16 Chapter 15: Valentine's day

February 11, 2019

Chaldea Kitchen

EMIYA, otherwise known as Emiya Shirou, hummed to himself as he cleaned the used dishes from this morning. He must admit, Chaldea has great cooking equipment.

Either way, it's rather nice to be on 'vacation' from his 'job'. Getting to do one of his only hobbies is just an added bonus.

"EMIYA-San."

A soft voice called out to him as he was cleaning some dishes. Turning around, he saw none other then the maiden of Orleans, Jeanne D'arc.

"Ruler." Shirou nodded in greeting. "What brings you here? As far as I know, you haven't stepped foot in the kitchen the entire time you've been here."

Well, he actually knows for a fact that she hasn't. Shirou is basically always in the kitchen unless he goes with Issen into that odd training room that allows them to upgrade a servants saint graph.

As for Jeanne, she shuffled awkwardly for a bit before gaining a determined glint.

"Please help me in making chocolates."

"...what?"

"Please help-"

"No, I heard you the first time. Why are you making chocolates?" Shirou sighed.

"W-well, Valentine's day is in three days and I-I wish to make Issen-Kun some chocolates. However, I lack experience in the kitchen."

His instincts are screaming at him to refuse right now. However, he knows that the girls at chaldea are stubborn and Jeanne will most likely still make chocolates. His master is the type of person that would no doubt eat the chocolates even if they looked horrible, putting his health at risk.

This is unacceptable.

"*sigh* Very well. Let's begin."

/0\

"No no no! Why did you put all that salt in it!?"

"Eh? I thought it was sugar."

"Start over!"

Needless to say, his instincts were definitely right. By the end of it, Shirou's apron is a mess along with the kitchen counter top.

"Thank you for your help!" Jeanne bowed as she out a purple bag away in the refrigerator, hiding it away.

Shirou just grumbled as he started to clean the Kitchen. The whole thing was exhausting, mentally more then physically.

"Archer."

Shirou sighed as he heard the voice of his former servant, turning around to greet her.

"Saber. I didn't expect you to ever come in the kitchen."

Arturia's eyebrows twitched slightly, finding the smirk on the archers face to be rather irritating but quickly swallowed it down.

"I...need your assistance in cooking chocolates for master." Arturia twirled the bangs that sided her face with slightly red cheeks as she asked that.

Shirou had to steady himself on the counter, preventing himself from collapsing in misery.

"...very well. Let's begin."

'Issen, you owe me for this!' Shirou yelled in his mind.

/0\

February 13, 2019

Chaldea Kitchen

Issen whistled a quiet tune as he entered the kitchen, only to stop dead in his tracks at seeing the fallen form of a certain archer.

"Shirou! What the hell happened!?"

The servant looks absolutely exhausted! Yet there isn't any wounds on him...

"Master...what brings you here?"

Shirou rose up from the ground, using the counter to steady himself. The last two days were horrible. The female servants all ended up asking for his assistance, though Marie wasn't too bad.

However, the rest should never be trusted in the kitchen unsupervised! No, they shouldn't even be allowed within the kitchen at all! Even with his help, the chocolates weren't that great!

"I came here to make myself some coffee." Issen stated as he made sure the archer was alright before brewing some coffee for them to drink.

"Here, you look like you can use this."

Issen placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of Shirou before pouring himself a mug and sitting down at a table.

"While I like tea more, I do enjoy a good cup of coffee every now and then. Especially now, since Shishou seems to enjoy making me suffer."

Issen sighed, sipping from his cup of coffee. Shirou followed suit before halting and staring at the coffee in surprise.

An amazing creation! He doesn't even feel tired anymore and the taste is amazing! It's almost as if he's swimmimg through a pool of coffee!

"Is this some form of magecraft? Or is it one of those Jutsu?"

Issen sweatdropped as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Uh, no. This is just a special blend I created when I was working at a cafe."

"What's the recipe?"

Screw his pride! This is far too good and effective to simply pass up for something like that!

Issen blinked before explaining the recipe and how to go about making it. In return, Shirou gave some recipes for other dishes.

Issen may have perfected making some dishes, he doesn't know that many recipes. Shirou had traveled all around the world in his quest to become an ally of justice and perfected numerous dishes.

