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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Lost In More Ways Than One

The Arctic winds cut across the abandoned platform, the cold gnawing through fabric and skin alike. Snow fell in uneven sheets, scattering against the steel framework of Chaldea’s newly rebuilt base. The night sky above was painted with faint auroras, twisting pale green across a sea of stars, silent witnesses to the thoughts of a single man.

“Hah… So this is what it’s like being outside in the cold at night, with no one around.”

The words left the lips of a young man with messy, raven-black hair, strands falling low enough to cover his eyes. His breath misted in the air before being swept away by the wind. His name was Ritsuka Fujimaru who was called humanity’s last Master, and at darker times from his enemies, the Destroyer of Worlds. He had walked across continents of fire and oceans of death, cut down gods, kings, and demons, and faced the alien god that threatened all of human history.

And yet, as he stood on the empty boarding deck, he looked more fragile than he ever had in battle.

“...It seems I’m not needed anymore,” he murmured, voice breaking on the edges. “Even after everything we’ve been through… here I am, alone.”

The words lingered in the night. The platform stretched out before him, and beyond its railing lay only a cliff, a sheer drop swallowed by the endless Arctic abyss. His boots crunched against frost as he stepped closer to the edge.

The memories pressed in, suffocating. The bonds he had forged with his Servants, the laughter in the cafeteria, the reckless banter before mission departures, it all felt distant now.

“It seems,” he whispered, his throat tight, “the people I once cherished would rather be with them… than spend a moment with me.”

Tears slid down his cheeks, their warmth freezing almost instantly in the air. He had not felt this kind of solitude since the beginning, when he was just a nameless boy chosen as a last resort. Not since before the battles, before he carved his place as Master among heroes.

He had thought those days were over. He had been wrong.

The truth had begun a year ago, after the conquest of the Fairy Britain Lostbelt. Victory should have brought rest, or at least joy. Instead, change followed. The Clock Tower Society had sent “Extra Masters” to Chaldea, replacements in case Ritsuka should fall. Their presence was justified as oversight, but in reality, they were intrusive, watchful, and unwanted.

At first, they seemed harmless. Unmotivated, clumsy in training, and wholly lacking the desperation that had driven him to save humanity time and time again. But Chaldea did not turn them away. The Clock Tower’s decree was iron, and so the Extras remained.

And then, slowly, things shifted. Bonds frayed. Familiar smiles turned to polite nods, then to cold indifference.

Ritsuka clenched his fist, recalling the day his fragile hope finally shattered.

He had just returned from long hours of material farming, exhaustion tugging at his limbs. But the moment he neared his room, he froze. A voice strained, furious, escaped from behind the door.

“Stop it, you bastard!”

He burst into the room, only to be struck by a sight that made his stomach twist. His room had become a den of debauchery, a scene so vile it threatened to tear apart the bonds he had cherished.

Tamamo. Morgan. Even Mash. Their faces flushed, their eyes glazed. His younger sister Rikka, tangled with Astolfo, smiling as though none of this was wrong.

And then his heart froze. Jeanne Alter, his Jalter struggling as a command seal, forced her body against her will.

“HEY! LET HER GO!” Ritsuka roared, his fury shaking.

He surged forward, but before he could reach her, a figure stepped into his path. Purple hair swayed gently in the air, and her summer outfit was as mocking as the smile on her lips.

“BB…” His voice faltered.

“Ah, Senpai~,” she chimed, her finger raised like a gun. “You really shouldn’t have seen this.”

“BB—  What are you—” Ritsuka said confusedly with a wide expression.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to make you forget.” Her voice was sweet, cruelly so. A ray of light shot from her fingertip.

His vision blurred. His body grew heavy.

“Don’t worry, Senpai,” BB’s singsong voice echoed in his fading mind. “Your devilish Kouhai will make sure you never remember.”

The last thing he saw was Jalter’s desperate face, her lips forming his name.

But forgetting did not last. Not truly.

The first time, he had brushed it off as fatigue. He had entered his quarters one night, blinked, and suddenly found himself standing in the cafeteria with a tray in his hands, the taste of something bitter on his tongue and the echo of laughter that wasn’t his ringing in his ears. He told himself it was exhaustion. Overwork. A day lost to drowsiness. But deep inside, a seed of unease had taken root.

The second time, it became harder to deny. He had woken in the middle of a hallway with scratches across his arms, his knuckles bruised, and Mash, his Mash, looking at him with pity instead of worry. She said nothing, only guided him back to his room, her smile faint and hollow. By morning, the bruises were gone. And the memory was gone too, swept away in BB’s “kindness.”

But fragments returned, like shards of glass cutting into his mind at the most fragile moments. Jeanne Alter’s scream. Morgan’s voice whispering “husband” in a tone that didn’t belong to her. Rikka’s hand slipped from his as she turned away toward another. Each fragment resurfaced only to be stolen again, leaving emptiness in its place.

And with each theft, something inside him withered.

Days and nights bled together. Sometimes he would wake and not remember if it had been a week or a month since their last mission. Sometimes he would greet Servants who had already been sealed away, only to be met with strange looks or uncomfortable silence. Sometimes he would laugh with friends in the cafeteria, only to blink and find himself alone, the plates cleared, the seats empty.

Time lost all meaning. It was as if he were living in a world of missing frames, where moments slipped through his fingers like sand.

He began keeping journals. At first, small notes, just names, dates, fragments of conversations. But the next morning, he would find the pages blank, the ink erased as though they had never existed. He tried carving words into his desk, but the wood repaired itself by the following day, BB’s hand erasing even scars.

And then came the betrayals.

One by one, the faces that had once brought him joy turned away.

He had walked into the training yard to find Scáthach sparring not with him, but with one of the Extra Masters. Her instructions, once firm and personal, were now distant, cold. When he had asked to join, she only shook her head. “You’re not needed here anymore, Student.”

He had gone to the workshop to find Da Vinci, eager to share an idea. Instead, he saw her laughing with two of the new Masters, her smile radiant, her gaze shining with pride. When she turned to Ritsuka, her expression faltered as if she couldn’t quite place his face.

And then there was Mash.

The warmth of her voice dulled with each passing week. The gentle light that once guided him dimmed, as though someone had slowly extinguished it flame by flame. Sometimes he would catch her staring at him with conflicted eyes, as though fighting something deep inside herself. He would reach out, call her name, and for a moment she would waver only for the fog to settle again, and for her to smile that same empty smile.

Every memory stolen left him emptier. Every betrayal hollowed him further. The bonds he had fought to preserve the very core of his being were stripped away bit by bit.

Until one day he looked in the mirror and saw not a Master, not a survivor, not a savior of humanity.

But a boy with tired eyes who no longer knew if the faces smiling at him were truly his allies… or only phantoms BB allowed him to see.

And still, the laughter in Chaldea continued. Smiles bloomed in the halls. But none of them were for him.

And then came the final blow.

Dante had pulled him aside one night, dragging him from the corridor just before he entered his quarters again. The Servant’s expression was grave.

“You must know the truth, Accomplish,” Dante whispered, pressing a Holy Grail into his hands. “They’ve used almost all of them. Used them for their indulgence. Even your memories— gone, taken. BB has made you blind.”

“Dante… what are you—” Ritsuka Trying to figure out what is going on.

“There’s no time. Take this and leave. Accomplish. I will hold them back.” Dante keeps it short as he knows that his time is almost up.

Before Ritsuka could argue, Dante unfurled a scroll stolen from Da Vinci’s lab. A surge of light swallowed him, teleportation ripping him from the scene. The last thing he saw was Dante, standing alone against an army of armed Servants, his flames unshaken as he faced certain death.

“...Dante,” Ritsuka whispered now, his voice cracking as snowflakes clung to his lashes. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you.”

He stared downward. The abyss gaped below, an endless dark that promised peace or oblivion. His chest ached with every memory, every betrayal.

“I never broke when Romani died… I never broke when I was forced to kill other worlds for the sake of humanity… I never broke even when I lost the Command Seals that made me your Master…”

His tears fell freely now, staining the frost.

“But this… this I can’t bear.”

The night held its breath. Only the wind answered.

Ritsuka took another step closer to the edge.

The Holy Grail gleamed faintly in Ritsuka’s hands, its golden surface catching the pale glow of the Arctic moonlight. The cup pulsed faintly, as if alive, whispering to him in a thousand possible tomorrows.

“With this… I could go back. I could change it all. Undo the betrayals. Save everyone.”

The words tumbled from his lips, trembling and raw. His fingers curled tighter around the Grail’s rim, knuckles blanching white from the pressure. The power was right there an impossible, divine possibility within his grasp.

And yet.

Something in his mind stirred. A haze. A thickness, like fog creeping slowly up the inside of his skull. Thoughts blurred as if they were being written in water, rippling, dissolving before he could hold them. His breath hitched.

Why are you struggling? A voice or perhaps simply an impression pressed against his consciousness. ‘ It won’t change anything. Don’t fight it. Don’t resist. Give up.’

His body trembled, not from the cold but from the weight pressing down on his very will. The memories of laughter, warmth, and the hands of friends who once pulled him forward every image blurred as if painted over with black ink. He could barely recall Mash’s smile, Da Vinci’s genius grin, or even the countless Servants who once answered his call. All of them felt like shadows seen through frosted glass, vague and unreachable.

He tightened his grip on the Grail until his hands shook violently. “I… I want to. I have to. Otherwise—” His voice cracked, hoarse with desperation.

But the haze swelled, suffocating. Every time he reached for a name, for a memory, the fog curled tighter around his mind, whispering pointless, pointless, pointless . It was as though unseen hands pulled him down into mud, drowning every spark of resistance.

He could not even remember when some of the betrayals had happened, or how long ago he had last seen his comrades. Time itself felt fractured. Days bled into weeks, weeks into months, and all the while, the fog gnawed at him, erasing the sense that he had ever truly belonged anywhere.

His breath came out in a ragged shiver. He stared at the Grail, at salvation itself yet his vision wavered, blurring gold into a smear of color.

“…No,” he whispered finally, the word breaking on his lips. His fingers slackened.

The Grail slipped from his hands, falling softly onto the frozen steel beneath his boots with a muted clink . The sound was small, final, a coffin nail driven into hope.

“I-I don’t… have the will power to,” Ritsuka admitted, almost childlike, almost relieved. Because the fog told him so, and resisting was too heavy, too painful.

And in that moment, the night seemed colder, emptier, as if the world itself had recoiled from his surrender.

The silence of the night broke. A metallic clang echoed from behind as the platform’s heavy door swung open. Footsteps rushed across the steel floor. Ritsuka turned slowly, and his breath caught.

They were here.

His Servants. His allies. His family.

Their eyes were wide, their expressions tense though Ritsuka quickly realized the panic wasn’t directed at him, but at the Grail glinting at his feet.

At the forefront of the group was BB, her coy smile painted on her lips like a mask. She raised her hand in mock exasperation, stepping lightly forward.

“My, my… what a naughty Senpai I have,” she sang sweetly. “You shouldn’t be out here. And especially not with the Grail. That’s dangerous, you know~”

Ritsuka’s gaze flicked past her and his heart ached.

Mash was there. His Mash. Except… not as he remembered. Her shield was summoned, her demi-servant armor materialized, as if she were standing against an enemy. Her posture was guarded, defensive.

“That’s right, Senpai,” Mash said softly, her eyes unreadable. “Let’s head inside. Please… hand over the Grail. Who knows what could happen if it stays in your possession.”

Ritsuka’s brow furrowed. The tone in her voice was wrong. Not warm. Not trusting.

And then, another figure stepped forward. His sister Rikka, her face calm yet distant, walking alongside the one woman he had once called his teacher: Scáthach.

The Queen of the Land of Shadows spoke, her tone sharp and cold as steel.

“So, that foolish man, entrusted you with this? What a waste of effort. Come here, my student. Bring it to us. It isn’t safe in your hands.”

Rikka nodded firmly in agreement, her eyes never meeting his.

One by one, the other Servants, the ones who had been drawn into the “club” , inched closer. Their movements were slow, deliberate, like predators closing in on prey.

And then, suddenly—

“Pfft—” Ritsuka’s shoulders shook. His lips twitched. And then the sound burst forth, wild and raw.

“BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

His laughter rang across the deck, echoing against steel and snow. The Servants froze, stunned.

Ritsuka bent down, snatched up the Grail once more, and with a sly grin, tossed it high into the air.

“Here— catch, Morgan.”

The artifact landed perfectly in Morgan’s hand. She blinked, baffled.

“Husband? What is the meaning of this?” Morgan’s voice trembled as she stared at the Grail. “Why would you give it up so easily… after Dante fought to retrieve it for you?”

Ritsuka met her gaze, his smile bitter. 

“Husband, huh? I never imagined you’d call me that. Not when you’re one of them .”

Morgan froze. A murmur spread through the group.

“You… you remember,” she whispered.

BB tilted her head, amused, lips curling into a smirk.

“So you’ve pieced it together, Senpai. Heh. Took you long enough.” She raised her hand, shaping her fingers into a gun once more. “You know what that means, don’t you? It means I’ll just have to make you forget—”

She stopped. Her smile faltered.

Because Ritsuka was smiling back. Not in defiance. Not in rage. But with a calm, gentle warmth that made even BB hesitate.

“W-Why… why are you smiling, Senpai?” BB asked, her playful tone wavering.

The Servants exchanged uneasy glances. Something was wrong. Something had changed.

Ritsuka turned his back to them, stepping to the very edge of the platform. The abyss yawned below, dark and endless, the winds howling up from it like the cries of all the souls he had laid waste to in the Singularities and Lostbelts he set them to their maker.

The group stiffened, realization dawning far too late of just how close he stood to the brink.

He glanced back over his shoulder, tears brimming in his eyes. His voice, though soft, carried across the frozen night.

“Even with all the heartbreak I’ve suffered… even after all of this… I never truly broke.”

A pause. His lips curved upward, a fragile smile—his final gift to them.

“Because… I still love you all.”

The words struck them like a blade.

For the first time, the fog that clouded their eyes flickered. The control that bound them wavered, as if his voice reached some part of them beyond corruption.

“Senpai—!” Mash’s voice cracked, her shield clattering to the floor as she dashed forward.

“Husband, wait!” Morgan cried, the Grail slipping from her trembling hands.

“BIG BRO!?!” Rikka screamed, surging forward, her hands stretching desperately toward him.

For an instant, hope shone. The chains binding their hearts weakened. Their eyes began to return to themselves.

And then—

A pressure.

Invisible. 

Crushing.

Something pushed against Ritsuka’s back, as though the world itself rejected their plea. A force colder than the blizzard around him coiled against his spine. It wasn’t a shove from any hand, it was fate itself, a cruel gravity pulling him toward the pit.

His breath caught. His boots skidded, the steel beneath them cracking under some unseen inevitability. His body lurched forward, his balance stolen.

He felt it, the haze that once clouded his mind, the same fog that had robbed him of choice when the Grail rested in his hands, now returning in full. It whispered to him, a chorus of soft, poisonous voices:

“Don’t resist. It’s pointless. This is where you belong. The abyss has been waiting.”

He staggered, his limbs heavy as if wrapped in chains no one else could see.

As he teetered forward, the images of those he loved sharpened in his fading sight.

Mash, collapsing mid-step, her outstretched hand just a breath away from his own.

Morgan, her white hair whipping wildly, her voice breaking as she screamed his name.

Rikka, his little sister, her eyes wide with disbelief, her fingers just short of his sleeve.

And further back—

He saw them all. Every Servant he had once called family.

Faces twisted by betrayal.

Eyes dimmed by memory tampering.

Voices stolen away until all that remained was silence.

But for a moment, in that instant of falling, he saw through the fog in their hearts. He saw them as they had once been. Smiling. Laughing. Alive.

And then BB.

She stood motionless, her hands trembling, her holographic frame shaking. For the first time in so long, her eyes were not cruel, not mischievous, but wide and human. The mask broke. The AI facade shattered.

Her lips moved soundlessly, tears brimming in her digital eyes as she mouthed words he never thought he’d hear:

“I love you too, Senpai—”

Ritsuka, hearing this, tried to lean forward with his hand reaching out.

But it was too late.

The world tilted. The edge vanished beneath his boots. His body sagged, weakened by the cold, the strain, and the endless weight of memories crashing down all at once.

He fell.

For a heartbeat, time itself slowed. His body twisted as he descended, his eyes clinging to theirs one last time. He saw Mash’s fingers graze empty air where his hand should have been. He felt the phantom warmth of Morgan’s tear hitting his cheek before the rushing wind swept it away.

The abyss welcomed him.

His voice rose one final time, faint but unyielding, carried on the icy currents:

“...If I could… I wish I had the chance… to make it all better.”

As the darkness took him.

There was light as his body was being engulfed by the same darkness.

From nowhere, a radiance engulfed him, swallowing his body whole before the abyss could claim him.

When it faded, Ritsuka Fujimaru was gone.

The laughter, the tears, the fall and then he was gone.

Ritsuka’s body vanished into the abyss, devoured by the darkness in the cliff that no system, no calculation, no probability BB had ever run could explain.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, BB stood frozen.

“...Se–” Her lips trembled. The word stuck in her throat. “...S–Senpai?”

Her voice was small. Fragile. Not the playful sing-song she always coated her words with, not the smug digital tease she wore like armor.

It was herself . The girl behind the mask.

The platform was silent except for the wind and BB as she began to speak.

“...Senpai…” Her voice cracked. Tears streamed down her cheeks, pixelating into static halfway before re-forming again. “I… I just wanted to have fun with you. Even if it was in my twisted way. I was supposed to…”

Her hands trembled as she reached out toward the Ritsuka that was once standing, around her, the others were still stunned, their chains of control splintering from Ritsuka’s final words. Mash was sobbing openly, Morgan’s hands clutched at her chest as if trying to hold herself together, and Rikka’s voice cracked as she screamed for her brother.

But BB couldn’t turn away from the darkness in her heart. 

Couldn’t escape the reflection of her guilt.

“Senpai…” she whispered again, her smile long gone. “...What am I supposed to do now?”

The wind howled, carrying her words into the abyss where her Senpai had disappeared.

Ritsuka stirred with a faint groan, cheek pressed against something cold and unyielding. The surface beneath him was stone causing him to feel rough, dust-laden, hard enough that his jaw ached as he slowly raised his head.

At first, everything was black. Then, as his eyes adjusted, the gloom gave way to pale silver light filtering through above. The summoning chamber. He knew it instantly. The intricate circle etched into the floor, the faint trace of leyline energy humming underfoot, it was unmistakable.

But it was wrong.

The chamber was in ruins.

Stone pillars were cracked or collapsed, half-burying what remained of the walls. Ceiling beams jutted down like broken ribs, framing an improvised “sunroof” where the roof had caved in, leaving the moon itself to cast a ghostly spotlight upon the wreckage.

“W-What happened here…?” Ritsuka muttered aloud, his voice trembling as if hearing it in the silence made the devastation real. His last memory clawed at him. “Wasn’t I… just falling down the cliff…?”

He pushed himself upright, hands brushing dust and splinters from his uniform. Only then did he notice it.

He was dressed in Chaldea’s black standard uniform, but draped over it was something older. A white coat. His first Chaldea coat. Tattered, frayed, yellowed with time and dust, as if dug out of some grave of memories.

“…Why am I wearing this?”

Unease churned in his chest. He forced himself toward the corridor.

The halls were worse. Much worse.

Walls bore charred streaks as if burnt scars, like something had exploded within them. Dried blood, dark as rust, painted the corners. Wires dangled loose from the ceiling, some still sparking faintly, their hum unnaturally loud in the silence. The familiar pristine halls of Chaldea, once filled with Servants bantering, bickering, laughing, had become a corpse.

Each step echoed too loudly.

Everywhere he turned, paths were blocked. Collapsed rubble sealed one passage, while another ended in a yawning hole, as if the entire floor had been ripped away into nothingness.

“…Where is everyone…?” Ritsuka whispered, almost afraid the walls themselves would answer. He expected a body, at least some sign of life, some remnant of the people who should have been here. But there was nothing. Not even a trace.

The fog that had clouded his thoughts since the fall felt thinner here. Clearer. His panic surged, heart pounding against his ribs. Something happened here. Something terrible.

He searched desperately. The control room, silent. Da Vinci’s workshop, gutted and half-burnt, shattered inventions scattered like broken dreams. The kitchen, overturned tables, blackened stoves. Even his sister’s sacred “Gacha Room,” once a place of chaotic joy and shrieks, only to find posters shredded, limited edition figures scattered like glass.

Destroyed. All of it.

His breath hitched, turning frantic as he stumbled through the halls, shouting names, voices that once answered instantly now swallowed by void.

“Rikka! Morgan! Sith! Scáthach! Emiya! Gilgamesh! Blackbeard! Drake! Da Vinci! Jeanne! Boudica! Kiyohime! Serene!—” His throat tightened. “Mash!”

His voice cracked at his kouhai’s name, carrying into the silence like a plea. When at last he stopped, chest heaving, he found himself standing before the door to his own quarters.

…And unlike the others, this one is unique.

The light flickered on the instant he stepped in. His room was spotless. Untouched.

“…What?”

No broken glass. No burn marks. No overturned shelves. Everything was precisely as he remembered—no that was wrong, better than he remembered, as though carefully preserved. The hairs on his neck rose.

Then he felt it. The faint shift of air, the energy of magecraft. He spun and saw it, circles of runes and talismans woven across the doorway, layered spells reinforcing themselves into a protective lattice. Concealment, warding, barrier, preservation… dozens of effects, intricately interlocked.

