ACT XXV - A Spy Revealed
The morning light creeped in through the curtains into the room of Shirou and Saber. Both of them still slept soundly as they did not get much sleep the night before. After the beach they had slipped back to their room and had a bath together and then went to bed, staying up until the early hours of the morning. She had fallen asleep laying across his chest and even in his sleep, he refused to let her go with his arms wrapped around her back and feeling the contours of her soft skin.
Saber's eyes opened slowly and lifted her cheek from Shirou's chest and looked down at him. He was sleeping so soundly that it barely looked like he was breathing at all. She yawned softly and stretched her back, arching her back and causing Shirou's arms to slip from their place around it and fall to the mattress.
The movement caused Shirou to stir only slightly.
"Goodness. He must have been more tired than I thought." She whispered to herself. Raising her hand, she brushed the hair away from his forehead and pressed her lips to it. Just when she was about to leave him for the bath something suddenly wrapped themselves around her torso. She squeaked in surprise only to find that it was Shirou's arms.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" Shirou loosened his grip so she could move a bit bitter. It was the kiss to his forehead that had finally woke him from his deep sleep.
"Yes, I was not expecting you to surprise me like that." She began to stroke his hair lightly with the tips of her fingers.
Shirou smiled. "Good morning, Saber."
She frowned. "Shirou, did I not tell you last night that you are no longer permitted to call me by that name?"
Ah, that's right she did. I messed up. "You're right, old habits die hard. Sorry, Arturia."
She nodded, satisfied with his apology. "As long as you understand. Good morning, Shirou." She greeted him properly.
Shirou rubbed his eyes. "Alright, lets go take a shower." He couldn't tell what time it was, so he figured the two of them may as well get up and see what everyone else was doing. No doubt they'd get a lot of questions about where they were last night, especially from Arcueid who was very impatient and nosy.
Saber frowned slightly. "Very well." She wasn't thrilled about the idea of getting up just yet, she would have been overjoyed if she could stay in bed with Shirou just a bit longer. But she couldn't stay in bed forever as much as she'd like to. Besides they still had one more day in beautiful Hawaii before they had to go back to the Agency, unless of course something came up and they had to go back in an emergency. The phone had been quiet since they'd arrived, so there was no news from Narbareck about a surprise attack of any kind.
The two of them showered and then got dressed without much conversation simply because there wasn't any need for it. They left the room after cleaning up a bit and headed hand-in-hand down the hall towards Rin and Aiah's room. Everyone had slept over there last night, so they should still be there now unless something else happened. Upon reaching the door Shirou knocked.
The door opened to reveal Aiah. "Oh, good morning you two. Did you sleep well?" She smiled warmly. Her energy was through the roof, making Shirou wonder if she was what was known as a 'morning person'.
"Yeah, we did. Is everyone else awake yet?" Shirou asked.
Aiah nodded. "Yes, actually Rin and Arcueid were debating on whether or not just to come and get the two of you so you showed up just in time."
From behind the door Rin's voice could be heard. "Is that Shirou and Saber? Tell them to get in here before they run off again."
Aiah sighed and opened the door to let the two of them in now that they were done chatting in the doorway.
Once the three of them entered the room Rin had a bit of an angry look on her face. "You two. I wish you would have at least told us you were going to have a romantic evening alone." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
Shirou shrugged. "We figured that you all would live without us for one evening. Were you that miserable without us here with you?" He asked.
Rin huffed and crossed her arms, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Of course not, we all had a great time here. I just thought that you would at least let us know if you were planning something." She replied.
"That's just it Rin, we didn't plan it. It was a spur of the moment idea and we ran with it." While Shirou had indeed planned to have a romantic evening with her, he didn't plan on where or what they'd be doing. Everything just sort of fell into place.
"Rin, would you care to inform us how you knew what we were doing?" Saber asked. Rin seemed to be well informed, for all she knew they could have just went out shopping or to see a movie. To say right away exactly what the two of them were doing meant that she did indeed know that they were at the beach last night.
Before she knew it Rin was backed into a corner. Alone they were no problem for her, but when they were together like this it was indeed a formidable challenge. She couldn't let them know that she'd sent a familiar to keep an eye on them last night so she did in fact know everything that went on between the two of them.
"Nee-san, isn't it a little early to be arguing with Senpai?" Sakura, who had been listening until now decided that it was time to stop the argument.
"Matou-san is right, I think. Shouldn't this wait until we've had breakfast at least?" Shiki spoke up next.
