Fate: A Volcanic Summer With Alter

by AGeekyWriter

There was a lot Ritsuka had experienced over the last few years trying to save the world. But times to relax were few and far between. In between writing a manuscript with Jeanne Alter's scrapped Doujin ideas, helping her to win the ServFest contest, and BB certainly being a source for more problems, he was starting to worry once again if there would be any time to relax.

4. Plotting With Alter

AN: WELL. That didn't take forever. So, as mentioned I think in one of my previous notes, I have a busy schedule, and this chapter alone almost doubled my story in size. I hope that sort of explains why it took an extremely long time to get this chapter out. I'm still working on this alongside my book and all the work that going to a university entails.

I originally was going to make this chapter out as filler? But I think, at least I hope, that it's a good set up for what I have planned to come.

I would also be remiss if I didn't thank everyone for their comments. It was especially hard this time around because of the big gap between getting the chapter published, and all the work I was doing on the side. It was always a nice encouraging thing going on in the background for me to plow right on ahead. So as always please feel free to leave comments, criticisms, as I always look forward to them.

But without further ado, please enjoy:

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"I can sleep on the floor." He suggested. Ritsuka gestured to the space between them. "Since you, Mash, and Ushiwakamura will be taking up the beds." It was the best suggestion he could think of when he had changed into a robe. A robe that, like Jeanne Alter, barely reached his knees.

We already took a bath together, what harm could come with discussing sleeping arrangements cause?

From where he was standing though Alter looked to be deep in thought. She was flicking the edge of her pen against the side of her desk with a click as she returned his stare. It was only after some silence, she found her voice.

"Absolutely not." Alter's eyes narrowed. "You are the master, I am the servant." Her pale cheeks once again started to turn red as she turned her back to him. She pointed with the edge of her pen to the bed beside her desk. "I don't need sleep." Alter made a point of going back to work as she spoke.

Or at least looking like she was going back to work.

Her back now to him, her white hair once again tied into two small, drying tails that nearly flowed to the floor from her spot in the chair. He could see her pen going back to whatever storyboarding panel she was working on next.

Ritsuka sighed. "It's still your room, and I'm the one imposing. Are you sure you don't want to run it by your roommates first?"

"Tch." She turned and swung an arm over the back of her chair. "They sleep in the bed by the window. Together. They don't care what I do with mine." She thumped the edge of her pen a couple more times against her desk again. "Not that it should matter...since they are out late tonight." She turned around once again to go back to work.

He sighed and nodded. "Fine, your bed it is." He took his eyes off her and eyed the disorderly bed. Somehow it didn't surprise him that it wasn't made.

Or maybe it was the one thing that Maid Alter didn't do as a slight against the Berserker?

He pulled a sheet over as he stretched out beneath the covers. Finally, he laid his head against the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. Rituska blinked a thoughtful expression touching his features.

The pillows smell like the shampoo and conditioner from the bath. I guess she uses them often.

He turned to look at her sitting at the desk.

Amber eyes returned his stare, as she looked at him instead of the current panel she was working on. In the dark, he could see that it was nearly filled, with only a few more details to go, before she would move onto the next storyboard.

He offered her a smile, tired, but warm. "Goodnight Alter."

Her lip twitched as she looked away, to go back to work, only a small lamp to light her workspace.

But as the sleep was quick to start claiming him, like a pull towards his mind shutting down. Then he could hear the slight whisper in the corner of his mind.

"Goodnight Master."

#

It wasn't until she'd heard his soft snores against the quiet air of the room, and the muffled sound of the buzzing town around them as if it were someplace distant, that Alter finally loosed the tension she'd felt. A few deep, slow breaths calmed her mind. It must've been at least an hour she guessed before the light snores started.

Maybe now I can finally get some work done.

Ready to fail again at beating Medb?

Shut up!

Alter huffed at herself, and started to go back to drawing. The character was about to get into their first fight. So she wanted to sculpt this one perfectly. When reading it, the audience needed to know how the character was feeling at a single glance without words. Because sometimes, words were never enough. Sometimes the way they looked and acted would say it all.

Her eyes flicked to her knuckles.

Shut. Up.

Then, rousing her from her thoughts was the sound of the door to the room clicking, and unlocking. And in the low light, their chatter turned to whispers.

Alter stiffened.

They are back sooner than expected.

Her eyes flicked to her master, who was tucked messily in a sheet. Though he appeared to have a small smile, he was still occasionally fidgeting from whatever dream he was seeing.

Mash came around the corner first. "Oh, Alter you're awake I…" Her pink and purple eyes had landed on Alter's bed. Her face started to turn red as she stumbled back, her foot snagging the corner of the wall. She fell upright in a sitting position with a small squeak.

Well, that didn't take long.

Jeanne Alter sighed, as she spun herself around in the chair. She put a finger on her lips asking for quiet and gestured to her master on the bed. She stood up from her chair, making certain the bathrobe was still tied securely in place.

Ritsuka's other favorite companion, Mash, looked like she'd had an evening of fun. Her hair was ornately styled from a salon, and she was in a fancy red redress to contrast her pink hair. There was makeup touching her cheeks. Her eyes followed the trail of Alter's other swords, her black jacket, leather straps, all the way to the balcony. The railing had the rest of their wet clothes hanging off of them.

Alter froze as she spotted her bathing suit swaying slightly in the breeze beside all of Ritsuka's clothes. She pushed her lips together to hide whatever expression she could already feel forming.

Ushiwakamaru came around the corner too, glancing at mash. "Hey Alter do you have…" Her eyes froze on the bed beside Alter. Her voice changed to a whisper. "Do you have any sparklers from the grand beach party we went through the last loop?"

...was that all?

Somehow, she doubted it, her eyes narrowed towards the Japanese rider, turned assassin servant. But slowly in answer to her question, she walked closer to them, to minimize the distance and the noise of their conversation. She shook her head. "No. We never got around to testing what would happen if we kept certain things on our person, to see if they would stay with us when the loop restarts."

"Senpai is working on that book right?" Mash said from the floor.

Shit. What will happen to that at the end of the loop?

Alter glanced at the pile of scrapped notes, and the journal he was putting everything in. Something heavy touched her chest at the thought of that work being lost forever in a loop that no one would remember by the end.

She squashed it and moved on and huffed out a non-caring response. "I guess we'll find out." As the response slipped out, she brushed her hair to put it behind her, and Alter pressed her lips together to hide her expression.

Usiwakamura reached out and grabbed her by the arm. She tugged Alter in close, to the point where their heads nearly collided. "So, the master is in your bed?"

"Ugh." the disgusted grunt coming out before she even had a chance to stop it. Alter glanced away. "Yeah, he's sleeping in my bed, so what?"

The assassin servant didn't seem to take that as an answer, but she was still clearly amused by the situation at hand. "Why is he in your bed?"

Alter huffed and gave a shrug, annoyed as she avoided her eyes. Her voice started to rise as she spoke again. "Well, I sure as hell wasn't gonna put him in yours." She pointed between them. "The two of you are already sharing.

Mash was still sitting on the floor. "Are you sharing with him?"

Amber eyes widened. "Of course not I-"

They all froze as Ritsuka turned in the bed tugging the sheet up to be closer to his neck. A comforting few snores were quick to follow.

Alter blew out only a slight breath of relief before speaking through gritted teeth. "I'm not sleeping tonight." She gestured to her bed. "I fell behind on our doujin work today, I'm thinking I can make up that time tonight."

Ushiwakamaru reached down and offered Mash a hand. "Robin kicked him out to spend time with Ibaraki didn't he?"

Alter nodded. "The idiot should've just gotten his own room." Surprise touched her expression as they both stared at her. "I mean Robin." She added. "He's inconveniencing us and our master because he wanted to have some fun." She started shaking her head again glancing towards her desk.

It was Ushiwakamaru was who suddenly started to smile a bit brighter. "Good thing our Master has you then." She walked closer to the edge of Alter's bed, giving him another look. "The two of you have fun together?"

Alter's frown deepened, "What do you mean?"

The assassin's smile frowned a bit at her. "When we last spoke, you were rambling about how you can't get any work done because Ritsuka had left. So you went off to find him, intent on bringing him back." She bounced on her feet, her hands on her hips. "You were gone for a while, even before we left."

Her lip twitched, amber eyes falling away again. "Yeah? So what? It took me a long time to find him." She shook her head a bit too for dramatic effect. "Good thing too, the idiot was thinking of roaming the crab infested outdoors by himself." She then gestured with the wave of her arm at Ritsuka, like it was all a part of the situation. "This didn't happen until he told me he had nowhere else to sleep tonight…"

I wasn't gone that long.

Ushiwakamru eyed the clock for a moment, noting that it read two in the morning. Then she almost looked pointedly back at Alter wanting to see if there was anything to be added to her given answer. She hummed. "Well, I'm happy you found him then." She bounced forward and before Alter could do anything wrapped her in a hug. "Besides you needed a break too." Then she walked over to her bed.

Alter's cheeks blushed slightly, but outside of that, she straightened and held her ground firmly. She'd tensed up in the hug gritting her teeth and fumed.

She's getting the wrong idea.

"Hey-" Her amber eyes followed Ushiwakamaru as she walked away. But she was wrapped in another hug. Alter's eyebrow twitched as she looked down at Mash, her pink hear, and purple eye looking back up at her. "I-"

Mash hugged her tighter and smiled up at her. It was genuine and innocent. She tilted her head off to the side. "I'm happy you two are spending time together." She released her once she'd finished speaking. Then she walked away, heading to the other bed too. "You both need some time off."

No wonder Master is fond of Mash.

Alter's face had only reddened more. "I…" A few quiet curses left her lips as she waved them away. You're both idiots." She said with some finality. The berserker walked back over to her desk to continue working. Once she was seated, her eyes glanced over to the bed by the window, as the others got ready to settle in for the night.

She watched them out of the corner of her eye, the conversation too distracting on her mind for her to continue working properly until they'd fallen asleep. And she worked until she'd finally fallen asleep, tired from the day's work, and tired from the emotional exhaustion. It was a feeling she fought for most of the night because of her sinking feeling.

A feeling that if she did fall asleep, her nightmares would worsen since she talked about them.

Alter hated, for once, hated being right.

#

It was a breakfast in bed kind of day so Ritsuka ordered room service. He had expected to pay out of pocket with some of the Gil bucks that he'd been saving through the loops for anything that might catch his eye. However, he discovered that being Master at Chaldea had earned him some perks from the servants running the kitchen of the hotel.

He ordered breakfast for everyone in the room without having to pay for any of it.

Though, the kitchen had also made it clear, that it was a one-time thing. Evidently, Blackbeard had haggled his way to the kitchen in order to make this possible. Since he was the sponsor for their doujin by having given up his room, it was apparently his way of saying that he was proud of them for keeping at it.

Day five morning of each loop. Free breakfast.