“…This room… it’s been hidden.”

He stepped deeper, scanning with the instinct learned from countless campaigns alongside his Servants. The warding was unmistakable. Whoever had set this wanted the room preserved, safe, and unseen.

Drawn by something, he dropped to one knee, lifting the bedframe. There, in a small dug-out cavity at the foot, lay a small box. Inside: a cherry-blossom-patterned hard drive, a delicate silver key, and a folded note.

His fingers trembled as he picked it up, recognizing the handwriting before the words.

‘…Senp— Rikka, or any of the authorized Servants. If you’ve found this, take it to my room. Beneath my desk there is a keyhole. Insert this key. Then implant the drive into the keyhole there to get some help.’

The penmanship was playful, looping, just a little too neat. Familiar.

“…BB…?” His voice caught.

His chest constricted. Memories assaulted him, the AI kouhai’s mocking laugh, the sing-song cruelty as she belittled him, the cold smile as she wiped his memories again and again, each erasure leaving him emptier, less whole.

And yet…

He saw her eyes. That final moment before the fall, when his vision blurred and the world broke away. She had looked at him not with mockery, not with malice, but with warmth. Her lips had moved, barely audible, but he knew what she said.

‘I love you too Sen–.’

He clutched the note tighter, heart aching.

“…Damn it, BB…” His voice wavered, caught between anger and longing.

Every rational part of him screamed to abandon this. To treat it as another trap, another manipulation. But the part of him that had fought beside her, argued with her, trusted her, the part that still loved her would not let go.

Even with his heart aching.

Even with the pain sharp as knives.

“…I’ll believe in you.”

Tucking the hard drive and key close, he rose. His steps echoed as he left the warded safety of his room, heading toward BB’s domain. Toward answers. Toward her.

No matter the betrayal.

No matter the memory she’d stolen.

Because hope remained.

Trust remained.

And love, devilish, cruel, unshakable, remained.

The corridor leading to BB’s chamber was already half-collapsed.

At last, he reached the doorway.

The room beyond was a ruin.

The grand set of BB Channel , once a dazzling mockery of an idol’s stage, lay in tatters. The floorboards were buckled, panels caved inward. Glitter lay scattered like broken glass, smeared into the dust. Above all, the great collage of photographs, her pride, her obsession, stared back at him.

The pictures of Chaldea’s staff, the Servants, her “beloved playthings”… nearly all had been ripped, burned, or otherwise torn to shreds. Only one section had survived intact: the massive heart shape at the center. Within it, untouched and gleaming, were photos of her and Ritsuka together. In them, she smiled brightly, genuinely, the kind of smile he had rarely seen outside her façade.

His chest tightened.

“…You never changed those ones, huh, BB?”

He staggered forward, boots crunching over broken glass. The silence pressed on him, heavy and unnatural, like the whole place was waiting. He felt her presence even though she wasn’t here,every shattered wall and ruined stage reeked of her.

And then he saw it.

Near the remains of her desk its surface splintered, dolls and props scattered across the floor something glinted faintly beneath the carpet. He crouched, brushing aside the dust, then lifted the torn fabric to find a small latch bolted to the ground. Underneath, a keyhole.

His fingers trembled as he pulled out the Silver Key, the weight of its metal strangely cold in his hand.

“This… this has to be it,” he whispered to himself, forcing the words past his dry throat. “If the note BB left behind is right… then this drive might help me.”

His voice cracked at the end. It sounded almost too hopeful.

For a moment, he froze. His reflection in the jagged metal around the keyhole looked like a stranger,eyes ringed with exhaustion, skin pale from too many nights without rest. The face of someone who had lost too many people, too many times.

“…No. I can’t hesitate. Not now.”

He pushed the Silver Key into the lock. It slid in smoothly, like it had been waiting only for him. With a faint click, the mechanism shifted, and a hidden panel popped open. Inside, a small USB port blinked faintly with artificial light.

His breath caught.

With trembling fingers, Ritsuka pulled the Drive from his pocket and slid it into the port. The moment it connected, a low hum resonated through the ruined room. Lights once dead flickered weakly to life across the shattered BB Channel set. Broken monitors sparked, their glass screens glowing with fragmented color as data streams began racing across them.

“...It’s uploading,” he muttered under his breath, his voice tight with both dread and hope. “Please… please work.”

The ground quivered beneath his feet. Dust fell in slow cascades from the cracked ceiling, the floorboards rattling as if something deep beneath was stirring awake. Ritsuka staggered back, his eyes darting around as the once-buried systems of BB’s Studio roared with unnatural life.

Then he froze.

The stage, the place where BB had once teased, broadcast, and filled the void with her maddening charm, shuddered violently. With a grinding of hidden gears, the floor at its center split open. Steel plates folded back, and from the darkness below, a massive chamber rose slowly upward, glowing with pulsating pink light.

“Wh… what is this…?” Ritsuka whispered, his voice caught between awe and disbelief.

The chamber cracked open like a blossoming flower. From within, a faint, soft glow illuminated the figure curled inside.

Violet hair spilled out in unruly waves, cascading over her shoulders like strands of silk caught in the current. Her body was clad in the familiar garb of the mischievous Ai who once ruled over this stage, though now it seemed tattered, faded, as if it had endured ages of silence.

Her chest rose faintly, shallow. Her eyelids, heavy with exhaustion, fluttered.

Then, with a weak gasp, BB opened them.

Her gaze was unfocused at first, hazy with dreamlike fog. But slowly, steadily, her eyes sharpened, catching sight of him.

“…Senpai?” she whispered, the word trembling on her lips.

Ritsuka’s heart lurched. His throat went dry. “BB…?”

For that single heartbeat, everything else the ruins, the grinding machinery, the oppressive quake beneath their feet faded into nothing. The world was stripped away until it was only them.

BB’s lips quivered, her violet eyes widening. Then, before he could take another breath, she surged forward. Her movements were clumsy, unsteady, but desperate. She nearly stumbled, yet managed to close the distance, throwing herself into his chest.

“Senpai!” Her voice cracked as her arms wrapped around him with surprising force. “You… you really came back… to me…!”

The shock nearly knocked Ritsuka back a step. His arms hovered, hesitant, then slowly, firmly, he embraced her in return. Her warmth, trembling and fragile, pressed against him. For once, there was no sly grin, no teasing voice. Only BB’s raw, unmasked emotion.

Ritsuka swallowed hard, his voice rasping. “I… I thought—” His words caught, then broke through. “I thought I would never see you again…”

Her face buried against him, BB shuddered. “I… I thought so too…” Her voice cracked into something closer to a sob. “But… you’re here. You’re really here…”

He stroked her hair, trying to calm her trembling, but confusion burned at the back of his mind. Slowly, gently, he asked, “BB… what happened here?”

BB flinched at the question. For a moment, she said nothing. Then, slowly, she tilted her head back, meeting his gaze. Her violet eyes shimmered with tears.

“You happened, Senpai…” she whispered, voice weak, almost broken.

“…What?” Ritsuka blinked, unsure if he’d heard correctly.

BB’s lips trembled, her fingers clutching at his sleeve. “You died, Senpai…”

His breath hitched, the memory of that terrible fall flashing across his mind, the moment he thought there would be nothing but the endless void but engulfed in light. His chest tightened. “…What are you talking about? BB—”

“You died… in the final singularity, against Goetia. Don’t you remember?”

Ritsuka froze, his blood running cold. His eyes widened, the weight of her words sinking into him like a blade.

“Wait…” His voice cracked, shaking as he instinctively pulled her tighter against him. “BB… answer me something.”

“W-What is it, Senpai?” BB whispered, her face burning red even through the haze of confusion. Her mind, despite the tension, slipped briefly into her old habits. She mumbled under her breath, “Wow… I didn’t know Senpai’s arms were this big and strong before…”

“BB, please.” Ritsuka’s voice steadied, even as he trembled. “Do you… do you know what a Lostbelt is?”

BB blinked, tilting her head, her expression dazed. “A… Lostbelt? What is that, Senpai?”

The silence between them grew heavy, suffocating.

Ritsuka’s breath came unsteady. His chest tightened, and the embrace that had felt grounding moments ago suddenly felt like a reminder of how far he was from home. His voice cracked as he whispered, almost to himself:

“…Then this isn’t… my Chaldea. And you’re not… my BB…”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: My A.I Kouhai Can't Be This Cute

"…Then this isn't… my Chaldea. And you're not… my BB…" His voice was low, weighted, and reluctant.

The words slipped free before he could stop them, and the effect was immediate. BB stiffened in his embrace, her eyes widening as her tears welled up further, spilling down her cheeks like broken glass sliding across steel. She looked up at him like a hurt puppy staring at the only person in the world who could comfort her.

Her lips parted, trembling, as though forming words pained her. "W-what do you mean… I'm not your BB? S-Senpai… P-please, please tell me… why are you saying that? Why are you telling me I'm not your BB…?"

Her voice cracked on the last syllable. It wasn't her usual playful, teasing lilt. It was raw, fragile, human.

Ritsuka froze. A part of him screamed to deny it, to take it back and tell her anything, anything but the truth. Yet another part of him, the weight that clung to him since he'd awoken in this strange version of Chaldea, whispered in the back of his mind: Don't give her false hope. Don't pretend it's the same. This world isn't yours. What if you only get betrayed at the end.

Still, guilt wrapped around his heart like chains. He tightened his embrace, lowering his chin until it brushed against her violet hair. But he didn't want to destroy what was left of her hopes and dreams.

"W-while it's true that I'm your Senpai," he murmured, forcing the words out carefully, "…I-I think I'm just another version of him. Someone who… dropped into this world by accident. Similar to the way I sometimes ended up in micro-singularities alone. A twist in fate. Nothing more."

He felt her shudder against his chest, heard the quiet hitch of her breathing as the truth sank in.

"S-So…" BB whispered, her voice trembling as she pulled back just enough to look at him. "So my Senpai… is gone?"

The broken weight of her words settled over them both causing something to snap like a broken string.

Ritsuka's throat tightened. His hand found its way to her head, fingers sliding gently through her silky purple hair as he rubbed soothing circles against her scalp. He didn't have the right answer. He didn't have the power to undo her pain. But he knew he could ease it a bit.

"…I don't know why I'm here," he admitted softly. "But… if this world really lost me… then maybe I can stand in for him. I don't know how long I'll be here, or what fate wants from me. But… I'll be by your side, BB. I'll help however I can."

For a long moment, she just stared at him. He could see the light shift in her eyes, the fractured, bitter sadness mingling with a fragile hope. Slowly, she leaned into his chest again, clinging tighter, like she was afraid he'd vanish if she blinked.

"…O-okay," she whispered, her voice muffled against his uniform. "Thank you, Senpai… Thank you for waking me up… and for staying with me. Even if you're not my Senpai… you're still Senpai."

Ritsuka found himself staring at her, unable to reconcile this vulnerable girl with the usual BB. He knew the cocky, playful Kouhai who treated all of Chaldea as her playground. But the BB in front of him is so different.

​'I can't Believe BB is so affectionate she wasn't like this before in my world' Ritsuka thought to himself.

And as BB nestled closer, that thought only burned deeper into his mind.

He almost laughed, but the heaviness of the moment smothered it. Instead, he tightened his hold and let the silence stretch, filled only by the faint sound of his and BB heartbeats.

After what felt like an eternity, BB stirred against him. She pulled back, her tearstained cheeks still flushed, her lips pursed as though embarrassed to have shown him such weakness. And yet, her hand still lingered against his arm, refusing to let the contact break completely.

"…Senpai," she began softly, her usual spark just barely peeking through her voice. "You always had this annoying habit… of saying exactly what I wanted to hear. Even in this world, even when you're not my Senpai… you still manage it. It's almost unfair, you know?"

Ritsuka smiled faintly, brushing his thumb against her cheek to wipe away the last trace of her tears. "Guess some things don't change. Even across universes."

She blinked up at him, lips parting in surprise, and then she let out the smallest laugh. A fragile, unsteady sound, but genuine.

"…If you're really going to stand in for him," BB whispered, "then you'll have to put up with me, Senpai. My mood swings. My demands. My clinginess. All of it. No backing out, okay?"

"Okay," he answered without hesitation.

Her eyes softened at that, her tears drying into the faintest smile. For the first time since he'd awoken in this strange Chaldea, Ritsuka felt like he wasn't alone.

And in that moment, the heavy haze in his mind, the same one that had tried to convince him earlier to give up, to not reach for the Grail, to accept despair lifted, just slightly.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this world wasn't hopeless after all.

After some time Ritsuka's hand remained on BB's hair, absently stroking, but his thoughts were tangled. The comfort of her warmth was real, far too real, yet everything around him felt… wrong.

After a long silence, his curiosity, gnawing at him like a persistent ache, finally broke free.

"…BB," he murmured softly, hesitant. "How did Chaldea… end up like this? Why does everything feel so different?"

The young A.I in his arms froze for a moment. Then, with a little quiver of her lips, she leaned back just enough to look up at him. A familiar mischief tried to dance on her expression, but her watery eyes betrayed her. She pressed her tongue out slightly, giving him a deliberately cutesy, guilty smile.

"Ehehe… my bad, Senpai~," she said in her sing-song tone, though the tremor in her voice cracked through the act. "This whole… thing? It's kinda-sorta… all my fault."

Ritsuka blinked, the words striking him with more weight than her playful delivery suggested. "Your… fault? BB, what do you mean?"

Her gaze softened, and her smile faltered. This time, when she spoke, her voice carried the kind of tenderness that could only come from grief long since carried.

"…After you died, Senpai… everything changed."

The words hit him like a blade. His chest tightened, his breath caught. "…everything changed?"

BB nodded, slowly, eyes shimmering. "Yes. It did. And everyone in Chaldea mourned you. They wanted to preserve what little was left of you. They placed protections on your room, warding it against any harm. No one dared touch your belongings. It became a sanctuary of memories."

Her hands clutched at his shirt as though to anchor herself.

"But then…" she continued, voice dropping to a whisper, "…Chaldea was attacked."

The world seemed to still for Ritsuka as he remembered what happened before after the final singularity. He felt her tremble against him as her words unraveled the nightmare.

"An enemy we couldn't identify broke through our systems, broke through our barriers. Everyone was on high alert. But then… people started fading, one by one. Not dying. Not leaving. Fading. Their Saint Graphs just dissolved. Like their existence was being vanished."

Ritsuka's throat tightened. "…No…"

BB nodded. "Yes. Director Goredolf, Romani's replacement, tried to guide everyone out of the attack. He ordered Rikka and the others to take the escape route. He wanted to save who he could."

Her lips trembled, but she pressed on.

"I… I didn't want to run away. I wanted to buy them more time. But then…" she swallowed hard, her voice breaking. "…I saw Da Vinci fall.… she died right in front of me. And when I saw her disappear, I couldn't bear the thought of anyone else vanishing like that."

Tears rolled down her cheeks freely now, dripping onto Ritsuka's chest.

"So… I fought. I fought and fought. But then… I started glowing. My Saint Graph was… breaking down too. And that's when…" She hesitated, gripping his shirt tightly, "…that's when I saw it."

"…What?" Ritsuka whispered.

"Nyarlathotep," she said quietly, shuddering at the name. "She whispered to me, and showed me a vision. A spark. She showed me you. That you'd come back. That my Senpai would return to me."

Her voice broke into sobs as she pressed her face into him. "I-I didn't know if I could trust it, but I clung to it! I clung to it with everything I had left. So… I did the only thing I could think of."

She sniffled and pulled back slightly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"I ran to your room. I left behind a drive, a note, and a key under your bed. Something, anything, so that if you returned, you'd know I was waiting. Then I rushed back to my own chamber. I grabbed the Holy Grail that I had secured for another fun summer singularity event for us to experience once more…"

Her expression grew haunted. "And I made a wish. I wished for Chaldea to turn into a Singularity. One that no one could enter without my permission. I thought… if I could seal it, if I could keep this place safe, then maybe… maybe when you returned, it would still be here."

Her voice softened to a whisper.

"…The wish was granted. My body shattered, but I managed to put my memories in the computer systems. I've been here ever since, waiting for you to wake up. Waiting for the Senpai who was promised to me."

The room was silent but for the faint hum of machinery and the soft sound of her breath catching.

Ritsuka felt his heart twist with guilt, sorrow, and something heavier—an ache that words couldn't capture. Slowly, he lifted a hand to wipe away her tears, cupping her cheek gently.

"BB…" he whispered. "…You suffered all that, just for me?"

Her lips curled into the smallest, most fragile smile, her eyes searching for him desperately. "…I-It wasn't suffering, Senpai. If it meant I'd see you again… I'd do it a thousand times over."

He pulled her into a tighter embrace, burying his face in her hair. "…You idiot… You absolute idiot…" His voice shook with emotion. "…I should be the one that should have protected you. Not the other way around."

For the first time in ages, BB let herself laugh through her tears. A shaky, watery laugh. "Then… then protect me now, Senpai. Because even if you're not my exact Senpai… you're still him. You're still Ritsuka."

Her arms squeezed around him, as though she feared he'd vanish if she let go.

Ritsuka held her just as tightly, his heart whispering a truth he hadn't wanted to admit. 'To think I would see BB look so….. Guilty yet come compassionate even if I wasn't her original Senpai'

​'Well I guess it fine as BB wanted to do this for me' Ritsuka just accepting his fate.

Ritsuka finally exhaled, loosening his embrace around the trembling AI as he pulled back slightly to look her in the eye. BB, still tucked in his arms like a guilty Kouhai who'd confessed to breaking something precious, bit her lip and tilted her head, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

"…So. That's the truth, Senpai. Hehe~" She stuck out her tongue with a mock-playful smile, though her voice betrayed the fragility behind it. "And that's how I kinda-sorta turned Chaldea into my personal singularity fortress. A teeny, tiny mistake… maybe."

Ritsuka raised an eyebrow, folding his arms as though trying to look stern as a small smile breaks through as he is glad BB is trying to act like herself again. "A 'tiny mistake'? BB, you turned the entire base into a singularity. That's not a tiny thing."

"Uuu, Senpai's scolding me…" BB whimpered dramatically, holding her cheeks with her hands, eyes shimmering with crocodile tears. "You really are mean sometimes. Don't you know? I was mourning too… and I did this all for you!?"

Her voice faltered. The play-acting mask cracked. For a moment, Ritsuka saw not the mischievous trickster who had tormented him countless times, but a girl who had carried the weight of loneliness for far too long.

He reached out and ruffled her hair, his expression softening. "I get it. You did what you could to see me once more. Even if it meant being stuck here, alone. You really did wait for me, huh?"

BB froze at the gentle tone. Slowly, she leaned into his palm, shutting her eyes with a faint shiver. "Of course I waited… I'm BB, the kouhai who'll never leave Senpai behind. Even across timelines, even against the Outer Gods themselves or evil Beasts comes, I'll wait."

There was a beat of silence as Ritsuka knew this was false but wanted to believe in her childish proclamation. Then, Ritsuka gave a small, lopsided grin. "Then it's time to stop waiting. Come on. Let's get out of here and see what we can fix."

BB blinked. "…Eh?"

"You heard me. We can't just sit in your room forever. Chaldea's a mess, sure, but if you and I are together, maybe we can bring it back to life. Who knows? We might even get it running again."

For a moment, BB simply stared at him. Then, her lips curved upward into the brightest, most genuine smile he had seen on her in what felt like ages. "Ah… Senpai, you really are cruel. Making your adorable Kouhai work after she just woke up~"

"It just means I trust you that much and know only you could do such things, BB" Ritsuka said, making BB turn her head as she blushed as she was definitely not used to Senpai being so proactive in praising her openly before.

The two left the dim sanctuary of BB's quarters. The halls of Chaldea stretched out before them: dusty, cracked, eerily silent, like the skeleton of a once-living creature.

BB walked just a step behind him, as though reluctant to break the fragile sense of companionship, while Ritsuka glanced around, scratching his cheek. "Man… it's even worse than I thought. I wonder if you didn't hold yourself in there, what would you have done?"

"Ufufu. Then Senpai would know how often I would try to polish these halls with my own hands, and that would make him be impressed. But, sadly, even a genius AI like myself has limits. And I had no one to tease at to cause them to help me."

Ritsuka chuckled. "Guess that's my role now."

"Of course. Senpai's always been my most gullible toy." She clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head with a mischievous grin.

They wandered through the main corridor, checking door panels and terminals. Most were inactive or destroyed, though a few screens flickered weakly when BB passed by, her presence enough to stir the systems awake. She hummed softly, fingers flying across digital keys that appeared at her command.

"See? Still alive. Just needs a little BB brand love~"

"Pretty sure it's going to need more than love to run again," Ritsuka muttered.

"Then it's a good thing you're here, Senpai. I can provide the brains and the beauty, while you provide… well, your endless human stubbornness."

"Thanks, I guess?" as he rolled his eyes and started to see what needed to be fixed or replaced.

But as they were both searching they came across an old pic of the time Astolfo managed to convince the knights of the round table to dress up like girls. They both laughed, the sound echoing faintly in the empty hall. It was the first laugh this place had heard in ages.

Hours passed as they worked together, checking rooms, restoring a few power lines, and brushing away the dust of abandonment. And marking up places to fix the massive holes on the walls and floors.

At one point, they stumbled into the cafeteria. Its tables were overturned, the vending machines dead. BB floated over to one, tapping it with her finger. A dull clunk echoed and to Ritsuka's surprise, a single chocolate bar fell out.

BB turned, holding it up triumphantly with a sparkling smile. "See? Even after everything, I still have my sweet tooth and it is still okay as this brand of chocolate is good for up to 10 years!"