Rin sighed and gave up and calmed down a bit. She didn't normally get as angry as that, was there some deep underlying feelings in her anger that she didn't realize? "Alright, you're right." She said after taking a breath.
"Now that that's settled, I say we go out for breakfast. We've yet to have some of the local food." Arcueid suggested and even Saber perked up at the mention of the local food.
After the small fiasco in the hotel room the eight of them found their way out of the hotel and down the street. The way they decided was to just walk along the seaside street, they were bound to run into something eventually, which they did. It was a place that looked rather like an outdoor diner. A small hut in the back where the food was cooked with an authentic straw roof. Palm trees littered about the dining area with the circular tables and wicker chairs. The weather co-operated as well as the sun was shining brightly in the cloudless sky, and a cool breeze came in from the sea keeping everyone from getting too hot in the baking sunlight.
Their brekfast mostly consited of fruits like pinapple and mangos. The pinapple was very juicy in Shirou's mouth and had a tiny bit of a sour taste too it, perfectly chilled. He ate slowly and savored the flavor with the thinly sliced bit of ham the fruit came with.
"This is great." Shiki commented between mouthfulls.
"I know! Even the fruit Big Sister keeps around isn't this good." Arcueid said enthusiastically.
"Big Sister? Who's that?" Aiah asked after taking a drink of her orange juice.
"It's how she refers to my sister, Akiha. She thinks it's cute but Akiha hates it." Shiki answered for Arcueid, who currently had her mouth full.
"I think it suits her. She acts just like a Big Sister right?" Arcueid said after swallowing her food.
"She's got a point Shiki. I got the same feeling from Akiha." Shirou agreed.
"You know to tell the truth I agree with both of you. But she doesn't get along too well with Arc and Ciel. I can't take them anywhere without them fighting amongst themselves." He complained.
Rin, Sakura, Rider, and Aiah hadn't met Akiha so they couldn't do much until they started talking amongst themselves about Hawaii itself. For example Rin mentioned she would like to try and learn how to do the local hula dance. Rider wasn't too sure about it but Sakura seemed to think it would be fun.
"No way. I can see Arcueid fighting with Akiha, but Ciel? She's so calm all the time I find it hard to believe she's involved in the fighting." Shirou said in amazement.
"Yes, I have only met Ciel briefly but I was able to come to the same conclusion as Shirou." Saber agreed.
Shiki chuckled. "You wouldn't believe it, but Ciel and Arc go at it pretty hard. It's pretty scary when they get serious."
Arcueid looked disinterested in the conversation and took another bite of her food.
"Hm. I think I would have to see that in person to really believe it." Shirou said and downed the remainder of his breakfast.
"Arcueid, we had a really interesting idea." Sakura leaned over and suggested the hula lessons that the rest of the girls were talking about. They wouldn't have time to learn anything spectacular because they had to leave the next day but it would still be fun to give it a try.
"Alright, let's do it!" Arcueid agreed and then turned towards Saber. "You have to come too Saber-chan. I think you would look really cute in a grass skirt." She added with a smile.
"Is that fine with you, Shirou?" She asked.
He nodded, although unsure why she was asking him. "Yes, as a matter of fact I agree with Arcueid. You would look cute in a grass skirt."
Saber smiled as a blush spread across her face.
After paying for breakfast and getting directions from the man that worked there, they found that there was a dance studio for tourists a mile down the road from where they were. The hotel they were staying at turned out to be pretty convienient, there was pretty much anything you could ever want in mere walking distance from the hotel. The beachfront had all kinds of shops and restaurants as well as the dance studio they were all walking to. They talk amongst themselves about regretting the fact that they'd have to return the next morning, but it had been a nice vacation nontheless. Shirou however, was quite eager to get back to the Agency and check up on how things were going.
"Hey Shiki, what's the deal with Rin today? Did something happen last night?" Shirou asked him as the group walked. The girls walked in a group ahead of them while Shirou and Shiki brought up the rear.
"Ah well, I guess you could say that..." He answered as if something was conflicting in his head. He could predict where this conversation was going, but he wasn't sure if he should tell Shirou everything or not.
"Come to think of it, Sakura seemed to be a little down too. You were with them last night, do you know anything?" He pushed the issue out of concern.
Shiki scratched the back of his head. Shirou would be really really mad if he told him. "Uh, well that's..."
"Shiki." Shirou glared at him.
