The group's planning soon bore fruit as they managed to figure out where their next stop should be: the home of one Victor Frankenstein…'s grandson. He had been one of Jekyll's associates helping them solve the mystery of the fog but had since gone radio silent. With their next step clear, the group— excluding Holmes and Jekyll for their safety —departed to meet the elusive scientist.
While it seemed asinine for them to leave the world's greatest detective behind, they had a good workaround… by connecting them to Chaldea's communication systems. Fu Hua had a small device that allowed Holmes and Jekyll to contact them albeit in a more limited capacity. However, even that was enough to raise some suspicion from the Chaldeans.
"Every new thing I learn about you just makes you ever more mysterious, Fu Hua," Da Vinci hummed as the four journeyed through the streets. "How did you just so happen to have something so technologically beyond what should be possible in this era?"
"I'm not telling," was the ever-so-blunt reply she gave as she continued walking besides Ritsuka.
"Ooh, I know! Ritsuka gave it to you, didn't he?" Romani suddenly exclaimed as he replaced the Caster. "His future self gave it to you 'cause he knows you'll need it now!"
"...No." The completely straight tone she had made it impossible to tell if she was being honest or not. Ritsuka was inclined to think she was though.
"Really…? Hmm…"
Romani would be swiftly replaced by Da Vinci again who asked how it'd be possible for that to happen considering how their meetings take place. "Then again, there was the hole in the wall."
"What hole?" Fu Hua parroted in confusion.
"Er… you don't need to know," Ritsuka assured with a slight redness in his cheek. There was more concrete evidence from their meeting in Rome that proved they could give each other something to bring back but Ritsuka was not going to share that. "But I am curious how you have that too…" he muttered under his breath.
"...It's something I happen to bring with me for my mission," Fu Hua confessed after a moment. "My… boss, I suppose you can call him, gave it to me just in case I needed to contact him or anyone else should I get in trouble. As you can probably guess, I've never needed it before now."
"I see, I see," Da Vinci hummed again. "Note to self, have Fujimaru ask all the questions." Her not-so-quiet remark earned her an unamused glare from Ritsuka.
As much as he didn't want to continue prying while the others were around, there was another thing Ritsuka meant to ask her about. "Fu Hua, what do we do with this?" Ritsuka reached into the bag he borrowed from Jekyll and pulled out the golden sword they recovered yesterday. "Holmes said you would want us to hold onto it but—"
"Dammit," Fu Hua suddenly cursed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. When she realized they were now all staring at her, she quickly apologized for her language. "I just… remembered something," she sighed before nodding. "Yes, you can hold onto it, Ritsuka. I believe it'd be useful to you on your missions."
"Believe or know, hmm?" Even if they weren't looking at her, the grin Da Vinci had would have been felt through her tone. "But what is it exactly? You called it a Divine Key of Domination but Chaldea has no records of such a weapon."
"..."
Ritsuka felt all eyes on him again and sighed. "...Please?" He asked in a small voice. It was a bit embarrassing how he had to be the one to beg answers out of Fu Hua, who continued being silent until letting out a defeated sigh of her own.
"I'm sure you've learned about the Herrschers by now, Ritsuka. The Divine Key in your hands was made from one the cores of the 10th… Or have you not met me that far back yet?" She added after noticing the confused frown on Ritsuka's face.
"No, no. I did hear about them from only the name, to be honest." At that time, he only knew that the latest Herrscher Hua was fighting was a hive mind but that was about it. So really, he didn't understand a word she said.
"Forgive me for interrupting but I think we need an explanation too."
"...No."
"This is what we get for teasing you and Ritsuka, isn't it?"
Fu Hua didn't answer the pouting Caster as she turned back to Ritsuka. "I know you have all of your Servants to protect you, but please, hold on to it. I have less things to worry about if you have something to defend yourself with." Her voice was uncharastically vulnerable as she urged him to keep the sword. Ritsuka was already going to do so regardless but hearing her sound so… fragile with him made it even more impossible to refuse.