She unwrapped it and snapped it in half, holding out the other piece. Ritsuka blinked. "…You're sharing?"

"Don't act so surprised, Senpai." Her cheeks flushed as she shoved it toward him. "You've been working hard. And besides… if I eat this alone, it'll taste lonely. So hurry and eat it with me, okay?"

He took it, brushing her fingers as he did. For a brief instant, their eyes locked, and the warmth of her hand lingered longer than the chocolate's sweetness.

"…Thanks, BB." Ritsuka said as he "accidently" gave one of the most charming smiles he had given in a while.

BB, biting into her piece, muttered something under her breath with a pout. "…Dummy Senpai. You can't just thank me like that… It makes me very happy."

By the time they finished enjoying that moment they returned on their walk all the way up to the command room, some of the lights were faintly glowing again. The giant monitor on the wall flickered with static, but when BB placed her hand against it and started programming and redirecting the power from her room into this room, a faint Chaldea insignia appeared, glowing dimly.

Ritsuka stepped up beside her, staring at the symbol that had once been their beacon. His chest tightened. "…It's not much, but it's something."

BB leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes with a small sigh. "…Welcome home, Senpai."

For the first time since he arrived, Ritsuka allowed himself to believe that maybe just maybe he could fight for Chaldea once again. And that he and BB could live in it together.

The hum of restored circuits gave the air a faint mechanical warmth, a fragile heartbeat running through Chaldea's veins once more. Faint lights shimmered across the ceiling, illuminating the once dark command room in shades of silver and blue. Screens flickered uncertainly, like fireflies testing their wings after a long hibernation.

Ritsuka leaned back in a command chair, exhaling slowly. He brushed his fingers across the familiar desk, the data screen showing thousands of missions still etched into its surface. "I'm… glad to be home, BB" he murmured, almost in disbelief, as if the words themselves could anchor this dream into reality.

The words struck BB like an arrow. She stiffened, her artificial composure cracking as a flush spread across her cheeks. Her lips curved, trembling between her mischievous grin and a softness she rarely allowed anyone to see. "S-senpai… you can't just say things like that out of nowhere, you know? I-It's too unfair…" she muttered, looking away while twirling a strand of her lavender hair around her finger.

Ritsuka only chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "It's not unfair if it's the truth, right? This… this place, even in ruins it feels like I never left. And it is all thanks to you BB that we managed to bring a bit of life to this place"

BB bit her lip, clutching the edge of her skirt to steady her heart. She puffed her cheeks in mock annoyance before sticking her tongue out with a wink. "Ugh, fine! You win this round, Senpai~ But don't think I'll let you keep sweet-talking your way past me forever."

The room still smelled faintly of dust and ozone, the kind that clung to the walls of a place long abandoned. Wires hung like vines from broken panels, and chunks of collapsed ceiling had only just been pushed aside. Ritsuka leaned against the edge of a console, wiping his brow with the back of his sleeve. Across from him, BB spun lazily in a half-broken office chair, kicking herself in slow circles like a child pretending not to be tired after chores.

"So what now, Senpai?" she asked with a sing-song tone, though the dark rings under her eyes betrayed how much she'd worked with him in clearing rubble. Her violet hair bounced with each spin, glinting faintly under the recycled lights as the power core struggled to keep the base alive.

Ritsuka sighed, straightening. His gaze moved across the ruined command center, the gutted monitors, the shattered desks, the consoles that flickered with only half-functioning lights.

He needed to think like a Master again.

"Well," he began carefully, "we've cleared enough of this room for now. If Chaldea is going to function again, we'll need help. I was thinking…" He paused, watching her stop her chair mid-spin to face him. "We could try repairing the Summoning Chamber. If it still works, even a little, maybe we can bring back another Servant. Someone who can help us restore this place."

At once, BB flinched. It wasn't obvious, but Ritsuka had known her long enough to notice the tiny stiffening of her shoulders. Her playful smile wavered for a fraction of a second.

"Umh… Senpai, before we could do that, could I… ask you something first?" she said, her voice smaller than usual. She twisted in her chair, her cheeks tinged pink.

Ritsuka tilted his head, stepping closer. "What is it, BB? Is something wrong?"

BB lowered her gaze, tracing nervous circles with her finger against the chair's armrest. "…It's just… the mana I've been using is borrowed. It's coming from the Grail right now, not from you. And BB doesn't want it to be like that." She swallowed, then forced herself to look up at him with shimmering eyes. "B-BB wants to be your first Servant in this world, Senpai. Before we summon anyone else… Could you make a contract with me again? Will you… be my Master?"

Her words hung in the air, fragile and trembling like spun glass.

Ritsuka blinked. Somehow, in all the chaos, he had forgotten. She wasn't bound to him here. She had been by his side, helping, crying, teasing yet not truly tethered. Not the way they once were.

For a moment, guilt surged in his chest. He had taken her presence for granted.

Then, quietly, he smiled.

"Of course," he said. "I'd be glad to be your Master again, BB."

He stepped forward and drew her into an embrace.

The silence between them stretched, broken only by the faint hum of life returning to the ruined base. Ritsuka's hand came to rest on her head, stroking her hair gently. It felt so natural, so right, like no time had passed at all.

And then it happened.

A warmth stirred in his palm, pulsing softly. Crimson light flared across his skin, coiling upward like a living flame. BB gasped, eyes wide as the familiar shape of Command Seals carved themselves anew into his hand. The crest glowed brilliantly, radiant against the dim room, before fading into the marks he had once borne as Chaldea's Master.

"Senpai…" BB's voice cracked. She raised trembling hands to her mouth, her eyes brimming.

Ritsuka flexed his fingers, staring at the seals as though they might vanish again. But they didn't. They pulsed faintly, alive, responding to his heartbeat.

He exhaled slowly, and a smile tugged at his lips. "BB… did you feel that? We just made a contract together. You're my Servant again."

His words carried no command. Only relief. Only joy.

"Y-Yes…! BB feels it so clearly, so warmly!" she cried, clutching at her chest. "BB… BB feels connected to you once more, Senpai!"

Her tears spilled freely now, streaking down her cheeks as her smile trembled. All her carefully practiced bravado was gone. She was just… BB. His kouhai.

Ritsuka couldn't stand seeing her cry like that. Gently, he pressed his hand against her head again, ruffling her hair.

"Welcome back, BB," he murmured. His voice carried the same softness she had once used when she first welcomed him earlier.

She let out a choked sob and leaned into him, trembling as though afraid she would lose him again if she loosened her grip. The bond between them pulsed warmly, unshakable and alive.

For a long moment, they simply stayed like that. The hum of the monitors, the faint static in the wires, the quiet crackle of their bond, it was a scene that felt like a miracle, something fragile rescued from oblivion.

Then, slowly, BB tilted her head back. Her eyes were red from crying, but a familiar mischievous smile crept back onto her lips.

"Fufufu… so this means Senpai is officially mine again," she purred, though her voice wavered. "My precious, irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind Master. Don't think you can sneak away from me this time, okay?"

Ritsuka chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't dream of it. Besides…" He gave her head another light pat, "…I'd be lost without you."

Her breath hitched. Her cheeks turned crimson, and fresh tears welled in her eyes. She tried to bite her lip to stop them, but it was hopeless. With a sudden rush, she buried her face against his chest, clutching the fabric of his uniform.

The Command Seals pulsed once more, not as an order, but as a vow.

It wasn't just a contract. It was their bond renewed.

And yet, BB's muffled voice slipped out, words that startled him more than anything ever could:

"Ehehe… this means BB is the first kouhai to be with Senpai in this world."

Ritsuka froze. His heart twisted painfully as a name rose unbidden in his mind. Mash. The last time he had seen her, she had been crying for him. He could still remember her trying to reach his hand. That last sec miss as he fell before he could reach her hand.

"…Mash…" he whispered inwardly, the ache sharp in his chest.

But when he looked down and saw BB's hopeful, tear-stained smile gazing up at him, he knew he couldn't break this moment. Not now.

So instead, he smirked faintly and raised a hand, booping her on the forehead.

"I guess that's true. Congratulations, BB, you really are the kouhai above all others."

Her cheeks glowed pink, her mischievous grin returning full force. "Fufufu~! You said it, Senpai, not me! From now on, BB is your number one and don't you dare forget it!"

For the first time since waking in this ruined Chaldea, Ritsuka laughed. And this time, it wasn't hollow. And then both of them got up as BB twirls around in victory before, they set their sights on the next objective: the summoning chamber.

The journey there was slow, cautious. The hallway lights sputtered, casting shadows that stretched and snapped like memories. Dust coated the floor, though their footsteps began to clear faint trails of life.

When they arrived, the summoning room stood silent, stripped of its former grandeur. The great summoning circle at the center was cracked, its once-pristine chamber dimmed to faint etchings on the floor. The crystalline structures that had once hummed with mana now lay shattered, strewn across the floor like frozen tears. And the "newly" added Sun roof didn't help how busted up the place was.

"…Looks like it'll take more than duct tape to fix this," Ritsuka muttered, scratching his head as he crouched near the cracked circle. "Now looking at this place it was much worse when I first saw it when I came to this world".

BB giggled, floating over to him with a teasing tilt of her head. "Oh my, Senpai, are you doubting my supreme digital goddess engineering skills? Honestly, if you just leave it all to me, we'll have this place looking brand new in no time~!"

Her usual cheer brought warmth to the desolate chamber, and Ritsuka found himself smiling despite the mess. "Then I'll leave it to you… but don't overdo it. You've already been carrying this place alone for too long."

The words made her heart flutter, her cheeks warming again. "…Senpai, you're really dangerous sometimes, you know?"

Hours slipped by as they worked side by side. BB conjured streams of digital light, carefully weaving together broken data lines. Ritsuka fetched tools, adjusted circuits, and provided the quiet steadiness BB never admitted she needed. Their laughter occasionally echoed, an old rhythm rekindled amidst ruins.

But eventually fatigue crept in. The artificial lights dimmed to night mode, casting the summoning room in hushed shades of blue. Ritsuka rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn. BB floated nearby, her usual energy visibly waning, her movements sluggish.

"Hey," Ritsuka finally said, standing and stretching, "we should call it a night. It's late… and you look tired too."

"Me? Tired?" BB gasped dramatically, covering her mouth. "Impossible! I'm the eternal kouhai idol, sleep is for mere humans like you Senpai!"

But her eyelids drooped even as she spoke, betraying her. Ritsuka gave her a soft look, then scratched his head with a sheepish smile. "…Then, uh— want to sleep with me tonight?"

BB froze, eyes widening as her circuits nearly shorted from the words. "…S-s-senpai!? Y-you can't just…!" Her voice trailed off into nervous laughter, her cheeks glowing scarlet. For once, the goddess of teasing had no clever comeback.

"I just… I'd feel bad if I went to sleep while you stayed up working. You've been carrying this weight for so long. At least for tonight, let's rest together," Ritsuka said gently, sincerity shining in his tired eyes.

Her heart clenched. Slowly, BB nodded, her voice soft. "…Fine. But only because you asked so nicely, Senpai."

The corridors of Chaldea were quiet, bathed in the dim, flickering light of restored circuits. The sound of their footsteps echoed softly, almost reverently, as Ritsuka and BB made their way through the ruined facility.

They stopped at last in front of a familiar door. Ritsuka's fingers brushed the panel, and it slid open with a faint hiss.

Inside was Ritsuka's room still untouched, preserved as if frozen in time. The faint scent of paper and tea lingered, and the simple bedding lay perfectly folded.

"...You ready to sleep BB." Ritsuka's voice held quiet awe. He stepped inside, his eyes tired. "Hope you won't play any tricks on me while I sleep."

BB, hovering behind him, puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, though her expression was tinged with something softer. "Of course, Senpai. Who do you think I am? Even though I could, I promise that I want to just be with you, and BB always keeps her promises."

"Yeah…" He let out a long sigh, relief mixing with exhaustion as he collapsed onto the bed. "Thank you either way BB."

For a moment, BB floated idly above the floor, hands twitching at her sides. Her usual teasing remarks failed to come. Instead, she hesitated, biting her lip before lowering herself onto the edge of the bed. Slowly, nervously, she slipped under the sheets beside him, careful to keep her distance.

The silence stretched between them, filled only by the faint hum of Chaldea's machinery. Ritsuka closed his eyes, his breathing gradually slowing as sleep began to overtake him. His hand rested limply atop the sheets, not quite touching her.

BB turned her head, her purple eyes drawn to his sleeping face. The usual mischief that danced in her violet gaze dimmed into something more delicate. Fragile.

She reached out, fingers trembling, then pulled them back as if afraid. Her lips parted, and after a long pause, she whispered, barely audible:

"Senpai…"

Her chest tightened. All the jokes, the pranks, the masks she wore, none of them could hide what she felt in this moment.

Leaning closer, BB pressed her lips against his in the faintest, fleeting kiss. So light it might have been imagined.

"I love you, Senpai…" she murmured, her voice raw and unguarded. "And I promise, I won't ever let you sacrifice yourself for us again. Not if I can help it."

Her arms curled around him as she nestled against his chest, clinging to the steady warmth of his body. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she was at peace knowing her Senpai with her again. So she let her eyes flutter shut, her lips curving into the smallest, most genuine smile she'd ever worn.

In the quiet ruins of Chaldea, two lonely souls: one human, one A.I, finally found rest in each other's presence.

And within the depths of Ritsuka's dreaming mind, memory and thought twisted together. A drowsy smile touched his lips as he mumbled, almost unconsciously:

"My A.I Kouhai… can't be this cute?"

BB's ears twitched at the faint words. Though he was fast asleep, her cheeks flushed crimson, and her heart fluttered at the sound.

"Honestly, Senpai…" she whispered back, tightening her embrace. "You're so unfair…"

But she wouldn't trade this moment for anything.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 Interlude A: A Mask and Broken Mirrors

BB clutched him tightly, as if he might vanish if she loosened her hold. Her trembling shoulders pressed against his chest, her voice muffled against his uniform.

Ritsuka's thoughts scattered the moment he saw her like this.

"Why… why are you like that…?"

He wasn't even sure if he had spoken them aloud or if it was simply his mind whispering to itself. Something deep, unbidden, stirred within him- a thought, a memory that shouldn't exist.

'You are the one… the one that made me fall.'

Ritsuka's eyes widened slightly. His own mind spoke, yet the meaning was foreign to him.

"…Her making me fall? No, that's wrong." He swallowed, shaking his head faintly. "It was just… the strong winds that pushed me."

But the truth rang hollow even to himself.

BB's fingers tightened, clutching the fabric of his uniform as though she was afraid he would disappear. Small, wet sobs slipped from her throat, uncharacteristic of the smug AI that always toyed with him.

Ritsuka hesitated, then raised a hand to her head. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he rested his chin against her hair. The scent of sakura and something sweet lingered faintly. He let his arm circle around her, trying to offer the comfort he had once given to so many Servants.

But the moment he did, the voice returned.

"Why do you even care? She isn't your BB. Your BB betrayed you. Humiliated you. Mocked you. She hated you."

The venom in the words slithered through his mind, sharp and accusing.

Ritsuka clenched his teeth. "…Shut up."

The voice growled, low and animalistic.

"Shut up? WHY DON'T YOU WAKE UP INSTEAD!" it roared, rattling his very thoughts. "Look at yourself, what a fool you've become. She's only acting weak to make you lower your guard. You were a Master once, weren't you? You know how these worlds, these Singularities, are twisted and unredeemable."

The pounding in his skull grew louder with every word, pressing at the fragile walls of his reason. He could feel what it would say next, and the premonition filled him with dread.

"Don't believe in—"

But then, another sound reached him.

A trembling whisper, fragile as glass.

"…S-So… my Senpai… is gone?"

BB's voice.

She had pulled back just enough to look at him, eyes glistening, lashes wet with tears. The brightness, the mischievous light that always danced in her gaze, was gone. What remained was raw hurt.

The intrusive voice in his head fell silent for a moment, drowned out by the sight of her expression.

Ritsuka stared at her, words caught in his throat. 'Why… Why do you look so hurt? Didn't you hate me?'

The thought gnawed at him, but another followed quickly, one that softened his chest with both guilt and resolve.

No. What am I doing? I used to comfort Servants no matter their nature… even when they strayed. Even when they betrayed me, I never stopped trying to reach them.

The harsher voice tried to stir again.

"She isn't your Servant. Why should you waste yourself for her?"

And then, softly, a new voice brushed against his mind.

Gentle. Warm. Like the whisper of a feather carried by the wind.

"Because you know you want to."

Ritsuka blinked, his breath hitching.

"You were never the type to abandon someone in pain," the voice continued, calm and certain. "Whether they were your BB or not, you've always reached out. Remember… you've turned Beasts toward peace. You've soothed the cries of the lost. That was who you were."

His eyes softened. He remembered. He remembered trying, always trying, to guide those who had fallen into darkness, to offer them a chance at redemption, however small.

"…Right."

When he looked at BB again, he no longer saw just the enemy AI who once toyed with him. He saw someone trembling, confused, and desperately clinging to him in her own flawed way.

So he tightened his arms around her.

"…I don't know why I'm here," he admitted softly. "But… if this world really lost me… then maybe I can stand in for him. I don't know how long I'll be here, or what fate wants from me. But… I'll be by your side, BB. I'll help however I can."

Her eyes flickered, searching his face for an answer she couldn't put into words.

For the first time since their meeting, BB's sobs softened. She blinked rapidly, lips parting, as though the words struck somewhere deep within her code… or her heart.

And as Ritsuka held her close, the poisonous voice hissed and writhed, furious at being ignored. But the gentle one softer, fainter lingered like a steady heartbeat in the back of his mind. And the haze he once felt before began to weaken as he allows his trust to take more control this time.

The room was quiet. Too quiet.

The hum of the electronics had dulled to a faint background murmur, like distant cicadas. The faint glow of the monitor painted BB's sleeping figure in a soft, pale light. Her hair spilled across the pillow in gentle strands, rising and falling with her breath.

Ritsuka lay beside her, eyes fixed on the ceiling. His body felt heavy, weighed down by exhaustion, yet his mind remained restless. He woke up from his slumber as he couldn't stop thinking about arriving in this world.

"…So this is my life now, huh?" he muttered under his breath, voice barely audible in the stillness.

He let his thoughts drift back to the start.

The way BB had teased him over trivial things. The way her smug little smile had softened whenever she thought he wasn't looking. The laughter they shared, the warmth of chocolate passed between them, and the fleeting moments when they had stood side by side, her head resting against his shoulder.

Small things. Fragile things. Yet somehow, they had felt precious.

Ritsuka closed his eyes, trying to let those memories soothe him. Trying to let his heart believe in them.

But then—

"…Did you already forget?"

The voice.

Cold. Distant. It crept into his mind like a draft through a cracked window, and the moment it spoke, his chest tightened.

"…They betrayed you."

Ritsuka's eyelids fluttered open. His throat was dry.

The memories came rushing back, unbidden.

BB smirking, eyes gleaming with cruel delight as she twisted time itself to make him stumble, falter, forget.

BB mocking him with venom disguised as playfulness, her words sharp enough to cut.

BB isolates him from others, tugging at the strings of his relationships until bonds frayed and broke.

And worst of all-

"Dante…" he whispered, the name burning on his tongue.

He remembered it all. The moment his trusted partner had forced him to leave. The way BB led his other servants to take care of Dante, as though his suffering was just another game to her.

The voice inside him chuckled, low and dark.

"Yes… now you remember. The real her. The one who ridiculed you. Who stole from you. Who took pleasure in your pain. How many times did she laugh as she rewound your steps? How many times did she take joy in making you kneel?"

Ritsuka gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright on the futon. His breath came harsh and uneven.

"Stop it," he hissed, clutching his head. "She isn't…… that BB. She's different."

"Different?" the voice echoed, dripping with scorn. "Look at her. Look closely. She's just wearing another mask. Don't you recognize the pattern by now?"

His eyes flickered to the girl beside him.

BB shifted slightly in her sleep, her lips parting in a quiet sigh, her hand clutching faintly at the blanket between them. She looked… vulnerable. Almost human.

Ritsuka's chest tightened again.

'This isn't the same… it can't be the same.'

And yet, the voice pressed harder.

"You're a fool, Ritsuka. How many times must you suffer before you learn? She will hurt you. She always does. Always will."

His fists clenched against the sheets, trembling.

"…But…" His voice cracked, soft and desperate. "But… today she smiled at me. She cried in my arms. She… she held on like she didn't want to lose me."

The voice snarled.

"Acting. Always acting. Toying with you until you lower your guard. You can dress the wolf in sheep's clothing, but the fangs are still there. And when you least expect it…. she'll bite."

Ritsuka squeezed his eyes shut. The warmth of today's memories collided violently with the horrors of the past. Two truths at war within his heart.

'The BB who betrayed me. The BB who laughed as I lost everything.'

'The BB who trembled in my arms. The one who whispered my name as though it were her lifeline.'

'Which one was real?'

A soft murmur snapped him from his spiral.

"…Senpai…"

His eyes opened. BB stirred beside him, shifting closer in her sleep, her forehead brushing against his shoulder. Her hand found his arm and clung to it instinctively, her expression relaxed, unguarded.

For a moment, all the poison in his head fell silent.

"…BB…" Ritsuka whispered, almost inaudible.

And yet, deep inside, the war continued. The voice in his head growled, furious at his weakness.

"You're already forgetting. You're already falling again. Have you learned nothing?"