Ritsuka would have to remember. The phone clicked off from the other end first and he set the phone back down. Then he turned to eye the desk only a couple of feet away, the form that was keeled over, drawing tools set aside, having rolled away from her fingertips.

Alter was sleeping soundly on it, having crashed some point earlier that morning. A small frown formed before he made his way over. The morning sun was poking through the blinds enough to light a path through the mess of the room. And if that hadn't been enough, the desk light next to Alter was still on.

He could see the dark circles beneath her eyes, and her lips pressed together in a frown. Her expression changed only slightly as he took all this detail in. Rituska took it to mean she wasn't having a pleasant dream. His eyes lingered on her for only a few seconds more.

Then movement pulled at his attention, his eyes flicked to the other bed in the room.

Mash sat up in her bed, eyes heavy still, blanket rolling off her, sticking her arms up high, stretching with a yawn. Her eyes froze on Ritsuka.

Hopefully, Alter explained the situation…

Mash's brief surprise quickly turned into a small smile and waved good morning at him quietly from the other side of the room.

It made him smile, just a bit.

#

When breakfast had arrived, it was just the two of them who were still awake. They took to sitting on the balcony, as they spread their portion of breakfast out onto the patio table. The cool morning sea breeze, a contrast to the humidity that would roll in as the sun rose higher and higher.

Mash sipped her tea, cupping it with both of her hands like she was trying to gleam its warmth for her fingertips. "Senpai? Do you think we'll succeed this time?" She tilted her head a bit. "On beating Medb in doujin sales?"

Ritsuka frowned, just a bit at the gnawing reminder of the reason they were still here. "I discussed it over dinner with Guadako. I told her that this will definitely not be the loop in which we win." He took a sip of his tea as he paused. "It's one of the reasons I needed a break yesterday…" His eyes glanced through the doors, at Alter still slumped over the desk.

Mash hummed, another small smile on her lips. "You both did." She said as she followed his eyes to Alter. "Though, I think she took the break yesterday as wasted time. Something that she needed to make up." She blinked.

Wasted time?

Ritsuka frowned at the thought, and then a small blush tinted his cheeks as some very vivid memories came fervently into his mind. The feeling of Alter pressed up against him as she'd hugged him. The soft feeling of her lips on the back of his neck. His blush deepened, and he smacked himself in the forehead.

Mash blinked. "Senpai?"

He shook his head a couple of times, "It's nothing Mash." He blew out a breath and took another morsel of his quickly cooling breakfast. Once he swallowed he spoke again. "Just thinking over yesterday's events…" His blue eyes landed on Alter once again. "She needed that break too."

Mash watched him in silence for a moment. The young demi-servant watching him in a manner that he typically associated with Sherlock Holmes.

Rituska had to admit, it was a bit nerve-racking these days. Ever since Sherlock started to explain his method to her, he was never quite sure of how much the young girl could see or gleam from him whenever she was giving him that look.

It's certainly more than I ever could.

But if Mashu had noticed anything, it was obvious that she'd chosen to say nothing. Instead, once she'd finished, she'd gone back to quietly eating her breakfast too. "Where is Guadako?" Her voice was awkward as she tried to smoothly change the subject.

Somethings never change…

He frowned a bit. "She wasn't with you last night?"

She blinked and started shaking her head. "Sorry, I mean she was, but I meant where is she staying? She left a few things with me as she and Edmond retired early." Mash's expression changed slightly as she'd watch her master's posture change visibly.

Ritsuka let out a slow, calming breath. He could feel the egging of worry and adrenaline about to start pumping through him. The last time the two of them had been separated for a long period of time, it had been one of the pseudo singularities. And they'd both been tortured by one of the assassin class servants present.

Not a good memory to think of whenever I'm curious as to my sister's whereabouts.

Finally, he looked Mash in the eye. "Mr. P's given them the penthouse on the top floor. Just be sure to knock first."

She blinked looking at him as if she were lost for a brief moment in time, misunderstanding his joke. "Why wouldn't I knock?"

Some things never change.

Ritsuka shook his head a bit. "Nevermind." He had no idea how to explain that joke to her without making it super awkward. He took another sip from his tea and glanced inside the room. The two servants still fast asleep, one in her bed, the other at her desk. "I think we should wake your roommates before the food grows any colder."

Mash gave a single nod, her hair bouncing with the motion. "Plus I think Alter might get mad at you if you let her sleep in too long." She followed his gaze inside. "She mentioned that she'd been slacking off because of you. Before she went off to find you last night."

An eyebrow at that. "She said that huh?" Then he stood up, taking his food and drink with him, back through the sliding door, and set them up on the dresser. He walked behind Alter's chair, vaguely aware of Mash closing the screen door behind them.

There was a temptation to get back at her a bit more throwing him across the pool. But that was a temptation he suppressed as quickly as it had come. Somehow, he found the idea of rudely waking her by yelling appalling.

She's lucky I like her so much not to play too petty of a trick.

The next idea wasn't near as rude an awakening as his first idea had been. He figured a gentle way to pick her up, and carry her onto the bed, only to drop her. The fall would wake her up, the soft impact would prevent any glowering need of over the top revenge. This one, for obvious reasons, seemed more appealing to him than the last.

I likely won't die as a result, just get another small prank in the future.

But still, even that idea faded a bit, as something more pleasant came to mind. The one he would try first. He had a small smile as he stepped closer to her, whispered his nickname for her quietly. "Alter?"

She hadn't stirred yet, though she seemed to close her eyes tighter. Her hand twitching open-palmed on the desk.

Ritsuka smiled a bit wrapping his arms around her from the back, whispering her nickname again. "Alter?" He squeezed her gently with the hug. With arms still wrapped around her, he slid one of his free hands into her open palm, interlacing their fingers. "Alter?" He cooed again.

This time she stirred, only just, her shoulders moved to bounce into his chest. Her breathing changed too, blowing out air. Her hardened expression finally started to soften, her tight lips growing loose. The eyes she'd previously squeezed shut, started to loosen up as well, and rather than haunted, she finally looked a bit more peaceful.

"Alter, it's time to wake up." With his unlaced hand, he brushed some of her white hair away from her neck and pressed a kiss there just at the base of it, similar to the place where she'd done the same to him. "Alter," he whispered again, this time, once he wrapped his arm back around her, he gently rocked her back and forth.

"Mmm." She whispered, moving up, to bump into his chest, with the way he leaned over her. "M-master." Alter smiled a bit, her fingers closing around his, interlaced ones, wanting to keep him there holding her hand for a moment longer.

Then, like a breach, he'd heard her thoughts clear as day, her usual barrier absent. "Finally, a good dream." Her smile widened a bit as she leaned further into the hug.

Ritsuka chuckled warmly, resting his chin over her right shoulder. "Not a dream I'm afraid."

The effect of his words was sadly immediate. Her sluggish movements froze, and thanks to their closeness, he could feel the tension fill her muscles. Amber eyes flicked open, red lines breaking up the color like streaks of lightning, still filled with every moment of sleep she'd missed the previous night. The arm she was resting on, still hid most of her features, but she turned her eyes to her right shoulder to look at him.

He smiled at her and felt her grow a shade warmer, and color touched her, just beneath the eye that he could see.

Her eyes narrowed towards him slightly, and he chose to imagine a pouting expression, as she turned away to bury her face again hiding whatever emotion that was rising to the surface. She squeezed her shoulders together as if she was trying to make herself smaller.

His arms simply seemed to wrap around more of her, and he chuckled in her ear. "Come on, breakfast is here. I ordered you some waffles, bacon, and some scrambled eggs." Ritsuka bounced his shoulders a bit, encouraging her to get up. "I got you some caffeine too if that helps at all."

"I prefer coffee to tea." She said into her arm.

"I know." He hugged her again. "That's waiting for you too."

Alter sighed, and still faced away for a few moments longer. "Idiot," she muttered. Then she shifted, lifting her head first, arching it back far enough to press her cheek against his.

He loosened his hug, as she straightened, doing his best to keep up with her until finally, she'd straightened out. Only then did he partially pull away, allowing her the room to stand from the chair.

She'd still had a hold of his hand, as she spun herself around to face him. Alter's blush had faded, but she puffed out her cheeks as she pouted a little. Only it didn't last, not really worth the effort to her. She gave his hand a squeeze, as she blinked away her expression. In its place a tiny, but happy smile touched her lips, and with the nerves wracking her she seemed to shrink beneath her shoulders again. "Thanks...I-"

"You two are incorrigible."

Right. Other servants are still here.

They both went rigid and almost bounced away from each other, like two teenagers getting caught doing something red-handed for the first time.

Rituska watched Alter for a moment, almost getting enthralled and distracted enough to forget the fact that Mash and Ushiwakamaru were still in the room, again. He closed his eyes and inhaled a long breath. Pushing the thoughts that were making him blush away. Alter really was starting to move beyond intoxication, and that was a scary thought.

Alter folded her arms, finally letting go of Ritsuka's hand, and she faced away from the other two servants in the room as she tried to gather herself.

Ushiwakamaru of course was sitting up, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, facing the two of them. She had a bright smile on her face as she stared the two of them down, unafraid that she'd been caught looking. Finally, she stood up too, stretching her arms up, the movement tugging at her clothes pulling them up.

Mash was beet red, her eyes dancing between all three of them

Poor Mashu.

He'd almost heard it in his sister's voice, the thought. It was something she'd often said when Mashu seemed out of the loop on such things. Ritsuka shook his head. "Morning, would you care to join Mash and me for breakfast too?"

Ushiwakamaru's smile widened. "I'd love to, but are you sure you and Alter want our company today?"

Alter's face was beat red as she eyed him out of the corner of his eye. Her expression seemed to change to something indicating horror at the thought. Fear touched her eyes again, the same from the night before, her mouth had opened as if she was going to speak but instead froze open, and nothing came out.

Ritsuka had turned red too. "Mind backing off a bit with those jokes Ushiwakamaru?" He rubbed scratched the back of his neck. "I don't think either of us needs it right now…"

She offered him only a feigned pout. "Fine. But I reserve the right for later." She got up heading over to the bags in the room, and the drink tray, still present with two cups.

He let out a breath of relief, and as he did, he became aware of all the tension releasing from his body.

Damn, she really knows how to press those buttons like you sis.

Alter grabbed his hand again. "Thanks," she repeated, looking away, blush still making her cheeks red again.

He bowed his head, "Of course." Then he tugged her along behind him. "Come along, it feels like breakfast in bed kind of day. So let's do just that."

It was only a few minutes before everyone had settled back into bed. Usiwakamura and Mash sat next to each other sharing a food tray, backs up against the pillows, and head frame of the bed. They laughed together at something, and Ritsuka smiled at the sight.

The one good thing about this endless summer is that in between all the doujin work, we are still somehow getting a vacation.

