CHAPTER TEXT

With a whirlwind of light, Mash found herself staring at the inside of the Coffin back in Chaldea. The door soon opened, allowing fresh air into the tiny chamber. She stepped out of the pod, the feel of solid floor beneath her temporarily foreign to her. She had changed back into her Chaldean uniform – coat, black shirt, red tie, glasses. She looked around, seeing the computers orbiting CHALDEAS, the jagged blue walls above, and the holographic globe.

Roman immediately left his workstation and approached the coffins as the other four opened as well. Saber and Archer stepped out, none the worse for wear, but senpai and Mr. Morgana practically stumbled out, much to everyone’s concern. The doctor immediately rushed to them. “Ren? Morgana?” he asked, kneeling down, gently lifting Ren’s face to look at his eyes and pallor before doing the same to Morgana.

Senpai blearily looked up at Roman and forced another smile. “Don’t worry, doc, nothing wrong,” he mumbled out as he staggered up – with the doctor’s help. “Just… really, really drained right now. I don’t wanna delay the debriefing, but me and Morgana need to rest up. I don’t suppose we can push it til tomorrow, or…”

The doctor hesitated, then nodded. “Alright,” he acceded. “You and Morgana take some time off. When you’re ready for the debriefing, let me know. Good work you two.” Then he looked back and forth. “And where are the Grails?” he asked out of curiosity.

Mash blinked, then summoned her shield back and pulled out the Grail they had gotten from the doppelganger’s Palace. “Here’s one, doctor!” she called out, holding it up. Senpai’s eyes, in the meantime, widened. He checked his pockets and within his jacket – an unlikely case given how large it was. She looked over to Morgana, who was also frantically checking his own pouches as well.

The Grail was gone.

Roman’s face fell, then he turned to the other staff at their computers. “Did anyone catch anything amiss during the rayshift back?” he asked, looking about. “Any odd energy signatures or shifts in temporal space?” He turned back to Ren and Morgana, giving them a strained smile. “Something must have happened during the rayshift back,” he told them. “Now both of you, get some rest. You two look utterly exhausted. We’ll take it from here.”

The shielder was surprised that Roman was so quick to excuse them as opposed to asking any more questions. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that one of the staff was about to protest when they were silenced with a sharp glare from Da Vinci, still standing next to Roman’s workstation. Now that she looked over, she also saw Lancer and Rider there as well, watching the proceedings.

As Ren and Morgana shambled past the two to the door, Rider gave them a small nod of acknowledgement while Lancer grinned and smacked Ren in the back – nearly accidentally bowling him over – and yelled, “Bang up job, kid!” Senpai flashed Cu a tired grin and thanked him before disappearing with Morgana from the Command Center.

Once they left, the quartet of Servants converged on each other, conversing in low tones. Too low for her ears to hear. Whatever discussion they wanted must’ve been private. In the meantime, Mash walked up to Roman’s workstation where Da Vinci was going through the data of the rayshift with a scrutinizing eye. “Um, where should I put this…” she quietly asked, holding up the Grail.

The Caster blinked as she looked up, then beamed at Mash. “I can take that~” she chirped, holding out a hand. The shielder handed over the Grail, who then put it on the workstation as she went back to the data. “Now, while I’m dying of curiosity to know what adventures you’ve been on with the ragazzo and gatto, I do believe you need some rest as well. So off you go, Mash~!”

Mash blinked in surprise. “Oh, no, I’m not that tired,” she quickly denied, shaking her head. “Is there anything I can do to help? Although if…” She pondered her next words, then decided to speak her mind. “If you think that senpai or Mr. Morgana stole the Grail,” she continued, her voice lowering to a soft murmur. “I don’t think that’s the case. None of us – me, Archer, or Saber, saw them do anything with it. And I don’t think they would be the type to do so.”

Da Vinci stared at Mash, blinking, then burst out laughing. The girl could only blink in surprise. That wasn’t the reaction she expected at all. “Oh, Mash, my dear, you are so precious!” she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. Mash couldn’t do much except to wait until she settled down, completely caught off guard by her laughing – and drawing the gazes of some of the staff, as well as Roman.

Once she calmed down, she beamed at the shielder. “Please, I’m not laughing at you, Mash,” she reassured her. “I truly do thank you for your consideration in telling me this. However, neither me nor Roman suspected the two from the start. No, those two are not the type in the slightest.”