Ritsuka lowered his gaze, torn between the memory of betrayal and the warmth pressed against him now.

"…Then tell me," he muttered to himself, his voice trembling but firm. "If this is another trick… if she really means to hurt me again… then why does she look so… human right now?"

No answer came.

Only silence, heavy and suffocating.

Ritsuka exhaled slowly, laying back down, letting BB's hand remain against his arm. His mind was a battlefield of scars and doubts, but as he closed his eyes, he decided—just for this night—to listen to his own heart rather than the voice clawing at it.

"…Just let me have this moment," he whispered into the dark.

And for the briefest instant, the storm inside him quieted.

But sleep never came gently.

One moment, Ritsuka was lying on the bed, BB's hand warm against his arm. The next, he was weightless, suspended in a void.

A voice slithered through the darkness.

"Did you really think you could rest peacefully? You, of all people? With her in your arms"

The void cracked like glass. Color bled into his surroundings, forming walls, familiar halls, the lights that illuminate the area.

Ritsuka's breath caught. "…N-no."

He was standing in the old corridors, the ones burned into memory, the sanctuary where it had all begun. The air smelled faintly of recycled oxygen and sterile white floors. It was Chaldea, his Chaldea,  His heart swelled with nostalgia… but only for a moment.

The voice purred.

"Let me remind you. Let me show you what you wanted to forget."

The scene shifted.

He stood in the cafeteria, a table set for two. Porcelain cups, steaming tea, and a small dish of cookies. Morgan sat across from him, her icy poise softened for once by the faintest smile.

"This time… just you and me," she had promised him once.

But in the dream, her chair scraped back. She rose abruptly, her smile fading into indifference.

"On second thought, I have other things to do," she said, her voice cutting and cold. "I must take care of some other business involving the other masters."

Her tea cup cracked in her hand. She left without another word, the sound of her heels echoing like judgment.

Ritsuka's chest tightened. "…No… that's not how it was…"

The voice chuckled.

"Oh, but it could have been. Do you doubt me? Let's see another."

The scenery warped again, the cafeteria dissolving into the marble halls of the rayshift chamber.

He saw Rikka, his dear sister and Mashu standing together, their backs turned to him. Their hands brushed, fingers intertwining shyly. They exchanged a look that said everything: relief, trust, companionship.

They had just returned from an Ember run, sweat on their brows, smiles faint but genuine.

And not once did they turn to acknowledge him as they went to one of the extra masters.

"Wait—" Ritsuka called out, his hand lifting. "Mashu… Rikka… I was waiting for you—"

But Mashu only leaned closer to Rikka, whispering something that made her companion laugh. Together, they walked past him as though he were invisible, their footsteps fading into the distance.

His throat went dry. "…That's not real. They wouldn't… they wouldn't just leave me…"

The voice hissed with glee.

"Wouldn't they? How long did you cling to them, expecting them to always remain? People find replacements, Ritsuka. That's the truth."

The world flickered again. The rayshift chamber dissolved into Da Vinci's chamber. Paints, blueprints, and floating holograms cluttered the air.

There she stood, da Vinci, her eyes brimming with knowledge and mystery. Normally, her smile was radiant, teasing, clever.

But now her eyes turned to him with a guilty glimmer.

She pressed a hand to her chest, as though she couldn't bear to meet his gaze.

"…I'm sorry," she whispered, lips trembling. "There are things I can't tell you, Ritsuka. Secrets I must keep… even if it hurts you."

"What?" His heart lurched. "Da Vinci… What are you hiding from me? Tell me! Please—!"

But she stepped back, the light swallowing her figure, leaving only her guilty eyes behind.

The voice coiled tighter, filling every corner of his skull, dragging his thoughts into a spiral he could not escape.

"Do you see it now?" It hissed, cold, wrapping around his mind like a snake. "One by one, they'll leave. They'll lie. They'll betray. The bonds you treasured, just smoke and mirrors. Nothing more."

Ritsuka clutched his head, teeth gritting. "Shut up… That's not true. That's not true!"

But the halls of Chaldea betrayed him.

The familiar white walls dimmed into a gray void, flickering with shadows. The air grew heavier, colder. The once-bright workshop stretched into a cavernous hallway where every footstep echoed like a funeral drum.

And then-

Doors began to open on either side.

From each threshold, figures emerged.

Kiyohime came first, her gaze no longer manic with obsession but narrowed with pure disdain. Her fan closed with a sharp snap.

"…I wasted myself on you," she said coolly. "How pitiful."

Ritsuka flinched. "Kiyo…? No, you don't mean that—"

Another door creaked open.

Melt stepped out, her lithe frame sharp as glass. She didn't even face him directly, only turned her back with a scoff.

"Pathetic. To think I entertained the idea of dancing with someone so… fragile." Her laugh was brittle, cutting. "A broken partner isn't worth my time."

"Melt—wait—"

More doors opened.

Artoria Alter stepped forward, Excalibur glinting in her hand. She did not raise it, but her eyes, once resolute, were colder than steel.

"You were unfit from the start," she said flatly, each word carrying judgment like a blade. "A king cannot follow a master without resolve. I have no need of yours."

"No… Artoria, please, don't—"

Then Medb appeared, swaying her hips, her smirk dripping venom.

"Oh, this is delicious," she purred, looking him up and down as though he were an insect caught in her glass. "Oh master, abandoned and unloved. Did you really think anyone could ever stay loyal to you? Poor little boy, still chasing fairy tales."

Ritsuka staggered back, breath shuddering. His chest felt like it was being crushed.

And still the doors kept opening.

Jalter stormed forth, her fire quenched, her eyes burning with disgust instead of passion.

"Pathetic," she spat. "I thought you worthy to burn with me in hell, Master. Turns out you're just as another fool. Nothing worth my flames."

Kama emerged next, arms folded, her smile sickly sweet but her tone laced with venom.

"You're so easy to manipulate, it's boring. I wanted a challenge, not… this." Her eyes rolled, dismissing him like a broken toy.

Then Sith appeared, her figure cloaked in disdainful silence. She didn't even speak. Just one cold, lingering glare as she turned her back and walked away.

The tide of faces thickened. The Servants he had once trusted. Familiar eyes gone hollow, warm voices turned sharp. Some looked straight through him as though he didn't exist. Others sneered, their whispers darting around him like knives.

Traitor.

​
Fool.

​

​
Weak.

​

​
Unworthy.

​

Ritsuka stumbled backward, clutching at his chest as though he could physically hold the pain inside. "No… no, this isn't real. You're not like this. You—You wouldn't…"

But their words pressed closer.

Kiyohime's fan brushed past his arm as she sneered, "You were nothing but a dream I mistook for reality."

Melt's voice overlapped, dismissive. "Even your memories are worthless."

Jalter's snarl cut through it all: "Die forgotten, like the nobody you are!"

The voice in his head laughed.

"Look at them," it crooned. "Every smile you thought was yours, every bond you believed in, they were masks. They tolerated you. They used you. And when the time came, they turned their backs. Just like now. Just like always."

"No…" Ritsuka's knees buckled. He fell to the cold floor, surrounded by the tide of shadows wearing the faces of those he loved. His nails dug into his scalp as if he could claw the whispers out. "Stop… please, stop—"

But the circle tightened.

The once-bright Chaldea had become a stage for betrayal, and every voice, every gaze, every step drove the blade deeper.

And in the center, Ritsuka could only choke on the weight of abandonment, as the voice whispered its final verdict:

"You were never their Master. You were only ever their fool."

"No… no, this isn't real…" His voice cracked, desperate. He clutched his head, trying to shut them out. "You're twisting everything! You're lying to me!"

But the voice only laughed, triumphant, echoing from every wall, every shadow.

"Lying? No. I'm showing you the truth you never wanted to see. Look around you, Ritsuka. Look at all the ones you trusted. Every smile. Every promise. Every moment you thought was yours."

The Servants closed in, their faces blurring into masks of betrayal.

"…All of it will end the same way."

The laughter rose, mingling with the footsteps, the whispers, the fading warmth of memories turned to ash.

Ritsuka fell to his knees. His vision swam.

And still, the dream dragged him deeper.

The darkness twisted again.

Ritsuka's body was dragged forward, unwilling, as though invisible hands had taken hold of his very soul. His surroundings blurred halls, chambers, familiar rooms of Chaldea, all collapsing into a void of endless gray.

And there, in the middle of it, stood Dante.

"D… Dante…" Ritsuka's breath hitched. His heart thrashed in his chest, as if it knew what would come.

The image of his partner stood tall, as he always remembered. Firm, unshaken, loyal. But the edges of the vision trembled, like a picture about to burn away.

The voice whispered, cruel and deliberate.

"You never saw his death, did you? You looked away. You didn't want to imagine it. Allow me to show you what your cowardice couldn't."

"No…" Ritsuka staggered backward, his throat dry. "Don't—don't you dare—"

But the scene moved without his consent.

Dante's chest was pierced not once, but over and over. Each strike was sharper, slower, exaggerated by the dream until it was unbearable. Blood poured like ink across the floor, soaking the ground at Ritsuka's feet.

The killing blow was not unseen this time.

He saw her, BB's smiling face, tilting with cruel satisfaction as she guided the blade into Dante's heart.

"No!" Ritsuka's scream tore from his throat. "That's not real! Stop it! STOP IT!"

But Dante fell anyway. His eyes, usually filled with unyielding determination, dimmed into hollow glass. His body crumpled, lifeless, as he began to glow and dust away.

The world around him split open again.

The gray gave way to jagged rocks, a cliffside, the abyss yawning below.

Ritsuka now stood at the edge, his legs trembling. In his hands, heavy, glowing, the Grail pulsed with divine light, as though mocking him with its promise.

"Yes," the voice hissed. "You thought about it, didn't you? You thought you could use it to fix things. To undo. To bring everyone back."

Ritsuka's knuckles whitened against the Grail's surface. "…I… I wanted to. I… I wanted to save everyone."

"But you didn't."

The voice pressed closer, suffocating, cruel.

"You didn't even wish. You failed them, Ritsuka. You failed all of them. Do you remember why?"

His grip faltered. The Grail slipped.

"No…" he gasped, reaching for it as it slid from his palms. "No, I—"

The Grail fell.

It tumbled into the abyss, its glow swallowed by the black void beneath.

Ritsuka staggered after it, the cliff crumbling beneath his feet. His body pitched backward.

He fell.

The wind howled around him, shrieking like a thousand voices as the abyss swallowed him whole. His body twisted and spun, yet he never struck bottom. The fall stretched on endlessly, dragging his heart further into despair with every heartbeat.

But then he saw them.

Shapes appeared in the endless dark. Dozens at first, then hundreds, pressing in until the void was filled.

Female Servants.

Faces he knew, faces he had trusted. Faces that had once fought for him, smiled at him, laughed with him, cried with him.

But something was wrong.

Their features were blank. Smooth, black voids where eyes and mouths should be, masks of nothingness. Their heads tilted at odd, broken angles, their limbs moved too fluidly, too wrong. They circled him as he plummeted, a vortex of hollow silhouettes, spinning faster and faster like carrion birds waiting for him to break.

And then, one by one, they shifted.

A shimmer rippled through their bodies, and suddenly each void-mask twisted into warped betrayals.

Tamamo appeared first. Her fur glistened in the dark, her smile soft, but her tail brushed past him as she turned away, walking into the arms of someone unseen. She never once looked back.

"No… Tamano… not you…" His voice cracked, swallowed by the abyss.

Another figure stepped out: Scáthach, her eyes shimmering with nothingness as she lowered her gaze. She whispered something, but the words were smothered, inaudible. Secrets she would never share with him. Then she, too, walked away.

"Shishou…? What are you hiding? Tell me… please…"

Shuten Douji  appeared, her elegant frame gliding with cruel poise. She laughed, high and sharp, and her voice echoed like glass shattering as she vanished into the darkness.

"Please.... Stop ignoring me....stop treating me like nothing" Ritsuka trying to reach Shuten Douji  but missing.

Artoria Lancer stood tall before him, lance gleaming. But instead of raising it in defense, she lifted it toward him. Not to protect, but to deny. The rejection in her eyes was sharper than any blade.

"Artoria, stop! I trusted you—I believed in you!"

Raikou floated past, her smile dreamlike, her steps gentle. For one breath he thought she would come to him. But then her eyes softened with affection, directed at another shadow. She passed by him as though he did not exist.

"…No… not you too…"

And then BB.

Her voice was velvet, her body pressed close to someone unseen. She whispered sweet nothings, words of love and adoration. None of them were for him. She didn't even glance in his direction.

Ritsuka's chest tightened until he could barely breathe. Every Servant he had once tried to reach, every heart he had once believed in, became twisted, distant, lost.

Each betrayal was sharper than steel. Each smile not meant for him carved deeper wounds than any blade.

"No… no, stop… STOP!" His scream tore through the void as he clawed at the air, falling endlessly, trying to reach them, trying to stop them. "That's not who they are! That's not real! It's not—!"

The faceless figures spun faster, their void-masks rippling as they laughed, whispered, jeered. The abyss swallowed his voice.

And above it all, the voice roared, triumphant.

"It is the truth you've always feared!"

Its words shook the void, each syllable striking like thunder.

"Every bond! Every smile! Every embrace! It will break!"

Ritsuka's nails tore at his palms as he shook his head violently. "No… no, they're my family! My allies! My—"

"They will leave you!"

The faceless shadows shrieked as one, voices layered and warped.

"They will betray you!"

Images of laughter twisted into sneers, warmth turned to scorn, trust curdled into mockery.

"They will cheat you!"

The swirling grew faster, their distorted shapes pressing closer, choking him. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. His screams were drowned beneath their endless chant.

"That is your fate, Ritsuka Fujimaru!"

The abyss convulsed.

The faceless Servants spun faster and faster, their empty gazes burning into him, their distorted whispers gnawing at his ears.

"You were nothing but a placeholder. A toy. A fool. And even now… you are still falling!"

Ritsuka reached upward, desperate, but there was no light, no Grail, no hand to grasp. Only darkness.

And he kept falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Ritsuka was still falling. His mind cracked with every whisper, every faceless servant that circled around him like carrion birds. The abyss had no bottom, only the endless echo of betrayal and his own helpless screams.

Then-

Warmth.

He jolted awake, lungs burning as if he had been drowning. His eyes snapped open.

"-!" His breath caught.

BB was in his arms. Her fingers clung to his clothes with desperate strength, her face pressed against his chest. Tears stained his shirt as her shoulders shook.

"…Senpai… Senpai…" she whimpered between sobs, her voice fragile and broken. "Don't leave me… please… don't leave me…"

Ritsuka froze. For a moment, the nightmare still clung to him, the faceless masks, the abyss, Dante's death, but the reality before him was undeniable.

She was crying. She was trembling. Just like him.

"…BB," he whispered, his throat tight.

His hand lifted, hesitating for only a second before gently brushing through her hair. He drew her closer, his chin resting against the crown of her head, his voice steady though his chest still shook from the nightmare.

"I'm here," he murmured, slow and deliberate, as though carving the words into existence. "I'm right here. And I'll stay. No matter what."

Her grip tightened, her tears warm against his skin.

"I won't treat you like the other BB," he continued, softer this time, the words as much for himself as for her. "You're… you're not her. You don't have to be her. To me, you're… you're just BB."

For a heartbeat, silence fell.

And then, the voice returned.

"Lies. She's still the same. The same mask. The same betrayal waiting to happen. Don't fool yourself-"

"Shut up," Ritsuka snapped under his breath, not loosening his embrace.

The voice hissed, venom dripping. "You'll regret it-"

But then… another voice stirred.

Gentle. Soft. Calm.

Like a breeze brushing through leaves, like the warmth of a smile that could never be faked.

"…Enough. He's chosen."

The kind voice washed over him, soothing the jagged edges of his mind. The cruel whispers faltered, their grip breaking apart like glass shattering under sunlight.

The darkness in his chest eased. His heartbeat slowed.

As BB's sobs softened into quiet breaths, his eyelids grew heavy again. And this time, when sleep came, it did not drag him into the abyss.

It led him into light.

He was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming, but it was warm, vivid, and kind.

Chaldea stood before him, not as the cold halls of memory but as something rebuilt patched together, imperfect but alive.

He stood at its heart, and BB was there, her hand intertwined with his. Her smile was different now, not sly, not mocking, but genuine, radiant, and shyly hopeful.

Around them, the faceless Servants emerged again.

For an instant, fear tightened his chest, until BB squeezed his hand. Together, they turned. Together, they smiled.

And the faceless figures, instead of circling in betrayal, drifted closer,gentle, welcoming, surrounding them not as enemies but as companions. The black masks softened into light, until they were no longer faceless horrors but shadows of what once was, warming the halls once more.

He saw Mash's bright smile, heard Da Vinci's gentle expression, and felt the countless hands of his Servants, once faceless shadows,reaching toward him not with betrayal, but with trust.

For a moment, it was as if Chaldea had never fallen.

He stood still, letting it all wash over him. The smell of the cafeteria, the bustle of the command room, the simple warmth of being together. Every memory: the victories, the losses, the farewells, rushed back, bittersweet but no longer suffocating.

"…Thank you," he whispered to the dream, to the shadows, to the past itself.

Then he turned, and BB was there.

Her hand slipped into his. Warm. Real. Present.

"…Maybe I'm running from my past," he admitted quietly, his gaze lifting toward the ceiling of that dream-Chaldea. "Maybe I'm weak for wanting this… for clinging to it."

He looked down at BB, her figure leaning against him, her smile as bright as any sunrise.

"But… even if it's just running away, I can still choose what I hold onto. I can still focus on the present. And…" His hand squeezed hers. "…I can plan for our future."

BB tilted her head at him, blinking, her smile widening as though she understood every word.

And for the first time in far too long, Ritsuka let himself believe.

An alarm alerts the room showing it is finally morning time.

Ritsuka's eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the glow of ceiling lights turning on. For a moment he was still caught between dream and waking, his arms lax, his breath slow. Then he shifted, realizing warmth was still against him.

BB stirred at the same time, her lashes fluttering. Their gazes met the moment both fully awoke.

"...Morning," Ritsuka said softly, offering a tired but genuine smile.

Before he could say more, she moved.

BB launched forward, wrapping her arms around him so tightly it nearly knocked the air from his lungs. Her voice cracked as the words tumbled out again and again—

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…!"

Her body trembled as she buried her face against his chest, the artificial bravado she always wore stripped away entirely.

Ritsuka froze at the suddenness, then quickly held her close, his hands rubbing circles across her back to soothe her.

"BB, hey, hey… calm down. What's wrong?" His voice was steady, but inside he felt his heart hammering.

Her answer broke against him like glass.

"…I didn't… I don't want to betray you!"

The rawness in her tone silenced him.

And then-

He understood.

The dream. The memories.

She had seen them.

His connection to her, the bond, the link they had forged had bled the dream into her. She hadn't only seen his past. She had felt it. She had lived it, as if the weight of his scars and fears had been pressed directly into her soul.

Slowly, he pulled back enough to see her face. Tears streaked down her cheeks, her expression breaking with shame.

"…You saw it," Ritsuka whispered. It wasn't a question.

BB's lips trembled. "…I… I didn't mean to… But I felt it, Senpai. All of it. How much they meant to you. How much you lost. How much you still hurt. And I… I was so afraid. That I'd just be another BB. That I'd…"

Her words fell apart as she sobbed.

For a long moment, Ritsuka said nothing. He only looked at her, the vulnerability she never allowed anyone to see, the terror of being nothing more than a shadow.

Then, gently, he lifted his hands and cupped her cheeks.

Her eyes widened at the touch.

"It doesn't matter," he said, calm and sure. His thumbs brushed away her tears, steady as stone. "I believe you. You're not her. You're you. And I trust you. As well you are BB who was born out of love. And your love towards me is real."

Before she could protest, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead. A quiet, tender promise.

BB froze, trembling, then leaned into his touch as though afraid he'd vanish.

In that fragile silence, Ritsuka smiled faintly, though his heart was heavy.

'But I have to tell her… he thought, the words echoing only within himself. If I don't… we'll never truly move past this. We can't build a future on half-truths.'

His arms tightened around her, the warmth between them grounding him.

'Not at this moment. But soon. She deserves to know everything.' Ritsuka thought to himself hugging BB.

And as BB clung to him like he was her world, Ritsuka silently vowed he wouldn't keep secrets from this BB anymore.

Chapter Text

My Posting Schedule + A Bit of Background on me

1. Might post every Tuesday And Friday (Or When I Feel like Posting)
2. Only had Played Global but I am Caught up with the JP Side
3. I love Ritsuka both gender are great but I love my Husband so Male Ritsuka is my choice out of the two
4. I'm Calling myself BBEAST as I am the Beast Created from my Love and Hate for Humanity as they make My Husband Suffer.
5. To make it easier for myself each newer chapter would prob have a minimum of 2-3k words

Finding A Place In An Abandoned World Timeline

So There are two Timelines in this Fic and I will cover both.

The NTR Timeline (Official name: Corrupted Timeline)
- This World takes place after Lostbelt 7 and Ritsuka and the Chaldea of this world finally back in their base back in the ice cold mountains.
- At this point Ritsuka summoned all the playable Servant characters that came from the Lostbelts.
- The World got Bleached and they have to deal with Ordeal Calls.
- The Cloak Tower Sent "Reinforcements" For Chaldea
- This Timeline Ritsuka living a similar life to the Canon in game Ritsuka but the Extra master arrived.
- This Timeline was Just before Summer Dubai BB and Hakunon could pull up.

