"GAAAAAAAGGGHHH!"
Ritsuka came to screaming, mouth parched and heart pounding furiously.
He was on his knees, in an unfamiliar area filled with several broken buildings and seemingly set ablaze.
A squirming in his arms made him look down, only to meet a pair of indigo orbs.
"Foouu?"
The little creature tilted its head up at him curiously, even pawing at his chest as if trying to calm him down.
It didn't work, but Ritsuka definitely appreciated the thought.
Standing up while holding Fou, Ritsuka tried to get a bearing on his location.
Walking around for a bit, he quickly noticed a charred sign with hastily scrawled script on it.
'Hiragana...' he noted in shock.
"Is this Japan?" He muttered in surprise, "But how did I-"
Any further thoughts he had were quickly interrupted upon feeling his wrist vibrate.
"Hello? Can you hear me? This is Chaldea's Control Room!"
Romani?
Ritsuka nearly dropped Fou with how fast he held his communicator up near his face.
"Hello?! Doctor? Doctor!"
"Hello? Can you hear me? That voice... Ritsuka? It's Ritsuka right?"
Ritsuka nodded, before feeling sheepish upon remembering Romani couldn't see him.
'Listen to me carefully! You need to leave immediately!'
"Huh? I need to leave?"
Ritsuka let out an audible huh sound upon hearing that.
In his defense, he didn't know where he was supposed to go.
Unbeknownst to him, a Monstrous figure was creeping up behind him from its perch above on the roof.
It watched the boy fumble to support the strange squirrel dog while seemingly communicating.
And then it lunged down, just as Romani let out a shout of warning.
"You need to RUN AWAY! NOW!"
That added hint of urgency is the only thing that saved Ritsuka Fujimaru's life.
As, at the exact moment Romani shouted, Ritsuka flinched.
And when he flinched, he happened to see the large shadow descending from overhead.
"!!!"
BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
The mysterious figure, no the servant as Ritsuka realized, slammed its fist down causing the ground to shatter.
Though Ritsuka managed to dodge the worst of it due to already being in motion, his body was still lifted into the air from the sheer force of the blow.
Landing in a crumpled heap, Ritsuka nonetheless got off his feet and frantically started running.
Stuffing Fou into his shirt until only the little guys head stuck out above his collar, Ritsuka immediately started grilling Romani for answers as he maintained a dedicated sprint.
"Doctor! What the hell is going on?! I definitely deserve an explanation!"
Instead of answering immediately, Romani seemed to type something out, and then Ritsuka's watch lit up with a map.
"What's this?"
"It's an escape route. If you follow the exact directions it gives, you should be able to escape the enemy without issue."
Hearing that, Ritsuka immediately hit a sharp left as he began following the path shown.
_________
Back in Chaldea Romani was practically beside himself as he was frantically messing with something on the computer dash, all while also trying to guide Fujimaru to safety.
"You wanted an explanation as well right?"
"That would be preferable, yes! "
"Then I need you to listen carefully ok? But don't stop running!"
"Loud and clear!"
Sighing for a second, Romani ran a hand through his hair while trying to figure out how to explain.
Finding the exact way he wanted to start, he opened his mouth and began explaining.
"The Chaldea you came to, the place you were at earlier today? It's an Organization approved for operation by the Clock Tower. As for the objective of Chaldea? It's simple. To Observe and Guarantee Humanity will still have a Future."
" What are you talking about Doctor? The thing you described just isn't possible. "
Ah denial.
How sweet and merciful it is in letting those hide under its shroud of security.
Unfortunately Romani had to rip that blanket clear off.
"It is possible. By using Science and Magecraft in tandem, that is to say, combining highly advanced calculations and the things you would call magic together, we can predict such things. Let's leave aside whether you believe Magecraft actually exists or not. Humor me and say it does. Anyway, Chaldea-, we continued to observe the future and we discovered something. As of 2017, we can't observe any further. You know what that means right? Humanity's safety. Humanity's survival. It no longer is guaranteed. Or rather it no longer exists. Beyond 2017... Is the Total Extinction of Mankind."
___________
Ritsuka was still running when that last bit was announced, and it nearly made him fall from the shock of such severe information.
Unfortunately before he could reconcile that tidbit of information, Romani dropped another bomb.
" The cause behind the abnormality? It happened 12 years ago, In the Year 2004 AD, right in the smack dab center of a small town in Japan. The city is called Fuyuki, and you? You're right in the middle of it!"
15 minutes Later.....
Ritsuka was now laying inside of a small house he had found after running for a decent while.
Perhaps Romani had known his words were a heavy burden to bare, as he had stopped talking for the last 15 minutes or so.
But the minute Ritsuka had closed the door and sat down with his back to the window blinds, yes he shut them because he was not staring at hell for a second longer if he could avoid it, Romani quickly picked up where he left off.
"The place you're at? Singularity F is the name we've chosen to assign it. To investigate such places, The Singularities, we use something you've just experienced. Rayshifting. Its the process where a human is converted into spiritrons, don't ask-"
Ritsuka immediately shut his mouth as Romani continued.
"A Human is converted into spiritrons and sent to the past. Normally we'd have you be in a coffin and not directly send your body, which is what we were in the middle of doing with the A team... But then the explosion happened and as a result you were sent here alone. "
...
The more Ritsuka digested that, the more it began to make a little sense. After all when you simplified it, wasn't it just something he already read about in fiction before?
"So in other words, it's just time travel? Is that even fully possible? You'd have to know the exact destination of earth, at the exact area, of the exact spot your traveling to though..."
Romani let out a sigh from the communicator.