The shielder had been with Da Vinci long enough to catch that mischievous gleam in her eye. She tilted her head quizzically. “Do you know something?” she asked.

The self-proclaimed genius chuckled again. “All in due time, Mash, all in due time~” she replied cryptically. “Now, off you go. Get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow, and we’ll need to be fresh for it. Even geniuses need their beauty sleep – that’s one issue even I had to bend my knee on in life. We’ll find the cause of this error, never fear.”

Blinking, Mash looked back over at the staff, still hard at work at their computers. Roman looked up and caught her staring. Despite how tired he looked, he flashed her a happy smile and a thumbs up before looking over at the staff’s computer screen again, discussing the various readings. Deciding there was nothing else for it, she bowed to Da Vinci and left the Command Center as well.

Walking down the halls of Chaldea felt odd to her. She had been in Orleans for the last couple days or so, getting used to the rustic environments, the ruined cities and buildings, and the lush, grassy plains and meadows. The sights, the smells, the sensations of wood, grass, pavement… And of course, the ever-present sound of distant wyverns roaring in the distance.

And now, walking by the pale blue walls of Chaldea, breathing the odorless recycled air, her heeled feet clacking against the marbled floor of the facility… Even though they just left, Orleans felt like a distant dream to her, to the point where she caught herself wondering if she had even gone at all. A robot hummed as it wheeled by her, breaking the monotony of sound and sight. She watched it as it rolled past her.

Definitely a curious feeling.

Reaching her room, she quietly entered. Her own room was bare, save for a bookshelf filled with books and a bedside table with a volume of Sherlock Holmes laying on it. A small Chaldea-issued laptop sat on a table with a stack of DVDs beside it – Roman’s choices that he leant to her to watch when she wished to do so. She really had no need for personal effects. The books were requests she made of Roman and Da Vinci, and they simply gave her the books to read from the comfort of her own room as opposed to constantly going to the library.

Mash quietly hung up her lab coat before taking her wardrobe – another set of her lab uniform – and hanging it on a rack near the shower. Stripping off her own clothes, she stepped in and turned on the hot water, allowing the warmth to rush over her. Then she blinked in surprise.

She hadn’t bathed the entire time she was in Orleans. Up until this point, she hadn’t realized just how… comfortable bathing like this could be. Of course, she had showered countless times like this before, but this was a newer sensation. Running her hands through her hair, she allowed the water to help run some of the grime and grease off before reaching for the shampoo.

Mash had to wonder as she washed, did senpai and Mr. Morgana feel the same after coming back from Orleans? Was this kind of warmth and comfort something they had gotten used to a long while ago, or did they feel the same thing she did right now? Well, it was perhaps something she could ask later. Right now, the two of them needed their rest. Even she, with her demi-Servant capabilities, was feeling rather exhausted from the sheer number of battles she had been through today.

Finally finishing up, she stepped out of the shower, grabbing a nearby towel to dry herself off before donning on her clothes once more. Her laundry she dumped into a chute in the wall that led to the laundromat down below. She glanced over at the laptop with the DVDs. No, she needed to rest. It would be better to read first and wait until her hair dried off a bit before getting some sleep.

However, as she reached for the book on the bedside table, alarm klaxons started going off, startling her. Without hesitation, she slapped the scanner beside her door and took off down the hall, immediately transforming into her demi-Servant grab, her shield in her hand.

Rushing into the Command Center, she found the four Servants already there (had they even left?) with their weapons out, facing the far side of the room. Roman and the other staff had already evacuated near the door, with Da Vinci guarding them. She brushed past the other staff, moving beside Da Vinci (and behind the Servants) with her shield raised. “What’s going on, Da Vinci?” she asked, bewildered.

The Caster’s smile had dropped once more as she faced the intruders. “It seems we had some rogue Servants following you through the rayshift,” she replied. Her tone was still light but now edged with tension. “We don’t know if they’re hostile or not, so we set the alarm off just in case. We don’t have any security robots on hand – Lev took special time to destroy them, apparently – but the Servants here have thankfully been rather prompt.”

Mash blinked in surprise before looking over her shield at the intruders. There were two figures standing there, both of them Servants. One of them was the draconic Lancer, Elizabeth – who had her hands held up in a gesture of surrender. Her words didn’t exactly match her actions, however.