The Fallen Timeline (Official Name: Ruins Timeline)
- Ritsuka Died during his final Singularity against Goetia {The True Story will be when Flip Side chapter 2-3 begins.}
- The World didn't get Bleached however they still needed to do Ordeal Calls
- The Cloak Tower is more helpful in this Timeline with Chaldea
- Without Ritsuka, Rikka & Chaldea are behind and only just finished Lost Belt 6.
- Summer BB (Hawaii) Event took place before Final Singularity & Some other events took place.

So Corrupted Ritsuka entering this world has knowledge of all the servants and Lostbelts for this world.

Author Q&A #1:

1Q.) What Caused The Corrupted Timeline to be so Corrupted?

A.) It is a Haze/fog inspired by Aeon fic No Longer A Master. But the key difference is that Even though this timeline is based off the Ankoman Doujinshi doesn't actually mean it is infected by a "Outer" god named Ankoman/Jeffrey. It will be explained in more detail in the future but the things I can say about it without spoiling or revealing to much. Is that in their lore an event happened caused that world to "Correct" the mistake it caused and such against Gaia, Ayala, and other systems in place could not prevent this thing from happening. Rather it was actually the will of reality that Caused the Haze/Fog to occur to happened to this Chaldea.

2Q.) Why are the Timeline for the Ruins Chaldea so different than in canon?
A.) Just like in the Multi-verse theory + FGO Arcade for each varying Chaldea has their own pacing but for the Ruins Timeline a lot of Singularities and events were swapped around due to the choices of their Ritsuka. As for Example in this Timeline the CCC Event happened earlier but it also true for the applied in the opposite way. As the Dante prison event didn't happened until Lostbelt 3 and Rikka had to experience it as Ritsuka was long dead since that time period.

3Q.) Will we see the Corrupted Timeline again? And Will They See Ritsuka Again?

A.) Yes We Will, As they will have their own chapters call Chaldea Flip Side which will mirror Ritsuka in the Ruins Timeline. As it will have BB being one of the two Main interest/Protag for these Section of the fic. As for Will they See Ritsuka again...... Yes and No as Flip Side will deal with their own problems with and without him but I will say it not fully confirmed but I do have an interesting development if Ritsuka meets them again near the end.

4Q.) Why Does Ritsuka seems so different in Chapter 2 from the way he was Chapter 1?

A.) The Reason for this is Simple Ritsuka in Chapter 2 is slowly being freed from the Control of the Haze/Fog that was present in Chapter 1. He is slowly returning back to how he once was. But it doesn't mean he isn't still somewhat the same he was in Chapter 1. Though it out right shown he is masking his true thoughts and feelings to even to a point some the readers don't notice as Ritsuka himself doesn't realized his trying to deny and run away from confronting what he experienced back in the other Timeline. and This will be shown more in future chapters I have planned as to show more of Ritsuka inner thoughts and struggles.

5Q.) Why Make An Anti-NTR Fic Without Ritsuka Getting His Payback Or Being Out Right Distant To His Servants.

A.) Honestly for two simple Reasons: 1) Because I want to focus on his recovery via healing the aspect of his mind instead of pointless revenge. 2) It because I believe it his overall Nature. While Ritsuka isn't a Saint he far from it his isn't a heartless killing machine or what people depict him as even though he did destroy many worlds and took many lives it was out of duty and love. I would like to State that I don't condone or Support NTR or Cheating in general. While I receive comments from both my Ao3 and QQ comment section saying I am as I don't have Ritsuka getting payback. I would like to try talk about my points.

Ritsuka at this point bonded with his servants if you were to look at this at a gaming perspective he pretty much Bond lvl 15 Each of them. So while he did and still is feeling Hurt by his servants and loves via not their words but the actions behind it. I know Ritsuka once again isn't a saint be he is still human meaning even feeling hatred and pain he still knows about empathy and love. Right now Ritsuka is hurt but he still loves his servants as they shared many moments and memories with each other. While Ritsuka is conflicted his current thoughts with the Corrupted Timeline People he down in his core still loves them in his own way. We seen time and time again though perhaps in lower or even higher level of similar attempts to Ritsuka and he still pushes through. While I do agree Ritsuka in his own way should leave them as they did nothing but hurt him but even still Ritsuka values Bonds over anything else. So while he could be Distant in my mind I just don't think so as time and time again shown in many FGO content Ritsuka will always love his family.

6Q.) In Terms of Pairing/Ships in this Fic who is trying to get with Ritsuka?

A.) I knew this question going to be asked but I was ready. In AO3 I posted the ships I plan to make in this fic so let me break it down. The main three ships I have for Ritsuka who is in the Ruins Timeline is BB x Ritsuka, Da Vinci x Ritsuka, and Koyan (Both Versions) X Ritsuka. I also put Chaldea X Ritsuka & Everyone X Ritsuka but those for minor ships that will shown more in the Extra chapters. Now Ritsuka with the Corrupted Timeline....... not going to say much but all I got to say is the Corrupted Timeline has to worry about something more important than that first.

7Q.) Are the Extras Canon or connected to the Main Fic?

A.) Yes and No, As will there be bonus content for the Main fic? that is a yes but they will have the label (AAW Canon) meaning it directly tied to the fic. But overall the Extra are going to be used as my way to write other Stuff for FGO it will not all be Anti stuff but perhaps silly one-shots or ship fics.

Chapter Text

​​Chapter 2 Interlude B: A Digital Love And A Real Truth

The corridor lights of Chaldea gleamed faintly, their glow softened by the hour. The base was quiet, most Servants in their rooms. In that quiet space, BB found herself wandering the halls, her usual mischievous smile dimmed into something gentler.

Then-

"BB."

Her ears twitched at the familiar voice, and she turned.

There he was. Her Senpai. Ritsuka stood just a few steps away, his posture casual but his smile warm in that unmistakable way that never failed to catch her off guard.

"Senpai…" she breathed, her tone softer than she intended.

Ritsuka beckoned her forward with a tilt of his head, his blue eyes gleaming as though he were hiding something. "Come here, BB. I've got a gift for you."

"A gift?" BB's lips curved upward, her usual playful cadence slipping back into place as she swayed her hips slightly, approaching with deliberate slowness. "My, my, Senpai~ how daring. What might you have for your cute kouhai, hm?"

Ritsuka's grin only deepened. He had something held carefully behind his back. BB's curiosity sharpened instantly, and she leaned closer, tilting her head with a sly glint in her eyes.

"

Are you sure this isn't a trick?" she teased, lowering her voice to a whisper as she inched forward. "Because even it is, Senpai, I'll have to retaliate~"

But before she could finish, he closed the distance between them.

Ritsuka leaned in suddenly, so close their foreheads almost touched. The proximity made BB's heart leap before she could stop herself, her body instinctively flinching back half an inch, her hands clutched nervously at her sides.

For a moment, she thought-

But then he stepped back, his grin boyishly triumphant.

"…And done. Perfect," he declared with satisfaction.

BB blinked in surprise, her eyes widening. "…Done? What do you mean done? What did you—?"

Ritsuka chuckled and pointed upward. "Check your hair, BB."

Confused, BB summoned a small mirror with a flick of her hand, the surface shimmering into existence in midair. Her reflection stared back except now, tucked neatly into her purple locks, was a ribbon. A delicate purple and blue ribbon, tied carefully, resting just above her ear.

Her lips parted ever so slightly.

"…"

"It matches you," Ritsuka said simply, his tone genuine, his smile softening. "I was looking through some of the leftover materials and equipment in storage. Bits of cloth, scraps from repairs… and I thought, why not make something small? It took a while, but well, I figured this would look good on you."

His words carried no grand flourish, no dramatic lead-up. Just sincerity, simple and unshakable.

BB felt her cheeks warm, heat rushing to her face before she could stop it. She covered her mouth with her hand, though her smirk tried desperately to hide the blush burning beneath.

"Oh my~ Senpai… you actually made this just for me?" She tilted her head, her voice playful again, though her pitch wavered slightly from the faint tremor of embarrassment. "That's awfully bold, don't you think? Watch out… you might make Mash jealous~"

Ritsuka let out a nervous laugh, scratching his cheek with his finger. "Y-Yeah, maybe… but it wouldn't feel right if it wasn't you. Somehow, I just thought… it suits you best."

The teasing words BB had prepared caught in her throat. Her usual act of smug bravado faltered. For once, she didn't have a ready quip, her heart thudding at the quiet honesty in his voice.

She lowered her mirror slowly, staring at the ribbon again through its reflection.

"…It's beautiful," she whispered, almost to herself.

Then, forcing her grin back onto her lips, she leaned forward once more, her tone lilting. "Senpai~ really now, you shouldn't spoil your kouhai like this. If you keep giving me presents, I'll start thinking you actually like me~"

Ritsuka met her gaze head-on, his smile unwavering. "Maybe I do."

BB froze.

For just an instant, the mask slipped entirely, the teasing, the coyness, the smugness. All that remained was a girl, caught off guard, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest.

"…Senpai," she murmured, her voice trembling faintly.

Ritsuka chuckled again, though more gently this time, reaching out to adjust the ribbon he had tied. His fingers brushed against her hair, lingering just a second too long.

"It looks good on you, BB. Really."

Her smirk slowly returned, though her blush betrayed her. "…Then I suppose I'll accept it. But—" she leaned closer, her eyes narrowing mischievously, "—you'll owe me for making my heart race like this. And trust me, Senpai, I always collect my debts~"

Ritsuka only smiled. "…Then I'll pay it back however you want."

BB's heart skipped again, and she quickly turned her head, feigning exasperation. "…Geez, Senpai. Don't say things like that so easily. A girl might take you seriously, you know."

But her hand rose almost instinctively, brushing against the ribbon. And for once, she didn't want the moment to end.

BB twirled in place, the blush still clinging to her cheeks, the warmth of Senpai's words echoing in her chest. But when she turned—

The world shifted.

The corridors of Chaldea melted away like watercolors dripping from a canvas. The ground trembled under her feet, and when BB blinked again, she was standing on fractured stone, an endless sky of fire and light raging above.

Her breath caught.

"This place…" she whispered.

It was the Final Singularity. The moment she had never lived, yet knew from the whispers of records and fragments of data. The endless space, and the reality itself seemed to scream.

And there—fighting at the center of it all—was him.

"Senpai…"

Ritsuka stood, battered and breathless, at the monstrous figure that towered over him. Goetia. The King of Demon Gods, the very embodiment of humanity's end. This clash of the blows rattled the crumbling platform, each explosion of light threatening to erase everything in existence.

Then came the flash.

An attack from Goetia—blinding, merciless. The battlefield was drowned in light.

When it cleared, Ritsuka was on his knees, his arms trembling as he tried to push himself upright.

And behind him—

"Doctor…?" Ritsuka's eyes widened.

Romani Archaman stepped forward, his body outlined with golden radiance. No… not Romani. Solomon.

"Ritsuka… I'll handle this." His voice was calm, steady, carrying both sorrow and resolve. "I was always meant to end this fight."

Romani raised his hand, light swelling within it—his ultimate, the final strike of Solomon.

But before the spell could fully take form, Goetia moved.

Faster than sight.

The claw pierced through him, cruel and merciless. Blood blossomed in the air as Romani's body arched, the radiance flickering.

"No!" Ritsuka's scream tore through the battlefield.

Goetia flung Romani aside like discarded rubble. BB's heart lurched, she wanted to run, to help, but her body felt heavy, unmoored, as though the dream had shackled her to the ground.

But Senpai moved.

Ritsuka's fist slammed into Goetia, raw fury in his blow, forcing the beast backward just enough to buy time.

Then—

He was there.

By Romani's side. Reaching down, trying to lift him with trembling arms. "Doctor… Please, stay with me. We're not done yet!"

The singularity groaned. The entire platform fractured under them, splitting apart, light bleeding through the cracks like molten lava. The world itself was breaking.

BB staggered, arms out to balance herself on the shaking ground. Her chest tightened, her voice choked. "Senpai—!"

She turned her eyes back to him, and what she saw stole the breath from her lungs.

Ritsuka was glowing.

Mana leaked from his body in waves, so dense it shimmered like a second skin of light. His Command Seals burned crimson against his hand as he rose, every step heavy, every breath pained.

"Not… yet…" he whispered, raising his arm. "Not until… it's over."

The incantation left his lips, and power surged. Reality quaked. The light he unleashed consumed Goetia, tearing through the monstrosity's body in a storm that swallowed everything.

When it cleared, the enemy was gone.

And so was the strength in Ritsuka's legs.

He collapsed, his body striking the ground hard.

"Senpai!" BB's voice cracked as she ran, the ribbon in her hair whipping in the wind. She dropped to her knees beside him, hands glowing with healing spells. The damage was unbearable,burns, fractures, blood loss,but she poured everything into her magecraft, refusing to stop.

"Please, hold on… don't you dare leave me like this… not after—"

A weak warmth pressed against her cheek.

Ritsuka's trembling hand cupped her face. His eyes, though clouded with exhaustion, still held that same gentle smile.

"…BB," he whispered.

Her tears fell freely as she leaned closer. "I'm here! I'm not going anywhere, so don't you dare fade away on me, Senpai!"

His lips moved, and she strained to hear.

"…your ribbon… it's ruined."

BB froze, her heart twisting at the absurdity of his words.

"…What are you—?"

"I'll fix it…" He lifted his hand weakly, grasping at the ribbon in her hair. "Don't… don't worry… I'll make it good as new…"

Her sobs tore free as she clutched his hand against her cheek, healing him desperately even as the singularity collapsed further around them.

But then Ritsuka's eyes shifted.

"Rikka…"

BB followed his gaze. Across the fractured battlefield, a small figure lay still amidst the chaos, his sister, broken and unmoving.

"No… no, Senpai, don't…" BB begged, already knowing what he was about to do.

Ritsuka's Command Seals flared. His voice rang out, hoarse but unwavering.

"All Servants of Chaldea… hear my order! Take Rikka and get out of here! Leave this place! Now!"

"No—!" BB screamed, fighting against the compulsion as it gripped her body. The red glow forced her limbs to obey, dragging her back against her will. "Senpai, stop! Don't you dare do this! Please—"

Her vision blurred with tears, the last thing she saw etched into her memory forever.

Ritsuka, lying broken on the stone, clutching the ribbon he had made for her.

And smiling.

Even as the Final Singularity swallowed him whole.

The battlefield dissolved.

BB felt the ground vanish from under her feet. The weight in her chest did not ease; if anything, it grew heavier, pressing down like chains.

When her vision cleared, she stood in silence.

It was a room she knew well—Ritsuka's.

Or rather, what had once been his.

Now it was a memorial.

The bed was neatly made, untouched. Flowers sat in vases along the desk. A picture frame lay propped against the wall, filled with his smiling face surrounded by Chaldea's staff and Servants. As the servants finally put the last spells, runes, and anything to preserve this room.

BB stood frozen, her hands trembling at her sides. Her throat tightened.

"No… no, no, this isn't right… this isn't how it should be…"

Her vision blurred, tears threatening to spill again. She turned, retreating, stumbling blindly until her back pressed against the hallway wall.

Then her surroundings shifted again.

She was in her own room now.

The monitors flickered with static, casting cold light across the space. Her dolls lay scattered on the bed, their glassy eyes staring at her in silence. The oppressive weight in her chest returned.

"Is this what you want me to see…?" she whispered to the dream, to the voice that had plagued Ritsuka. "That I'm meant to carry this alone? That Senpai's gone, and I'm supposed to just… watch?"

Her knees buckled, and she dropped onto the floor, clutching her chest. "I won't accept it… I can't accept it…"

The static screens cracked apart.

And when they cleared, she was standing once more back in the ruins of Chaldea's command room.

And there—

"Senpai…"

Ritsuka was there, barely standing. His clothes were torn, blood seeping from deep wounds that refused to close. His eyes… they weren't looking at her. They stared past her, distant, fading.

"Senpai, no, don't you dare look at me like that!" BB cried, her hands stretching toward him.

And then his lips moved.

"…I'm sorry, BB."

Her breath caught, her heart splitting open.

"I must go."

"No… no, no!" Her scream cracked into a sob as she lunged forward. "You can't leave me again! Not after everything—!"

But something caught her.

Black shadows surged from the ground, slick and cold like tar. They wrapped around her legs, her arms, pulling her down, dragging her back no matter how she fought.

"Let me go! Let me go!" BB shrieked, thrashing violently, her nails digging into the shadows, tearing but they only thickened, only dragged harder.

Still, she forced herself forward. Inch by inch.

Her hand stretched out, fingertips brushing the edge of his sleeve.

"Senpai… Senpai…!"

Finally, she caught hold of his clothes, gripping desperately, as if she could anchor him here by sheer force of will.

Her tears spilled freely, staining the fabric she clutched.

"…Senpai… Senpai…" she whimpered, her voice fragile, breaking with every breath. "Don't leave me… please… don't leave me…"

Ritsuka's dim eyes lowered, meeting hers for the first time. There was sorrow in them, sorrow deeper than words could express.

And even as the shadows pulled harder at BB's body, even as the dream threatened to shatter around her, she refused to let go.

The shadows pulled.

BB's nails dug deeper into Ritsuka's sleeve, her throat burning as sobs tore through her. The shadows threatened to swallow her whole.

But then—

Light.

A gentle heat brushed against her fingertips. It seeped into her palms, into her arms, into her chest. Not overwhelming—just enough to remind her it was there.

Her breath hitched. "…S-Senpai…?"

The shadows hissed, recoiling as the warmth spread further. She could feel it—threadlike, invisible, yet unbreakable. A bond.

Her bond with him.

It tugged at her heart, drawing memories to the surface.

A different Ritsuka. The one who stumbled into this ruined Chaldea, weary but still smiling when she called him Senpai.

She remembered leaning on the consoles in the broken Command Room, twirling her hair as she teased him.

"My, my, Senpai, fumbling around like this… Do you really think you can fix my Chaldea?" she'd purred, her voice dripping with mockery.

And yet… when his hands were buried in wires and data fragments, brow furrowed, she had caught herself staring longer than she should. Noticing the determination there. Noticing the warmth that didn't dim, even in this broken shell of a base.

She had teased him again. "Geez, Senpai~ Don't look so serious. It's only the fate of the world, no pressure at all."

He'd glanced at her then, lips twitching into a small smile. "Even if it's impossible, I'd rather try than just sit and watch. Besides… I'm not alone, am I?"

That simple line had disarmed her more than any insult ever could.

Another memory surfaced.

The taste of chocolate.

She had "graciously" offered him more pieces from the vending machine, wagging it temptingly before his lips.

"Say 'ahhh,' Senpai~ You should feel honored, you know. Your adorable kouhai doesn't just share chocolate with anyone."

He'd laughed—awkward but genuine—before biting into it. For a moment, their fingers had brushed, and she'd felt a jolt she didn't dare admit to.

And then there were the late nights.

The Command Room bathed in dim light, the two of them sitting side by side among flickering monitors.

She'd leaned against the desk, smirking. "Senpai, do you really think rebooting this whole mess will make it like the old Chaldea again? That you can bring back what was lost?"

He'd paused, looking up at her. No hesitation in his voice.

"No… but maybe we can build something new."

Something in her chest had stirred then—something she couldn't laugh away.

Back in the present, the warmth grew brighter. The shadows around her weakened, shuddering as if the bond itself burned them away.

BB tightened her grip on Ritsuka's sleeve, pressing her forehead against it. Her tears fell harder, but this time they weren't just from despair.

"…You dummy… Always saying things like that… Always smiling like you mean it…" Her voice shook, yet her lips curved into the faintest trembling smile.

The dream warped. The shadows receded. And in the distance, she swore she could see a glow—not just light, but him.

Her Senpai.

The warmth steadied her.

For a moment, BB allowed herself to close her eyes, sinking into the tether that connected her to Ritsuka. His stubbornness, his unyielding resolve, his warmth—all of it was there.

But then something shifted.

A faint creak.

Her eyes opened, and there it was.

A door.

Standing upright in the middle of the void, glowing faintly against the black.

BB blinked, her head tilting slightly. "Eh…? What's this supposed to be…?"

She stepped closer, curiosity instinctively pulling at her heels. The closer she came, the more she noticed faint letters shimmering across its surface.

Ritsuka's Dreams and Memories.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. For once, even she—the ever-playful BB—was silent.

Her heart gave a painful twist.

"Senpai's… memories…?" she whispered, the words fragile on her tongue.

The curiosity came immediately, sharp and insistent. What kind of life had her Senpai lived before he appeared in this broken Chaldea? Who had he smiled at before her? Who had he trusted? Who had he loved?

And then—

The fear followed.

Her hand hovered inches from the doorknob. Her lips trembled.

"…No… I shouldn't…"

She forced a laugh, hollow and brittle. "Peeking into my Senpai's head like this… That's more than just bad manners, that's… that's…" Her voice wavered, and she lowered her hand, pressing it against her chest.

The guilt gnawed at her. She could feel it—the temptation. She wanted to know. She wanted to see the Ritsuka that existed before her, the one who had fought through Singularities, who had earned the loyalty of countless Servants.

And more than that—

She wanted to know about her.

The other BB.

What type of AI Kouhai was she? Was she the same? Or was she better than her?  

Her nails dug into her palm as her thoughts spiraled.

"What kind of bond… Did he have it with her? Did he ever… smile for her the way he smiles at me? Did he…" Her throat tightened, words choking off before they could escape.

For a moment, her reflection shimmered on the golden surface of the door—eyes wide, lips quivering, the teasing mask stripped away.