"It's complicated. But the gist of it is, you have to cut off the area you're in from the normal timeline. A Singularity by definition is a point in time that does not exist, but somehow occupies space like it does. Getting to one is much much easier than time traveling. Trust me. Even so, you've endured the Rayshift procedure surprisingly well. Sigh... So, you understanding everything so far."
Ritsuka's expression went flat as he immediately replied in a dead tone.
"Not even close."
"..."
The sound of something breaking in the background was heard, followed by a long beat of silence.
A silence Ritsuka quickly filled.
"If we're being honest, stuff like observing the future and magical magecraft or whatever won't make sense to someone like me, no matter what way you spin it. I'm a simple guy you know? You're expecting a lot out of me."
"Well yeah... But if you don't understand-"
"I wasn't finished."
Ritsuka quickly cut the Doctor off as he gently pulled Fou into his lap.
He began scratching the little critters head, causing it to lean into his hand.
A small smile found its way on his face in that moment at the sight.
"I don't understand anything at all. But in the end, I just have to do my best right? In order to establish a future for myself. And to live on. Right?"
...
A beat of silence.
Then a soft "Yeah." from the communicator was Romani's response.
A short while later, Ritsuka was up and moving about as he tried to figure something out.
A rest was fine and all, but the problem now was the next step.
He couldn't stay here for much longer with absolute certainty.
And unfortunately those thoughts proved correct.
Loud beeping followed by Romani's panicked voice filled the air.
"An Enemy is closing in! You need to run Fujimaru! Right now, you need to get out!"
"Doctor? Doctor?!"
It wasn't Romani's voice that answered him.
It was the loud footsteps of something heavy prancing around one room over.
"!!!"
Almost immediately, Ritsuka slapped a hand over his mouth, as he began trying to hide his breathing.
The heavy figure in the room behind him gave no notice it had heard anything.
Instead it smashed a few things before seemingly leaving.
Or so he thought.
"FoUnnd yOooou...."
"!"
It appeared without warning right in front of him, fist cocked back to deliver a fatal blow.
By some grace or virtue, Ritsuka barely managed to dodge as the monsters arm slammed through the window instead.
But barely doesn't mean much in a world of the supernatural.
Ritsuka immediately started sprinting through the gap, his brain practically whirling for some solution.
Calm down calm down... There's gotta be some way out of here! The thought was almost parasitic in the way it took root in his heart.
If he just made it away from here then surely-
Ritsuka felt time slow to a crawl as he saw a glint of silver.
'There.s no way...'
That was all he got out before he was blasted backfirst into the building by a figure of similar appearance to the other monster.
Fou quickly ran over to check on Ritsuka, letting out worried yips as it saw him panting.
Lifting his head, Ritsuka let out a bloody cough while holding his chest.
He tried to stand, only for his knees to buckle.
'My strength.. is all gone...'
The thought carried a grim note of acceptance.
He was fortunate enough to not have died from the impact, but he could feel something was definitely out of place in his body.
Fou took notice of the boys poor condition and then turned its head towards the other approaching figures.
Letting out a growl, Fou braced itself in front of Ritsuka, such a sight causing him to try standing up once again.
Immediately his vision swam from the action, and he felt something give in his chest.
"BLeeerghhhh?"
Red.
So much red spilled out from his lips.
...why?
Why was the....
Word turni...nnnnnnnnnngggg....
Thump.
The boy slumped face first without knowing it.
______
"This girl, why is she calling me Senpai?"
It was earlier that day, the moment he had first woken up on the floor in Chaldea's base.
The first sight he saw was a girl with glasses and lavender hair.
Shortly afterward, it was a guy with a bizarre top hat.
It was to this guy, a Lev Lainur, that Ritsuka had directed his question.
The girl flushed shyly, as Lev let out an intrigued hum before turning his attention to Ritsuka.
"Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. To her everyone around your age is her Senpai. Although..."
Lev turned a curious gaze her way.
"This is the first time I think I've ever heard her directly say it. I'm intrigued as well now. Say, why is he your 'Senpai' ?"
The girl blinked while pondering.
Raising a finger to her chin for a second, she let out a hum before answering.
"The reason? I'm not too sure myself. Let me think... Among the people I've met, He's the most human. I don't feel a single bit of threat or malice from him. Therefore I have no reason to antagonize or fear him at all. That's why... He feels like Senpai to me."
____
"What a... cough.. Strange reason..."
But she was right.
As Ritsuka lay there, he realized she was absolutely right.
After all, he would feel a threat from someone...
So...
Absolutely powerless...?
His eyes slowly drifted close...
"DON"T YOU DARE GIVE UP ON ME!"
BOOOOMMMM!!!!
A loud explosion of force made Ritsuka open his eyes in shock.
But the most shocking thing wasn't the fact that the source of the explosion was a giant piece of metal shaped like a shield.
Nor was it that the shield looked way too big to be used as a practical weapon.
Nor was it even that the person using it had seemingly dispatched the two monsters with seeming ease.
No.
He recognized that voice.
Ritsuka turned his gaze, and saw her.
The very person he had just thought of, now letting out a slow exhale as she slammed the shield onto the ground while patting her chest.
"Are... Are you safe?"
The question did nothing to alleviate Ritsuka's shock, in fact he forgot to even respond.
The girl didn't seem to be too hung up on that though.
She let out a relieved sigh as she walked forward towards him, stopping a short ways off.
"I think... I can do a great self introduction now."
And then before Ritsuka's shocked eyes, she dropped to one knee and did a little bow.
"Senpai (Master), I am Mash Kyrielight. Your Servant."
And as she stood up while gently grasping his hand to help him stand, only one thought filled Ritsuka's head.
"When I last saw her, she looked so feeble and weak... Like she was barely clinging to life. But now? She looks like-"
She Looks Like A Hero
___
Mash Kyrielight - Demi Servant Shielder