Shiki sighed. "You didn't hear this from me, alright?" He had to get that out because if Rin found out what he was about to tell Shirou she might kill him, then again Shirou might kill him after he'd found out. Even worse though he didn't want to keep any secrets from Shirou. "Last night when you and Saber never showed up, Tohsaka-san got mad and sent out a familiar to go look for the two of you. We all know you two were on a date because Rin told us."
"I'm gonna kill her." Shirou said menacingly with a clenched fist. He didn't like the idea of being spied on, least of all not by Rin. She was smart enough to know that he and Saber were off doing something on their own, yet she spied on them for a reason unknown to him. She even upset Sakura in the process, his body felt like it was on fire from the anger and he could feel the veins throbbing in his forehead. "What the hell was she thinking!" Shirou hissed.
"Calm down, Shirou. Maybe she was generally worried about the two of you. We don't know what's happened while we've been gone, maybe the vampires have been following us." Shiki suggested.
Shirou clucked his tongue. "I'm not convinced, but I'll let it go now for the sake of the mission and because I don't want to upset Sakura anymore." He decided that now wasn't the time to yell at Rin, and there was also the fact that they were supposed to be enjoying themselves right now. He would find it hard to trust Rin if he went somewhere alone or with Saber from now on. He took a deep breath and let himself calm down a little.
Before he realized it they had arrived at the dancing studio that the man at breakfast had told them about. There were steps leading up to the front door which was on a patio. On the patio there was a tanned woman with long black hair sitting in a rocking chair looking bored, she was very thin and had perfect womanly curves she didn't look that old and Shirou estimated that she couldn't be over 25, when she saw them she lifted her head and smiled. She waited until she was sure the group was coming towards here before standing up to greet them.
"Welcome, my name is Lola. Are the eight of you looking to learn how to dance? As it so happens I get a lot of tourists through here so I'd be glad to show you the basics." She surveyed them and set her eyes on Shirou and Shiki, "I've never taught men before though."
Both of them waved their arms frantically.
"Ah, no we're just here with the girls."
"You've got it wrong, we're not here for that."
Lola grinned. "Alright, well come on in and we'll get you all set up." She opened the door and headed into the studio.
"Alright! Let's go!" Arcueid was as enthusiastic as usual. She grabbed Saber's hand and dragged her inside, Saber glanced back at Shirou as she was dragged inside.
"Come on Sakura. Let's go enjoy ourselves." Rider said and walked inside with her. Sakura only smiled and followed her in.
"Come on you two, you can't pretend you don't want to see this." Rin teased Shiki and Shirou before following Aiah inside.
They looked at each other and Shirou uttered a low growl before heading inside behind Shiki.
Inside the place wasn't much else except one big room with a hardwood floor and a few small changing rooms. The walls were mostly covered with mirrors and there were a few hardwood chairs scattered along the walls, the center of the cieling held a large cieling fan.
"You two can have a seat over there, unless you want to learn how to swing your hips in a girlish fashion." Lola teased and offered Shiki and Shirou seats along the wall which they took after casting a glance at each other and scratching the back of their heads in an almost mirror image of each other. For a dance teacher she wasn't very professional, Shirou figured that was just the kind of person she was. He also bet that she'd get along very well with Rin.
"Now if you girls will wait here, I've got a box of grass skirts in the back." Lola hurried off through a door in the back and soon came back with a large cardboard box. "Luckily they're one-size-fits-all." She said after setting it down.
The girls all looked at each other and picked out skirts, holding them up to their waist to see how they looked.
"You don't have the coconut bras?" Aiah said with a disappointed look on her face.
Lola looked surprised and placed her hand on her hip. "Well we do have them, but you're sure you're alright with those two there?" She asked.
Rin smirked. "We're here so we might as well go all out. Besides it'll be good for those two I think."
"That's the spirit, Nee-san!" Sakura said excitedly.
"Just what part about that is supposed to be good for us!" Shirou said.
"Speak for yourself, Shirou. I'm looking forward to it." Shiki crossed his arms.
"Shiki..." Arcueid glared at him from across the room, making Shiki cringe.
"Ahaha, relax Arc. I'm only joking."
"Alright, well I'll go get the coconuts and you can decide then." Lola hurried off to the back room again, coming back a few seconds later with another box. The box contained halves of coconuts attatched by nothing more than twine.
"Um, Lola-san. I think this may not be enough for the three of us." Sakura said shyly after picking up a set and pushing them to her chest, the halves of fruit barely covered half of the area it's supposed to. As expected of her, Rider, and Arcueid.