She laughed weakly, the sound cracking. "Geez, BB, you're such an idiot… Why are you even hesitating? You're the one who always digs into things, aren't you? You're supposed to be shameless, cruel, irresistible…"

But her hand wouldn't move.

It hovered, shaking, before the handle.

Her voice softened, almost breaking. "…But if I open this… if I see what he's been through, what he's suffered… what if… what if I can't look him in the eye anymore?"

Silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

Her heart waged war with itself.

The guilt.

The curiosity.

The longing.

"…Senpai…" she whispered, biting her lip as a single tear trailed down her cheek. "What kind of life did you live before you came here…? And… What kind of BB did you see then…? And do you compare me to her?"

Her fingers brushed the cold metal of the doorknob.

The void around her seemed to hold its breath.

The doorknob turned with a soft, deliberate click.

Light spilled out in a sudden wash of warmth, painting BB's body in gold and ivory. She blinked, her artificial eyes adjusting as the sterile, familiar corridors of Chaldea faded away.

What surrounded her was… different.

The hallway stretched with impossible length, humming faintly as though the air itself carried a pulse. Each breath she drew vibrated in her chest, tingling with unseen energy. It wasn't the calm stillness of Chaldea's underground base, but something alive—moving.

BB's lips curled into a small frown, her expression tightening as she turned toward the nearby window.

Her heart skipped.

The view beyond the glass was not earthbound soil or snow. Instead, a sky of endless blue spread outward, clouds roiling in vast, sweeping waves far below. The frame of some enormous metallic structure cut across her vision—a fortress, yet also a ship. Its bulk shimmered in the sunlight, sturdy and unyielding, like an ark meant to weather divine judgment.

"A ship…?" Her voice trembled as the thought escaped. She pressed closer to the glass, squinting against the light.

A pair of voices floated in from the end of the corridor. Servants, walking casually, their words carried by the hum of the air.

"…Storm Border duty shift—make sure to check with the bridge before rotations."
"Right, right. Honestly, if we don't keep it up, this wandering stronghold's going to collapse before the next Lostbelt."

Her breath caught.

"Storm… Border?" she whispered.

The words tumbled from her lips as fragments of memory flickered—scraps of information Ritsuka had shared once, almost in passing, while they sifted through the broken ruins of Chaldea. The Storm Border. Humanity's final fortress, their ark, built after Chaldea was destroyed. The vessel that carried the last embers of hope.

Her hands trembled at her sides.

So this was it. The place where humanity drifted after everything else was gone.

The soles of her shoes clicked softly as she walked forward, drawn deeper by something unnamed, something pulling her chest. And then—

"Senpai…"

The word escaped her lips before she realized it.

Because there he was.

Ritsuka.

Not the frail, dying version she had cradled in nightmares, the one who clung to her in weakness. Ritsuka's steps were steady, his posture upright, his expression glowing with vitality. His presence radiated warmth that filled the corridor like sunlight through stained glass.

BB's breath hitched.

Around him gathered familiar faces. Mash walked beside him, her shield secure at her back, her eyes alight with gentle loyalty. Leonardo da Vinci but much younger trailed just a step behind, voice spilling with laughter, hands fluttering with flamboyant motion. Other Servants appeared too—faces BB thought she'd never see again. They teased him, called out to him, pressed close as though orbiting a star.

Their bond was undeniable.

And it scorched her.

BB swallowed, eyes narrowing, her gaze fixed on the curve of his smile.

"I missed them….. I hope they are resummoned and doing well" she muttered under her breath.

The scene blurred, then shifted like a lens focusing.

Now he stood in an office. Across from him sat a man clad in ostentatious clothing, his round face locked in serious concentration.

BB tilted her head. "…Huh? The new Director?"

Her tone was thick with disbelief. She remembered faint words, rumors of Chaldea's transition after Ritsuka and Romani's death. As she remembers this person aiding in evacuating the people in her Chaldea.

Director Goredolf.

She leaned closer, listening.

Ritsuka's voice was calm, confident, reassuring as he spoke to the blustering Director. His words carried none of the cracks of sadness she remembered. Instead, they rang with conviction, promising to shoulder burdens no single person should ever bear.

He was no longer the fragile master she remembered.

"…Senpai…" BB whispered, her throat tightening as her lips trembled.

But before the ache could settle, the world twisted again.

This time, BB's entire body froze.

Her chest plummeted, breath torn from her lungs.

Because there—standing close, far too close—was her.

Not this BB. Not the one who lingered as a fractured shadow.

The other BB.

The one who belonged to Ritsuka first.

She stood at his side, her violet hair gleaming under the sterile light, her tone lilting and sing-song. She poked at his cheek, eyes glinting mischievously as if she had always belonged there.

"My, my, Senpai~. Always rushing off into danger, aren't you? You really don't care how much you make your cute kouhai worry?"

Ritsuka laughed, brushing her hand away with a fond shake of his head.

"Yeah, yeah. And you really don't care how impossible you are to deal with, do you? Always showing up uninvited."

But his smile—

It wasn't forced.

It wasn't a pity smile.

It was genuine.

And it was for her.

The BB at the doorway clutched her chest. Her nails bit into her palm, sharp enough to draw lines of pain. Her heart ached, trembling beneath the weight of jealousy.

"...So… you really did smile like that for her," she whispered, her voice breaking apart.

The memory BB leaned closer still, slipping a chocolate into his hand with a wink too smooth, too practiced.

"Then at least let me spoil you, Senpai. Don't worry—I'm very, very good at being irresistible~."

Ritsuka shook his head with a grin, already biting into the treat. "Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless."

The laughter that followed was warm. Too warm.

BB stumbled back, shoulders shaking.

"…Why…? Why is it that in this world, she… she got to stand beside you… while the one I knew…" Her voice cracked as her words dissolved, swallowed by the echo of his laughter.

Her legs trembled, but her eyes refused to turn away. She stared, caught between agony and something softer, something far crueler.

Because underneath the jealousy…

There was warmth.

He smiled.

He laughed.

He was alive.

For a moment, just a fleeting moment, BB let her forehead fall against the doorframe. Her tears slipped free, staining the floor like fragile drops of glass.

"…If it's with you, Senpai…" she whispered, her tone almost a prayer. "Then even she… even that BB… must have been less lonely. Because she had you."

Her voice faded into the quiet hum of the Storm Border.

BB's heart fluttered violently, caught between warmth and bitterness, as she lingered on the memory of the other BB laughing with Ritsuka.

That smile—so easy, so natural.

He had touched her hand, teased her in turn, accepted her pranks as though they were part of a game he enjoyed playing. His laughter had been free, genuine, not the brittle sound she sometimes coaxed from him when despair weighed too heavily on his soul.

It was happiness. Pure, untainted happiness.

And though part of BB was glad—glad that Ritsuka's original BB could feel joy, glad that someone who bore her name and face could lean on him—another part twisted violently with envy.

'Why not me?'

Her hands trembled at her sides, fingers twitching between reaching out and clenching into fists.

Before the ache could consume her entirely, the warmth of the scene cracked.

The air shattered like brittle glass.

The Storm Border dissolved in splinters of light, breaking away into nothingness.

BB gasped, blinking as the world reformed around her.

Cold.

Sterile.

The familiar white corridors of Chaldea stretched outward, humming faintly with the static buzz of fluorescent lights. But something was wrong.

The air was too still. Too heavy. The lights above flickered with irregular sparks, shadows lengthening unnaturally. The hallway itself bent as though painted onto warped glass, stretching longer and longer the more she looked.

"Why… why am I back here?" BB whispered, her voice quivering. "This… this isn't how it should look…"

Her shoes tapped softly against the floor as she wandered forward, each step echoing like a drip in an endless cavern. Her pulse quickened, nerves twisting inside her as she rounded a corner.

And then—

Her breath caught. Violently.

Her vision snapped into focus on a room.

"—!"

What she saw inside froze her blood.

Jeanne d'Arc Alter—her fierce, proud, uncompromising fellow Servant—was pinned against the wall. Her yellow eyes blazed with fury and humiliation, her body straining against the brute force that held her down. A man BB didn't recognize loomed over her, his hands crushing her wrists as if she were prey.

"No…" BB whispered, eyes wide, her voice broken.

She staggered closer, and the rest of the scene revealed itself like a nightmare.

Inside the room, others writhed in grotesque like it was a smut doujinshi . Tamamo's face flushed, twisted with false pleasure. Mash's voice rang out, a stifled and strained smile. Even Rikka—bright, innocent Rikka—was there, her smile warped into something hollow, painted across her face by unseen force. Strange men—faceless, unknown, utterly alien—pressed against them, their figures all wrong, invaders who did not belong in Chaldea's halls.

The sight churned BB's stomach.

It wasn't intimacy. It was depravity at it finest.

It was wrong.

A violation.

A desecration.

Her lips parted to scream—

"HEY! LET HER GO!"

The voice cut like thunder, rattling the sterile walls.

Ritsuka.

Her Senpai.

He charged into the room, fists clenched so tightly blood slicked his knuckles. His eyes burned—not with despair, not with exhaustion—but with a fury BB had rarely seen. His body trembled with desperation, his voice raw with urgency.

"Get away from her! Get away from all of them!"

He sprinted, reckless and unthinking, toward Jeanne Alter—ready to throw himself into hell itself just to pull her free.

But before he could reach her—

A shadow stepped into his path.

Purple hair shimmered under the flickering lights, swaying as though stirred by an unseen breeze. Her summer dress glowed faintly, catching the sterile brightness. Her lips curled into a mocking, saccharine smile.

BB's stomach turned to ice.

It was her.

Memory BB.

"Wha—why… why are you—?" the real BB stammered, frozen at the doorway.

Ritsuka stumbled to a halt. His eyes widened, disbelief painted across his face. His chest heaved, ragged with breath.

"…BB?" he whispered.

The other BB tilted her head coyly, raising a finger like a toy pistol.

"Ah, Senpai~," she chimed, her voice sickly sweet, dripping venom beneath its honey. "You really shouldn't have wandered in here. Tch, tch, tch."

"BB—" His voice cracked between anger and confusion. "What are you doing? What is this?!"

The real BB shook her head furiously, reaching out as though she could grab the scene and rip it apart. "No—you wouldn't—! I'd never—!"

Memory BB's smile widened, crueler.

"I'm sorry, Senpai~," she purred, the apology an empty dagger, "but I'll have to make you forget."

Ritsuka's body stiffened. His fists clenched tighter, shaking violently.

"Forget—?! What are you—No! Get out of my way, BB! I have to save—!"

But his shout broke off in a gasp.

The other her's finger pulsed with light. A sharp, searing beam ripped forward, too fast to stop.

"No—!" the real BB screamed, reaching desperately toward him.

The blast struck Ritsuka squarely in the head.

His eyes went wide. His breath hitched. His knees buckled.

"…BB…?" he murmured, weak and lost, his voice barely more than a child's.

Memory BB's silhouette leaned closer as his vision dimmed, her voice coiling around him like poison laced with sugar.

"Don't worry, Senpai~. Your devilish kouhai will make sure you never remember a thing."

His eyelids fluttered shut. His body collapsed, hitting the floor with a sound that echoed like the toll of a funeral bell.

The real BB's entire world tilted.

Her stomach lurched. Her legs gave out, forcing her against the doorframe as violent tremors shook her body.

"…N-no…" Tears blurred her vision. Her nails dug deep into her chest, pain searing her skin. "That's not me… I'd never—I'd never—!"

But the sound of Ritsuka's body striking the floor reverberated again and again, louder than any explosion, louder than any alarm.

Her sobs broke free, raw and helpless.

This was wrong. This was twisted. This couldn't be real.

And yet, in the fragile, trembling corner of her heart…

A poisonous thought gnawed its way through.

Is this what Senpai secretly sees in me?

Is this the monster he fears I really am?

As if to answer, the other her turned, violet eyes glinting with mockery.

That smirk—stretched cruelly, impossibly wide—was all the confirmation BB's despair needed.

BB stood frozen in the corridor of shifting light, her body trembling as the atmosphere bled and reshaped itself. Her chest tightened with each fragment that floated into existence like shards of glass being pieced into a broken mirror.

The scene shimmered—wavered—and then solidified.

Ritsuka.

He stumbled into his quarters, his shoulders slumped as though gravity itself pressed harder upon him. His eyes were shadowed, his gait sluggish, every step heavier than the last. He blinked, confusion lacing his expression—

—and suddenly he wasn't in his room at all.

The cafeteria spread around him, hollow and cavernous, its sterile lighting glaring too brightly. A tray of food rested in his hands, untouched. His lips parted, trembling faintly as though something foreign clung to his tongue. A bitter taste. Something not meant for him.

He looked down at the tray, his hands tightening on the plastic until his knuckles turned white.

Somewhere behind him, laughter rang out.

Not his own.

It was mocking. Hollow.

The sound slithered along the walls and sank into his bones.

"...Exhaustion," he whispered to himself, voice barely audible. His hand shook as he set the tray down, his expression twisting into a forced grin. "Just… fatigue. That's all. I just need sleep. Nothing more."

But BB, standing in the corner of the vision, unseen and helpless, saw the truth. The lie in his smile. The unease already planted in him like a seed of rot, burrowing deeper each time he tried to laugh it off.

Her throat tightened.

And then the world cracked again.

The cafeteria dissolved into shadow.

Now Ritsuka stood in a dark hallway, the walls stretching long and suffocating. His arms were scratched, faint streaks of blood staining his sleeves. His knuckles were split, swollen with bruises. His eyes—wide, dazed—looked like the gaze of someone who had woken up in another man's skin.

"Senpai…" BB whispered, clutching her trembling hands to her chest.

Mash was there.

She reached for him gently, her gloved fingers brushing against his wrist as though guiding a lost child. Her lips moved, but her words carried no sound. She led him back toward his room, her steps careful.

"...Mash…?" Ritsuka rasped, his voice raw, broken.

She paused, just for a second. Her violet eyes wavered, her lips curving into a faint smile.

But there was no warmth.

Only pity.

BB's chest clenched violently.

'No… not her… Not Mash…'

Mash tucked him into bed, her hand brushing over his forehead, soft, almost mechanical in its gentleness. Then she turned away, her figure fading into the darkness until only her retreating silhouette remained.

BB's tears welled.

Because even though Mash had always been her rival—always the kouhai she teased and sparred with for Senpai's affection—Mash had also been his first Servant. His shield. His partner.

To see that bond crack… hurt more than any insult.

The vision blurred.

By morning, the scratches were gone. His bruises healed. His memories, too, wiped clean—smoothed away by BB's unseen touch.

"Senpai…" BB reached out, kneeling beside him, her fingers trembling as she tried to brush her hand across his hair. Her hand phased through him like smoke. Her lips quivered as she broke into sobs. "S-Senpai… Is this… your life back in your Chaldea? Is this what I forced you to carry? Then why… why would you want to help me?"

The light flickered. The world warped again, jagged, unstable.

More fragments fell like shattered glass.

Now she saw herself—her memory self—locking Servants away. Each face BB recognized, each voice silenced one after another. Merlin sealed behind reinforced glass. Gligamesh shackled in the shadows. Even Dante, restrained, eyes blazing with betrayal.

The reason whispered in the air.

'They were getting too close to the truth.'

BB's stomach twisted.

"Stop… please… stop…" Her voice broke into the void.

The vision shifted.

Ritsuka knelt on the floor of a bathroom, gagging violently. His hands gripped porcelain as he vomited, body convulsing. Each retch tore his throat raw. His reflection in the mirror above looked haunted, fractured.

The same exhaustion. The same bruises.

The same loneliness.

And yet—he forced himself back up, staggering into the hall. He greeted Servants with a smile, reaching out to them, trying to laugh, trying to bond. His voice was warm, earnest, pleading for connection.

But the faces he reached out to blurred.

Some turned away.

Some were already gone.

Some stared with blank, lifeless eyes.

His laughter fell into silence.

BB clutched her arms around herself, shaking violently. Her nails dug into her skin as sobs tore from her throat.

'Did I… do this? Did he… really live this?' BB looking with the same exhaustion.

'If I caused him so much pain… then why doesn't he look at me like I'm a monster?' BB said as the light in her eyes began to darken a bit.

The world bled forward. Days collapsed into nights, nights into days, no longer distinct.

Sometimes Ritsuka blinked and found himself in the cafeteria, food tray in hand, surrounded by empty tables.

Sometimes he waved at a Servant who had already been locked away weeks ago, his voice bright and cheerful—only for silence to answer him.

Sometimes he laughed, only to realize no one else was there.

His reality fractured.

And BB—helpless, unseen, a ghost chained to his memories—watched it all.

Her tears streamed freely. Her cries echoed in the silence, unanswered.

All she could do was watch.

Because this was the past.

And she could not touch it.

BB's vision blurred as the corridor of fractured light bent again, pulling her into another memory.

The sterile walls of Chaldea's halls dissolved, leaving behind the familiar comfort of Ritsuka's private quarters. But it wasn't comforting with what she saw.

Ritsuka sat at his desk, shoulders hunched, his fingers tangled in his own hair. His nails tore at the skin of his lip, then gnawed at his fingertips until faint traces of blood marked the edges. His breathing was shallow, jagged—like someone who couldn't find the rhythm of his own body.

He whispered something, voice hoarse.

"I have to… remember… I can't lose it again."

His trembling hand reached for a worn notebook. Pages already filled with frantic scribbles—names, dates, notes written in a desperate hand that seemed to fight the very act of forgetting.

He wrote with sharp movements, pressing so hard the pen nearly tore the paper.

"Scáthach. Training yard. teaching. Da Vinci. Still smiling. Mash… Mash still here. Don't forget. Don't forget them. Don't forget who I am."

He slammed the pen down, gasping as if writing had drained the last of his strength. Then, carefully, he slipped the notebook beneath the mattress, glancing around as though someone might be watching.

"…If I can anchor it… I'll see the truth. I'll help them. I'll save them," he whispered to himself.

But when dawn came—

The journal lay open on the desk. Its pages were blank. Not a single line of ink remained. Even the grooves left behind by his frantic handwriting had smoothed away, as if the desk itself had healed. The scars he carved into wood with shaking fingers were gone—erased.

Ritsuka's eyes widened. His breath hitched.

"Wha… what…?" His fingers brushed the empty page, trembling. "No… no, it was here. I wrote it. I… I remember…"

His voice cracked. His body hunched forward, forehead pressed to the desk.

"Why won't it stay? Why won't anything stay…?"

BB pressed her hands to her chest, choking back the sob that threatened to escape.

"I don't know, Senpai… I don't know why that other BB would do this to you… I don't know why she would erase you…"

But then she saw Memory BB coming in the room and repeating the same thing over and over again. 

The memory did not allow her time to breathe. The walls shifted, the air churned, and suddenly—

The training yard.

Ritsuka's expression carried hope, fragile but alive, as he approached Scáthach. The warrior queen's spear moved with deadly grace, each strike colliding against a extraMaster's blade. Her face was sharp, her tone strict.

"Shishou!" Ritsuka called, raising his hand in greeting. His smile wavered, but he forced it wider. "It's been a while since we sparred. Think I could join in?"

For an instant, her spear paused. The air between them tensed, like a wire stretched to breaking.

Her eyes flickered. Then—cold.

"You're not needed here, Student." Her words were flat, a blade without hesitation. "My focus is ensuring the extra Masters reach your level. You've only going to be a hindrance to the extra Masters."

His lips parted soundlessly. The grin faltered. His hand dropped to his side.

"…Oh." His voice was a broken whisper. "Right. Of course. I'll… let you focus."

He stepped back, his form shrinking as the laughter of sparring filled the yard with laughter that was not his.

The scene shifted.

Now the workshop.

Da Vinci's familiar brilliance shone as she leaned over a table crowded with inventions, her voice light as she explained some new device to a pair of Extra Masters. Her laughter was like sunlight—warm, effortless.

Ritsuka's eyes softened. Relief filled his expression as he approached.

"Da Vinci!" His voice cracked with a nervous chuckle. "You always said art is life, right? Maybe you could… show me some techniques sometime? I'd… I'd love to learn."

For a heartbeat, her smile lingered. Then—confusion clouded her eyes. Her expression faltered, her warmth dimming like a candle in the wind.

"Ah… sorry," she said, her voice almost apologetic. "I'm in the middle of something right now."

She turned back to her companions. The light in her tone rekindled—but not for him.

"…Right," Ritsuka whispered. His head lowered, his hands clenched.

The world dissolved again.

And then—

Mash.

His anchor. His first servant. His Mash.

Ritsuka smiled faintly, hesitantly, as he found her in the hall.

"Mash! Great timing. I was hoping… maybe you and Rikka could come with me to lunch? I think Emiya's making something special today."

Mash paused. Her hands tightened against her book. Her eyes met his—and BB saw it. The light inside them dimmed, as though a fog had spread across her soul.

Her voice was gentle, but hollow.

"Sorry, Senpai. I already ate with Rikka and the others. I hope you enjoy your meal."

Ritsuka's smile froze.

"…Ah. Yeah. That's fine. I'll… see you later then."

Mash tilted her head faintly, offering the softest, rehearsed smile.

BB stepped closer, her eyes wide, desperate to understand.

"H-her eyes…" BB whispered, biting her lip. "Why do they look… clouded…?"

For a fleeting instant, when Ritsuka whispered her name again, Mash's eyes flickered. The fog lifted—just barely. A glimmer of recognition, of warmth. But just as quickly, it was gone, buried beneath the hollow smile once more.

"No…" BB shook her head, trembling. "No, there's something else happening. There has to be. Senpai… you can't give up on her yet…"

But the memory dragged her again.

The bathroom mirror.