“Hey, hey, put those weapons down,” she snapped, glaring at the others. “I’m not here to fight! Puppy has a promise to fulfill for me and I’m gonna make sure he does it! I don’t care about fighting you guys or anything!” She glanced at her companion as she edged a bit further away from her. “And I’m certainly NOT with her!” she yelled. Mash looked at who Elizabeth was talking about – and her eyes widened.

Before anyone else could say anything, Ren and Morgana stumbled through the collection of staff to the front. Though they were bleary eyed, they still had their weapons on hand and their eyes set on whatever was the problem ahead. Ren’s eyes had turned that shade of red she had seen before whenever he got serious, and despite Morgana’s diminutive stature, he was no less ready or hostile than Ren was.

As the two approached, they took in the new arrivals – and just like Mash, their eyes widened in surprise as well. Beside Elizabeth was a young woman in dark clothes and armor, with dark metal greaves and gauntlets. She wore a headpiece as well. Her skin was a deathly white pallor and she had sickly yellow eyes, with short hair so pale it was almost white. It was clear who it was and why Elizabeth was more than happy to throw her under the proverbial bus.

It was the doppelganger.

Speaking of the doppelganger, she stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at them. Other than that, she hadn’t summoned her flag or drew her sword. If anything, she looked more annoyed at everything. She glanced up at the two approaching Masters and nodded. “Well, about time someone showed up that can make sense of everything,” she grumbled, lowering her arms. Just that simple motion had the Servants raising their weapons a bit higher, much to the doppelganger’s irritation.

“What are you doing here?” were the first words out of Ren’s mouth. Although shocked, his pistol and Morgana’s slingshot were trained on her regardless, and his eyes were still that shade of red. In the meantime, Elizabeth tried edging away more from the doppelganger to sneak out of the crossfire – and froze when Rider turned her slightly toward her direction.

The doppelganger looked at them and sighed. “Look, I screwed up,” she replied bluntly. “Killed a lot of people – some deserving, many not so much. If you guys wanna kill me on the spot, well, can’t exactly say I don’t deserve that. Hell, it wasn’t even for something that happened to me personally – I’m just some damn construct fucking Gilles de Rais made of the real Jeanne d’Arc. So, made a wish to at least make up for it and, well, here I am.”

Ren and Morgana blinked in surprise. Saber glanced in their direction. “This outcome came from your efforts, Masters,” she noted, still holding her blade raised. “What do you make of this?”

Morgana frowned, not lowering his slingshot either. “Honestly, after a change of heart, we usually didn’t have to deal with our targets again,” he replied. “A lot of times they basically tossed themselves into jail. The only times we dealt with targets afterward were… exceptional circumstances.” That being said, this whole situation was an exceptional circumstance. Changing the heart of a Servant was something they had never done before. After all, many Servants were defined by their distortions, be it directly or indirectly.

Archer frowned. He heard something interesting in what the doppelganger had told them. “Romani,” he called out. “Can you check and see if you can find traces of the Orleans Grail on this doppelganger?” Roman blinked at Archer’s instructions but immediately went over to his workstation to do so. Everyone lowered their weapons a bit, though they were still ready to attack if necessary.

Roman tapped a few keys on his computer, running some scans within the control room. He frowned as he analyzed the data… then widened. “Th-the prana from the Orleans Grail…” he gasped. “There’s t-traces on the d-doppelganger there. And these readings…” His eyes shot up to stare at the new Servant. “Sh-she’s an incarnated Servant!”

That caused almost everyone’s eyes to widen and stare at the doppelganger – except Ren and Morgana. “Wait, incarnated?” Ren asked. “What does that mean?”

“Masters, as you’ve been told, we are not permanent existences on this world,” Rider murmured, her calm, low tone betrayed only by the harder grip on her chained spikes. “When our supply of prana is cut off, we lose our anchor and return to the Throne of Heroes. We are, at best, ephemeral beings here designed to bring our Masters victory and fade away.”

Rider turned a bit more towards the doppelganger, her eyes still covered by the metallic blindfold. “However, through a large amount of prana and mystery, such as a Grail, Servants can be given a new mortal body and remain on this world, even when the Grail War is over. They do not require a supply of prana any longer, as they are able to generate and utilize their own.”