"Of course," he gave her a reassuring smile. "If it helps you feel better, who am I to say no?" His attempt to cheer her up proved successful as a small soothing laugh came from Fu Hua. It felt great to see her smile… so of course Mordred had to open her mouth.
"You'd be a shitty husband to say no, Master."
"Mordred!"
"What?! I'm not wrong, am I?!"
Soon enough, they reached the home of Victor Frankenstein where the group— after dealing with a few murderous homunculi along the way —discovered his fate. His murder at the hands of the clown-like Servant named Mephistopheles would quickly be avenged. In a fight of three to one, he didn't stand a chance. Fu Hua once again proved herself to be on even footing with Mordred and Mash though she was more focused on protecting Ritsuka. If one of the homunculi under Caster's command even looked in Ritsuka's direction, they would be punched into oblivion.
Ritsuka never pegged Fu Hua as the protective type but he shouldn't have been surprised that she was. Most of his own Servants were like that and she would have known him for longer than all of them combined… probably. He made a mental note to ask her a bit more about her past.
Once Mephistopheles was defeated and faded into gold dust, the group soon met the living breathing Frankenstein's Monster… who was a girl. By this point, Ritsuka wasn't surprised anymore. In any case, it was an easy decision to adopt the culmination of the late scientist's research (who was quickly named Fran) and bring her back to the others.
"It's regrettable we couldn't save Victor but I'm sure he'll be at peace now that Miss Fran is with us," Holmes solemnly said as the group planned their next move. "We can continue carrying on his work as well. Now… What could this Project Demonic Fog entail?"
"I thought you were the detective here. It's clearly the fog all over London," Mordred rolled her eyes. Fortunately, Holmes was not offended as he let out a small amused laugh.
"Quite the astute observation, Sir Mordred, but I was thinking what the purpose of this project might be." Ritsuka wondered if Mordred noticed that Holmes was addressing her like one would a young rambunctious child. "Victor wrote down P, B, and M, correct?"
"Yes," Mash confirmed with a nod. "Do you think the M is referring to Mephistopheles?"
"Perhaps, but it's too early to say. Unlike your little case about Fu Hua's dear husband, we cannot expect it to be someone we already know until there's conclusive proof."
"Do you really need to bring that up?" Both Ritsuka and Fu Hua groaned at the same time while Holmes only gave them a cheery grin. He was then replaced by Jekyll who advised them to return back to Baker Street so he could examine Fran.
The journey back was uneventful save for encountering a few enemies who were barely a threat, even when they were flanked from both ends of the street. "She's really making everything a breeze, Fujimaru," Romani remarked as Fu Hua dealt with another few Helter Skelters without breaking a sweat while Mash, Mordred, and Fran fought off some on the other side.
"Yeah… yes, she does," Ritsuka muttered before they continued on.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and as soon as they returned to Holmes's place, Jekyll was quick to take Fran to one of the other rooms to run some physical examinations. Holmes and Fu Hua also went to the former's study to pour through some notes and journals they brought back in hopes of finding a lead. That left Ritsuka with not much else to do but wait around in the sitting room.
"You have something on your mind, Master?" Mordred suddenly asked.
He had been silently looking at the Divine Key for some time now, letting his thoughts run rampant. "No, it's nothing."
"Doesn't seem like nothing. Right, Mash?"
"Huh?! Oh…" Mash looked away in embarrassment at Mordred putting her in the spotlight. "You do look like something is bothering you, Senpai."
"It's just…" Ritsuka began to say before letting out a long sigh. "If I'm being honest, I'm still trying to process everything about Fu Hua."
"What? Did you not know she was your wife either?" Mordred snickered at her own joke... before realizing Ritsuka wasn't laughing. "Wait, really?"