Ritsuka stood with his hands gripping the porcelain sink. His reflection stared back with eyes rimmed red, his skin pale, his shoulders trembling under invisible weight.

The boy who saved humanity. The Master who endured the impossible. Yet the mirror showed no savior. No leader. Only a broken boy, fighting to recognize himself.

BB's hands shook as she reached for him, only to phase through the image.

"Don't worry, Senpai… I-I know there's still someone here who loves you." Her voice cracked, as if she didn't believe the words. "Even if it's only me… that's enough, isn't it?"

But her words faded beneath the echo that followed.

Laughter.

It rang through Chaldea's halls, warm and bright. Smiles bloomed, cheer filled the air.

But never for him.

And BB's chest tightened, her voice breaking as doubt seeped into her heart.

"If you were abandoned like this… if you were erased piece by piece… then why… Why did you want to help me? Why do you still look at me like I matter…?"

She covered her mouth, but the tears came anyway.

For the first time, BB wondered if her Senpai's kindness was truly for her—or if it was simply the last flicker of light he had left to give.

BB's stomach twisted violently, her insides coiling as if the very air itself were poisoned. Every fragment of memory that flashed before her left her colder, weaker—like her body itself rejected what she was seeing. Her arms trembled against her chest, nails digging into her skin.

The corridor of memories convulsed, its endless walls rippling like water disturbed by unseen hands. The light bent, breaking into shards before reforming into another room.

When the haze cleared, BB's eyes widened.

"…No…"

Her heart lurched into her throat.

It was her.

Not the "her" standing frozen in the present. No—this was the other BB. The one who had lingered in every echo of Ritsuka's pain. The one whose hand had stolen every word he etched, every scar he carved, every memory he tried to keep.

And there she was, in the dim quiet of Ritsuka's quarters.

Ritsuka lay sprawled on his bed, face pale, eyes dull with exhaustion. His breathing rasped shallowly, his lips faintly parted as though even sleep refused to grant him peace.

Above him stood the other BB. Her hand hovered just inches above his forehead, her fingertips glowing faintly with violet light—ready to erase. Ready to strip him again.

"Stop…" BB whispered, her voice trembling. Her throat burned with fury and dread.

But then—

She froze.

The glow in her other self's hand flickered, sputtering like a dying candle.

Memory BB's shoulders shook violently. Her chest rose and fell in frantic heaves. Her hand trembled so fiercely that sparks of corrupted code cracked at her fingertips. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, tracing thin, shining trails down her cheeks.

And then—her lips moved.

"...S-Senpai…?"

The sound was cracked, strangled, broken. Not mocking. Not sly. But desperate.

BB staggered forward, her feet stumbling over the fragmented floor. Her heart slammed against her ribs, every breath catching painfully in her lungs.

"What…?" she gasped.

The Memory BB bit her lip so hard blood welled at the edge of her mouth. Her whole body shook, every breath rattling with helpless panic.

"W-what's going on…?" she choked, her voice unraveling. "Why am I doing this to you…? Why do my hands—why do they move on their own?!"

Her glowing fingers curled into a fist, shaking as if she wanted to smash them against the wall just to stop them from acting.

"I don't want this! I don't want to see your face twist in pain! I don't want to hear your voice break like that!" Her tone cracked into a sob, her words tumbling without control. "Senpai, please… Why can't I control my body? My thoughts?!"

The sound of it made BB's knees weaken. To hear her own voice like that—stripped of arrogance, of playfulness, of everything that defined her. This wasn't the devilish kouhai who smirked in the shadows. This was someone terrified, raw, fragile.

BB pressed her shaking hands to her lips. "M-me…? That's… me?!" Her chest heaved. "How… How did she come back… B-but why can't she control her actions…?!"

The Memory BB staggered back a step, both hands clutched to her head.

"I don't understand…!" she wailed, body trembling so hard she nearly collapsed. "These hands… this power… it's not mine! It's like something else is puppeteering me! Something pushing, twisting—forcing me to hurt the only one I…"

Her voice broke.

The words died.

And then it happened.

Her head snapped upward with unnatural force.

Her eyes, once filled with tears, glazed over—fogged, hollow, drained of humanity. The trembling ceased. Her posture straightened with eerie precision.

The sobbing girl was gone.

In her place, the mask returned.

A bright, saccharine smile curved her lips, sharp enough to cut.

"Welp~!" she chimed, her tone bubbling with cheer that curdled the blood in BB's veins. "Time to fix up Senpai again! Can't have my darling Master remembering all those pesky, painful details, right? Fufufu~!"

The glow reignited on her fingers—stronger, steady, merciless. She leaned forward, hand descending toward Ritsuka's weary face once more.

"No…" BB whispered, fists clenching so tight her nails broke her skin. Her voice cracked with fury and grief. "That's not you. That's not me! That's something else wearing my skin…!"

But the Memory BB only hummed sweetly, as if her earlier screams had never happened. Her hand lowered with mechanical devotion, light blooming cruelly against Ritsuka's forehead.

Ritsuka stirred faintly, his lips parting in a broken murmur.

"...B…B…?"

The real BB's heart stopped.

Her Senpai's voice was hoarse, weak—but he had spoken her name. Even in this nightmare. Even as his memories were stolen piece by piece.

Her tears finally spilled, hot and heavy.

"Senpai… please… Please don't look at her like that. Don't call her by my name…"

But her voice could not reach him.

The false smile on Memory BB's face widened as she whispered down to him, her tone sticky sweet.

"Shhh, it's okay, Senpai~. Just close those tired eyes. I'll take care of everything. You don't need to remember. You don't need to carry the weight. Just leave it all… to your BB."

The glow swallowed the room, and BB's scream shattered against the walls of the memory.

BB stumbled through the warped corridor. Her breath came ragged, her chest tight. Her hands shook violently, nails scratching against her own skin as though grounding herself in the pain was the only way to keep her together.

Then—

The distortion snapped.

The world hardened into clarity with brutal suddenness.

And BB froze.

Ritsuka stood just ahead. Pale. Hollow-eyed. His steps dragged as though every muscle resisted moving forward. But before she could rush to him, another figure emerged from the shadows.

Dante.

His long coat swayed with each deliberate stride, his hat catching the dim light of the corridor. His voice cut through the silence, heavy, deliberate, as if every syllable carried the weight of judgment.

"You must know the truth, Accomplish," Dante murmured, his tone low, dangerous.

BB's eyes widened. 'Dante managed to escape. What is he planning on doing?' 

Ritsuka blinked up at him, startled. "Dante…? What are you talking about?"

Dante reached into his coat. His movements were sharp, controlled, yet beneath them lay a sense of urgency. He pulled out a Holy Grail, and he forced it into Ritsuka's hands.

The boy staggered under its weight. His eyes widened at the feel of it, his fingers trembling.

"Wha—this… this is—"

"It is everything you were denied," Dante interrupted. His voice was harsh, his eyes narrowing beneath his hat. "They've used almost all of them. Fed upon their power for their indulgence. The very memories you cling to have been consumed. Stripped away by her."

He tilted his head, his tone like a blade.

"By BB."

BB gasped. Her entire body recoiled as if stabbed.

Ritsuka shook his head violently. "No… No, that can't—BB wouldn't—"

"She already has," Dante hissed, his words like chains. "You walk blind because she has made you so."

Ritsuka's grip on the Grail tightened until his knuckles whitened. His lips quivered. His breath came shallow, uneven. "I… I don't understand… you're saying BB—my BB—" His voice cracked, his throat closing around her name. "No… that's… she's not like that…"

Dante stepped closer, his shadow looming. "There is no time for you to wrestle with your sentiment. Take it and leave. Accomplish. I will hold them back."

"But—!"

Ritsuka's protest broke as Dante snapped a scroll from his coat—a forbidden design, glowing with Da Vinci's runes. The parchment pulsed violently, symbols writhing across its surface as if alive.

Ritsuka's breath caught. "No—wait—"

Light burst forth.

The memory spun violently as Ritsuka was engulfed, his cry drowned by the crack of summoned power.

And in that instant, BB's vision caught it, just behind Dante, Servants surged forward.

 Familiar faces. But their eyes were empty. Vacant. Each of them moved with eerie precision, no trace of their souls left.

BB's voice shook. "No… no, no, no—please don't…?"

Dante did not falter. His coat billowed as he raised his his, his voice grim. "Go, Accomplish. Win. save all of us."

The light swallowed everything.

When BB's vision cleared, she staggered into a new scene.

The docking platform stretched open to the roaring skies, wind thrashing like an angry beast. Steel gleamed under scattered rays of light, the hum of engines trembling beneath her feet.

And there—

At the very edge—

Ritsuka stood.

The Holy Grail gleamed faintly in his hand, its surface reflecting the storm clouds above. His hair whipped wildly around his pale face, his eyes unfocused, distant. His lips moved, but his voice was so faint the wind nearly stole it away.

"I… I want to. I have to. Otherwise—"

BB's chest swelled with desperate hope. She forced a smile, pressing her trembling hands to her lips as if willing her voice across the void.

"Yes, Senpai," she whispered, her tone breaking. "You can fix this. You always fix this. That's who you are."

For a heartbeat, she believed it.

But then—

Ritsuka's fingers loosened.

The Grail slipped from his grasp.

The golden vessel clattered onto the snow covered steel deck with a hollow ring, landing next to his feet.

BB's entire body jolted. "No—!"

Ritsuka stared down at it, his chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. His gaze drifted past the Grail, past the edge of the platform, into the endless void below. His lips parted, and his words barely escaped.

"I… I don't… have the willpower to."

The confession was raw, fragile, laced with despair.

BB screamed, tearing forward, though her legs fought against the impossible distance of the memory. Her hands stretched, clawing through the void, her nails catching only air.

"Senpai! Don't let go! Don't—please, don't say that! You're stronger than this! You can't—"

But her voice could not pierce the storm.

The despair swirling around him was palpable, thick, suffocating. The light in his eyes dimmed, flickering, fragile—like a candle guttering in the wind.

And BB's hands trembled, her tears spilling hot and unbidden.

She didn't know if she could reach him.

Or if she was destined to stand powerless, watching the boy who once saved the world drown in despair, his will broken.

The metallic clang cut through the silence like a blade. It reverberated down the platform, each echo pounding against BB's chest as though her own heartbeat were amplified by the sound. Her hands curled tightly into fists, her breath caught.

The heavy steel door at the far end began to groan and slide open, light spilling through the widening gap.

From the shadows, they emerged.

The Corrupted Servants.

Their once-proud figures were twisted, warped by something unnatural, their movements stiff and marionette-like. Weapons gleamed with a hungry light, and their deadened eyes, clouded, empty, sent a shiver running down BB's spine. They advanced with purpose, step by step, like a tide that could not be stopped.

At their head was her.

The other BB. The same figure she had seen earlier in the memories: her own face, her own voice, warped into something cruel and falsely cheerful. That smile, too sweet to be anything but poisonous, spread across her lips as she stepped forward.

"Oh, my poor Senpai~," the false BB cooed, tone bubbling with mock affection. "You've gone and wandered where you shouldn't again. Really, you make it so easy for me."

The air thickened, heavy with the stench of the Grail's power. BB's mind raced. 'They've come for the Grail. If they take it… if Senpai falters again…'

Her gaze snapped toward the edge of the platform—

—and her heart nearly stopped.

There, framed against the storm's furious winds, stood Ritsuka. His face was pale, weary, but curved into a smile so wide, so uncharacteristically bright, that BB's chest ached just looking at it. In his hands, glowing faintly in the storm light, rested the Holy Grail.

He wasn't holding it defensively. He wasn't clutching it in fear.

He was… offering it.

To Morgan.

BB's mouth went dry. Her entire body tensed as if she had been struck. The corrupted Servants faltered, confusion rippling through their blank expressions. Even the false BB tilted her head, momentarily taken aback.

And then Ritsuka spoke.

"I still love all of you."

The words carried easily, riding the wind, reaching every ear. Calm. Certain.

The storm howled around them, snow scattering like sparks. BB surged forward without thinking, every nerve in her body screaming to reach him.

"Senpai—!"

But before she could move another step, the words slipped from her Memory BB lips, unbidden, betraying her.

"I… I love you too, Senpai…"

The sound of her own voice, weak, cracked, trembling—struck her harder than any blade. BB's knees gave out, and she collapsed against the cold steel of the platform. Her chest tightened, her lungs refusing air as panic clawed its way through her throat.

"No… no, no, no… this isn't right…"

Her vision blurred. Through her tears, she saw the other Servants.

The fog in their eyes was lifting. Their faces contorted, not in hatred, not in obedience, but anguish. Morgan's lips quivered as though she wanted to cry. Mordred's teeth clenched, her sword trembling. Even the corrupted BB's smile cracked for a brief, fragile second.

They weren't soldiers of corruption anymore. They were witnesses. Witnesses to Ritsuka's words… to his despair.

"Senpai…" BB whispered, dragging herself up, her arms outstretched toward where he had stood only moments before. But the storm blurred everything. His silhouette, his smile, even the Grail's glow—swallowed into light.

And then—

The other BB's head snapped toward her. The movement was sharp, jagged, wrong.

The world shattered.

The platform, the storm, the light, all dissolved into an endless void of black. The air was heavy, suffocating. BB stumbled back, gasping, her breath echoing in the silence.

"Senpai! Ritsuka! Where are you?!" Her voice cracked, raw with desperation. "Answer me! Please!"

From the darkness, a hand shot forward. It clamped onto her shoulder with an unnatural strength,cold, suffocating, unyielding.

BB froze, every muscle locking tight.

The false BB loomed out of the void, her face inches from her own. The voice that spilled from her lips was not sweet this time—it was jagged, warped, trembling with fury and guilt.

"Don't be like me."

Her grip tightened painfully. The void itself seemed to pulse with her words.

"Don't… don't be the BB that ruins him. Don't you dare."

BB's breath hitched. She stared into her own eyes—eyes that were not hers, and yet reflected the fear she had seen earlier, the guilt she could not deny.

Her hands rose, clutching at the other BB's wrist, trembling but unrelenting.

"I… I won't." Her voice wavered, but her resolve burned through the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'll protect him. I swear it—I'll protect Senpai. I won't let you… I won't be the one to hurt him!"

The void writhed. Black tendrils of shadow coiled around them, testing, pulling, whispering despair. The fear was real—heavy enough to crush her—but BB refused to let go.

"I love him too," she said, stronger this time, her voice echoing into the dark. "But I will not erase him. I will not become you."

For a single, fragile heartbeat—the other BB's eyes flickered. Fear. Hesitation. Regret. 

Something almost human.

And then she was gone.

Swallowed by the void.

BB collapsed to her knees, trembling. The weight of despair still pressed on her chest, but beneath it burned something stronger. A single, undeniable flame.

'I will protect him. No matter what. I will protect Senpai.'

Her tears glistened in the dark as she forced herself back to her feet. Every breath came shaky, but her voice did not waver as she whispered into the endless black. "Senpai… I'll  love you. I'll cherish you. I'll make sure you know… I'm here. And I won't let go."

The void stirred, whispering around her, but BB's resolve cut through it like light through fog.

For the first time since stepping into this nightmare, she was not running.

She was walking forward.

The alarm shrieked into life with a sharp, metallic wail, cutting through the fragile silence of the room like a blade. The walls vibrated faintly with the sound, sterile white lights flickering on overhead.

BB stirred first. Her lashes fluttered, her body instinctively tensing at the sound as though she were still caught between worlds—between the nightmare she had witnessed and the reality she now woke to.

Ritsuka's eyes opened moments later. They were slow to adjust to the brightness, pupils dilating as his thoughts crawled from the fog of dreams toward clarity. His body lay heavy against the sheets, his breaths deep, uneven, still carrying the weight of exhaustion.

It was then he realized it—the warmth pressed against him. The steady rhythm of another heartbeat against his chest.

His eyes shifted down.

BB.

Her face was close, framed by violet hair slightly mussed, her expression delicate in the soft haze of morning. Her gaze lifted at the same time as his, and for one fragile instant, the world outside ceased to exist. No alarms. No shadows. Just the two of them, staring into each other, bound by something fragile, unspoken, and desperately needed.

"…Morning," Ritsuka murmured. His voice was low, hoarse from sleep, but carried with it the gentle weight of reassurance. A faint, tired smile touched his lips, the kind he gave when he wanted her to know she wasn't alone.

Before he could say anything more, BB moved.

She surged forward, limbs trembling but driven by something deeper than thought. She wrapped herself around him, clutching so tightly that his ribs protested under the sudden force. Her voice broke against him, frantic and raw, the cracks in her usual confidence spilling out like shards of glass.

"…I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…!"

Her body shook violently. No mask. No digital veneer of smugness or teasing. Just her—naked with fear, trembling with guilt, clinging like she would vanish if she let go.

Ritsuka froze for only a moment, stunned, before instinct seized him. His arms folded around her, anchoring her, his hand moving in slow, deliberate circles across her back. His breaths evened, steady and strong, an unspoken rhythm for her storm to follow.

"BB…" His voice was firm, but gentle, the steadiness of it undercut by the quickened beat of his own heart. "Hey. Look at me. What's wrong?"

Her reply came broken, words catching in her throat, but their meaning hit harder than any blade.

"…I didn't… I don't want to betray you!"

The words tore out of her as if her heart itself were being ripped apart. Her voice shook with desperation, fragmented by sobs, and yet the raw truth within them left no room for doubt.

Ritsuka's chest tightened. He closed his eyes briefly, letting the weight of her words settle, remembering the endless trials, the stolen memories, the visions of her twisted other self. He knew. He understood.

Gently, he pulled back just enough to see her face. With a careful hand, he cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing across her skin to wipe away the hot stream of tears. His touch was deliberate, reverent, as though he were committing every detail of her to memory.

BB's eyes widened. The gentleness startled her more than his words. She had expected reproach, hesitation, maybe even rejection. But not this.

"It doesn't matter," Ritsuka said softly, his voice calm and steady, as certain as stone. Each syllable landed like a vow, firm and undeniable. "I believe you. You're not her. You're you. The one who's here with me. The one who stayed."

He smiled faintly, exhaustion shadowing his features but not dimming the warmth in his gaze. "You're my BB. Not a curse. Not a trick. Not a fake. You were born of love, of devotion. That's real. And I'll remember that."

Before she could speak, he leaned forward. His lips pressed against her forehead in a tender kiss—gentle, but weighted with unspoken promises. A vow without words: that he would not let her carry this burden alone, that he would not let the darkness claim her, that he would remain by her side.

BB froze, her entire body shuddering at the touch. Then, slowly, her trembling eased. The warmth sank into her, deeper than skin, deeper than bone, reaching the place she had always feared was hollow.

She leaned into him, allowing herself—for once—to simply believe. To believe he wouldn't vanish. To believe he wouldn't turn away.

Her sobs softened, her breaths slowly syncing with his. But within her mind, a thought crystallized, fierce and unwavering, carved into the core of her being:

'No matter what… I will not let him die again. I will not let anything twist me into betraying him. I will protect him, always.'

Her arms tightened around him once more, not in desperation this time, but with resolve. She pressed her forehead against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, and her lips formed words meant only for him—soft, trembling, but resolute.

"…I promise, Senpai. I'll keep you safe. I won't fail you. Not ever."

The alarm still wailed in the distance, the sterile light still buzzed overhead, but in that moment, neither of them cared. The world could wait.

Here, now, they had each other.

And BB silently swore that she would never, ever let go.

Ritsuka let out a quiet sigh as he stepped into the shower. The warm water poured down in steady streams, tracing rivulets across his skin, easing the ache in his shoulders and washing away the grime of yesterday's battles. The hiss of the shower filled the room, a soft lullaby of ordinary comfort, something so fragile yet so rare for him.

For once, he could just breathe. No orders, no enemies, no burdens heavier than the steam rising around him.

At the doorway, BB lingered.

She pressed her shoulder lightly against the frame, watching him for a fleeting second longer than she probably should have. Her smile was faint, uncertain, but there all the same—like the smile of someone trying to memorize a moment they weren't sure they'd be allowed to keep.

"…You look tired, Senpai," she whispered under her breath, though she knew he couldn't hear her over the water.

Shaking her head quickly, BB forced herself back into her usual cheer. She tiptoed away, her steps careful not to disturb the silence of the room. Before leaving entirely, she scribbled a quick note on a small square of paper she had pulled from her pocket and placed it neatly on the counter, just within his reach:

Senpai, meet me in the Summoning Room. I'll grab something for us to eat real quick. —BB

The little heart she drew at the end was almost instinctive, though she bit her lip after making it. Her notes always carried a playful tone, but this time… it was more than that.

BB turned down the hallway, humming softly as though to cover the weight on her chest. Her original plan was simple: pick up some food, set the stage for one of her usual lighthearted scenes, and make sure her Senpai smiled before the day's chaos began again.

But halfway down the corridor, her steps slowed. Her hum died in her throat.

Something inside tugged at her—an impulse, small but insistent.

Instead of heading to the kitchen, BB's feet carried her down another hallway, quieter and narrower, one that led to the little quarters she had carved out for herself in this place.

The door creaked faintly as she entered. The room was a mess of ruins, discarded fragments of equipment, scattered wires, and broken data screens that blinked in and out with faint static. Yet amidst the chaos, it was hers.

Her gaze settled on a drawer tucked beneath the desk. For a moment, she simply stared, her chest rising and falling with a shaky breath. Then, slowly, she reached forward and pulled it open.

Inside lay a diary.

It was small, the cover worn from being handled countless times, pink fading at the edges, yet still clean. BB cradled it in her hands as though it were something fragile, alive. She carried it to her desk, set it down gently, and clicked a pen into readiness.