"Oh I see." Lola looked impressed. "Here I have a solution." She walked over to Sakura and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulled it up and tied it in a knot so it exposed Sakura's midriff. Sakura, Arcueid, and Rider all watched and copied the motions after Lola was finished with Sakura.
Rin frowned at the three of them, huffed and grabbed her own coconuts.
"Alright, get changed. The rooms are back there." She pointed to the changing rooms in the back and the girls filed into them with their skirts in hand. Soon after that an odd air filled the room, it was quiet and Shirou could hear the sounds of the girls removing their clothes.
"So how'd you two end up with all these girls?" Lola leaned against the wall and broke the silence.
"We ended up traveling together because we're looking for the same person." Shirou said without revealing too much.
Lola didn't have time to ask any more questions because the girls started to exit the changing rooms. Rin came out first, the grass skirt she was wearing sank almost to the floor and the coconuts covered her breasts snugly.
"What do you think, Shirou?" Rin smiled and twirled around, her hair swaying with the skirt.
"I think it suits you actually." Rin actually did look pretty good in that outfit, in fact Shirou thought she could fit right in with the locals and not look out of place.
"Hm? You really think so?" She adjusted the skirt slightly so it rested on her hips.
Sakura came out next with her shirt tied in a knot. "You look great, Nee-san." She complimented Rin, who smiled and complimented her back.
Saber was next, she came out shyly with her right arm around her stomach. She must have been embarassed showing it off in front of people which Shirou found adorable. She slid out slowly closing the door of the changing room behind her, her skirt swishing loudly. "Um, Sh-Shirou... do I look strange?" She must have felt she looked weird in that kind of outfit.
"No, you look beautiful Arturia." He answered with a smile. Saber blushed and smiled back. Out of the corner of his eye Shirou saw Rin and Sakura give him a curious look when he called Saber by her name.
Once the other girls were out of the changing rooms Lola had the girls line up on the dance floor. "Alright, move your hips from side to side like this. We'll start slowly." Lola took a breath and stuck her hip out to the left, and then slowly moved it all the way to the right in a single fluid motion. The girls copied her movements as best they could. "Alright, again." Lola instructed, the girls continued to sway their hips back and forth. Lola left her spot in front of the group and surveyed them by walking around them.
She walked behind Sakura and watched her movements. "It's easier if you raise your arms like this." She showed Sakura and the rest of them to raise their arms over their heads and grasp their wrist with one of their hands. Sakura squeaked when Lola put her hands her hips to check her muscle movements. "Haha, sorry. You're pretty good at moving your hips." She said and moved on down the line.
As a man it was troubling for Shirou to watch. He had to keep thinking about other things to keep his brain from melting as it was threatening to do. This went on for about an hour. Lola had them doing various excersices the entire time, gradually speeding up their hip movements and then moving on to bending their backs and arms in fluid motions. Before long the girls's hips were moving as if they were vibrating, their skirts swaying loudly as they jiggled their hips. They had happy looks on their faces, as did Lola their instructor because they were able to catch on very quickly.
"Alright girls, you all did very well. Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll be just as good as the locals around here." Lola praised them and ended the lesson. The girls then changed and returned the outfits they'd borrowed.
"Thank you very much for the lesson, Lola." Saber thanked her politely before returning to Shirou's side.
"Yeah, thanks! It was a lot of fun, right Sakura-chan?" Arcueid smiled widely.
Sakura nodded. "Yes, I really enjoyed myself."
"I think Rider-nee did the best though." Arcueid turned to Rider who smiled faintly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"I'm used to moving my body around like that. You all did very well though, I had a good time." She said with a smile.
"How are you feeling Arturia? You must be sore after all that." Shirou asked as he walked hand-in-hand with her out the door behind the others. Ahead of them Arcueid had taken a firm hold on Shiki's arm.
"To be honest my muscles are feeling the workout. It has been some time since I've had to move like that. Even in combat it does not require that kind of movement." She slid closer to him as they walked.
"It's about time for lunch, are you guys hungry yet?" Rin turned around, asking as she walked backwards.
Arcueid's stomach growled loudly making her blush with embarassment.
"Ahaha. I think that's your answer, Tohsaka-san." Shiki laughed.
()()()
After a light lunch consisting mostly of ham and pinapple, the eight of them sat at the table and talked about what they wanted to do next.