Alter was on the opposite side of him, having tied her robe more tightly, and straightening it out to cover as much of her legs as possible. Unfortunately for him, it pronounced her curves more, and it didn't cover nearly as much she clearly thought it would, their knees and lower thighs touching as they sat side by side. Her shoulder pressed against his, a tray for food shared between their knees. She was quiet, still shaking some of her tiredness away. To follow the end of the bacon strip, she sipped at her coffee. It had no immediate effect, but she smiled a bit at the bitter taste.

Ritsuka looked away to push away his own blush, and focus on eating his own breakfast. The scrambled eggs had been cooked perfectly, Boudica finally managing to rival Emiya's famed cooking. They were fluffy, with hints of the cream cheese and salt that had been used. The waffles were equally tasty, having a hint of cinnamon mixed into the batter before they'd finished. The bacon was overcooked, like how he'd preferred it.

"Hey." Alter said suddenly. She turned to look up at him, "I...want your opinion on something. About the next few doujin panels." She took another morsel of food, chewing and swallowing quickly. "It's...uh, well I'm not sure if I'm nailing the build-up to the fight correctly."

He nodded, a small smile touching his lips. It was something to be admired he supposed. That even when they both agreed that this doujin wouldn't win them the contest, and end the cycles of that were the loops, Alter still pushed on never wanting to half-ass anything that she worked on. For him, it was awe-inspiring to watch.

At first, I thought she'd wanted to do this on a whim, but she really is passionate about this.

Ritsuka nodded a bit. "Yeah, last I remembered the protagonist…" His brow furrowed slightly, "Harlem?" he suggested.

Alter's eyes widened, "Not terrible... I'll add that to the naming possibilities."

"He was talking with his best friend before the fight right?" He frowned as he tried to remember the details before all of last night's activities came to the forefront of his mind. He shook those extra thoughts free. "She was...supposed to confess her love for him so that we felt more tension when started the fight of his life?"

She nodded looking away. "I decided against that…" Alter frowned slightly. "It seemed a little out of character for her." Amber eyes flicked back to Ritsuka. "Too sudden as well, not enough build-up to the romance…" There was another brief pause as she took another bite of her food. "Tch, I should have known that it would be too cheesy…"

At that, he could only nod in agreement that the romance wasn't as well fleshed out as either of them might've liked. He sipped his tea for a moment, in thought. "Well, they've been friends for a while…maybe we don't have them confess, but instead they talk around the subject." He sat up a bit straighter. "Like maybe...they try to say things, but it's never quite right, and always imperfect?"

This is sounding way too familiar.

Alter was quiet again as she thought it over too, taking a sip from the coffee again. Her brow furrowed in concentration, her eyes narrowing as if she was trying to picture it in her mind. "A non-confession…" She started to frown. "It still doesn't sit all that right with me...something is missing."

He was quiet for a moment. "We often take for granted what we have until it's gone…" He said quietly. Ritsuka could feel her shift to look at him, wondering where he was going to go with that. "Have you finished the fighting panels yet?"

She blinked and shook her head. "I'm nearing the end of the sequence," Alter shifted the tray over to rest on his knees, and reached over to her drawing desk. She pulled up the last few panels she'd drawn. "It's going to end with our protagonist, after taking a few cuts, using some planning to win his fight. Since he's not the best physical fighter...he'll start adding in a few more feints, and use something from his environment to help."

Ritsuka raised a brow. "Given most of our audience, being knights, and heroes, they might find that dishonorable…"

There was a hiss from her as she showed him the next panel flipping over the next page. "Maybe that's why a lot of their legends end so tragically." Her eyes narrowed harshly, but whatever she'd been thinking she shook it off. "Survival is more his goal, to return to the person he loves by the end."

The panel he was seeing was the hero, getting a cut on his cheek, as he used his sword to barely avoid another death blow. He started to frown wondering what Alter might think of the idea forming in his head. "What if the main protagonist died?" He suggested, eyes flicking to Alter, wanting to gauge where her headspace was at with this. "It would make the non-confession sadder, upon re-read? As neither of them will get to say what they truly want, and they don't realize what they had until it's too late."

She frowned, a bit. "I...had given thought to that previously…" Alter looked at her meal for a quiet moment as she took another bite of her food. She sounded less certain than he did at the prospect. "Given the level of skill our antagonist has...the outcome would make sense," she admitted quietly.

But it was clear she wasn't very happy with that particular prospect, as he saw her frown deepen a little further. Ritsuka turned his attention briefly back to his own food. "What if it's with his friend that we end the story on, her reaction." He took another quick bite of his eggs, and then a bite of the waffle.

Alter shook her head a bit. "What would be the point in that?" She took a bite and swallowed quickly. "I mean if the antagonist wins, the only point in showing her reaction would be to showcase...the sorrow...and regret that she's feeling."

He raised an eyebrow. "Would that be such a bad thing?" He laid his head back against the headboard eyeing the panels in his hand. Once again, Alter had improved her drawing vastly to what had been at the start of this prolonged summer adventure. Then he was struck with yet another thought. "Did we ever reference how they were friends?"

"Not really." She said, scrunching up her face a little at the thought. Alter wasn't pleased they had skipped that detail over either. However, there was only so much she could do every loop before it ended, and they had to publish whatever they had finished for their doujin. "It was said in a speech bubble pretty much that they were friends." She touched her chin as she thought.

Ritsuka's mouth pressed into a line for a moment. "What if...they were trained together?" He leaned his head out a bit to eye her, wanting to see what she thought of the idea. "Like they had the same swordmaster. It would also help to build their relationship a bit more before the dark ending."

She had started to smile, but it was quick to start fading again. "That raises another problem of how and why she would be letting him fight alone at the end. Even if the non-confession is there, wouldn't she still want to help him?"

He frowned.

She's got me there…

Alter turned her amber eyes to him as she took another sip of coffee. She moved to share the tray back over so it was shared between them, setting the panels she'd drawn off to the side now. "It's not a bad idea...the problem is that it will require some re-working to what I've already done." She looked away. "What we've already done."

He could only nod in agreement, knowing how limited they were to time. So he ate in silence for a few moments, deciding that it would be best to finish breakfast before it got even cooler. Once he'd finished eating he started to gorge down his tea.

Ushiwakamaru shot up from the bed, once she'd finished, bouncing to the other side of the room. "We should find a spot outside this room to do work today!" She threw her garbage away and spun around to face them. Mash included, who'd sat up in her bed. "There has to be a studio or something. Somewhere we can go so that we aren't stuck cooped up in here working all the time." She straightened. "Because, I don't know about all of you, but we are going to get sick of this place real fast…"

A fair point.

Alter sighed, "Well at least you didn't suggest something as stupid as working outdoors this time." She curled her fingers a bit into a fist. "Why don't you go ask around then? That way I can keep drawing and writing until you find one. And my time isn't wasted, since I'll be working either way."

The Japanese servant frowned, then she shrugged. "Can I borrow Master for a bit then?"

And just like that, the tension was back in full.

He eyed Mash, quickly, knowing exactly the sort of conversation that was about to happen. Thankfully, she'd seen it too, and Mash acted quickly.

She hopped off the bed and grabbed Ushiwakamaru by the hand. "We have to get ready, those places will fill up quickly." Mash paused looking at Ritsuka for another lingering moment. Another idea striking her. "We can see if we can find Guadako to help? She's been exploring the city for longer."

Ushiwakamaru deflated a little, but she allowed Mash to tug her along. With her trash thrown away, she went about strapping her weapons to her back. She didn't glare at Alter, but she still sent her a small teasing smile. Like she expected this outcome regardless, and she was thrilled to see the angering effect touching Alter's expression.

Alter has always been a little possessive...she just can't hide it as well thanks to the touches of Berserker enhancement.

Ritsuka wrapped her fist gently over with his fingers, giving them a firm grip to let her know that he wasn't angry, and probably more importantly, that he would be staying with her. After yesterday's distractions, they had an extra workload today. So he held a firm grip on her hand, and said his goodbyes with a small smile, wishing the both of them luck.

She took a few deep breaths, the tension in her fist growing stronger, as it shook for only a moment before she finally uncurled her fingers with a small sigh. Allowing their hands to interlace. "Sorry…" Alter said quietly, a whisper just meant to be shared between the two of them.

"It's okay." He said quietly. He leaned forward to finish off his breakfast, taking the last bite of waffles that had been left. Then he let her hand go. He stood up and glanced down at his bathrobe he was still in. "I'm going to get dressed real quick, wet down my hair…" Then he gestured into the small space between them. "Then we can get started?"

She nodded, wanting to focus on the rest of her breakfast in silence. "Yeah, then we can start."

#

The madness enhancement is harder to control in this state than I would like.

She touched her forehead for a moment, feeling it almost pulse as her headache continued to worsen. Her frown deepened too. She dropped the pen she'd been using to draw, letting it clatter onto the work desk.

Shit, am I low on mana?

Alter curled her palm upwards to glance at her fingers. They already felt sore from the work that they'd thrown themselves into. Behind her, she could hear her Master shifting through some panels on the floor, working to see what he could touch up, and improve. For now, the work being done was on the stuff they already agreed should stay.

I've skipped out on sleeping before? Could it be…

She frowned at her palm, for a brief moment channeling some of her power, a servant's strength. Nothing had felt wrong in the few seconds she'd done so. Despite that, her eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion.

Something is off...

"Alter?" Ritsuka asked from the floor behind her, his voice filled with concern, sensing the shift of mana, and power in the room. "Is...something coming?"

She didn't answer at first, tugging at the black jacket that had returned to its rightful place over her shoulders. "No, no enemies." Alter said briskly. "I just…" She looked over her shoulder to eye him. "I just felt a bit off, and wanted to channel some of my power…"

The concern was still there. "You okay?"

Alter waved him off, and turned back around. Not wanting to have to deal with that look in his eyes for any longer than she had to. It strangely made her feel guilty. "Yeah. I'm fine." She picked up her pen to start drawing again. "Just have a headache. As far as I understand, it came with the side effects of the class change. Especially since I'm a berserker."

Her master was quiet, making it obvious that he didn't fully buy into her answer. However, he recognized that she didn't want to talk about it at the moment. He focused instead on the work they were both doing. Rituska cleared his throat. "So, I think I know where we can squeeze in a bit of that back story if we want to add the fact that they were trained together."

Alter could hear some shifting panels behind her, it pulled at her attention, so shifted around in her chair. Resting her chin on her arms over the backrest. She had to admit she was curious as to where it could be fit in as well.

"The first scene when they're eating lunch together," He held up a panel for her to see, it was one of the wide shots, of the two characters by themselves on the roof of a school building. "We had them jump right into talking about what they think of a different character, but what if instead they're reminiscing a bit?" He pointed at the dialogue bubble. "We wouldn't have to do much more than add a couple of these."

She hummed for a moment. "This is all dependent on the fact of if we want her to be trained too." Alter gestured, open-palmed towards the other panels that were scattered on the floor around him. "Which still makes the issue of, why would she leave him to fight by himself, when she can help."