“So, what you’re saying is…” Morgana summarized slowly. “That this doppelganger is not a Servant anymore, but an actual person?!” The Servants didn’t say anything. Neither did Roman, Da Vinci, nor any of the other staff. That was all the answer they needed. This was an even bigger problem – Servants may be ephemeral existences, but they still had trouble reconciling with killing them given how much they were like actual people, including having shadows and Palaces.

And if the doppelganger was now an actual person…

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Masters, are you sure you wish to do this?” Saber asked sternly. “We do not know if we can trust her or not – only earlier, she was ready to kill all of us and resume her campaign against all of France.”

Ren and Morgana debated. They haven’t really dealt with anyone after a change of heart. The closest was Nakamura for a bit after they dealt with his shadow in Mementos, and Futaba whose Palace was… unique among all the others.

Then they remembered the doppelganger shouting at Gilles to stand down, and remembered her fate being devoured by one of those monstrosities. The change of heart had an effect, and no one deserved such a cruel fate. They glanced at each other and made their choice. Ren sheathed his gun and Morgana put away his slingshot. Both Saber and Archer breathed out in frustration but slowly put away their weapons as well. Lancer and Rider looked about in surprise, standing up though sheathing their weapons either.

“Well, if you’re genuine about helping us out, we can’t exactly turn you down,” Ren replied, forcing a smile on his face. Mash was nearby, still with her shield up in case the doppelganger tried anything. He walked forward and held out his hand for her to shake. “Welcome to Chaldea,” he greeted her genuinely.

The doppelganger looked down at his hand, then back at the owner’s eyes, then gently pushed away his hand. “Don’t try that shit with me,” she grumbled. Rather than being annoyed, she seemed infinitely weary and even a bit sorrowful. “You don’t consider me a friend, and frankly none of you lot should. I’m here to make up for my mistakes and carve my own path from it. No more, no less. I’ll fight by your side and work with all of you, but you don’t need to treat me as such.”

That declaration caught everyone off guard. The doppelganger didn’t seem to be lying or giving a false front. Frankly, this was new to all of them. “Well, perhaps… we should give her a chance?” Mash suggested hesitatingly, slowly lowering her shield. “If senpai’s methods have truly worked, then perhaps it would be a disservice to deny her help. We truly could use all the help we could.”

Everyone took a second to deliberate. Saber looked back at the doppelganger. “For now, we shall keep you under watch,” she sternly replied. “You may have been granted a second life, but the moment you intentionally endanger our mission, we shall not hesitate to take it in a second. Are we understood? Now, state your name and class.”

Both Ren and Morgana looked in shock at Saber but quickly turned back, masking their expressions the best they could. She was right – if the doppelganger ended up being a threat, she needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible. They wanted to argue, but none of them could come up with a counter – a Servant was far more dangerous than a regular human, and by the time they could find a non-lethal way to deal with her, she could seriously damage Chaldea, possibly beyond repair.

And with it any chance of seeing their friends and family ever again.

The doppelganger sighed. “Fair enough,” she accepted without any hint of argument. “I’m known as Jeanne d’Arc Alter – though call me by my Servant class, Lancer. I’d rather not be associated with that saint if it can be helped. I’m an incarnated Servant, but I can still fight, so if you need me on the front lines, then I’ll fight.”

“Oi, not sure if that’s gonna work, girlie,” Cu replied, whirling his Gae Bolg up into a standing position. The others lowered their weapons as well. “I’m a Lancer – and the dragon girl over there’s also a Lancer.” He nodded to Elizabeth who managed to sneak far away to press herself up against a wall, well away from any crossfire should things turn ugly. “And I doubt we’re gonna be the only Lancers. You sure you don’t got a name you wanna go by?”

Ren thought for a second, then suggested, “What about Joan? For now, anyway – if you don’t like it and you have another name you like, then you can switch it out and let us know.”

The doppelganger swiveled around and for a second, almost seemed ready to gut Ren then and there. The other Servants raised their weapons again while Mash moved between the two with her shield already up. After a tense second, the doppelganger sighed. “You had to call me that anyway, huh?” she grumbled, looking more than irritated. “Fine. Joan it is. So long as it’s a temporary name, then I don’t give a shit.”