"...I was still trying to figure out what we were to each other. I knew we were close but—" Another sigh escaped him as he returned to the previous day. When he learned that she had a husband no one knew the identity of… "And now she's here. This is our first real meeting." Without the temporal hijinks that was likely involved.
"Damn… Now I'm feeling guilty about all that stuff we said."
"Don't worry about that; it's fine." He was still annoyed but they were ignorant about the whole thing. As annoying as they were, he couldn't fully blame them for all that teasing. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I have mixed thoughts about all this."
On one hand, what Da Vinci said the previous night was starting to bother him. He sincerely hoped their meeting here was coincidental, but the seed of doubt had been planted in his mind. Ritsuka only prayed it was nothing. However, he couldn't help but also feel… grateful? He couldn't deny the warmth he felt being around Fu Hua. For the past few months, she had been someone he could confide in— a kind of rock for him to hold onto when he was feeling overwhelmed, especially the first time after Singularity F. Having her around gave him a sense of ease he didn't realize he needed.
"But there's this…" He glanced back down at the golden sword in his lap. Fu Hua's earlier reaction to him having it pointed to a certain conclusion and he was unsure how to feel about that either.
"Hmm… I got it!" Mordred suddenly lit up, her usual feisty grin returning to her face. "Why don't we go out and train? I've been itching to test out you and Mash'd actually do against me!"
Ritsuka didn't even think about it for a second before replying with a "No."
"I don't think it's a good idea either," Mash agreed with a timid and nervous voice, making Mordred grumble. The Knight of Treachery muttered something under her breath, something about "next time," but dropped the topic… mainly because Holmes and Fu Hua returned. Ritsuka's gaze immediately turned towards the latter, who strangely avoided looking back at him.
"Is Jekyll still examining Miss Fran? We should wait for him to finish then," Holmes hummed upon noticing the doctor was not there.
"Did you figure out where we should go next, Mr Holmes?" Romani asked as he flickered into the room. The detective nodded but refused to say anything because he'd rather not repeat himself. "Then can't Fu Hua tell us on the way?"
"Oh, I'm sure you can be a little patient, Doctor Roman," the detective smiled at him before turning towards Ritsuka with a smile. "Besides, they've only returned. Let's give them the chance to rest before sending them out again." Ritsuka could tell he was being genuine and looking out for him, but he had the feeling that was not all there was to Holmes's intention. Sure enough, he added a moment after— "And Fu Hua would like to speak to her husband in private."
In an instant, both Ritsuka and Fu Hua's faces turned red. "N-no, I don't!" she immediately denied.
"Yes, you do. I can tell it's been on your mind all day." The amusement in Holmes's voice was unmistakable and infectious.
Whatever guilt Mordred felt must have disappeared in an instant as she pulled Ritsuka out of his seat. "Well, don't keep her waiting, Master!" Ritsuka was naturally unable to resist as he was pushed towards Fu Hua, who caught him— only for Mordred to push both of them out into the hallway. The door slammed behind them before either of them could recover, leaving both of them speechless.
"So…" Ritsuka muttered; he couldn't bring himself to look at her, nor could she with him.
After a few moments of nervous silence, Fu Hua finally spoke up. "I guess… we can talk in my room? They could overhear if we talk here."
"Ehe…"
Judging from the snicker that was undoubtedly from Mordred, Fu Hua was right on the mark. "Lead the way then," Ritsuka nodded towards her. Though he had already been in the privacy of her room before, he was being invited this time and it was nerve-wracking. If Fu Hua felt the same, she didn't show it as obviously as he did; she only nodded before gesturing him to follow her down the hallway…
A/N: First chapter of the new year and we're immediately full in on the shippy stuff. Mordred truly has no filter, doesn't she? Also, we're chugging along with the actual story of London so that what we could get to that part. That's probably the second thing y'all are waiting for. The first is definitely when our main couple finally gets together, right?
In any case, see y'all next time with some private talk which was the original point of this fic. We going back full circle!