I'm not so sure she would leave him to fight by himself.

Ritsuka hummed a bit, "I...have given that some thought too." He shifted over a couple of panels. "What if our antagonist, is as equally honor-bound to the duel as our protagonist?" He smiled suddenly. "Plus, if we do give our duo the same mentor, wouldn't they also have the same strict honor code?" It came out a bit of a jumble of thoughts more than a solid idea. "The honor code might also help us with the more...chivalric audience. And it's something that the villain could violate."

"I suppose." Alter said quietly, looking away.

He looks so enthusiastic over a story we both agreed probably wouldn't win us the most copies sold for this loop.

Something about it still felt off with her. "If she's honor-bound too, perhaps the story will end, with her making the challenge." She touched her forehead as she thought it over, a headache pulsing. "Mm...sequel baiting would also help. But not too much of it. The first story needs to be really good in order for the sequel baiting to go over well."

Is it really so emotionally charged if she is still willing to stand and watch her love die? Honor bound…

Her frown deepened in thought. "If…the antagonist violates the code of honor, despite the fact he's supposed to follow it?" Alter stood up from the chair and stretched standing on the tips of her toes, and reaching up. "Mm. What if he has a hostage? Someone related to her?" A frown touched her lips. "But then I feel like I need to create that scene where she finds out someone from her life is missing…"

Ritsuka, "I can help with that." He flipped through a few panels. "Before the fight starts our duo meet up mostly by hap and stance. A scene of why she's searching for him, before that, could be for the missing person." He spoke more quietly. "And it would make their non-confession hurt even more."

Alter was quiet as she mulled it over in her mind once again.

It's doable.

She frowned a bit more at the thought. "What are you going to do for her missing person scene."

He smiled up at her, "I'm not gonna pull any punches." Ritsuka pulled a blank panel for himself, and a wooden board to draw on. "She'll push open the door to her home and find everything a mess, pots were broken, glass broken...blood on the floor, but nobody." He tilted his head a bit. "Panic setting in as an undertone to her sharp focus and realization as he looks for clues. Almost frantically. The panic overtakes her more methodical persona when she cuts herself on some glass so she's bleeding from her palm…"

Alter nodded. "Okay...okay." She turned to the panel she was drawing. "Maybe she goes off to free the hostages, while the main character duels our antagonist." A small smile touched her lips at the thought of potential heartache. "She comes back just in time to see her friend die…"

A more captivating conclusion.

Then the door to the room burst open, and the both of them turned to look to see who would round the corner into the room.

It was Ushiwakamaru. She leaned around the corner with a smile. "We found a spot at the Ironchef's beach restaurant. He's got an upstairs study room, one that he isn't using for today. Meaning it's free today for the rest of the loops too. The only bothersome thing to worry about is when the nursery group swings by a little later." She put a hand on her hip, bouncing a bit with motion. "But we don't have to worry about that all that much, they'll be mostly downstairs."

Ritsuka looked Alter's way.

She looked away, fingers touching her forehead, tempted to test her mana again. The onslaught of how heavy her eyes felt. How much she numbed it by channeling her mana to deal with it. When her eyes landed back on Ritsuka, she could see him looking expectantly at her. Her heart thumped, as she realized that he had left the decision up to her. It was almost enough to make her smile.

Alter gestured to the mess of panels. "Well, I'm not against it, but I need one of those portfolio cases that we can fit all of our panels in."

Ushiwakamaru smiled and revealed such a case in her hidden hand. "I thought as much." She offered the two of them a smile. "One of the main reasons I was late was because we thought you'd need this." She looked between the both of them. "Now that you're working artists and all that."

Ritsuka smiled and looked up at Alter again. "I guess we should start packing for the day then huh?" He tapped his knee and stretched when he finally stood up.

She nodded. "Yeah, it'll be nice to not have to work here all the time." Alter turned to her desk and started collecting everything she would need neatly.

#

Alter made a few displeased noises when she held up a few fingers to block the sun from getting in her eyes. "Damn. I should've had the foresight to buy one of those absurd hats." But then as soon as she said it, she had the image of that stupid holy maiden coming to compliment her on how it reminds her of Marie.

Because Marie already got that Ruler one.

There was a click of something behind her and quick phwip noise. Alter glanced behind her to see Ritsuka having opened a sun umbrella. The portfolio bag, in one hand, and the umbrella in the other. He walked a few steps until he was beside Alter, and offered the other half of his spot beneath the umbrella to her.

She went rigid, eyes wide with surprise when he held out the umbrella to cover her. "Since when did you get the chance to buy this!" Alter asked demandingly.

He shrugged, smiling some of his amusement at her reaction. "Guadako and I are still human. Needed something more than sunblock to protect us from the sun when we were making our first rounds of the city." Ritsuka lifted the umbrella a bit higher with a gesture. "This seemed a good solution, as we at the time, we both expected to be spending a considerable amount of time outdoors."

Alter huffed. "But then you learned the loops were going to repeat."

Ritsuka nodded. "It still comes in handy it seems." He turned to follow behind the Japanese assassin servant, only he felt the portfolio he'd been carrying in his other hand, snagged from his grasp. He raised an eyebrow at her. "You know, it's not that heavy?"

She frowned as she stared at him, her mouth slightly ajar at him.

How is he this stupid?

He started to blush as he rested the umbrella over the shoulder opposite to her. "What?"

Alter huffed again, looking away. "I'm still the servant, so I will carry the majority of my supplies." She had her drawing kit tucked away in another bag, slung over her arm. She shifted the portfolio case over to that side as well, leaving her hand free. Her lip twitched, "Let's just get going."

She managed to take a couple of steps, before Ritsuka jogged to fall in step beside her. The umbrella shading them both from the onslaught of the late morning sun. A long few moments had passed, the street was buzzing with servants, and other inhabitants of the island. Then finally, after a glance out of the corner of his eye. He noticed her free hand between them.

He wrapped his fingers around her hand and interlaced their arms. "Sorry, I didn't realize this is what you meant…"

"Tch. I don't care." Amber's eyes flicked to him, stepping just a bit closer. "It's simply easier this way so that we don't fall out of sync. And I don't risk losing shade." Despite the comment, her cheeks started to turn warm.

Ritsuka smiled a bit at her and looked at the ground to hide his own blush.

That stupid, dumb, idiotic smile.

"Anyway...it's easier to talk like this without having to risk anyone overhearing us much." Alter spoke in conclusion.

He held her hand a bit tighter. "You don't have to make excuses you know. Especially after everything we talked about last-"

Alter was very red as she glared at him, her lips pressing together. "We are not talking about what happened last night." She looked away from him, her eyes narrowing above her red cheeks. "Not unless…" She trailed off slightly. Then movement caught her eye and she paused.

Ushiwakamaru had paused, her hands on her hips as she had stopped to wait for the two of them at the end of the sidewalk. She was just smiling at the two of them, expectant of something to happen between them

She's annoying.

"Tch." She looked up at Ritsuka and found he was still staring at her. There was confusion in his blue eyes, but determination as well. He wanted her to finish her sentence. She stretched her fingers in his grasp but didn't move to try and get free. Alter let out a slow breath. "Look, let's just not talk about it alright? Not right now." Amber eyes looked up at him almost pleadingly as they started walking again. "I don't want to have to focus on our doujin with such a distraction weighing heavily on my mind…"

Plus whatever issue I'm having thanks to my lack of sleep. Something that will be sorted once Master is back in his room with Robin tonight.

Ritsuka nodded quietly, "Okay." He said. Once more respecting the distance she'd put between them. The privacy she'd requested.

But because they'd both mentioned it, echoes of the previous night rushed to her mind. About the very talk about why he initially respected her privacy, about why he allowed that distance to be placed between them. A behavior that was a core aspect of the problems they had discussed last night, and behavior she just reinforced.

Damn it all.

She gritted her teeth, at the thought.

This is getting all so complicated.

Alter also suspected the lack of sleep wasn't helping.

#

The walk was pleasant, with only one incident in their stroll along the beach's street sidewalk. Some of the crabs were having a turf war with Gilles's sea tentacled sea creatures. Evidently, the crabs wanted to invade his magical workshop.

The one place that everyone avoids.

It was settled quickly, Ushiwakarmaru joining the fight alongside Arturia and other knights of the round table. The group quickly made short work of the turf war. Which meant an abundant supply of seafood that needed to be quickly distributed to the servants that loved to cook.

Which meant that they crowded just behind Alter and Ritsuka, who bother were still walking rigidly linked at the arms.

A quick glance was enough to inform him of her state of mind, the way she'd almost locked her neck to avoid looking his way.

Her lips were pressed into a line, her cheeks beat red, and eyes narrowed as she saw their destination looming ever closer, and the desperation to get away from the sight of others growing more and more fervent, that even he was starting to feel it through the slight opening that had been left in their master-servant bond.

Mash bounded in place once, happy to see them, and the crowd of all those behind them. Off to the side beside Mash, sitting at one of the outdoor tables of the porch, was rider Medusa and Medea enjoying some early afternoon tea together. Though their eyes were drawn away from the conversation at hand to the approaching crowd.

I probably won't get much of a chance to say hi.

He felt Alter's grip on his arm tighten as they took the pair of steps onto the porch.

Mash smiled. "The room is all squared away for us today." She turned and jogged three steps to the door and pulled one side of it open.

Ristuka untangled his arm from Alter's, as he closed the umbrella. Though he noted that she didn't let go immediately, fingers gripping his bicep gently as he worked the umbrella closed. With room to move, he walked up to the other door, opening the entrance wider for the crowd that was coming up behind to follow them.

Alter still lingered near him, though with the approaching crowd, it was almost like she wanted to hide. She shrunk into her shoulders a bit as the knights of the round started to pass through the open doors. It was clear after a few moments which side of her had won out. She linked their arms again only after a few moments.

He glanced her way.

Possessive enough to overcome your fears I suppose.

She looked away to hide her blush.

Ritsuka smiled at her, even though he knew she couldn't see it, he was certain she knew he was looking at her with a smile.

Admiring you as I always do.

Finally, the Ironchef made his appearance, the commotion at the front of his restaurant finally having pulled him temporarily from the kitchen. Emiya was wearing his sleeveless gear, with a red apron to cover his front. He put a hand on his hip as Arturia made her way right up to him, a few of the crabs she'd killed personally, slung over her bare shoulder.

He raised a brow. "I take it you want a fresh seafood lunch."

Arturia bobbed her head, the excited smile not dulling for a second. "Yes, we have spoils enough for all of us." She looked back at her knights of the round table, and the back to Emiya. "Where shall we stash these for your convenience?"

The red archer huffed. "The usual spot, make yourself at home King Knights, and I shall begin shortly." He made other gruff nods at the other knights, receiving a few pats on the back. And he was sure to take time and ruffle Mordred's head as he pushed his way through the crowd.

