mind. "I was not planning on inquiring further, but Fu Hua had other ideas."

"Fujimaru Ritsuka," she suddenly revealed after Jekyll left. "That's his name if you were wondering."

"I was, but what encouraged you to tell me?" Fu Hua was rarely one to start small talk; for her to share what was likely her biggest secret without any prompt was quite baffling to the detective.

"…I don't know," she answered, glancing down at her hand with a soft smile. However, there was a hidden sorrow hidden beneath her gaze.

"She'd told me more now and again; that's how I came to know about Chaldea. Although, just like you all, the peculiarities behind her and his relationship were something I only learned recently," Holmes further elaborated.

"Recently is an understatement," Romani sighed at the reminder.

Mash, once again, had a different thought. "Fu Hua told you about us on her own?" While curious about what Fu Hua might have told Holmes, she was more interested in the "why." It sounded contradictory to Fu Hua's usual behaviour about her past.

"Oh, the reason is pretty clear, don't you think?" It may have been unintentional, but Holmes flashed her a smug and calculating grin. "There is a stark difference between hiding a painful past and a cherished memory. The former is easy as keeping what hurts you inside comes naturally for many. The latter is the opposite; most would wish to share their joy with the world, and Fu Hua is no different."

Holmes's answer helped Mash see things a little more clearly; her impression of Fu Hua had been someone who was emotionally reserved but that was not the whole truth. "She is no different…" Mash muttered under her breath.

"Fu Hua gives the air of an unfeeling master of many forms, but she's just as human as the rest of us, even if she does not wish to admit it." Holmes hummed before glancing up towards the door. It took a few moments before they understood why he didn't say another word as soft footsteps grew closer until it opened.

"...You were talking about me, weren't you?" was Fu Hua's unamused remark towards Holmes when she and Ritsuka entered.

"Perhaps~" The detective only grinned as Ritsuka noted that Jekyll was still not there. "He is taking his sweet time, isn't he? I'll check on him and make sure he isn't too engrossed in his studies." Holmes got up to his feet and sauntered past them.

"I should have checked before… No matter," muttered Fu Hua before shaking her head and turning towards the others. "I'm going to step out and patrol the area. If you need me, just call."

"Can you even hear us from out there?" Romani naturally asked which she responded with a blunt, "Yes." Without another word, Fu Hua left the sitting room and headed for the entrance. As soon as they heard the front door closing— "So what did you guys talk about?" The Acting Director immediately asked with a teasing grin.

"That's none of your business," Ritsuka answered like he had been practicing saying that for a while. However, he wasn't able to hide the way his face flushed or how his hand drifted towards his pocket.

"Oh, did she give you something, Master?" Mordred pounced on the opportunity to further embarrass him. "Come on, show us!"

"No," Ritsuka grumbled before sitting down with an indignant huff. Mordred also muttered something about "boring," under her breath before deciding to follow Fu Hua's example.

"I can't stand sitting around any longer. I'll go patrol too," she declared before heading out as well, itching to get into another fight after a couple hours of doing nothing for the last couple hours.

"Always raring to go…" Ritsuka rolled his eyes with a small chuckle before glancing towards Mash. "So what did you guys and Holmes talk about?"

The Shielder paused in thought for a while before finally answering with a small smile. "He shared some insight about Fu Hua. I think… I can understand her a bit better now."

A/N: Motivation likes to hit me out of nowhere so here's the next chapter. Now this is a lot different since it isn't in Ritsuka or Hua's POV but eh, scope creep is expected from me at this point. Hopefully I nailed how Fu Hua would act in a scenario like this as well as Holmes's detective skills. Did I do a good job? You be the judge. In any case, time to jump back on the Astral Express and get to 3.0. See you all next time!