The master and servant bonded over a cup of coffee, while exchanging recipes.

From that day on, Issen is now a cook alongside Shirou.

/0\

February 14, 2019

Valentine's day

"Senpai...Senpai. Senpai!"

Issen shoots up out of his bed and brings up his fists, thinking Scathach had somehow gotten in again.

However, he calmed down when he saw Mashu in front of him with a bright red face.

"Huh? Mashu? What's wrong?"

"Y-you're clothes!"

Issen looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed just in some black boxers.

"Ah, shit! Quick, turn around!"

He isn't really embarassed, he has nothing to be ashamed about after all. However, it is fortunate that he didn't have a morning wood or anything. Now THAT would be awkward.

After quickly putting on some black pants and a blue shirt, he told Mashu it was okay to turn around now.

"Fuuu...HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, MASTER! HERE'S SOME CHOCOLATE!"

Issen nearly fell backwards when Mashu suddenly screamed that.

"Ugh...thank you, but why did you yell?"

'She probably woke the entire facility up...'

"I'm sorry, I seem to be a bit more spirited today then normal. An-anyway, I heard that today is the day where feelings of gratitude can be expressed in the form of chocolate. So please accept this box of chocolates, it should provide some form of nutritional value."

This time Mashu actually took out a large heart shaped chocolate, it looks to be dark chocolate.

"Thanks again, but why are you wearing your combat outfit?"

Mashu is wearing her rather tight combat outfit, her shield in her right hand. A blush makes its way onto her face as she looks down.

"W-well, I needed to get fired up before...I-it was more or less a way to cheer myself up. A-anyway, happy Valentine's day. Thank you very much!"

Issen scratched the back of his head as he sat back down on his bed, Mashu already out the door in a flustered state. His gaze falls onto the chocolate in his hand and after a shrug, he breaks a small piece off and tasted it.

'Hmmm...this is pretty good but slightly bitter.' Issen inwardly critiqued.

"Valentines day, huh?"

Issen sighed as he got up, sealing the chocolate away to prevent it from going bad.

"Why do I get the feeling that today is going to be troublesome?"

/0\

"Master, it's Valentine's day! Please, accept this!"

Lily had caught me coming out of the bathing area and cheerfully offered me a white box, inside is yet another chocolate in the shape of a heart, however this one has a horse shaped at the front.

Still, the chocolate looks pretty good. It would seem that Lily is a pretty good cook alongside Mashu.

"I thought of making cake instead of chocolate, because it's more filling, but I decided to go with the traditional way here. And since I've failed so many times, even with Archer-Sans help, I can guarantee the taste on this one. It properly tastes like chocolate!"

"...."

I take back what I thought earlier. She somehow failed even though she was receiving help from Shirou. Though I guess he was probably guiding her instead of cooking it himself...

"I made this in the shape of the thing I love most! I've combined the thoughts about you and Eto!"

Huh, I didn't know I was so important to her. I'm guessing that Eto is the horse imprinted on the front of the chocolate.

"I see, then thank you very much. You are very important to me as well, Lily." I smiled at the girl. "However, so you hand-made these?"

"? Of course its hand-made, why do you ask?"

"W-well...." I trailed off, averting my gaze elsewhere.

"Ah...You probably thought I couldn't cook. Archer-San taught me the other day...I guess you can even call it training, especially with all the guidance I needed." Lily blushed.

"I see. Well, I'm glad you're learning new things."

"Thank you! I hope you will take care of me from here on, Master!" Lily stated cheerfully.

"I'm in your care as well."

I waved goodbye to Lily and was about to make my way over to the office room within Chaldea. Despite the fact that humanity is pretty much gone, there's still a horrible amount of paperwork I have to do as the only master.

"Ah, wait. It's a holiday today...no paperwork." I sighed in relief.

If Scathach's training doesn't kill me, it'll be the paperwork. Fortunately I don't waste all my time doing it though, clones are a life saver.

However, before I can get to my room and game, Lilies older self stops me. Arturia is out of her armour and battle dress, instead she's wearing her normal white blouse with a blue dress, dark grey stockings, and brown shoes.

"Master."

"Good Morning, Arturia."

"Yes, Good morning and Happy Valentine's day. Yes, I know what Valentine's day is, holidays and governance are inseparable."