Mordred went red but avoided his eyes all the same.

"Master." Emiya greeted. His grey eyes lingering on the linked arms between Alter and Ritsuka for only a second. His eyes flicking to Mash. "The room is upstairs when you're ready." He folded his arms and looked at the last person to come strolling into his restaurant. The Japanese rider turned assassin.

Ushiwakamaru bowed her head from behind them.

Emiya's lip twitched upwards. "Just take care that when the nursery arrives, that they will want to retrieve books from the study upstairs before settling in some corner of the building down here." He wiped his hands with a towel. "And be certain to tell Tamamo-no-Mae, that she needs to come down for work soon."

Ritsuka bowed his head. "Thanks for letting us use your study."

Stern and straightforward as always.

He hummed and turned back to his kitchen. The knights of the round of course had all begun to make their way to their particular table. It was the one closest to the kitchen door, hoping to minimize the fractions of seconds that it would take their food to reach them. The bar, however, that allowed one to look into the kitchen, is where Arturia sat alone, having been the first to dump the fresh seafood contents in their "usual" spot.

Ritsuka smiled a bit at the sight.

She would eat with her knights once the food is ready to be served, but until then, I think she prefers Emiya's quieter company, exchanging small talk.

A squeeze on his fingers lulled him back to the reality that Alter was still clinging to him. But he was quick to be shocked out by that thought making him blush. Frightened away as Ushiwakamaru threw her arms around the both of them, practically squishing them closer together.

"Come on." She said, winking. "Save your longing for each other for later. We got doujin to finish soon."

Alter's chest was pressed against his, and her forehead pressed against his chin. She looked ruffled, as she started grinding her teeth. But before she could say anything more, Ushiwakamaru released her hold on the two of them and bounded ahead.

"Stupid presence concealment." Alter said. She pushed away from Rtisuka, unlinking their arms. She was red, and she was fuming, taking a few steps towards the stairs to follow after her. She paused only at the base of the steps to glare at him and Mash over her shoulder. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Mash leaned over to look at Ristuka.

He almost jumped at her curious glance, his face reddening even further. "W-what she said." He took a couple of steps. "Come on."

She blinked, and then smiled, moving to follow.

#

They found the Lancer indicated by Emiya in an upstairs study. Her door was wide open, and she was posing a doll to use as a drawing reference. Her room looked nearly as chaotic as Alter's hotel room tended to be. There were panels hanging from the wall, scattered across her desks, two different trash can's overflowing, and panels that lined the bed everywhere except the one spot where she might fall asleep each and every night.

Tamamo-no-Mae looked up at the sound of people walking by her door. She was quick on her feet half slamming the door closed, obscuring the view of the room, and the rest of the doujin she was taking the time to work on. "Hey! No sneak previews."

Ritsuka held up his hand, "Yeah, no, uh? Emiya said that you need to come and do your shift downstairs." He felt a twitch of motion as Alter moved to step in front of him, just in case the lancer decided to try anything.

But she's remained silent.

Tamamo-no-Mae seemed to realize who they were after a few extra seconds. "Oh, oh, Yes, Emiya warned me that you would be coming by to use our study today." She relaxed slightly but still held the door firmly in the same spot, obscuring their view. "Still no previews." She repeated.

Alter huffed. "We don't really care all that much." She waved a hand and started marching off down the hall.

Could be a little more courteous Alter?

He sighed and ran some fingers through his hair. "The knights of the round brought some fresh catches for the day. They've already left them for Emiya to start cooking." He took a couple of steps back and away from the door.

Mash added on. "He needs you to assume hostess duties." She looked nervously between both her master and the lancer.

Tamamo-no-Mae seemed to deflate a bit at that. "Damn it, I'm never going to finish at this rate." She took a step back from the door. "While I'm at it, did you guys want me to bring anything up to the room for you guys? Drinks? Food?"

Ushiwakamaru smiled. "Nah, we had a late breakfast. But some drinks would be nice. Water first, we can think of something more to order by the time you bring that up." She bounced up and continued to follow Alter down the hall. "Oh, and one more thing." She turned to face Tamamo-no-Mae and smiled slightly. "Good luck on the doujin."

The lancer blinked, then nodded. "Of course, best of luck to the four of you as well." She closed the door.

Robin can find his way here if he decides to join us.

Soon, the four of them found themselves in the study. The room was at the end of the hall, a balcony and glass sliding door that took up a full wall on one end of the room. It had a desk fit for one, and a small table that they could leave their drinks and food on, and a few cozy chairs for them to lounge in. There was also plenty of space for them to spread their panels out as needed across the floor. Bookshelves seemed to cup the room, running along most of the other walls, making the room feel smaller.

Ritsuka started nodding. "Mash, Ushi? This is a nice find…" He set his bag of notes down, leaving it slumped on one of the chairs. His eyes scanning the spines of the books that surrounded him. "Plus, if we need references?" He pulled out a book of figure drawing from the shelf and thumbed through a few pages. It was some classic sketches, like drawing movement, someone gearing up to throw a ball.

Alter nodded, setting her supplies down beside his bag. "I can work with this…" Her eyes darted around the room, taking it in for herself.

Ushiwakamaru smiled at Mash. "See? I told you they would like it."

He flipped through a few more pages until he felt Alter paused beside him. Ritsuka glanced at her, only a few centimeters between them. He offered the book between them so she could take a closer look.

Amber eyes gave the book a brief once over, then she hummed to herself, stepping away. "Let's get to work. Mash, I've got some panels for you to touch up drawings on, and Ritsuka has notes to give you about what we need to get done." She stepped into the center of the room her brow creasing in concentration.

Ritsuka promptly closed the illustrations book.

Mash was already starting to get some of the panels free. She paused only to give Alter her full attention. "Okay."

Alter nodded at her. "Everything that I've drawn simply needs added detail, backgrounds, people, etcetera." She walked over to join Mash. "There is going to be an additional scene between our two heroes meeting up before the final showdown, Ritsuka and I will get to work on that, so that you two can finish up all the touch-ups needed." She looked back at him for a moment, and added, just a bit more softly. "If that's okay with you Master?"

Taking charge. At least she's getting used to being the lead creator.

He bowed his head. "Works for me."

Ushiwakamaru raised a hand. "Do we have dialogue yet for us to fill-in? For the lunch date, and for their meet up and chat?" She joined Alter and Mash and pulled out a couple of panels free for herself.

"Not all of them…" Alter admitted. "Outside of the first scene that our heroes have together, the rest is set in stone for the speech bubbles." She stepped away and made room for Ritsuka to join them. "We're making some...changes."

Ritsuka nodded. "We felt that the love confession would be out of character for the both of them." He walked over and started flipping to what he and Alter would need to work on. He sighed a bit. "As well, we also decided that our villain would win the duel." He pulled out one of the panels he and Alter would be starting on. "It would sequel bait a little and make the now decided, lack of confession…" He tilted his head a bit. "More tragic."

Mash hummed. "Well, it needs extra padding then…"

Alter nodded. "The love interest will have been trained in a similar fashion to our other hero. Plus, she'll have something to do now other than just be a bystander to the last fight." She glanced up at Ritsuka and took the first panel they needed from him.

Ushiwakamaru frowned a bit. "Well, it would need to be a pretty good reason, if she isn't going to be joining in the fight." Her eyes darted to Chaldea's master.

He nodded his agreement with her statement. "Her only remaining family member is going to be held as a hostage. While our male protag is fighting the villain, she will go off to rescue the hostages. The scene we're adding is the one where she realizes that her sister is missing…"

Mash nodded. "There meet up just before the end is less random then."

Ritsuka turned his gaze to Alter and watched her for a moment.

Alter set the panel to the side. "We need to get to work." She grabbed her supplies off the chair and collected a few empty pages for her empty fingertips. Amber eyes flicked up to his, and she glanced around the room, eventually deciding what the love seat would do. She sat down and looked over at the three of them.

He focused on getting out the rest of the panels neatly, to everyone that needed them. Mash liked drawing structural backgrounds, and Ushiwakamaru had begun to specialize in filling in smaller details, shadows, facial expressions, and the life that would fill the scene around the main characters, and Mash's structures.

A well-tuned creative team, still settling in, deciding what we like to do best.

"Master?" Alter's voice called.

"Jeanne?" He asked, glancing over at her.

She pointed at the wooden boards Mash had brought, ahead of time.

Something to draw on.

Work began shortly, as they spread themselves out in the room. Mash took the single-spaced desk, and Ushiwakamaru took the other wooden board and settled herself on the floor. Ritsuka took the other love seat, scooting it closer to Alter, so they could discuss the scenes and work together, trading off when one's wrist started getting sore.

#

Chaldea's nursery was brief in their interruption, Atalante and Achilles escorted Nursery Rhyme, Jack, Kuro, Illya, and Alter's younger version. They grabbed a few books and immediately went downstairs, or returned to whatever nursery room they were choosing to host for the day. Tamamo came by several times to refill their drinks as well, but as she promised she tried not to peek at their work

At least she keeps her word.

It was the late afternoon when they'd finished the frantic missing person's scene.

The heroine had torn through her messy home, finding blood, and broken things scattered all around. The dialogue was easy, as were her horrified expressions while she shouted after her younger sister. Begging and pleading for them to still be home. All that she'd been met with was void of silence and the realization settling in.

Alter's gut had started to twist halfway through writing the dialogue bubbles.

That's a good sign, right?

Alter's lip twisted as she finished searching through the scene panels again. With the scene done, and its dialogue finished, she felt ready for its inspection. She looked over at Ritsuka's chair, checking on his progress for dialogue. He was finishing up their first lunch scene that the Heroine and the Hero were having together.

Progress.

The panels he was writing the dialogue in, were finished. Both Ushiwakamru and Mash were now crowded around the single desk as they were discussing the background for their next scene. It was clear that they were having a difficult discussion, perhaps moving one of Alter's characters around to see from a different angle.

Something that I really don't have the patience to deal with right now.

It's not like it will help you win this loop anyways.

She pressed her lips together and spoke through gritted teeth quietly to herself. "Shut up."

Rituska stiffened and paused to flex his fingers. He looked over at her. "Alter?"

Damn it.

That one was out loud. Alter huffed and waved it off. "Nothing, I just…" She blinked. "Actually, I'm finished with the missing person scene." She shifted the panels over for him to see. Then with an added thought, she simply offered him the board to hold as well.

He set his current work down in his lap and took the board from her.

She watched him for his reaction, wanting to see what he thought of it, as she watched his eyes scan the panels in front of him. She reached up and stretched all the way back against the love seat, intertwining her fingers as she arched back.

He studied her work with a straight expression, his jaw hardened with determination, his eyes buzzing with both scrutiny and curiosity.

I'm staring.

Alter forced herself to look away, and tensely curled the hand out of his sight into a fist. She let out a slow breath. There was a slight color to her pale cheeks as she dragged her knees closer to her chest.