"I'd like to return to the beach and sunbathe a bit more." Sakura suggested as she took a look at the skin on her arms.
"Hm, is that okay? We were at the beach for most of the day yesterday. Shouldn't we see some more of the island?" Rin wanted to do more, even though she was just as tired as everyone else from the long dance lesson.
"What exactly would you suggest then Rin? We don't have a lot of money left, and the rest of us are pretty tired." Aiah said sadly. She wanted to go more places but she was right, their funds were stretching a bit thin so they couldn't afford to do anything spectacular.
Rin sighed, she wanted to drag Shirou somewhere if the rest of them were going to be like that but he probably wouldn't put up with it due to recent events. "Fine, it seems like a waste but if that's what you all would rather do." She complained.
With the desicion made they returned to their rooms at the hotel, changed, and headed back out to the beach. It was as busy as it was the previous day but even so it was one of the most popular beaches in the world so there were still quite a few people. The air around the group felt almost lethargic, like they'd had their fill of fun and were ready to get back to the task at hand. If Shirou was correct in his assumption then the group was just content on lazing around until the next day when they had to leave.
"Shirou, I cannot reach my back. Would you mind helping me?" Saber asked him, holding out a bottle of suntan lotion expecantly. The group had already chosen the best spot they could find on the beach, thankfully they mangaged to find a large enough area where they could set up close to each other.
"Of course not Sa- Arturia." He quickly corrected himself, calling her by her name was going to take some time to get used to as he'd called her Saber for practically the entire time he'd known her. He spread the sunan lotion gently over her back after she'd laid down, he never got used to how soft her skin felt. Perhaps it was because he had rough hands so it felt to him like he was touching a cloud.
She'd squirmed a little at first from it being cold but she got used to it, soon she'd rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes uttering a relaxed sigh that couldn't help but make Shirou smile faintly.
"I'm going to talk to Rin for a bit. You relax and enjoy yourself alright?" If he could get Rin alone, he had a few questions he wanted to ask her about the previous night. He would try to keep his composure but Rin liked to push his buttons sometimes as she did with everyone.
"Yes. I will do so." She muttered, apprently already feeling relaxed as the sun beat down on her small frame only to be cooled off by the ocean breeze.
Shirou left her to head over to where Rin was laying on her stomach with her hair sprawled out over her back. He walked close enough to where his shadow covered her face to get her attention.
Rin's eyes opened and she looked up at him. "Hm? Shirou? You're in my light you know." She said casually.
The vein in Shirou's forehead began to throb. How could she be so casual? "I need to talk to you about last night." He said angrily.
"Oh..." Her expression dropped and she sat up to face him. "I didn't think you'd be this mad, you haven't talked to me much all day so I was able to figure it out that you'd found out about it." She seemed generally sorry, she must have had plenty of time to think about it over the day. Even though on the surface it looked like she was enjoying herself in reality she was thinking about how to get Shirou to forgive her. As expected of Rin she was very good at keeping her true feelings hidden.
"Now would be a good time to explain yourself." Shirou crossed his arms.
"We all had plans to meet up and you even said that you would be there. When you and Saber didn't show up I thought something may have happened to you. That's all it was." She explained.
"Why did you tell everyone? You should have known how Sakura would react." Shirou asked, this was his biggest concern. He didn't care that they knew about him and Saber finally acting like a couple, but he didn't want Sakura to find out the way she did. Shirou hated it when Sakura was feeling down.
"Frankly, I was surprised when I saw the two of you that I sort of... blurted it out." She nervously scratched the back of her head. "I've already apologized to Sakura for it, I didn't think I would ever mess up this bad." It's true that Rin rarely made mistakes, but when she did they were usually where one can't afford to be made. However it seemed like she's been trying to set things right by apologizing to Sakura. It turned out she was a good nee-san after all or at least she was doing her best.
Shirou sighed. "I guess it's not the worst mistake you've ever made." He scratched the back of his neck.
"Huh? You're nod mad anymore?" She couldn't believe it, he was pretty mad a minute ago and after she explained herself his expression dropped.
Shirou smiled faintly. "I can never stay mad at you for long when you make a face like that."
Rin laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."
The two of them talked for a little more before Shirou returned to Saber's side and sat down next to her. It appeared that she'd become so relaxed that she'd actually fallen asleep while laying down. Shirou sat back and looked around to beach to see what everyone else was doing. Shiki, Arcueid, Aiah, and Sakura were hitting a beach ball to each other while out in the ocean only enough to be about waist deep. Rider was laying on her back next to Sakura's empty towel and reading a book and Rin had gone back to her sunbathing.
