24 HOURS: A DATE WITH ARCHER

"A chance to live for 24 hours and be back to her world?" he asked as he looked at the empty space.

"Yes. A rare opportunity, right?"

"Not interested."

"Really?"

"I said I am not interested. But the question is, why am I here?"

He looked at the familiar mansion and scratched his head slightly. Slowly, he walked towards the house. The mansion did not change at all, maybe because the maids were maintaining it. Or maybe the owner herself was using magic. Whatever the reason is, he doesn't care. He smiled as he entered the mansion. For some reason he was excited to see her again. It was midnight so he was sure that she was sleeping. He used to watch her sleep a year ago. Why? Simply because he was her servant, and protecting her was a part of his duty.

He sat beside her bed and stared at her beautiful face.

Moments later, he decided to get a chair. He did not plan to sleep in her room. All he wanted was to watch her sleep like he used to.

xxx

Rin felt the cold wind in her room. She closed the windows before she slept and had a heater in her home so it was impossible for the room to be cold. It was not only the cold wind that bothered her, however; she felt like there was someone watching her.

Who could this person be?

Rin never let her guard down; even the slightest foreign creature like a mouse could wake her up when it entered her room. Slowly, she looked at the place where she sensed the strange aura. As soon as she saw him, her eyes widened as if she saw a ghost. But when you come to think of it, she really was seeing a spirit with a body. To explain it in more comprehensible way, she saw her Servant.

"H-how?" Rin asked, so surprised that she didn't know what else to say. She slapped her right cheek to see if she was only dreaming.

"That must have hurt," he smiled as he looked at her.

Rin felt the pain from her right cheek. She wasn't dreaming; he was really in her room.

"Archer! What are you doing in here?" Rin asked him in a panicky voice.

When you come to think of it, this is impossible. First of all, the Holy Grail War ended a year ago and all the servants went back to the spirit world. Secondly, without the existence of the Holy Grail, a Servant cannot have his or her own body.

Am I still dreaming? But the pain in the right cheek …

Archer leaned toward Rin so closely that he could almost kiss her. He smiled like he was teasing her as he softly whispered in her ear.

"I'm here to make your day miserable, my former Master."

Rin was uncomfortable with Archer so close to her; she could feel him breathing. She looked at his face and noticed that he was grinning. Feeling that Archer was making fun of her, she pushed him away.

"I-idiot!" she screamed and threw a pillow at him.

Then she noticed that he was wearing normal clothes: skinny jeans, cool converse shoes and a dark blue polo shirt. His hair was pushed upward like it used to be. Indeed, Archer was a good-looking man. He has deep golden eyes that could turn any woman's head. But Rin was different; she didn't care about his appearance at all. She was just surprised to see him not wearing his servant's clothing.

"You look cute now that you are blushing, Rin," Archer arrogantly said as he laughed.

Rin didn't notice that she was blushing for some reason; however, she hated him for noticing it. Her face was as red as a rose. She covered it with a pillow and threw her alarm clock at him.

Archer caught the alarm clock and returned it back to her table. He was still staring at Rin even though she was hiding her face.

Rin removed her pillow, looked at him directly in his eyes, and said, "Archer, can you tell me how this thing happened? I mean, you and I both know that this is impossible."

"There was someone who approached me at the spirit world and said that he can give me a chance to be here again for twenty four hours. I don't know what miracle it was, but the next thing I knew I was standing in front of your mansion and was walking my way to your room. He gave me everything that I need."

"I see; so that's what happened. But I still can't believe that you are here."

"Rin," Archer said with a smile like he was planning something, "You really looked cute earlier."

Tohsaka stared at him like he was an alien or a foreign creature. She was used to hearing compliments like that, but for some reason it was different when it was Archer who said it.

"Let's play a game."

"A game?" Rin managed to answer back through her confusion.

"Go on a date with me tomorrow. If you blush tomorrow like you did before, I win; but if you do not, I lose."