Everyone relaxed again, lowering their weapons. It seemed the matter was settled, one way or another. “Hey, Rider,” Morgana asked, looking up at the tall, purple-haired woman. The Servant turned towards Morgana in askance. “I don’t suppose you could set Joan up with a room? We’d do it ourselves but, well, we’re still kinda bushed from Orleans.”

The Rider hesitated for a second before nodding. “Of course, Masters,” she acknowledged. She turned to Joan. “Please, follow me this way.” Without waiting, she began walking to the door. After a moment’s hesitation, the new Lancer followed as well, the staff parting for her as the two Servants passed by. They stepped out, and everyone listened as their footsteps grew fainter and fainter.

After a few more seconds, Roman took a deep breath. “Alright everyone, excitement’s over,” he called out. “Let’s get back to work. Though if you need to take ten after what just happened, that’s fine – I’m not counting. Just don’t take too long.” The staff, broken out of the reverie, murmured among themselves. Some of them went back to their stations, some of them left the Command Center to whatever places offered recreation or relaxation.

Meanwhile, Ren smiled at Mash. “Thanks for protecting us, Mash,” he replied earnestly.

The shielder blinked in surprise. Even though senpai had complimented her multiple times already, each and every time still caught her off guard. “It’s no problem, senpai,” she replied humbly as she blushed. “I’m just thankful you and Mr. Morgana weren’t harmed. It would’ve been terrible if any bloodshed occurred after our return to Chaldea.”

Senpai nodded, his smile fading a bit as he looked at the door where the two Servants walked out. “Yeah, same here,” he muttered. Mash looked curiously up at him. His handsome features were pensive and grim, as if contemplating yet another moral or world-turning conundrum. How many of those decisions did he have to wrestle, she wondered. Now and before? Just what was his and Mr. Morgana’s life before Chaldea?

“We better get some sleep, Ren,” Morgana commented, yawning as he stretched. With a quick flash, he turned back into his cat form as opposed to his more humanoid form. “It’s been a really, really long day. I think we deserve some R&R, at least for a bit.”

Ren nodded with a weary smile. He looked back up at Mash. “You get some rest too,” he suggested. “You’ve been through as much as we have. Same for you, Saber. Archer.”

The two Servants nodded. “We do not tire like humans do, but we shall take your suggestion regardless,” Saber replied. “Please, see to yourselves first, Masters. Rest well and be prepared for a new day tomorrow.”

“That’s totally not ominous,” Morgana grumbled before heading out of the Command Center, followed by Ren.

Mash watched them leave, then walked to Roman as the other Servants also left, their presence no longer needed. “Should I keep a watch on Joan?” she asked curiously.

Roman sagged in his chair, massaging his temples as he shook his head. “No, Rider should be covering her,” he replied. “But don’t work too hard, Mash – you gotta take better care of yourself. You need to get some rest too. Honestly, all of us do.”

“Are you really in a position to talk, Roman?” Da Vinci commented, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the doctor. Roman in turn could only chuckle sheepishly. The Caster shook her head and looked at Mash. “Get some rest, Mash,” she told her kindly. “In the meantime, I’ll see to getting our interim director here some actual rest and make sure his veins aren’t completely filled with caffeine instead of blood.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s physically impossible – ow ow ow ow ow.” Roman was interrupted as a smiling Da Vinci pulled at his ear out of his chair. “C-careful, y-you’re going to yank i-it off!”

“Yes, and your smart tongue as well if you don’t behave,” she replied, her smile growing in proportion to the air of annoyance around her. “Now come along, let’s get you to bed.” Overriding Roman’s protestations, she proceeded to drag him out of the Command Center, still holding him by the ear. His pained yelps echoed through the hallways before finally disappearing.

Everyone, including Mash, sighed. Some things never change.

—-------

Olga leafed through the Compendium within the Velvet Room, frowning as she went through the different pages. She had taken up training under Igor and Lavenza so that she could be of service as an attendant. Part of that was going over just precisely what these powers were and what Ren could and couldn’t do. It wasn’t exactly easy going - she hadn’t expected a course as rigorous as something from the Clock Tower. But then, given he had abilities that most mages would turn green with envy, it should’ve been expected.

Frankly, what she saw from the Compendium already boggled her mind to no end. Records of divine spirits, demons, even fae or other mythological creatures. And apparently, the current pages were the only ones he had access to at the moment, as the power was linked to the ‘Sea of Souls’, or the collective unconsciousness of humanity. Frankly, as soon as she heard that, she almost collapsed on the spot. Such a source of power was almost unfathomable to her – it was borderline True Magic.