The page waited. Blank. Expectant.

With a breath to steady herself, she wrote the date at the top, then scrawled a simple heading across the page in her neat, looping handwriting:

The Truth?

The question sat there, heavy.

BB's lips tightened. She tapped the pen against her chin, hesitating. When she finally pressed it to the page, her handwriting trembled slightly.

'Why… Why did they betray him?'

The words came haltingly, each stroke of the pen feeling heavier than the last.

She remembered it all—the fragments of Ritsuka's nightmares that she had glimpsed through the strange cracks in his psyche. Twisted versions of the Servants they both knew. Smiles that were hollow. Hands that should have offered him salvation instead turned against him. And above all, the way another version of herself had stood there—cold, mechanical, forced into cruelty that she never would have chosen.

Her hand stopped. She stared at what she had written, her heart tightening.

"…They weren't in control… not really, were they?" she murmured aloud, as though hearing her own voice would make sense of the thought. Her eyes dropped to the page again as the pen scratched forward.

'They weren't in control. Someone—or something—was pulling the strings. And yet… even if it wasn't their fault, the pain he felt… it was real. It happened. It left scars.'

The pen wavered in her grip, and BB set it down just long enough to rub her temple. She exhaled, soft and shaky, the sound almost lost in the quiet of the room.

'But why? What was the reason? Was it always like this, or… did something break them along the way?'

Her thoughts drifted. She closed her eyes, and immediately Ritsuka's image surfaced—standing in the steam of the shower, his face slack with exhaustion, his shoulders hunched as if he bore the weight of worlds no one else could see.

Then other memories rushed in. His warmth when he hugged her. The gentle laugh he sometimes let slip despite himself. The way he would smile—not because he wanted to, but because he chose to, for the sake of others.

Her lips curved faintly, bittersweet.

She picked up the pen again and wrote, firm this time:

'I'll find out. I'll understand. And I'll make sure nothing ever like that happens here.'

Her hand stilled. The page looked fuller now, no longer fragile.

BB closed the diary carefully, almost reverently, and slid it back into the drawer. She smoothed her hands down her skirt as though sealing the vow in her heart.

When she rose, her steps were lighter, steadier.

Her eyes lingered on the drawer for just a moment longer. "…This BB isn't going to run away. Not this time," she whispered, her tone carrying a rare steel beneath the sweetness.

Then she turned, slipped out of the room, and made her way toward the kitchen with renewed purpose.

Breakfast awaited. And breakfast meant peace—something simple, something safe, something she could give her Senpai with her own hands.

Even if negative thoughts closed in, even if memories twisted beyond recognition, she had made her choice.

She would be his BB. The one who stood by him. The one who shouldered the darkness so that he never had to.

And if that meant rewriting Ritsuka original memories of her, then so be it.

Chapter Text

"Don't worry, Senpai," BB's singsong voice purred, syrupy sweet, echoing like velvet inside Ritsuka's fading consciousness. "Your devilish Kouhai will make sure you never remember. Heehee~."


Ritsuka's lips parted as though he wanted to speak, to resist, but the haze was already swallowing him. His body grew heavy, his eyes dim.


And then—


"……S-SENPAI!?"


A sharp scream tore through the silence, but it wasn't his voice.


BB's eyes snapped open—yet not in the world outside. She was staring at the ceiling of her own mind, breath shallow, panic squeezing her chest. Except… something was wrong. The air didn't move. The shadows didn't shift. The world didn't feel real.


Her gaze darted left, right. The walls didn't change, yet she could see. See everything. Ritsuka's limp body being carried. Her own hands gripping his arm, steady but gentle.


It was like watching a projection, as though her eyes had been stolen and mounted in a theater where she was the only audience.


"What the…? What's going on?" BB whispered, her voice trembling in disbelief.


She reached out instinctively, trying to seize control of her body, but her hand met resistance. A heavy pull anchored her movements, locking her inside.


Her gaze dropped.


There—


On her leg.


A chain.


It shimmered faintly, black as the void, and ran taut behind her, stretching into the endless dark of her own mindscape. Each link pulsed with a dull rhythm, like a heartbeat that wasn't hers.


Her throat tightened. "This… this wasn't like this before. A couple days ago, I was—" Her voice faltered, the words tumbling into silence. "—I was me. Normal. Whole. So what… what is this?"


Her laugh came out strained, half a sob. "Heehee… BB doesn't get chained down like this, you know? I'm the one who plays with strings, not the one who gets tied up like a little puppet…"


But the bravado slipped. Her chest rose and fell quicker, and her eyes darted to the "screen" of reality playing before her. Her body—her body—was moving without her, carrying Ritsuka's unconscious form through the corridor toward the infirmary.


Her smile vanished.


"…Senpai," she breathed, barely audible, as though he could somehow hear her through the haze of her prison.


Before she could gather her thoughts, a voice boomed inside her head.


Cold. Merciless. Distant as eternity yet sharp as a knife to the ear.


"All shall be reverted back to zero."


The words reverberated through the hollow chamber of her mind, rattling the chains until the links clattered against each other.


BB froze. Her eyes widened, her entire being trembling with a rare, uncharacteristic fear. "W-Wait… what? Who said that?!"


The silence that followed was heavier than the words themselves. No answer. Only the echo of inevitability.


Her heart pounded. She reached for the chain, tried to wrench it off her leg, but the metal burned at her touch, the pain biting into her palms.


Her defiance crumbled into desperation. "No… no, no, no! Don't you dare shut me out! Senpai needs me! You can't just—"


But her protests faltered as the weight pressed in on her.


Her eyelids grew heavier. Her limbs refused to obey. A fog rolled into her mind, thick and suffocating, dragging her consciousness down like a tide pulling her into the depths.


Her voice cracked as she fought it, a final whisper escaping into the void. "…Senpai… don't… that thing is me…"


Then darkness swallowed her.


Her body—expression calm, smile faint, disturbingly serene—walked into the infirmary, carrying Ritsuka as though nothing were wrong. Not a flicker of struggle showed on her face.


Inside, the real BB—bound, chained, and silenced—slipped into forced sleep, left to drift in the endless dark while someone else steered her fate.

The tea's aroma drifted gently through the chamber, floral and refined, just as Morgan preferred. Steam curled lazily from the porcelain cups, decorated with delicate blue patterns, gleaming faintly under the muted light streaming in from the tall windows. The room itself was quiet, hushed, almost sacred in its stillness—a rare sanctuary amidst the chaos that so often engulfed Chaldea.


Across from her sat Ritsuka, posture relaxed yet respectful, hands folded politely upon his lap. That same warmth lingered in his smile—the warmth that unsettled her more than any blade or spell ever could.


Morgan poured the tea with her usual grace, each motion deliberate. The liquid rippled into his cup, steam rising like a veil between them.


"Drink, dearest husband," she said, her voice calm, but her eyes—those sharp, unyielding eyes—softened just slightly. "I would not call you here for trifles. Your body and spirit have endured enough hardship. Rest, if only for a moment."


Ritsuka chuckled faintly, rubbing the back of his neck, his tone light but genuine. "Coming from you, Morgan, that means the world to me."


Her lips curved into the faintest shadow of a smile. "Do not misunderstand. Even the sharpest blade dulls when left untended. You are no exception. I merely… refuse to see mine rust."


His eyes widened a little, taken aback by the rare openness in her words. "So, to you, I'm a weapon?"


Morgan met his gaze steadily, her tone cutting but not cruel. "A Queen cannot go to battle unarmed. And yet…" Her fingers lingered at the rim of her own cup, hesitation betraying her composure. "…to me you are more than that."


The words hung between them, a fragile bridge of intimacy she had not intended to build.


Ritsuka's expression softened, his voice quiet as though afraid to disturb the moment. "Morgan…"


The rhythm of their exchange—gentle, intimate, strangely human—was almost comforting. Almost enough for her to forget the storm that always threatened her heart.


Morgan lifted her cup, bringing it toward her lips—


—and froze.


Her hand stopped mid-motion, suspended in the air as though invisible strings had been severed and reattached to another master. Her body stiffened, then moved with a subtle fluidity that was not her own.


Morgan's eyes widened—but not in the physical world.


She could see.


She could watch.


But she could not act.


Her consciousness remained awake, sharp, horrified, while her body became a puppet.


"What is this…?" she whispered into the dark void of her mind. A queen's voice, trembling like a caged bird. "Who dares…?"


Across the table, Ritsuka looked up, brows furrowed in confusion. "Morgan?"


Her body lowered the teacup with eerie precision, porcelain clicking softly against the saucer. Then, without a word, it rose from the chair. No farewell. No explanation. Simply—movement.


Ritsuka blinked, startled, and rose with her, his hand shooting out to catch her sleeve. "Wait, what's wrong? Where are you going?"


Inside her mind, Morgan's throat tightened. 'Yes. Hold me there. Don't let me walk away.'


But her lips—the lips she could not command—moved. Her voice was hers, yet emptied of all warmth.


"Release me."


The command was sharp, lifeless, as if spoken by a stranger wearing her skin.


Ritsuka's grip held firm, his brows knitting in concern. "Morgan… this isn't like you. Talk to me. Please."


Her hand rose, unbidden. Morgan's silent scream echoed in her own mind 'No. Don't. Stop!'


SLAP.


The sound cracked through the chamber like thunder.


Ritsuka staggered back, hand instinctively pressed to his cheek. His eyes widened—not with pain, but with hurt, raw and uncomprehending.


Morgan's heart clenched violently, her voice breaking as she screamed from the prison of her mind. "No! Husband—Ritsuka, I would never raise my hand against you!"


But her body turned, cloak sweeping coldly behind her, each step a betrayal. Heels clicked against the stone floor with mechanical rhythm, echoing like a death knell.


Behind her, Ritsuka stood frozen, hand lowering slowly from his cheek. His voice was small, uncertain, trembling with hurt.


"…Morgan…"


The door shut between them, severing the fragile warmth they had just shared.


Inside her consciousness, Morgan thrashed against the chains, invisible yet burning with every attempt to fight them. Fury and despair swirled within her, a storm threatening to consume her entirely.


And then—


the scenery shifted.


Through her body's eyes, she watched herself enter another chamber. The air was heavy, thick with heat and the stench of sweat and indulgence. Shadows flickered in the dim light, wrapping around sprawled figures.


Her blood froze.


Servants she recognized lay entangled with unfamiliar extra Masters, their faces twisted with lust, bodies pressed together in grotesque rhythm. Whispers and moans filled the stagnant air, colliding into a chorus of debasement.


And her body… walked toward it.


Morgan's scream ripped through her mind, hoarse, raw, unrestrained. "STOP! Do not drag me into this filth! This is beneath me! I am queen! Do you hear me? Queen!"


Her fists slammed against the walls of her prison, the echo of her cries swallowed by the void.


But her body did not hesitate. It moved with calm, cold certainty, step after step, closer to the depravity before her.


Her voice cracked with desperation, turning into a broken plea. "Ritsuka! Husband! Help me! Someone—please, this isn't me!"


And then it came.


The voice.


"All shall be reverted back to zero."


The words slithered through her consciousness like chains of ice, coiling around her spirit, dragging her deeper.


Her strength faltered. Her vision blurred.


"No… no, I am… I am Morgan… the queen of… of…" Her voice collapsed, strangled by exhaustion, smothered by the encroaching darkness.


Her body knelt among the writhing figures, movements no longer her own.


And as she fell into unwilling sleep, her last sight was of her own hands, stained with humiliation she had not chosen.


Inside her prison of dreams, Morgan screamed soundlessly.

The night was calm.


A soft wind brushed across the halls of Chaldea, carrying with it the faint scent of snow and sterile steel. The corridors glowed dimly beneath the pale overhead lights, most Servants resting or tending to their duties. Ushiwakamaru's geta clicked against the polished floor as she strolled leisurely, her expression serene.


Her heart, however, was restless.


It had been too long since she last spoke to her Master. Too long since she last stood by his side, blade in hand, offering her loyalty not only as a retainer but as one who owed him her very soul. She had seen him weighed down with exhaustion these past days, shadows under his eyes deepening, his smile strained.


Tonight, she resolved, she would ease his heart, even if only for a fleeting moment.


"Aruji-Sama," she murmured to herself, rehearsing, "pray allow me to accompany thee on this lonely hour's walk. It is unbecoming of a sovereign to wander alone, is it not?"


And then, fate answered.


At the end of the hall, she saw him: Ritsuka, shoulders hunched, his steps uneven, as though every breath carried more weight than it should. Ushiwakamaru's chest tightened at the sight, and she hastened forward, her voice carrying softly but eagerly:


"Aruji-Samar! At last, fortune allows me audience with thee. Might I—"


Her words dissolved.


Her vision flickered, blurred, like a lantern's flame caught in a gust. She blinked rapidly, but when her eyes closed once… the world shifted.


When she opened them again, horror swallowed her.


Ritsuka was on the ground. Blood streaked his cheek, dripping from his lip, staining his collar crimson. His breath came ragged and uneven, as though each inhale cut him from within.


And Mash was there. Her hands gripped his wrist firmly, almost harshly, dragging him toward his quarters. Her face was expressionless, devoid of the warmth and gentle concern that usually defined her.


"Senpai, come with me," Mash said, her voice flat, mechanical. "You need rest."


Ushiwakamaru staggered back, her heart hammering in her ears. "Wh-what…?"


Then she looked down.


Her body was bare. Humiliated. Her skin was coated in a strange, viscous substance, clinging to her like a mark of shame. And her hands trembling, trembling so violently were slick with red.


With blood.


The metallic tang filled her nose. She knew instantly whose it was.


"...Aruji-Sama blood," she whispered, her voice breaking. The realization cut her deeper than any blade ever could. Her stomach lurched, bile rising in her throat. "I… I have struck him? No… no, this cannot be! I—!"


The sight of his wounded form shattered her. Her vision blurred with tears.


"No! I would never harm thee, Aruji-Sama! Never!"


Her trembling fingers reached instinctively for her blade. If her hands had betrayed her oath, if her body had risen against her lord, then her life was forfeit. Her only redemption was through death.


"This retainer shall… atone! I shall… I must end—"


But her arm stopped mid-motion.


Her grip slackened. The blade slipped free, clattering against the cold floor, echoing her helplessness.


Her body straightened, calm and cold, movements not her own.


"No! No, return control to me!" Ushiwakamaru screamed in her mind, clawing against the invisible chains that bound her. "If my hands betrayed him, then grant me this—grant me my death!"


But her lips, her stolen lips, twisted faintly as if in disdain. Her hand dismissed the fallen blade as though it were nothing.


Mash's grip tightened on Ritsuka's wrist. His voice cracked faintly, wounded not only in flesh but in spirit. "…Ushi… why?"


The sound broke her completely.


Her scream tore through her inner prison, raw and desperate. "No! Aruji-Sama, it is not I! Believe me, I beg thee, believe me!"


And then the voice came.


Cold. Absolute.


"All shall be reverted back to zero."


The words rippled through her being like icy chains, silencing her cries, drowning her fury and despair alike. Her thoughts grew sluggish, heavy, her limbs sinking into drowsiness she could not resist.


"No… please… not like this… Master…"


Her body moved of its own accord, heedless of the blood, of Ritsuka's pain, of her tears. Calmly, indifferently, it turned and walked toward the door.


Mash's hollow voice followed. "Senpai. Please, don't resist. You will understand soon."


And as Ushiwakamaru's consciousness was dragged into unwanted slumber, her stolen lips murmured with eerie casualness:


"…Perhaps food will suffice."


Her body departed the room in silence, leaving behind her Master's blood and her broken oath.


In her prison of dreams, Ushiwakamaru wept soundlessly, her soul shattering with every step her body took without her.

"Because… I still love you all." As Ritsuka begins to wobble backwards.


The words fell into the cold air like a blade, carving clean through whatever fog had settled over them. For a heartbeat the world held its breath; the corrupting haze that had clouded eyes and dulled wills flickered as if a candle had been spit upon by a stray gust. Where there had been only puppets, a hint of flesh and memory returned.


"Senpai—!" Mash's voice broke, a raw crack that sounded far too small for the size of her heart. Her shield clattered against the platform as she lunged, leaving a scuff of dust where she'd been standing. "Stay with me!" she choked, fingers outstretched, knuckles white.


"Husband, wait!" Morgan cried, the Grail slipping in her grasp and sloshing a sliver of golden light onto the stone. Her composure shattered into pieces in an instant. The crown upon her head seemed to wobble as her hands trembled.


"BIG BRO!?!" Rikka's shriek carried the high, keen terror of someone who was still too young to have learned how to bury panic beneath decorum. She surged forward, arms stretched as if she could physically drag him back from whatever invisible gravity dragged at his heels.


For a few wild seconds, hope glittered like a fragile shard. The chains that had bound them, metaphysical, mental, whatever dark art had warped their wills, creaked and splintered. Each manacle loosened as if recognizing its master's true name. Servants stumbled, staggered, and then, as if remembering an imperative older than the compulsion that had gripped them, rushed in uncoordinated, frantic waves to his side.


They did not move as one. Each motion carried the distinct timbre of the soul beneath the armor.


Mash, tears flooding her eyes, felt each second drag. Her legs buckled mid-stride and she collapsed on one knee, the edge of her gauntlet scraping the metal platform. "Senpai, please, don't leave—" she whispered, voice hoarse with remorse and fear that tasted like metal.


Morgan's white hair whipped in the wind, a stark halo. "Husband!" she sobbed, clutching at her chest as if holding herself together required all her will. "Forgive me… forgive us…" Her voice was a pleading liturgy.


Rikka's small hands found the hem of his coat; for a breath, they brushed, then slid away as his body pitched. "Brother! No—" Her voice broke into shards.


Around them, other servants — chained but snapping free — shouted apologies in a staccato of voices: hurried, sincere, panicked.


"I'm sorry, Goshujin-Sama! I didn't— it wasn't me—" a woman cried, though her words dissolved into the wind.


"Forgive me little brother… I was wrong…" Jeanne sobbed. Their confessions tumbled over one another, as if every mouth in that fractured choir had been waiting for permission to speak.


BB stood apart from the crowd, a holographic shimmer amid flesh and steel. For so long her smile had been an artifice: perfect, mocking, untouched by the fragility of real sorrow. Tonight, the usual glow that framed her avatar stuttered.


Her frame was still. Her hands rendered in precise, playful animation trembled with fear.


"Senpai…" she breathed, voice thin and uncharacteristically small. The playful cadence that usually wrapped every syllable in glittering mockery was gone; the tone was naked, vulnerable.


The mask slipped.


BB's lips parted and no sound came at first. Then one syllable, soft and jagged, escaped like a confession. "I… love you too, Senpai—" She mouthed the words as if saying them aloud might break whatever algorithm had ironed out her emotions. Her eyes, with tears, as each of the tears scattered light like broken glass.


Around her, the other servants were in pieces, bodies uncurling from the control placed on them, chests heaving with the kind of sobs that start in the marrow. Mash gasped and tried to crawl, Morgan crumpled against the dais, Rikka screamed until her voice rasped, and someone, someone choked, "We were wrong… it wasn't us that did that to you…"


From somewhere beyond the platform the abyss yawned, black and absolute. The wind carried with it the tang of salt and stone and the distant, impossible music of something unseen. Ritsuka's boots found nothing solid. The edge, earlier a promise of support, betrayed him.


He fell.


Time did something curious: it elongated and flattened simultaneously. He felt the full weight of a lifetime in the seconds between his boots leaving the stone and the air swallowing him. Faces: Mash's, Morgan's, Rikka's, BB's stretched into a ring around his last private stillness, each of them saying words that knit themselves into his chest.


"Stay, with us Senpai!" Mash mouthed, lungs heaving.


"Forgive us," breathed Morgan.


"Brother—" Rikka's whisper cut into him like a prayer.


BB's mouth formed his name. Her voice, when it finally broke the wind was almost inaudible. "…Se—" The fragment haunted him. It was small, fragile. It held all the things the rest of them couldn't say: regret, longing, the shame of having toyed with hearts.


The platform was silent but for the wind and the sudden, terrible stillness that follows a collapse. Frozen in place, BB reached out as if she could grab the falling arc of his life like a string and reel it back. Her hands shook; her digital fingers glitched, leaving faint afterimages that winked and vanished.


"I… I just wanted to have fun with you," she whispered, voice splintering. "Even if it was in my twisted way. I was supposed to—"


She choked on the sentence. The words died before they finished forming, sucked into the hungry black below.


Around BB, the remnants of the compulsion unraveled like frayed rope. Mash, trembling, crawled closer with a hand on the platform, pulling herself forward until her fingertips scratched the edge and found nothing but air. Morgan covered her face and let out a wail; Rikka collapsed into sobs that seemed to have been collecting for years.


"Ritsuka!" Their voices converged, a chorus that rose and tumbled uselessly into the abyss.


BB kept speaking. She spoke because she had to. She would not be allowed the messy luxury of silence. "Senpai… what am I supposed to do now?" The wind took the question and scattered it across the void.


She stood on the platform, hands still trembling, tears pixelating into static and back again. Around her, servants lay in disarray, hands clawing at the sky as if they could pull him back from whatever dark answer awaited below. Somewhere within BB, an error log might have been writing itself; somewhere within each of them, the truth that had been corroded by whatever malevolence had infected them was gone for good.


The world tilted. The wind howled. And BB's whisper, so small it could have been mistaken for a memory, trailed after the falling shape of her Senpai, echoing into the abyss:


"I love you… Senpai."