Come on. It's not like he hasn't seen my work before?

Finally, Ritsuka's expression softened, as he offered the panels back to Alter. "I love it. It's all really good, impactful. And with the dialogue I've been writing, much more motivating for our heroes by the end." He offered his work for her to see as well. "I've finished their first dialogue scene completely."

Alter's eyes practically darted to the meaningful part of the conversation. Where the small talk ended, and they talked about their training. Then to the part that would help build the scene she'd just finished. "She's gushing about her sister…" She tapped her lip with her pen. "That's a low blow Master." A sadistic smile touched her lips. "Oh, he helps the heroine babysit her too?"

The master shrugged. "If we want our story to be impactful...sometimes it has to hurt."

Ushiwakamaru's voice breached into their private working space. "What are you two smiling about?"

Both of them parted quickly parted as if realizing that they were leaning too close to each other. Alter's expression turned to annoyance as she saw that the assassin was only a couple feet away from the seats, with a hand on her hip.

Curse her presence concealment.

She grit her teeth.

Ritsuka coughed, doing his best to pull some of the attention to himself, already anticipating Alter's less than enthusiastic reaction. "I was showing off what I did for the first long dialogue scene. Alter said she liked what I'd written."

Jeanne pressed her lips into a line and didn't say a word. She avoided Ushiwakamaru's eyes and tried to fight hard to keep from flustering. Her master knew her well enough to get the unwanted attention away from her. The thought threatened to make her even more flustered because of how, if she looked at it another way, endearing the gesture was. She curled her legs closer and slid the board her panels closer.

Why does she insist on budding in?

Ushiwakamamaru nodded. "That's good, I as fun as it is to tease you, I actually am over here to talk about your non-confession scene." She thrust the panels forward for the both of them to see. "Mash and I are finished, but we need to know how big the dialogue bubbles need to be if we want to do our last round of touch-ups."

Alter frowned slightly. "You guys still have an estimation don't you?"

The Japanese servant sighed. "I'm going to be blunt Alter. The original dialogue you wrote as estimation is very stiff." She placed her hands on her hips, as Ristuka took the panels from her hands to look them over. "Knowing that it's going to be re-worked as thrown a bit of a wrench into our touch-ups. But we can start on the fight scene for you if you want?"

Her mouth pressed into a line harder as they narrowed towards Ushiwakamaru. Alter of course knew that the dialogue she'd initially written was stiff. Meant to be a placeholder more than anything else. However, given all the work they'd added just today…

The criticism is probably well deserved.

You didn't like the scene.

Shut up!

Ritsuka spoke up, nodding towards the assassin. "Well, you and Mash wrote the dialogue for our last story? Why don't the both of you take a crack at this one too?" He glanced over at Alter wanting to make certain that his suggestion was okay with her.

Alter's lip twitched and her hardened expression started to soften. In the passing second, she grew ever more thankful that her master was attentive to such things.

He smiled at her.

That stupid, dumb, idiotic smile.

She felt the slight blush from her cheeks all the way down to the nerves in her stomach. So she turned her attention to other things. She looked directly at Ushiwakamaru, only she realized that the assassin servant was still smiling in their direction.

What are you going to do?

Ushiwakamaru shook her head. "Nah, Mash and I were only able to do the other dialogue because it was filler, and it was between friends. Since method writing is the name of the game in getting out something meaningful fast, you two should work on the confession scene." She shrugged a bit. "Roleplay it or something. See what becomes of it." She looked over at her shoulder at Mash. "Mash, we're doing the fight scene next."

No no, wait!

Her master blinked. "Wait for a second, hang on!"

Alter balled her fingers together at the thought of something so embarrassing. She was nearly about to start grinding her teeth when the door to the room burst open.

DAMN IT ALL.

Silence fell across the room as both Tamamo, with another pitcher of water in her tray, and Robin arrived just behind her.

Robin looked a little rougher around the edges, his hair was done differently, messier than it normally was. There were a couple of barely hidden marks poking out from the way his normally opened shirt covered his chest was now buttoned closed. He looked a little tired, but otherwise looked happy, and relieved of all the stresses that had been ailing him.

She fumed, barely registering the fact they had entered the room at all, her eyes squarely on Ushiwakamaru's form backing away, to make space for the new arrivals to stand between them. Alter adjusted her fingers, touching the hilt of her sword.

Ritsuka sighed and looked at her.

With him?

Alter started shaking her head. It was like per viable nightmare for her. She didn't want to talk about what happened last night. It was still far too close in her memory for her to be comfortable with it. She didn't want to be the one having that conversation with him. Alter knew deep down, exactly where it would lead.

I don't want to have this conversation.

Robin's voice finally filled the room, but first, he yawned. "Sorry, I'm late everyone." He stopped right in the space where Ushiwakamaru had left him. "Someone care to fill me in on today's progress?"

Tamamo had left her pitcher, and then, with her tail swaying, she left the room as quickly as she'd arrived.

The rouge had paused to eye Alter specifically, raising a brow and expectant of her to answer.

She growled out a frustrated sigh and took her time to answer. "We...added a few scenes at our Master's suggestion." The berserker looked over her shoulder to Ristuka who seemed flushed in a swirl of his own thoughts.

At least I won't be the only one experiencing discomfort at the thought.

However, her reference to him seemed to knock him out of his train of thought. He blinked, looking up at Robin. Then her.

She looked away.

"Yeah, uh?" He looked back at Robin. "We decided that the confession scene was too soon, and out of character for them." Ritsuka fell quiet again, glazing around the room until his eyes landed on Ushiwakamaru's form that had retreated all the way to the single desk in the corner where she worked with Mash.

"Tch." Alter huffed. "We also decided that the villain should win, killing our protagonist. Making our heroine the hero at the end. Or at least implying the story would continue with her." Her eyes narrowed a bit with thought. "Sequel baiting, a tragic end, it has the makings of a good story. One that might even beat out Medb."

There it was, out in the open, her real opinion on how the story was going. She couldn't actually recall when it had started to change. The idea that this story was going somewhere from another critical failure to one that actually might reach striking distance enough to take the top spot from Queen Medb.

Ritsuka turned to eye her, with some surprise in his eye. But then a small smile.

She wanted to shrink away again, realizing what that look meant for her.

I should've just kept that opinion to myself.

Getting hopes up will make your failure more memorable.

Alter ground her teeth.

Shut up.

Robin huffed. "Not bad." He rubbed his chin. "I'm not the biggest fan of tragedies myself, but if it's subversive, it might work, you know? Pull them in with all the classic slice of life, superhero stuff, then pull the rug out from under them." His frown deepened a bit. "The problem is there has to be groundwork when you pull out that rug...or the subversion is hollow."

Alter tried to lose the tension in her hand. "I know."

Their managing rouge seemed to look around the room for a moment. "Alright, I'll leave the both of you to whatever you're working on next." He turned to Usiwakamaru and Mash. "Mash, could you fill me in on the details of where I should best place myself to speed this process along?" He strolled up the pair of them.

NO! You were supposed to ask us where we wanted you to help.

Alter let out a low curse as she looked down at the panels in front of both herself and her master Ritsuka. Then at the way it had made them both look like they were already busy with some very important task that Robin's presence had already derailed.

Derailed even more.

She ground her teeth.

It's his fault that Master slept in my bed last night!

"Alter?" Ritsuka asked with worry.

Amber eyes flicked to him, and she suppressed her expression, but not fast enough for it to have gone unnoticed to him. She pressed a hand to her forehead, that same feeling from this morning, pulsating through her head.

Damn it all. Damn it all. Damn it all.

She'd clenched her hand into a fist, and it was picked up and tucked between his, slowly uncurled by the movement of his fingers worming nooks and webbings between her fingers, so her grip loosened.

Alter went rigid, but thanks to the tension of her balled hand, it only seemed to twitch within the grasps of his fingers. Alter turned to face him, this time not bothering to had her displeased expression from him.

He knows me.

She took a breath, her eyes lingering for a second too long on his lips.

He'll help.

Ritsuka seemed to look at her for a moment trying to gauge it all. He seemed quiet for a moment, his lips pushed together in thought. He could be forgiven, she knew, because he was young. He was also just as inexperienced as she was with all of this. He could be forgiven for the seconds too long it had taken him to realize what she had wanted.

Long enough for the worry that he might not know or understand to have seeped in.

For how could he know you, if you never tried?

Shut up!

Then he nodded certainty coming to his features as he finally came to a decision. Ritsuka whispered quietly enough for just her to hear. "Want to get out of here? Go for a walk while we have some sunlight left?"

Alter's expression softened, and she suddenly felt sore, as relief cut through the tension that had stricken her body like a hot knife might through butter. She bit her lip and her amber eyes looked away, as a blush filled her cheeks. The cowlick in her hair bounced as she nodded slightly, only once. Her voice was just as quiet, like an admission. "Yes."

His grin was small but appreciated as he leaned away from her, releasing his hold on her hand. Next, he scooted himself from the seat and stood up with a slight stretch. A small smile touched his lips. "Guys, being cooped up in here is starting to get to me." He yawned a bit. "I need to stretch my legs or I'll develop a berserker insanity enhancement myself."

Robin was the first to speak. "Oh, uh? Alright. Just be safe out there." Then he frowned. "Wait I'll come with you."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Alter's gonna look after me." He turned to look over his shoulder, and in an expression, she normally acquainted with his sister, he winked at her. Before turning back to the excusing conversation he was having.

For her, it had fallen on deaf ears, as she looked away with a slight smile. She looked around for anything that she might need outside her usual assortment. No panels necessary, but she thought to pack a journal.

#

For once, Ritsuka didn't feel he needed to guess what she was thinking, as he walked quietly beside her, their hands interlocked, most of their belongings left at either their hotel rooms or the study where much of the work was being done. He brushed his thumb gently over her knuckles as he glanced down at her.

There was a nervous tension still that lingered, now ever presently closer following their talk last night. He could feel it almost as if it were muscle spasms, as every so often the arm that interlinked with his, the fingers of her hand that was interlaced, tucked firmly in each other's grasp that she seemed to cling to. It vibrated as if she were shivering from the cold. Something he knew to be the opposite.

Sure there is an occasional cool breeze.

His blue eyes spotted the notebook and pen she'd kept in her other hand. Her fingers tapping against its cover.

Ritsuka glanced away as they continued to walk along the sidewalk. The street lights were starting to go up. He'd been walking her around in silence for nearly an hour he had guessed. Doing all he can just to help her nerves calm from the stress of those most recent developments. All the signs for stores, small shops, and restaurants began to flicker on. The evening sky reflecting a pinkish hue along with the low hanging clouds.

She is actually considering roleplaying the non-confession scene?

He blushed a bit at the thought as he decided to focus more on their surroundings. There was a path along the beach, one they could get to within easy access of the sidewalk along the Mainstreet, where they were now. Ritsuka decided he would take them along there before he even tried to open up the conversation.