Before he realized it, Shirou had started chuckling to himself. "How carefree..." Even he himself was starting to feel lazy, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to do something normal before he went on this vacation. It felt like there was a hole inside him that was starting to become filled with a warm liquid as he sat and looked at the sleeping Saber next to him.
He laid back next to Saber and stared up at the sky with his hands behind his head. There were only a few clouds in the blue sky and they moved slowly with the breeze which ruffled Shirou's hair. He would have to remember to thank Narbareck heavily for this when everyone got back tomorrow. The sun beat down on his skin and he let out a deep sigh of relaxation before closing his eyes.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but his mind was brought back into conciousness by something soft on his forehead and something else that was gently stroking his hair. His eyes opened to find Saber leaning over him with her lips pressed against his forehead and her fingers lightly going through his hair. The sky that had been beautiful before was now full of clouds that were blocking out the sun and darkening the beach.
"Oh. Good morning, Shirou." Saber smiled down at him.
Shirou stretched and uttered a slight groan, finding that his back was quite stiff. "Mm. Morning, Arturia." He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "What time is it?" He asked tiredly.
"Rin said it was 6 o'clock when she woke me up just a minute ago. Arcueid said it was going to rain, so we are all going inside." She explained. "Arcueid expects us to get together for dinner tonight in Rin's and Ms. Cromwell's room. It seems Sakura has prepared something while we were sleeping."
Shirou looked around and saw that everyone else was starting to head back inside ahead of them. "We'd better go clean up then. If Sakura somehow managed to cook something then we won't want to miss it." He smiled and stood up, offering his hand to Saber.
She took it and stood up. "Yes, I have missed your's and Sakura's cooking a great deal." She helped him gather up their things and then headed back to their room.
Upon arrival the two of them took a shower together, which Saber was starting to get used to after the first time so she was not as embarassed as before. Which Shirou was almost disappointed about because that was what made Saber cute in his eyes. Shirou could still make her blush and squirm if he touched her in certain places, but Saber wasn't very thrilled about that sort of thing being done so suddenly. However her angry and blushing face was quite cute too so it made it worth it for Shirou.
Afterwards they headed over to Rin's and Aiah's room where everyone was already waiting.
"Glad you two could make it tonight." Rin said as she was sitting on the couch next to Sakura who had a steamed pot full of what smelled like fried tofu.
"You must really like Sakura-chan's cooking, Saber." Arcueid said with a wide smile.
"Yes, of course I do. However it is usually best when she works together with Shirou." She answered after taking a seat next to Rider.
Sakura and Shirou cast a glance at one another and smiled. It's true that their combined forces in cooking could rival the best chefs in the world when it came to Japanese food. "Senpai was the one that taught me, so I think most of the credit should go to him." Sakura said with a blush on her face.
"Sakura, you're being too modest I think. You and Shirou compete all the time and sometimes you can think of things that even he can overlook." Rider smiled and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Nee-san is better with Chinese though, since Senpai and I don't like to eat it that much." Sakura was starting to get embarassed.
"That's about all Rin can do in the kitchen, though if it was possible to use Magecraft in the kitchen I'm sure Rin would put us both to shame." Shirou joked, which got a pillow thrown in his face by Rin.
"It's because I only have myself to feed, you both have an advantage because of all the people that go through your house." Rin huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"By the way Matou-san, that's tofu isn't it?" Shiki asked.
"Yes, I bought some earlier with Rider while you all were at the beach and found the dishes in our room."
Shirou figured this must have happend after he fell asleep.
Not long after that they were all happily eating the dinner that Sakura had cooked for them. It was nice not to have to go out and have dinner together in the comfort of the hotel. Through the hotel window Shirou saw that it had started to rain, meaning they couldn't go back out and see the island's nightlife. Which was a shame because there were plenty of bonfires, dances, cookouts, and other fun things that went on at night.
"Sakura it's impressive you were able to do something like this so suddenly." Shirou said as he took a bite of the tofu.
"Thank you Senpai." Sakura beamed. "Rider and I had to buy the tofu, but the rest of the ingredients we were able to borrow from a food stand so there wouldn't be any extra." She explained.
"I expect they only let us do so because of the way we look." Rider pondered as she ate. She was probably right, the two of them were very beautiful so it wouldn't surprise Shirou if something like that happened. Aiah for the most part just sat and ate, she didn't feel she had any part in the conversation and she never talked much anyway due to being shy. Sakura's cooking was very good and one could tell just by looking at her face while she ate it.