Rin smirked. She didn't like games and the whole date thing did not interest her. She would rather stay at home and practice her magic than to go on a stupid date with her Servant.

"Not interested," she answered plainly in an arrogant voice.

xxx

"I said that I'm not interested but why am I picking a dress for our date?" Tohsaka asked herself while she was choosing a dress in her closet.

"Really?" Archer asked from the chair.

"Who would be interested in going on a stupid date?" Rin asked and laid back on her bed, planning to return to sleep.

"If you win you can ask any question you like."

"There's nothing I need to know about you," she answered back. This time she covered her ears with pillows.

"Remember when you summoned me in the fifth Holy Grail War? I don't remember my identity. Aren't you interested to know who I am? You were my master back then, and come to think of it, you are clueless of who I am. Can you even call yourself a Master? Rin, your stubbornness can be irritating sometimes."

Rin looked at him.

"I won't go on a date with you just because of that. And besides, why are you so crazy about making me blush again?"

Archer did not answer, but simply smiled at her.

"Now what?" she asked irritably.

"Let's just say that your Servant missed seeing his Master's cute face."

Rin hid her face in one of the pillows.

"Stupid Archer!"

"Stubborn Rin."

Rin finally found the perfect dress: it was simple, yet elegant. However, she decided not to use it.

"It's just Archer. I don't need to make myself pretty in front of him."

"Come on, Rin. Just consider this a day off for you. You've been busy with magic and school. Since it's Valentine's Day, why don't you enjoy yourself?"

"I'm not interested in Valentine's Day. It's just a stupid occasion where people embarrass themselves by confessing to a guy. Nothing is special."

Rin was used to guys confessing their feelings to her. She was really popular in her school, known as "Miss Perfect" for being an honour student and having such an angelic face that can turn any man's head. All the guys who confessed to her ended up being rejected.

She decided just to use her normal clothes: red sweater, black mini skirt and long black socks.

She found that there was food in the table beside her bed.

Did he cook this? Strange, how did he learn how to cook?

She bit the bread, ate the omelette and drank the milk. The breakfast he made was simple, but it made Rin feel special.

"I only have twenty four hours in here. I guess I will literally make your day miserable if you don't agree with my proposition."

"My day is already miserable now that you are here."

Archer entered the room and took a small device at Rin's table.

"What is that?" Rin curiously asked.

"A hidden camera," Archer answered with plain tone in his voice.

"Why did you put that in my room? Don't tell me….."

Rin wanted to punch Archer. Maybe he used that camera to record a video of her changing her clothes. She almost blushed out of embarrassment but was able to control herself to the last minute.

If he sees me blushing now then he will surely win in this game, and I won't allow that to happen!

"I don't intend to use this for doing stuff like that," Archer answered as if he knew what Rin was thinking, "I just used this to see if you were happy eating the meal I cooked for you."

"What the…"

Archer put his right hand to Rin's head and patted it like a master to his dog.

"Where on earth did you get a hidden camera?"

"I told you that he gave me everything that I need right? I can ask for anything in this ring," he said as he showed the ring on his finger.

Rin just nodded. She still couldn't believe what was happening.

"But when you come to think of it, you are my guest. It would be bad for a host to turn down her guest's proposition, so I guess going with you is not a bad idea after all."

"Prepare yourself. Tomorrow I will do everything just to see you blush again," Archer said as he left Rin's room that night.

He is still an idiot, but I find it entertaining.

"Rin, let's go now. Time is running out, and every minute counts," Archer said as he left the room.

"You are still an idiot, Archer, but I find it entertaining," Rin mumbled to herself as she followed him.

To be continued…

Author's note:

There are facts that you need to know before you continue reading this story:

First, this story is AU.

Second, Rin and Archer are OOC in here.

Third, this story is impossible because no miracle can make a servant return back to human world.

After knowing these facts, if you still continue reading this then I can assure you that you will have fun, or so think.