"S-sorry." Alter said quietly.

Her voice was quiet compared to the evening buzz of the town. However, her voice could drown out the rest of the world for all he cared. His eyes flicked to her as they still tried to sync their steps. "No need for that," He said, "The closed room with them was getting to be a bit too much anyway. A month of our time grinding like this..." He chuckled a little as a horrid thought touched his mind. "I hope I'm not aging."

She snorted at that, smiling a bit easier than she had before back in the hotel room. "You're not. I had a check-in with BB about that."

I'm not going to even begin to imagine when that might've been.

Ritsuka huffed a small laugh as well. "Thanks for looking into that." He scratched the back of his head. "I was gonna ask my sister to do it when I got the chance for another long and proper talk with her."

Alter nodded quietly if only to convey she understood his concern. She fell quiet again soon after, her grin fading as her thoughts turned to something more serious. Her finger returned the tight grip on his hand.

He took it as her permission, to guide her onto the fork in the sidewalk, to the far more private path that would take the two of them along the beach. The two continued to walk in silence as the noise of the street and buzz of the city became background noise.

The path was expertly designed. Not so close to the ocean for rolling waves to feel like an annoying barrier to talk over, but still close enough to provide a beautiful view. The stone path was rimmed with small hedges, and trail lights as tall as street lamps that hung over the stone path that seemed to wind and weave.

Until they found their obvious stop.

Ritsuka knew it was going to be where they stopped only seconds before Alter did. The path had curved inward slightly until he spotted a little stone bench built with the path in mind. The purpose of the path closing cutting inward towards the beach was to give the brief illusion that when one stood in line with the bench, you couldn't see any of the city, though one could hear it faintly. The city side of the trial was rimmed with hedges and a small foot tall stone wall. On the beachside, it was very much the same, except for the center view of the bench.

There was a singular hole in the hedges around them, wide enough for the view from the bench to be only the beach, and the distant ever fading sunset.

Above them, there was a trail's street lamp, only a little off to the bench's right side. More than enough light, if the two of them decided to linger into late hours of the evening night.

It was easy for him to tell when Alter spotted the bench. For the first time in their walk, she took the lead, certain of where she wanted them to stop. She took a couple of quick paces to lead him, by the arm as she practically marched for the bench.

He was tempted to tease her, but he bit the very notion back as he watched her head sink further into her shoulders in front of him.

Embarrassed.

So he followed quietly, knowing there was going to be plenty more of that emotion to come. He allowed her to seat them both down. Their fingers were still interlaced, their hands the only thing that rested in the foot-wide berth between them.

The bench wasn't comfortable, but because it was stone he wasn't surprised by that. The stone was also really warm, from having been bathing in the sun the whole day. In the quiet, he finally looked straight ahead, at the distant pink and yellow that seemed to decorate the few clouds in the sky, as a third of the red sun disappeared behind the horizon.

"An image to commit to memory."

Ritsuka turned to eye Jeanne. Her lips were compressed together as she stared out into the horizon too.

"If only for the company."

Alter turned red to grit her teeth, "Y.-your walls to our master-servant bond are down." She looked away from him not wanting to focus on that for just a moment longer.

He flushed. "Oh. Shit...uh." His blues eyes darted around like he was searching for something that could save him from having to explain himself. Then he deflated with a sigh. "Sorry. I just let my guard down is all. Getting too used to enjoying your company, relaxing." He let out a few nervous chuckles as he scratched the back of his head. "It's going to get even harder for me to keep them in place, you know?"

"Try." She said, and her face filled with instant regret.

"Sorry." He really tried to bury his initial reaction, but he still winced. Ritsuka was very certain that the brief face he'd made wasn't encouraging at all.

Her frown formed a pout, "Idiot." She muttered and then pointed at herself. "Look...I'm just…" She paused and tried again. "I...I need to...I'm just." she deflated and trailed off. Then her face filled with mirth. "God damn it!" Alter shouted, standing up abruptly. She let go of his hand.

Ristuka moved to stand and follow.

But she held a hand out motion for him to stop "I'm not storming off!" she snapped at him. She started pacing in front of the bench a few meters away. "I just…" As the loss of her voice again she seemed to grow only more agitated with herself. She paced back and forth again. "Agh!" She kicked the ground finally coming to a stop. In a moment of distant rolling waves, she hugged herself a few meters away.

I'll need to keep a better check on our master-servant bond to make sure those barriers are still up from now on.

His mouth twisted slightly.

If that's what she even wants.

Alter sighed as she faced away towards the beach. "Sorry." She said again.

This time his eyes narrowed towards her. "You already apologized. It's not a big deal."

She huffed. "I'm not apologizing for that." Then Alter hissed at herself. "Not anymore at least, I'm apologizing for not being able to talk about…" She gestured between them. "I...I'm…" Her lips formed a darkening expression as her frustration surfaced again. "...THIS!" She finally seemed to settle on the brief but small descriptor. The berserker made a disgusted noise at herself. "I'm sorry I'm not able to talk about this!"

Ritsuka blew out a slight breath of relief. "Alter, you know that's not something you need to apologize for." He leaned back a bit, spreading his hands out over the bench to prop himself up.

"Isn't it though?!" Alter gestured towards the way they'd come from. "Between Ushiwakamaru's constant and incessant nagging, and you having to stick your neck out for me every time I get stupidly embarrassed, because all I can get is angry, how is it not something I should apologize for?!" She huffed. "I'm literally wasting our time together." Alter ran some fingers through her hair as if she wanted to pull it out. "It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. Just a short quick, one week vacation so I could try my hand a creating something…" She huffed.

To beat out normal Jeanne's doujin.

He'd fallen silent at that. It was new territory for him too, so he was trying to search for his words carefully. "Judging by the way this doujin contest is going for us, I think you have all the time in the world to waste simply being yourself. Your berserker enhancement-"

"Is not always my problem." She interrupted. Her eyes seemed to focus intensely on him for a moment before her hardened expression softened. "Look it's true, a lot of the time. The madness enhancement is…" She shook her head briefly again. "It is a problem, but not always." Alter spoke almost pleadingly. "Not when it involves…" Her mouth started to curl into a brief frown. "This." She settled again.

She wants me to distinguish between the two.

Ritsuka watched her closely, and intently. Then he finally stood up from the bench to join her. "You don't have to talk about it, remember? I agreed to that." He spoke more firmly. "Only whenever you feel ready."

She scoffed, "At this point, you might be waiting for an eternity master." Her lips twisted at that very thought of having him to make him wait for so long. "But I…" she put a hand over her chest, about where her heart was pounding in her chest. "I still very much appreciate it."

Sometimes I can say the right thing.

Ritsuka closed an eye and grinned down at her. He put a hand on his hip as he stepped beside her. Deciding to be a little more honest. "Well as long as I'm not aging..." he trailed off, leaving her to fill the gap.

Her mouth had fallen open as she gaped openly at him, in the privacy of their little walking path along the beach. It closed, then opened again. "Idiot. What am I supposed to say in response to that?!" She gestured between them again. "I can't-" Her agitation only seemed to exhaust her this time. Alter quietly pressed her fingers to her forehead, and even in the low light of the street light above them, and the low light of the sunset. Her blush was still visible.

He was quiet, wanting her to speak next, with whatever she might say, he stood there quietly, not bothering to catch the view of the sun dipping behind the horizon, preferring his focus to be on Alter. For him, she could be out the sunset and a starry night sky any day.

Her lip trembled. "Sorry." She said again. "I wanted this trip to be fun, even outside of the contest that we are apart of."

At that, he chuckled. "If I gave the impression I'm not having fun, I should be the one apologizing."

Alter's eyes narrowed at him, skeptical of his answer. "Wouldn't you rather be spending your vacation vacationing?"

That's not all that matters though. Sometimes it's about who you spend the time with, over than just the work that was being done.

"Alter, I'm right where I want to be." He didn't want to elaborate further, knowing she would be smart enough to pick it out. After a moment he added quietly "Sorry," he scratched the back of his head. "You know, for being an idiot." He shook his head a bit. "I know I'm not the best at this either…"

Silence fell between them again, a cool sea breeze swayed the leaves in the hedges around them. The distant evening echoes of the town seemed to grow more pronounced in the quiet that they shared between them.

Until finally, Alter stepped closer to her master and took his hand. With her other, Jeanne ran her gloved fingers through her white hair. She nodded slowly and turned away. "I...I know." She said. She looked at the bench now, like it was something to be feared. The notebook still sitting on the empty bench, an ever-present reminder. "Do you think it will really work?

Ritsuka shrugged. "I can't really attest to it yet." He chuckled. "I've only been plotting my novel, I haven't quite gotten around to writing it yet." He closed his hand around her fingers and turned to follow her gaze to the notebook. His heart started to dance and the butterflies in his stomach grew more furious with the beat of their wings. "But some say the best art can come from the heart, right?"

On that note, Ushiwakamaru might be right to have us be the ones to do this.

"Ugh." Alter said quietly, running a frustrated hand down her face. "I'm not going to give that assassin the satisfaction of being right if this works out." She turned red again as she faced him, and took a breath, as even despite her blush, a spiteful smile touched her lips. Like she wanted him to say that it would be okay for her.

He smiled a bit at that, "Fine," He returned her spiteful grin. "I won't force a reconciliation." He tilted his head. "Just this once Alter."

She huffed. "I find that term acceptable." Alter was still beat red, as she took a single step away. Her hand still wrapped around his, his fingers tucked comfortingly in her grip. Her breathing had fallen quieter for only a second as she whispered something inaudible for him to hear. She didn't let go of him while she dragged him back towards the bench. And with a quick flick of her free hand, she threw the notebook open.

Her eyes scanned it, and then she looked at him.

Ritsuka nodded. "I'll start." He cleared his throat and tried to picture the panel she'd drawn for it. The dark looming front door into the monastery. The looks of the pair of dead warrior monks who'd fallen trying to keep the door from being breached. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he finally took the time to speak, his voice had deepened, full of certainty, and nervous confidence. "They're inside."

Alter still had a blush on her cheeks as she spoke. "I'll kill them for what they've done." Her voice a harsh whisper that only he could hear. She took a step back and pretended to give the entrance a look over.

Come on, what would be next?

His lip twisted. "They wouldn't kill her. She's the bait."

The berserker seemed to whirl on him. "I know that, but how am I supposed to get her back?" She took three aggressive strides towards him, so they were only inches apart. "How do I…" She huffed. "How do I get her back?" Her voice almost pleading.

"If we simply rush in, they may just kill us." He said. "Though if they knew we were here now, we would've been attacked already." Ritsuka hissed a little, his voice returning to normal. "Too wordy." He looked down at Alter's closeness and then. His character's voice came back in short order. "We'll get her back, they haven't attacked us yet."