I wasn't even going to ask if she knew...

"I didn't doubt that you would know. After all, your younger self seemed to know about it."

Is it the FATE system that's supplying them with the knowledge of it's existence? I'm pretty sure Valentines day didn't exist in their time period...

"Nonetheless, you are on an important mission. While it's okay to celebrate, make sure to not go overboard."

"Understood, leave it to me."

"'Leave it to me'." Arturia muttered before smiling. "That's my master. It looks like you didn't need a reminder. Alright then...ahem..."

I watched with a small amount of amusement as the formerly serious Arturia started blushing.

"At the very least, this is what I can give you as a reward. This is the best I could prepare with some help. I would be grateful if you would accept my gift."

Arturia handed me a chocolate in the shape of a crown...a full sized crown! Thank goodness things don't spoil or melt in a seal, otherwise I would be having a large stomach ache.

"Of course I'll accept it. Thank you, Arturia. This looks amazing! I can tell you put a lot of hard work into it!"

"Y-your welcome, Master. May promised victory and sweet happiness follow you, wherever you may go."

Arturia bowed her head before walking off, leaving me with a chocolate crown. I stared down at the chocolate before sighing and sealing it away before it could start melting.

GRROWLL

My stomach rumbled, reminding me of the fact that I have yet to actually eat breakfast.

"Damn it, all of this chocolate is making me hungry. Though I'm curious if Shirou helped Arturia with her chocolates as well. After all, I've never seen her in the kitchen...unless she is demanding food of course." I muttered to myself as I walk to the cafeteria.

|0|

I quickly devoured the meal that Shirou and I cooked, rubbing my stomach in content as I lean back in my seat.

Of course this peace didn't last long as a certain troublesome demon archer abruptly sat on the other side of the long white table, directly across from me, an item wrapped in a red cloth in between us.

"Today is your monthly grading, Issen." Nobu stated with a serious expression.

I felt my eye twitch ever so slightly.

"...what? Monthly grading?"

"Hm? You didn't know? Of course not! This is the first of many, after all!"

I simply stared at the archer, silently beckoning her to continue.

"Hmmm...it seems that you've been working hard lately. This is your reward. Take it gratefully!"

Nobu dramatically took the red cloth off the object in between us, revealing a large skull made of chocolate. It's a Valentine's gift!? I should've known!

"It's a specially made skull chocolate! What do you think! It's pretty cool, right? Are you happy? Of course you are!"

Well...why a skull? Though it does remind me somewhat of my Susanoo's skull...

"Hm? Why are you so silent? You don't like the chocolate I prepared? ...well haven't you grown quite full of yourself." Nobu frowned.

Like you're one to talk!

"No, I never said such a thing. I was simply silent because I was admiring the chocolate. Thank you, this looks amazing!"

Nobu's expression instantly lights up as she laughs happily, her cheeks tinged slightly pink.

"Wahahaha, if that was the case just say so! What a cute fella. Here, don't hold back and come a little closer! I'll cut it up for you personally."

I shook my head with a sigh before getting up and sitting next to her as she starts to cut the skull into pieces for the both of us.

"Hmm, this isn't bad at all. Tastes a bit similar to Mashu's though..." I muttered.

"Umu! Eating chocolate with you is a different taste! I look forward to your hard work from here on!"

The two of us continued to eat the chocolate until it was gone, after finishing with that Mary had come up and quickly given me chocolate in secret. Apparently she doesn't want Amadues to get jealous.

So far, I can safely say that Maries chocolates have been the best tasting ones.

Placing the rest of the chocolates into the same seal as the others, I make my way towards my room.

"Oh, master, I've been searching for you!"

Once again, as I was walking down the halls of Chaldea, one of my servants called out to me.

"Ah, what can I do for you, Okita?"

Well, I have a pretty good hunch as to why she would be searching for me but might as well be polite, right?

"I, Okita-San, have prepared you some Chocolate for this rumoured 'Valentine'."

After saying that, Okita then handed me chocolate wrapped in a cloth with the same pattern as the one on her Haori.

"How is it? Does it look yummy? Forgive me for the Dandanara pattern underneath."

"Thank you, it looks great. By the way, Valentine's day is a day where females convert their feeling to males."