“Personas are born from the strength of the heart,” Lavenza explained, standing beside her. “Every person has a shadow to them – a subconscious self that the conscious self refuses to acknowledge. Once that shadow self is recognized, it becomes that person’s Persona, allowing them to wield great power. They will often take the form of some figure that represents the bearer’s will, be it Rebellion or Truth or some other ideal.”

With a wave of her hand, transparent images of various beings came into view: A woman in a vibrant red dress stepping on a figure with a heart-shaped head, a pirate with a skull for a head surfing on a miniature pirate ship, an imperious looking man with a pompadour striking a kabuki pose. “Though much like anything else, they require discipline and experience to hone,” she continued explaining. “Wild Cards – like Ren Amamiya – can switch between different personas and even bring shadows to his side as his own. I believe you experienced that partially, did you not?”

Olga nodded. It was… an odd experience, to put it mildly. It felt like her existence was diminished to a speck of dust, barely able to think let alone breathe or function. She had lost all sense of time in that form, only eventually waking up within the Velvet Room – and shrieking bloody murder until Lavenza finally got tired and used some sort of mystery to silence her. And whatever mystery it was, it certainly wasn’t magecraft. At least, none she could identify off the cuff.

But now she had been given a second lease on life. After everything that happened, after all her failures, Ren had decided to save her. The least she could do was to repay him in some form or manner. However, for some reason, the lessons weren’t sinking in as they should. Her head felt more and more muddled as she tried, and that frustrated her all the more. Sighing in frustration, she flipped back to the first page to start from scratch.

Lavenza tilted over to get a better view of Olga’s expression, before reaching over to place a small hand on Olga’s own, catching her attention. “Do not force your studies like this,” she admonished gently. “It will not do to have you make a careless mistake out of impatience and desperation. Not from one as brilliant as you.” She smiled gently. “Our Trickster will require our aid before long, and so we shall be prepared for him, both in mind and knowledge. Never fear.”

The former director blinked in surprise, then huffed, looking away with a brush of her hair. “Yes, of course,” she replied. “I’ve merely been… preoccupied with thoughts since I got here. I’ll be ready for Amamiya when he shows up next.”

Occupied was a very mild way of putting it. There was the cognitive world, which was apparently another layer to the world like the Reverse Side of the World, there were shadows and Personas, and of course, the Velvet Room itself – a place ‘between dreams and reality, mind and matter’, according to Igor. The two had made it extremely clear they were making a huge exception by housing Olga here instead of letting her fade away, and for good reason – any magi worth their salt in the Clock Tower would be drooling over literally everything she was finding out here and would possibly devastate humankind on a cognitive level.

Of course, even if she wasn’t confined to the Velvet Room, she had no plans to utilize this knowledge in the Moonlit World. It wasn’t worth it, not with what was and could be at stake.

Olga blinked in surprise as Lavenza took the Compendium back gently from her hands, closing it. “Perhaps a change of pace is in order,” she suggested, looking up at her. “If you wish, you may watch the Trickster’s trials and tribulations to have a better understanding of what he has gone through? It may hone your interactions with him in the future.”

She considered it for a second. Ren Amamiya and Morgana have honestly been complete, utter enigmas to her. Magecraft that wasn’t magecraft, skills and experience far beyond any ordinary citizen or even magus, a honed sense of justice and morality that just wasn’t found in most people. She didn’t have access to Chaldea’s records, but even just a casual perusal through the records in the past didn’t show anything out of the ordinary or indicting. Any answer was better than just muddling through like this.

Coming to only one conclusion, she nodded to Lavenza, who smiled in turn. “Very well,” she acknowledged. “Allow me to show you, then, a small portion of what the Trickster has undergone. I will show you more in due time, but for now, it is best to start from the beginning.” With that, she waved her hand once more, and a haze filled the air. And with that, Olga watched, and learned.

—-------

Nights in this little corner of the world usually weren’t anything out of the ordinary, especially during the spring. Owls hooted in the distance as a car driving by echoed through the empty streets. The neighborhood was lit up with people in their residences, living out their lives. It was getting warm, a prelude to the scorching hot summers that came with the change of seasons. It was a peaceful, still night.