"Hey, why don't we play a game?" Rin suggested after dinner was finished and Shirou was taking care of the dishes with Sakura. It was nice that the rooms had stoves and sinks and just about anything else one could ever want. In fact the rooms themselves were about as big as a small apartment back home in Japan.
Aiah's expression perked up. She liked playing games but wasn't familiar with the popular ones from Japan. "That sounds like fun, what do you have in mind Tohsaka-san?"
"I have some Pocky sticks in my bag." Rin said with a grin.
"Nee-san you can't mean..." Sakura turned around and looked at her with surprise.
Arcueid, Saber, Rider, and Aiah all had clueless looks on their faces where as Shiki and Shirou looked rather apprehensive.
"Okay the way this game is played is we all draw lines on a piece of paper and whoever's two connect they have to eat one of these from both ends." Rin explained as she dug into her back and pulled out a can of the sweet snacks.
"So the person you're partnered with you basically end up...kissing?" Aiah confirmed.
"Unless the stick breaks, then yes." Rin answered and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil.
"Rin, I am not sure I am agreeable to this." Saber said.
"Saber-chan is right. What if Shiki ends up with somebody other than me?" Arcueid protested as Shiki started to open his mouth.
"You'll just have to make sure you two end up together. Even if it doesn't work out, your relationship won't be destroyed by a game will it? It's just for fun." Rin said impatiently. She seemed eager to play and Shirou wondered where this newfound enthusiasm came from as he wasn't too thrilled about the idea either. "Come on you guys, what have you got to lose?" She pushed.
"I'll play." Aiah said quietly. It didn't matter who she ended up with, it would be an embarassing experience for her. Though she didn't think she would mind too much if it was Shirou.
"I'll join too." Sakura said, hoping that Shirou would end up joining.
"I will play as well." Rider said right after Sakura. Rider didn't know what would come of this, she had never shared a real kiss with anyone before and she wondered what kind of an experience it was.
Saber looked over at Arcueid, wordlessly asking her opinion and the same could be said about Shiki and Shirou who was still in the kitchen leaning against the sink.
Shirou sighed. "Arturia, what's your Luck rating?" He asked.
Her head perked up at the strange question. "My luck is ranked C, but you cannot be thinking of playing can you?"
"I wouldn't want to let everyone else down. Besides, like Rin said all we have to do is make sure we end up together." Shirou took a seat next to Saber.
"If you are certain Shirou, I will not allow you to do this alone." Reluctantly she consented.
"We'll do it as well then. I wouldn't hear the end of it if we were the only ones who didn't play." Arcueid glanced at Shiki and said not a second after Saber answered.
"Then it's settled. Everybody ready?" Rin said and instructed everyone to put their fists into a circle to determine the first round. Some did it willingly, others were a little reluctant at first.
"Rock."
"Paper."
"Scissors!"
And the lines were drawn after many rounds. Shirou had in fact managed to rig the game so he ended up with Saber, which was a lot more difficult to do so than what he'd first thought. It was almost as if other people were trying to get him as their partner as well. Shiki and Arcueid weren't so lucky as Shiki ended up with Aiah and Arcueid was partnered with Rider, things fell into place randomly from there.
The first pairing to take their turn would be Rin and Sakura.
"Nee-san, are you sure about this?" Sakura said apprehensively.
"We're sisters aren't we? So it should be fine right?" Rin sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Sakura. Rin took out a stick and placed one end in her teeth.`
"I-If you say so Nee-san..." Reluctantly, Sakura took the opposite end in her teeth casting a glance at Shirou on the couch next to Saber and started to blush.
"Ready." Arcueid started the countdown.
"Set."
"Go!"
The air was filled of the sounds of tiny crunches as the two sisters began to nibble on the stick. A few seconds passed and their mouths grew ever closer together, it was possible to feel the tension in the air and if Shirou listened close enough he was sure that he could hear their heats beating inside their chests. As they neared the middle Rin and Sakura had both closed their eyes and began to blush furiously. The stick did not break in the middle like the two of them were hoping it would, instead the two sisters' lips connected before a brief second before they parted and looked away from one another.
The scene was very cute and by the looks of it Shiki thought so too because he had a faint grin on his face.
"S-So who's next?" Rin asked, eager to get her and Sakura out of the spotlight before steam started pouring from her ears.