"Eh? Valentine's is a day to convey your feeling to males?" Okita's face gained a pink flush. "Feelings as in...like or dislike?"

I decided to tease her just a bit and nodded my head with a smile.

"...."

Her face went an even darker shade of red before...

"Kugh!? E-excuse me, I got a bit too excited. It's troublesome for someone like me to like master, so I am going to return to my room and sleep...."

Uwa! Not only did she cough up blood, she also got really depressed!

"Wait! Why don't you come over to my room and we can eat this chocolate together alongside some tea."

Fortunately I was able to install a Kotatsu in my room with Da Vinci's help.

"....." Once again Okita went silent as she blushed before ahe smiled widely. "Hai! I'll be happy to! Be it masters room or anywhere else, master!"

Nodding my head, I lead her over to my room.

"What!? You can make your room look like this!?"

Okita seemed shocked by the rather Japanese looking room. I was able to get Tatami mats alongside my Kotatsu, my bed was also replaced by a futon.

"Yep, the room was far too white for my tastes. If you want to change your room, then I can help you out."

Okita cheerfully nodded her head.

"Hai! This Okita-San would love to have my room changed! The amount of white the room has makes me a bit uncomfortable..."

Smiling at her attitude, I motioned for her to take a seat besides me at the Kotatsu after putting down some tea I had made.

"Here, take a seat."

Okita quickly sat down before we started to eat the chocolate together while getting to know each other more.

"You are so nice, master. Being so friendly to a killer like me feels a lot like that from what you would get from a child. Ah! I don't mean to call you childish or anything!"

I blinked at the sudden change in mood before smiling softly.

"Of course I will be nice to you. You are a comrade, a precious person to me. Every single servant here has killed, I don't hold anything against you or anything like that."

"P-precious person..." Okita muttered with a red face. "Kugh!?"

I facepalmed when she suddenly coughed up blood again. It would seem that she was a bit too excited again.

|0|

"-Hm, this must be fate to run into you."

"Not really. It's called a coincidence. Not to mention the fact that we're both still in Chaldea." I deadpanned.

Shishou ignored what I said and continued to talk.

"You always seem busy with something, so I didn't think our fates were going to cross. And yet, here we run into each other. I suppose that's what master and servants are...no, what master and disciples are."

I'm pretty sure I know what she's here for, and I'm not gonna lie. I'm nervous.

Shishou is amazing at a lot of things...when it comes to combat, but I'm almost a hundred percent sure that she hasn't cooked that much.

...Please tell me Shirou helped her.

"...hm, I should keep this short. I should should at least try to be more compatible with those around me today. Besides, I take it you quite busy today as well?"

"Not really, other then our training earlier, today is my day off." I shrugged.

Besides, while its true that I'm busy. I usually spend my time training myself or with the heroic spirits while clones do the work.

"Take this from the bottom of your heart. Me, Scathach, has for the first time made what this world calls chocolate."

"...That's not how that saying goes."

Shishou handed me her chocolate, my retort ignored.

Upon seeing said chocolate, I didn't know how to react. it's a large heart with a small replica of Gae Bolg stabbed through the center of it, sending cracks through the heart and nearly breaking it.

Is this some form of hate chocolate!?

Well, seeing that she looks slightly embarassed, I don't think it is.

"Thanks for the Chocolate, it looks like you really put some effort into it." I smiled.

Shishou didn't respond, her face was still red.

"...H-Hmm. How should I put this...It's quite embarassing, doing this. However, the expression I get to see you have while receiving this chocolate makes the trembling in my heart seem like a small price in comparison." Shishou finally spoke up.

"Ahh, also. Let me say this beforehand. Don't say anything about how the result is. It probably is not sweet. It probably tastes bad. However, tastiness aside, I can guarantee it's effectiveness. Hmph. Afterall, this is chocolate that can pierece straight through the heart. There is no way it is not effective."

E-effectiveness? Pierce straight through the heart!? I'm scared to eat it again!

"I-I see..."

"Hm. It was a rather fun time making this. I...No. Just for a little bit, maybe it's not a bad idea to learn cooking along with the arts of fighting."

The image of Shishou in the kitchen, wearing an apron whilst struggling to cook flashed into my mind, causing my shoulders to tremble.

