Wake Up Call

[toomuchbull]

[After this]

Rider doesn't know how he makes it back to the Tohsaka household after his encounter with Saber. That he does at all is impressive, as is the fact that he manages to walk around the house without making a noise.

Well, up until he gets to Chiyo's room, nudges her once, then flops onto the floor elegantly. Damn whatever complaints she has about blood on the floor.

Comments

[toomuchbull]

"Hmmm," he says, considering. "How about we do it tomorrow? Do you have any free time where no one will be looking for you?"

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi thinks on this. "Tomorrow is... Sunday..." he nods. "I'm not doing anything at all, I get free study and maybe go up to the stables." He gasps. "Can we go together? Okaa-san said she'd be busy, so we should go ourselves so we won't bother her!"

[toomuchbull]

He beams. "Can you ride?"

[eien_no_chou]

"Only the ponies, okaa-san says I'm too small for the big horses," he rolls his eyes like this is ridiculous, especially since he's nearly eleven now. Just one more month. "One day I'm going to ride Makuro."

[toomuchbull]

"Well," Rider says, drawing out the syllables. "Ponies or not, you might be able to keep up with me easier on horseback.

"What time works best?" The grin is utterly conspiratorial and delighted.

[eien_no_chou]

To match him, Satoshi also drops his voice to a whisper, leaning forward. "Let's go in the morning before okaa-san is awake enough to stop us!" It's terribly bad of him to do something behind her back, but the thrill of it makes him grin all the same.

[toomuchbull]

"Seven o'clock then?"

[eien_no_chou]

He salutes, straight backed and with fingers red from working with the snow. "Yes sir!"

[toomuchbull]

"I'll meet you at the car then."

And with that, he holds the front door open for Satoshi, certain that no one is looking for them. This violates the agreement with Chiyo about leaving her children out of the war, but then again, who is Rider to not encourage a person to have a bit of fun. Sitting around the stuffy Tohsaka household is one of the worst things he can imagine. Doing this, well, at least the boy will remember it in the future, after the war is done. That's a good enough legacy as any in this modern world.