Aiah picked up the paper and took a look at it. "It's Arcueid and Rider."
The two of them approached each other on either side of the table in the middle of the sitting area and Arcueid took a stick from the box sitting on it. Rider was blushing faintly but other than that her face was expressionless. Arcueid put the stick in her teeth and leaned over the table waiting for Rider to take her end.
"Are you nervous, Rider-san?" The stick in her mouth bobbed up and down as she asked her question.
"I... I am not sure I wanted my first kiss to be with another woman." Rider said as she leaned over the table and took her end of the stick.
"It's alright Rider, something like this doesn't count so you can still hold on to your first kiss." Rin reassured her after she'd regained her composure from kissing her sister, Sakura.
"Then let us get this over with." Rider began to chew her end, eager to end her turn. If this did not count as her first kiss then she had nothing to fear.
After seeing Rider start Arcueid began to chew on her end as well small crumbs falling between them and littering the table below. Their lips met as the stick ran out, Arcueid only noticed just then that Rider's eyes were most certainly not normal. The most noticable sign being her pupils, which were shaped like jewels. Arcueid was almost taken in by them except Rider brought her back to her senses by breaking their lips and pulling away from her. Arcueid frowned, upset that she almost got lost in Rider's eyes since things like that normally didn't happen to her.
"Hey, Arc you almost looked like you enjoyed that." Shiki said with a voice filled with jealously.
"Th-that's not true!" Arcueid blushed and puffed out her cheek. Rider only sat wordlessly next to Sakura with an embarassing look on her face.
"Shiki, it's you and Aiah next." Shirou said after looking at the paper. It would seem he and Saber would be going last.
Shiki pulled out a stick and put it in his teeth with Aiah taking the other end.
"Shiki, you had better break that stick or you'll regret it." Arcueid crossed her arms and glared at him.
He did as he was told and broke the stick in half just before their lips met.
"Alright you two, your turn." Rin said to Shirou and Saber as she handed them a Pocky.
Shirou took it and put it between his teeth. He was glad he ended up with Saber, but he was a little apprehensive about kissing her in front of everyone. As he was sure she was judging by her facial expression. Her eyes were downward and a slight blush was spread across her cheeks, but she took the opposite end in her teeth like she'd watched everyone else do before her. Rin performed the countdown and the two of them began to eat the stick together. Saber grabbed Shirou's shoulders and closed her eyes as they neared the middle of the stick. When their lips finally met Saber grabbed the cloth of Shirou's shirt, they held the kiss for a couple of seconds longer before they split apart.
Both of them were blushing and everyone was looking at them.
"Um... we would appreciate it if you all would stop staring at us like that." Shirou said nervously.
"Oh, sorry." They didn't even realize they were until Shirou said something.
After a few minutes the atmosphere returned to normal at the group talked about meaningless things for a couple of hours before everyone began to get tired. They said goodbye to Rin and Aiah and headed back to their own rooms.
"Shirou, have you enjoyed yourself?" Saber asked as she sat down on the bed. They would have to leave to return to the Agency in the morning, so this would be their last night to relax.
"Yeah, I have. It's been really refreshing coming here after everything that's happened." He answered her with a relaxed smile. "Have you?"
"Yes. I believe our trials have only just started, things will be more difficult after this." She replied as she untied her boots and slipped them off.
Saber prepared herself for bed and as she lay down, half covered Shirou leaned out of the bathroom. "Arturia, there's something important I want to ask you." He asked as if unsure if he should actually ask or not.
"Yes, what is it?" She tilted her head, curious as to the reason why he was acting so different now.
Shirou looked down. "When all this is over I was wondering if..." His voice trailed off.
"Shirou?" Saber asked, confused.
No, he couldn't ask her now. There was too much that could happen, too much uncertainty on the road again. Now that he actually thought, this may not be the best time for such a question. "No, nevermind."
"Very well, then come to bed." She smiled and laid her head down. Though she was curious about what he had to say, she was sure that in time he would tell her anyway. His eyes said that his words were important, so there was no way he wouldn't say what he meant to later. A moment later Shirou joined her in bed, and the only sounds in the room was their breathing and the gentle sound of rain against the windows. The two of them drifted off into a dreamless sleep of what could be the last restfull night either of them would ever have, Saber had a knack for knowing the road ahead. She had a feeling of what lay ahead, however she could not be more wrong. What the taxi driver back in Terni said was true, dark days were indeed coming.