Yawning, the boy walked along the empty street. He had been over at a friend’s house for a study session and it had gone a bit longer than usual that night. His friend’s parents had offered him to stay over for dinner, but he couldn’t – he promised his folks he would be home in time for dinner. So off he went. His backpack was laden with notebooks and textbooks. Perhaps he should review math a bit more. There were definitely a few equations he definitely had trouble remembering –

Then he heard a scuffle further down the street. It sounded like a woman struggling? He heard a man’s growl as well. Picking up his pace, he began running down the street towards the source of the commotion. It got louder and louder until he could see what was going on – a bald man in a suit, pulling at a woman by the wrist. “You damn bitch, get in the car!” he snarled, pulling fiercely.

“Stop, let me go!” she cried, desperately trying to free herself from him.

The boy grit his teeth. What the hell was this guy doing?! No way in hell was he going to stand around and let this happen. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he began marching up to the two. He wasn’t sure what he would do but at the very least, he couldn’t just stand by. His movement caught the attention of the two – particularly the man. He stumbled away from the woman, glaring at him. Even in the low light, the boy could see his flushed face. The man was drunk.

“What’re you looking at?” he slurred. “Get out of my face! This ain’t a show, kid. Get lost!”

He had never done this before, risking his neck in such a manner. Standing up to bullies for others was one thing, but not an adult. Still, he held his ground, clenching his hands into fists. Still, he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure what to do – perhaps call the cops? Shove the man away? Grab the woman and run? There were a lot of choices but he froze from the indecision.

“Didn’t you hear me, kid?” the man growled. “I said get lost!” He raised a fist and staggered forward. The boy’s eyes widened, but the man was slow and uncoordinated. It was a simple matter of stepping aside and letting the man punch right past him. Losing his balance, the man fell headfirst onto the paved road with a pained groan, his orange sunglasses sliding past on the ground.

The man growled as he stood back up, holding his face. His hand pulled away – revealing a small wound on his forehead that flowed with blood. “Damn brat, I’ll sue!” he snarled.

The woman he had been molesting stepped forward, clearly shaken but glaring at the man in turn. “Then I’ll report about the money! Is that fine with you?!” she cried. The boy blinked in surprise. Money? What money?

The man scoffed. “All I have to say is that you did it on your own and it’s over,” he replied flatly. Apparently, that had the desired effect as the woman’s eyes widened and she took a step back. Police sirens became audible and were steadily growing louder and louder. The drunkard cursed. “Damn, someone called the cops,” he grumbled. “Well, doesn’t matter – they’re my bitches anyway.” He glared at the woman again. “Hey, make this statement: ‘This kid suddenly attacked me.’ Got it?”

That demand took both Ren and the woman off guard. “If you try to say anything else, you’re done for,” he growled, a smirk forming on his face. “You know that, right?” The woman took another step back, her eyes watering with tears, unable to form an answer.

The boy rounded on the drunkard. “That’s bullshit,” he snapped. “You fell on your own!”

The man glared at Ren in turn. “Shut up,” he retorted. “You’re done for. You’re gonna learn what happens when you cross me.”

The boy could only stare in horror, but hope leaped in his heart when two police officers came up from behind the man. There they were! They were saved! They just needed to get the stories straight, the man would be arrested, and both him and the woman were home free!

Then that feeling sank into horror as the policemen recognized the man, calling him ‘sir’. The man turned to the woman, asking her to tell the policeman what happened. The boy turned to the woman with wide eyes. She couldn’t possibly be doing this! He was just trying to help her; she wouldn’t go and give a false accusation and turn him in-

“That young man suddenly attacked him,” she told them, facing away from the police officers. “He shoved this gentleman to the ground. And this man… got injured.”

The sheer shock and horror overwhelmed all other memories he had of the evening. The only thing he remembered after that was the feel of cuffs around his wrists behind his back and behind shoved into a police car. He remembered nothing else.

—-------

Mash shot awake, gasping for breath. She reached up to rub her eyes. Tears had been rolling down her face. That dream… was it a dream? It felt so real. She held her chest, trying to slow down her pounding heart. She could feel his shock and horror like it was her own. The boy she saw - he looked so similar yet felt so different. Was this before everything that happened to him? When he was just an ordinary young man? Was it truly him?

“Senpai…?”