The storefronts were boring. Waver expected something more from a country on the other side of the world than the exact same designs he looked at everyday in London.
The magi was pretty sure some of those were one to one copies of a few shops he passed by on his way to the Clock Tower.
Though from the "Oohs" and "Aahs" he received through his servant link the young genius concluded his servant did not share the opinion.
Rider was urging him to stop at almost every venue, marveling at the technology and fashion of the modern world.
Waver almost called it cute.
But there was something that did catch his attention. Posters. Not one, not two, many posters.
Most about missing children. Few about murdered families.
The magus shivered.
He was a part of the moonlit world, and he did meet with cruelty, but only in the stories.
But looking at the photos of the missing children, Waver felt sick. His intestines twisted as he thought about what another master in this war could be using children for.
Batteries? Maybe. Ingredients? Possibly.
A little girl with black hair tied with black ribbons into a two-side up hairstyle caught his attention. Her aqua eyes shone as she ran to meet a group of kids in a school uniform not dissimilar to hers.
Just imagining that a kid like this could be the next target made Waver mad.
"Rider.", the magus started, a hum of acknowledgement was the response. Then a pause. He wanted to say something about the children, but he was here to win the war, "It-It's nothing."
When he wins the war, he will wish for their life and safety. Now the young genius had bigger problems to face.
.
.
.
"What do you mean you don't exchange pounds?!" Waver waved his purse around, staring at the exchange worker, "Are you sure you translated correctly, Rider!?"
The servant thought the ire being directed on her was slightly unfair, but she conceded that her maître did have a valid reason for it. It was the sixth exchange they went to that didn't take the British pound and Angélique's maître's as well as the servant's patience was slowly running dry.
The interaction, however, caught the attention of a passing pedestrian. She was around fourteen and peeked inside the shop to look at the interesting pair.
"Umm… Engurishu?", the girl asked in broken English, interested.
"Yes, English!", the magi threw her an annoyed look before composing himself.
"Uh, Master?", his Servant started, "She is a local."
Angélique's maître shot her a confused look, Rider continued "Not opposed to helping us it seems… "
Waver's expression brightened instantly, "Finally! You understand English, right?", he threw at the girl.
"Um, a leetoru.", the girl answered.
She was short, roughly the height of Waver, wearing a school uniform. Her light brown hair was tied up in a rough ponytail, the eyes of the same color looked a bit intimidated, but determined.
"Great! Do you know where they sell po-phounts."
Angélique giggled. In all his excitement her maître has bit his tongue.
"'Excuse us,'", the servant started, "'I'm Rider, and this is Waver Velvet. We want to exchange British pounds?'"
The girl stood there for a second before smiling widely, "'Pounds to Yen? Of course, my grandpa does that!'", she skipped over to them through the door, "'I'm Fujimura Taiga! Nice to meet you Rider-san, Waver-san!'"
Angélique reflected her smile, "'We are also very happy to meet you, Taiga-chan.'"
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.
.
"So," Waver looked at his servant as they followed the girl home, "She helped us to train her English?"
Rider nodded, "Yes. Taiga here asked us to help with her English homework as a thank you for help."
The magus slowed down a peg, "Why do I have a bloody bad feeling about it all of a sudden?"
"Umm… Buraddi?" Taiga tilted her head, "'Is this a common English word, Rider-san?'"
Waver didn't need to understand the second part of the question to burn with shame. His servant giggled, looking at the red face of her maître, "'No, it's not, Taiga-chan. It's a pejorative part of British slang you see, Waver here has used it to… Express himself.'"
Taiga nodded wisely before striding to the young magus, "Waver-san. Do notto su-wea, please."
"You are doing great, Taiga-chan!" Angélique beamed, "'Your pronunciation is a bit off, but the syntax was all correct!'"
The brunette blushed a bit before turning away and coming back to leading the way to her house.
.
.
.
Angélique was telling a story about a friend of hers who stole barrels of wine, with Taiga interjecting once in a while and asking to explain a term she didn't understand, as they neared the Fujimura residence.
The servant has noticed the increase in people following them right out of sight, as well as watching them as the group passed by.
Her maître's quissiness was an obvious tell that he too noticed the shift.
"Rider, get ready for a fight, we don't know what they are after, or if they work with an enemy Master.", Waver communicated through their link, there was a short pause before he added, "I'll grab Taiga and run when they attack, you will stall them."
Angélique nodded her head slightly, agreeing to the plan.
If push came to shove she could always escape on her steed.
"'Taiga-chan, how far is your house?'", the Servant asked while dodging an eye contact of one of the thugs around as the man tensed up.
"'Oh, it's right around the corner, at the end of the street. Why do you ask, Rider-san?'"
They passed another group of men, one of them clearly holding a Katana in his hand, "'Uhh… Just curious. Say, is it always so crowded around here, Taiga-chan?'"
The girl looked around, as if confused, "'Huh? Oh yeah, it definitely looks like there are more boys around here.'"
A beat passed as the master-servant duo shared a look, 'Boys?'
"'Oi!'", Taiga waved to a group on the other side of the street, "'What's the big deal?'"
The group tensed up, knuckles turning white around their hidden weapons.
So did Angélique and her maître.
.
.
.
Taiga laughed silently, watching the pair of foreigners sulk.
She couldn't blame them, it's not like she told them that they are entering a yakuza territory.
But in the end, she needed to say goodbye, and after they helped with her English homework, it was time for it.
Taiga returned to her room that day thinking about the strange french girl and the british boy and witb hope that she would see them again.
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A/N:
Not gonna lie, I've been having fun with writing after uni and artist block hit me last year.
I'm really glad for all your support and hope to see you guys in the next chapter comments.