"Ahh, every day's an adventure, huh?"
Dragging out the last syllable, Waver finished washing up and slumped into the seat at the dining table, exhaling dramatically.
Yesterday's battle was still etched vividly in his memory. It had been his first time that close to an actual Servant confrontation.
Even if he'd only been sitting inside the cockpit, he'd experienced the Heroic Spirits' clash firsthand.
More thrilling than he'd imagined.
The Servants' combat power far exceeded what any magus could have predicted. If he'd been standing in that environment, he'd genuinely have "not survived a single second."
"A female body was discovered today at Fuyuki Plaza, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The victim's identity is currently being confirmed."
"Additionally, a gas explosion occurred in the vicinity..."
"Citizens are advised to--"
The television droned on with the morning news. Waver stared at the bloodstains on screen and fell silent.
He knew what this report truly meant.
A Master had been killed last night. And it was someone he knew.
The newscast's simplistic account of a single victim was only the surface. As his own instructor, Kayneth was also among the casualties.
The professor lauded for his erudition and prestigious lineage had died last night. The woman found at the scene was merely his fiancée.
In hindsight, the trembling and the fear still hadn't subsided.
Before yesterday, no one had been lost. But now that death had arrived, and claimed someone he personally knew, Waver grasped for the first time just how close mortality really was.
This war to pursue wishes was as real as it got.
One lapse in judgment, and he would join the other side.
"Looking quite burdened."
"Scared?"
Seated on the opposite sofa, his Servant posed the question.
Legs crossed elegantly, teacup held with effortless poise. Lelouch's bearing always gave Waver an inexplicable sense of the gap between them.
"I just wonder what I even came here for."
No pretense. Waver sighed and answered honestly.
His original motivation had been petty. Kayneth had savagely criticized and humiliated his thesis. Upon learning that Kayneth would be assisting his fiancée in the Dragon Ball War, Waver, having been selected himself, came driven by sheer spite.
The youthful bravado of "You think I'm beneath you? Then I'll prove you wrong!"
If he defeated Kayneth in this war, wouldn't that validate everything?
That impulse was the sole reason he'd come.
No forethought. No consideration of consequences.
And now, naturally, the belated doubts had caught up.
"Come to think of it, you've never told me your wish."
Glancing at the news broadcast, Lelouch shifted the topic.
"My wish, huh... honestly, I don't even know myself."
Face crumpling, Waver couldn't muster a proper answer.
Become the greatest magus? Become a King of the world? Obtain untold riches?
None of those fantasies felt remotely real.
"To prove your abilities?"
"To earn recognition from others?"
"To become a dependable adult?"
But the words Lelouch suddenly supplied nearly made Waver choke on his tea.
"I..."
His face flushed. He opened his mouth to argue, but no rebuttal came.
"How do you understand me so well?"
"Is this some kind of Emperor's mind game?"
After a long pause to collect himself, Waver managed that much.
"Well, our time together has been short, but your nature is easy enough to read."
"That's precisely why I feel at ease with you."
Setting down his cup, fingers interlaced beneath his chin, Lelouch offered a light smile.
"You've always wanted to prove yourself to that magus named Kayneth, haven't you?"
"But now the teacher who was better than you is dead, while the self-doubting you is still alive, and the contradiction gnaws at you."
"Upon hearing of his death, the spite that fueled you evaporated all at once. Suddenly, you feel like a fool."
Servants had their own channels for learning about the Masters in this war. From initial confusion to present clarity, this was one more step toward genuine transparency between them.
"You're right."
"Looking back, my thesis did have problems. I was too blunt about it."
"Maybe his 'harsh criticism' was his way of protecting me."
The all-too-common human flaw: realizing the truth only after loss.
Leaning back into the sofa, gaze fixed on the ceiling, Waver deflated visibly.
"Losing your goal is this disorienting and disheartening, isn't it?"
For someone in the throes of youth, it was a blow that came sooner or later.
"Meanwhile, you're leagues beyond me, Rider."
"Emperor at such a young age."
"Your wish is so much grander than mine."
Having summoned a "Britannian Emperor" as his Servant was, Waver felt, an unearned honor.
"Even an Emperor is still a person."
"And people have worries. In that regard, I'm no different from you."
"There was a time when I was nothing more than an ordinary student."
Sensing Waver's lost compass, Lelouch offered guidance.
"If you feel you have nothing left to chase, then stop walking for a moment and look around."
"Observe others. Learn from them. And then ask yourself what your dream truly is."
"At the very least, for the duration of this war, the power to protect you is something I still have."
An ineffable warmth stirred inside Waver. The gloom that had settled over him began to lift.
"Mmm..."
Matou Kariya walked the streets, sparing a glance at a road sealed off by police tape.
That was the area where the Servants had clashed last night.
The Church had already moved in to handle containment and cleanup.
"Berserker is incredibly powerful, but Sakura..."
From the news, he'd pieced together last night's events. His worry for the little girl at home only deepened.
The death of Masters.
That was no joke.
Berserker might be transcendently powerful, but Sakura herself was far too "fragile."
If other Masters or Servants discovered her, danger was inevitable.
The safest option was to stay hidden or for the war to end early.
The former was unrealistic long-term. The latter, however, was possible.
"The golden Servant who gave Berserker a hard time."
"His Master is Tohsaka Tokiomi."
"If I kill Tokiomi, Berserker will have a clear path to victory."
A bold plan took shape in Kariya's mind as he drifted through the streets, expression wooden.
He wasn't a Master, but that didn't mean he was useless.
To protect Sakura, dirtying his own hands meant nothing.
Even if it earned him someone's hatred, that was a small price to pay.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]