"T-that wouldn't really fit the image you m-made...pft-!" I couldn't keep myself from laughing.

"What, it's not like me? ...Hey, you there. stop laughing!"

Sensing incoming danger, I hastily jumped backwards just in time to dodge a red spear.

"Oi! What the-!"

"I've said this before, even I have some weakpoints, especially after getting all excited acting like a girl. However, that does not give you the excuse of laughing at me. P-prepare yourself!"

It may have been a hallucination due to fear or something, but I swear I saw Shishou's lips curve downward into a pout for a second when I laughed...

|0|

"Alright, here's the spot!"

Issen blinked as Jeanne placed down a large sheet for the two of them in the middle of a grass field a slight distance away from Domremy.

After he successfully ran away from Scathach, Jeanne had come up to him with a basket before pulling him to the rayshift room and taking them to the Orleans.

For some reason, Issen's heart seemed to skip a beat everyone he sees Jeanne. Maybe it's her new outfit?

A little while ago, they had finally managed to upgrade her saint graph to the max it could go. She's equipped with a pure white version of her old clothes that bring out even more of her beauty. (Final Ascension)

"A picnic?" Issen asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jeanne blushed lightly as she set out some food she prepared.

"Yes, I just thought that perhaps I could help you relax by taking you out here. I'm sorry for being so...forceful."

Issen grinned at the Ruler class servant, inwardly quite happy that she would take the time to do this for him.

"Thanks! I could use the relaxation and break from being in Chaldea, I appreciate your concern."

The two of them sat down next to one another, Jeanne took out some sandwiches that she made with EMIYA's assistance.

"I-I made these with EMIYA-San's guidance, so they should be edible..."

Should be edible, huh? She doesn't look to have much confidence in what she's saying...

Maybe Issen should have Shirou and himself hold a cooking class every now and then. It's sad that literally no one but the two of them knows how to cook in Chaldea.

"So, did you come out here often when you were alive?" Issen asked.

A nostalgic smile came onto Jeanne's face as she nodded her head.

"Yes, we often came to this spot as a family. They were always such carefree and joyful times..."

Issen saw the cheerful light in Jeanne's eyes dim ever so slightly and felt bad for damaging the mood.

"Sorry, shouldn't have asked."

"Ah, no! It's fine, I'm glad to tell you more about myself." Jeanne waved her hands.

Issen grinned before taking one of the sandwiches and taking a bite.

"Hey, this isn't bad at all!"

"Really? Thank goodness..." Jeanne sighed before scooting closer to Issen so that she was sitting directly next to him.

"Jeanne?"

"I just wanted to talk more about you. I-we saw bits of your past through the dream cycle and I wanted to ask you a few things."

Issen paused, lowering the sandwich he was about to take a bite of before nodding his head.

"Okay, it's only fair. Plus I trust you all enough. May I ask what you've seen?"

Jeanne gained a slightly pained expression as she remembered everything. In a dream cycle it isn't odd to feel everything that the master or servant feels in the memories. She and the other servants had felt the heart crushing emotions Issen was put through.

"Everything up to the fire." Jeanne eventually says.

Issen flinched slightly at hearing that, but loosened up and nodded his head.

"I see. What do you want to know?"

"What happened after the fire? I mean, you said you weren't sent to an orphanage but a...church?"

A fond smile appeared on Issen's face as he recalled his old home.

"Yeah, I was taken under the care of Father Osugi. He was an old man, at the end of his life when he took me in."

"What was he like?"

"Kind. He never yelled at me once despite having all the reason to. After the fire, word spread out to the new school I went to and the other kids ostracized me thinking I was some kind of demon. I was particularly sensitive to words like 'demon' and 'murderer' so I lashed out and started fights. Father Osugi would always get scolded by the teachers and parents for not controlling me, yet he would always carry me back home on his back instead of scold me, silently assuring me that I wasn't a murderer."

The image of an old man dressed in priest clothing sending him a peace sign while grinning flashed in the master's mind, causing his smile to widen.

"Though he's also a hopeless pervert."

"Eh!?"

"I know! He used to always say 'God gave us these bodies, so it's my duty as a man of god to admire them'. Seriously, that was his major flaw! He even tried to get me to peek with him when I was ten!"