Alter bit her lip for a moment seeming to think, and took a few seconds to scribble notes down in the notebook. She then seemed to take a shaky breath. "If we just walk in he'll kill us." Her feigned frown deepened. "The hostages will be swift to follow since they will have what they want."

He paused to think quietly again. Then he cursed in character, "Do we know if there is another way in?"

Alter shook her head.

He glanced away.

Until Alter grabbed a fistful of his shirt, she seemed to sniff. As if the character she had would be on the verge of desperation. "I want my sister back." She clutched him with both hands like he was beginning him to help her.

There was a quiet that followed as the two of them stared at each other. Finally, Ritsuka huffed a little more. "Then, there is only one way I can think of then..." He pressed his lip into a line. "I'm who they want." There was a slight pause, wanting to give Alter perhaps the chance to respond back in character. When she stayed quiet, he took that as permission to keep it rolling. "I...I can be the bait. I can get their attention to focus solely on me." He wrapped his fingers gently around hers as if trying to give her comfort. He could still feel the what in his cheeks when he did. "When I have it, you can get to the hostages."

Her blush had grown stronger as well due to their proximity. She was quiet still, but she held up a hand for him, indicating that she was trying to find something to say. For a moment, the blush returned "If you do that, I…" There was some hesitation in her voice. Like there was something she wanted to say.

"I may end up losing you?" Ritsuka suggested.

Alter frowned. "Idiot," But she fell quiet again, taking a few deep breaths trying to ignore their proximity, and how private it was. "If you do that, I...I may end up losing you."

His heart thudded in his chest, and he closed his eyes.

She's not talking to you idiot. Come on.

Ritsuka was quiet as he took a moment to pull himself out of their moment. Her fingers were still tucked in his hands as if he was trying to express comfort. "You won't. I'm just as good a fighter as he is, I can challenge him to an honorable duel." He started nodding as if he was liking the idea more and more while he thought about it. "It would give you the time you need."

Alter took a deep breath, her blush fading ever so slightly as she breathed in and out to relax as much tension as she could. "But I-"

He stepped in and shook his head. "No Alter. Let me do this. I will not have your little sister on my conscience." He released her hands and pointed towards the door. "It's my fault he brought her here. Let me rectify it, by doing this for you."

Alter shook her head for a moment, and took half a step away, one hand still, tucked in his fingers, with the other she reached over to the notebook and scribbled some more notes down. She grabbed his fingers when she was finished. "I'll get her back." Her voice airy, as she seemed to settle on her answer firmly. "But I…" She seemed to hiss at herself for a moment. "Promise me you'll come back, Master?"

When she used his title, he felt breathless. "Always." He settled for. "If I'm not, follow the sounds of fighting." He tightened his grip on her hands, more firmly. "Stay safe."

She bowed her head a bit towards him. "You…" She took another deep breath. "You too."

Ritsuka smiled at her in silence for a moment still holding her by his arms, and he looked away. "After…" He coughed to clear his throat. "When we are finished here I mean…"

There was a few seconds before Alter nodded. "We should talk." She agreed. "After." The word slipped from her mouth with distasteful anger, resentment, but understanding. He felt alter's grip return in firmness on his hands. "After." She repeated again. Then she took a step away, still holding onto Ritsuka's hands. "I think that's enough…" She turned to eye the notebook again and loosened her hand in his grip to scribble the last of the notes of the conversation down.

He nodded quietly and noticed that as she turned to her notebook, he was given a full view of her blush. Ritsuka glanced away again, feeling as if he was intruding on her privacy. "Was it good enough do you think?"

Alter was silent for a moment. "Even if it's not…" She looked his way, the red hue of her cheeks nearly reaching her amber eyes. "I think I can use what we did as a good baseline for-" She took a slow breath. "For whatever I might need to edit about it."

Then someone clapped. "Indeed, what a stupendous display of a tragic romance to end in death!" His voice was chipper as it always was. "Oh my, do tell me, young writers! What is it that happens next? No wait, don't say, for I shall wish to experience it without any devious spoilers!"

Ritsuka could feel Alter's hands tense. His eyes followed the voice to its source. "Shakespeare."

#

Just when I started feeling comfortable.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously towards the sound of the caster servant's voice. Shakespeare was standing just in the shadows on the walkway, a broad grin on his face. The urge to rip out her sword and put that smug bastard in his place was the fact that her master had squeezed her hand to keep her from doing something even more rash.

Alter could almost taste the froth in her mouth as her eyes narrowed. She spoke through gritted teeth. "What do you want to plagiarize us now?"

"Oh, my dear summer berserker! I would never dream of doing such an odious thing." With a hand behind his back, he threw his other, to give his cloak a flourish and bowed to the two of them. "I merely sought to enjoy the spectacle taking place before mine eyes." He winked at them. "As it happens I doth have a distinct impression that you grasp more meaning from the scenes thou hath written together!" He straightened his lighthearted tone dropping in octave. "Doth thou wish to say something yet more to the master you still hold so tightly?"

Alter grit her teeth growing angrier, her arm vibrated, as she ripped free her sword. With her arm, she swung Ritsuka back to be placed behind her, as he almost stumbled with the motion.

Ritsuka fell onto the ground, though he still clutched onto Alter's fingers. He shook his head a bit."That's enough Shakespeare. Stop." His eyes widened towards Alter, feeling her prana starting to leak from her. The magic swelling as if she were about to attack the poor caster who was doing nothing to help himself.

"Oh? But doth you have something to share with thine precious servant as well master?" He tilted his head. Then his eyes seemed to widen on Berserker. "Oh, but I can't help but wonder what thou sees" He seemed to smile as he backed away.

Finally, he sighed, giving up fully on trying to keep her back. It happened every so often, the need to put Shakespeare in his place in order to keep him from going on his normal rambles and tangents. Of course, Anderson was often a big help in at least keeping his more overt tendencies in check. Ritsuka laid his head back down on the stone and sighed again. "You best start running Shakespeare…"

Alter's eyes flicked to him.

Is he?

He looked squarely at her in the eye. "Meet me back at your hotel room. EMIYA will have kicked the others out by now."

I have permission?

Her heart thumped and her embarrassed flush deepened. But she shook her head, hair waving from side to side. A sadistic grin came across her face as she then rounded towards Shakespeare again, her intent burning in her eyes.

The author seemed to shiver. "Perhaps I hath overstayed my welcome? And should now...exit stage left." He took two steps back the way he came, where the path would curve again.

She gritted her teeth, and flew off with a prana burst, wind swirling around her as she leaped towards him. With her sword drawn, she was determined to make short work of him.

Only that when she stuck where he'd been standing, he'd disappeared into a swirl of pages, and reappeared some meters away running, as fast his legs could carry him.

Alter adjusted and pursued, hearing faintly in the back of her mind, her master's voice.

"Be careful." His voice calm as it came to her.

Her anger softened, and a small smile touched her lips as she continued to chase the author down.

#

Alter lost him about a half-hour into her pursuit, but she was happier. She'd landed quite a few hits on the author before he escaped for his one final time. She too, had been aggressively on the attack and threw around her mana constantly so among the first of the reasons she'd called off on her pursuit, was because she would've drained herself completely of the energy she needed. She glanced down at her wrist as it twitched.

The same feeling from this morning?

The hotel's automatic doors slid open allowing her inside. Her eyes scanned the kitchen for a moment. But she was too focused on that feeling coursing through her.

Lack of sleep? Overuse of mana?

Whatever it had been before, it had felt doubled.

Even still she'd been feeling pent up thanks to the last twenty-four hours, hunting down crabs in large quantities wasn't ever going to have been enough for her to cut it this time. So while she felt a little drained, she for once, in place of her usually angry demeanor, had a small smile on her lips as she made her way through the hotel.

They were already working in her room. When she finally pushed open the door, she could see panels strung about on the floor. Ushiwakamaru and Robin were overlooking something together, while Mash and Ritsuka, were going through Alter's notebook.

Her master smiled at her. "Welcome back."

That stupid, idiotic, smile.

Alter's small smile, twitched as it widened at the greeting. "Master," Her gaze seemed to soften a little. "Thanks for…" She looked away. "For letting me chase him down."

Everyone's eyes feel to Ritsuka, he looked around at them a bit surprised. "You didn't kill him right?"

The berserker marched forward. "I only hurt him." she gestured palm up. "A little. He's an elusive bastard." She put her hand on her hip. "Besides, I was running low on mana by the end there."

No sooner had she spoken of it, she stumbled forward a bit. Her wrist locking up, her eyes wide as she caught herself on some of the furniture. Alter's eyes widened with shock as she followed the length of her arm down to her wrist, where she was holding herself up. She could see her muscle twitching like before.

Shit.

Ritsuka had shot up, from where he was sitting, startling Mash, but the young girl was only two steps behind him as they crossed the room over to her.

He grabbed her by the arm, offering her help. "What's wrong?"

Alter shook her head. "Nothing."

Probably.

She spoke more slowly as she considered what she might do next. "Some sleep will help I think, with whatever it is." Alter stood up, wrapping her fingers around his hands. "I'm okay, I think it was just lack of sleep."

Ritsuka looked unsure, but he nodded, accepting her answer.

Ushiwakamaru finally broke the silence. "The scene you two wrote is phenomenal by the way!" She smiled widely at them with her eyes closed. "I knew you two could do it!" She waved Mash over to join her. "I think it's our best work yet."

Mash had grabbed Alter's other side, but as the berserker waved her off, she took a step back and nodded. "Yes, it will be…" her lips formed a frown. "It would be impactful." She trailed off a bit. "Especially that desperation at the end, promising to talk to each other after."

The rogue had been quiet, adjusting his hawaiian shirt. "Yeah, I think we got a real shot at winning this time."

Idiots.

She thought to herself. While she was happy to work out her pent up aggression, she didn't want to think of how embarrassing it might be, that not only had Ushi been right, but that it might be the one to win. Her lips curled at the thought, of their vacation coming to end because they'd won.

I don't think it solves anything if we win.

Alter huffed.

And I already admitted that I like our chances.

She felt Ritsuka nudge her side, realizing he was still holding her by the arm.

"Think our little dialogue scene could win it for us?" He asked, with genuine sincerity, his voice a low whisper so the others couldn't hear his question.

Her eyes went from him to the notebook, and then back to him. She could almost smell the ocean still, and feel the cool evening breeze. Imagine the shadows cast as the sun had set, and the low light from the street lamp that hung over the bench, dancing across his features as he'd made his expressions and thought carefully about what the character might've said to her.

Both waiting for a better time to talk about it.

Alter pressed her lips into a line. "It was a long shot at first...but now, with some of the re-works." Even she couldn't suppress a small smile at what they might accomplish. "I think we have a real shot at taking it from Medb this time." She grinned up at him.

He huffed a smile back down at her, and tightened his grip on her arm, and nodded towards the more occupied part of the room. "Still able to work?"

She nodded. "A while longer"

###