Jeanne giggled at the enraged yet embarassed face Issen was making, her left hand reaching out and grabbing onto Issen's right, shocking the Uchiha. She was relieved when he didn't pull back, giving her more courage.

"What about after he passed away?"

"Ah, after her passed on I decided to carry on his original dream of making the church an orphanage."

Issen then went ahead and told Jeanne all about how he found and took in various orphans he came across. She was enraptured by the stories he told, often giggling at the humor added into the stories. She also couldn't help but wish for Issen to talk to her in the same fondness he talks about the way he talks about his family.

However, she also noticed something off about his stories...

"Issen-Kun, did you ever have anyone to rely on? Anyone to truly open up to?"

Issen blinked before looking away from Jeanne, confirming her theory.

"...I never had time to meet anyone."

It was a weak argument and he knew it. Jeanne knows he went to school, yet he never really had any friends.

"That's not true. It's the same even now, there is a part of you that blocks out the rest of us. If we didn't see your dream cycle then you wouldn't have told us about your father."

Issen flinched and moved to pull his hand away but Jeanne's hand tightened around his.

"There wasn't a need for you all to know. It's long in the past, something I've gotten over."

"How could you have gotten over something like that when you not even once consulted anyone about it?"

Jeanne's voice was stern yet gentle as well, preventing Issen from lashing out.

...or perhaps he just doesn't want to lash out anymore.

"It's fine, isn't it? I would just cause people trouble if I went to them with my problem and cause them pain that they don't deserve."

He's not wrong, right? Besides, it's not like his pain ever mattered-

"Yet not telling is hurting us too. Seeing you silently suffer all by yourself hurts us too. Seeing that you don't care for yourself hurts us too."

Irritation alongside an unknown emotion started to bubble up as he found he couldn't refute Jeanne. Ripping his hand from her grip, he glares over at Jeanne.

"Why do you care? It's my life, you and the other's don't need to worry about it!"

Issen's onyx eyes glared into Jeanne's amethyst ones, the ruler class servant once more saw the loneliness buried deep inside him. As for Issen, all he saw was care and another emotion he couldn't place. All of it was for him, and it frustrated him.

Why does she act like she understands everything about him? Why does she care so much about him?

...Why does his heart beat faster when he's with her? What is this feeling that bubbles under the surface when he sees how much she cares for him?

Jeanne reached up and gently cupped Issen's cheeks, slowly going edging forward.

"I care because...I love you, Issen-Kun."

Closing her eyes, Jeanne's lips overlapped Issen's. The soft feeling of the maidens lips caused Issen's eyes to widen while his face flushed and his heart started to beat out of his chest.

Yet at the same time, her words went on replay.

[I care because...I love you.]

[I love you.]

'Someone loves me? Jeanne loves me?' Issen thought, his eyes fogging up. '...is this what love feels like?'

Finally he closed his eyes and returned the kiss. It was a mostly innocent kiss that lasted around twenty seconds, but it got across both of their emotions.

Issen dropped his head onto Jeanne's breasts, not looking her in the face as she hug him.

"...a relationship with someone like me will be troublesome, you know?"

"Nonsense. I will always love you, even if you didnt accept my feelings. I'm very stubborn, you know?"

"..."

Issen tried to blink away his tears, but they started to fall anyway. His shoulders shook with sobs as emotions pent up for years started to break out, even if it's only a piece.

Jeanne smiled as she hugged Issen closer, letting him get it all out.

"I will make sure to make you love yourself just as much as I love you."

After a while, Issen separated from Jeanne and wiped his face.

"Ah! I almost forgot!"

"Hm?"

Jeanne rummaged through the basket and pulled out a box of chocolates.

"H-happy Valentine's day! Though they may not taste like much..."

Issen stared at his new lover with wide eyes before his shoulders start to tremble.

"Pft-Hahahahahahaha!"

Jeanne stared wide eyed at Issen, this is the first time she's heard him laugh so happily. Though a pout soon formed as she realised he was laughing at her!

Issen calmed down and took the chocolates before pulling Jeanne close, eliciting a squeak of surprise.

"Happy Valentine's day indeed...thank you, Jeanne."

Issen planted a chaste kiss on Jeanne's lips before the two continued their picnic, enjoying each other's company.