A/N

I've begun the transfer process over onto Archive Of Our Own; you can now find the old Recourse Light story there. I will slowly be posting the story chapter by chapter until it is done.

"Hello? Yes, may I speak with Lena, please?"

A new day, a new morning, and that means work. Just like yesterday, I'm back at my desk in the master bedroom, sitting at my desk in front of my work computer with my office phone against my left ear as I open up a manila folder with a few shipping documents inside.

Yuuyuu is, once again, sitting neatly in the plastic folding chair I pulled out yesterday for her to sit in, watching me as I conduct my morning business matters. She sports none of the wounds she sustained from her "spar" with Tamamo last night. A spar? Yeah right, more like a fight to the death if I've ever seen one.

"Lena? Yes, hi, my name is August with Lukenstor Logistics, I have a shipment with you guys coming in three days and I haven't received an Arrival Notice for it yet, can I give you the container number, or would you prefer your house BL number?"

The whole time I've been working this morning, from since I woke up (not surprisingly with both girls with me in bed) to now, I've sensed Yuuyuu's gaze fixed on me with unbreaking focus; however, she hasn't spoken a word the whole time, either. It's like she's intrigued, perhaps even fascinated, dare I say, with me and my work. I don't quite understand how watching a guy work what's little more than a glorified office job that I do from home instead of from an office cubicle in downtown Los Angeles somewhere is at all interesting, but I suppose Yuuyuu sees things very differently, having lived about fourteen hundred years ago. Even still, that doesn't quite explain why she's taken everything else about our modern world in stride, and add to that the fact that FATE has provided her with all the contextual knowledge she needs to be able to fit into modern society, despite being from Tang Dynasty China.

"I see, the vessel got delayed by a week, got it...yes, I mailed the check for this shipment out four days ago, you should have gotten it by now since I sent it through regular USPS mail. If you don't get it by tomorrow, I'll make a direct deposit and ask you to return the mailed check back to me...okay, thank you so much. Uh huh, you too, buh-bye."

Setting the phone handset back on its receiver, and now that I've made the corresponding adjustments on the manila folder with the correct ETA, I close the folder and file it back where it belongs on the folder racks standing on a separate desk to my left, perpendicular to the bigger desk on which my work computer, phone, and keyboard sit. I turn back to my computer screen to manage the last of the emails, which are just some more documents that I need to print out, which I take from my printer that sits underneath the desk down near my feet and file neatly in their own respective folders.

"And that's it for this morning," I announce, turning to my second Servant in English. "Let's go get some breakfast."

Yang gives me a smile that's far too sweet for just being an ordinary morning smile. "Yes, Master! Miss Tamamo said that she was going to prepare a big breakfast today because she noticed that you can sure eat a lot."

"Is she now? Well, now that you mention it, I think we've been hearing her from up here for some time now, so let's go see what she's up to..."

The two of us head downstairs and peek into the kitchen, where Tamamo, sporting the new blue and white apron that she bought from our little shopping trip over at the mall yesterday, is rapidly chopping up potatoes and carrots three at a time to pour into the frying pan that's sizzling with olive oil. Given how much Tamamo was talking about looking forward to being able to start cooking meals for me as her Master while we did a little bit of grocery shopping to stock up the fridge, now that my place has two more people who'll be with me for an extended period of time, her cooking skill is being put on full display for my and Yuuyuu's eyes, so that isn't very surprising.

What is surprising, though, is the sheer amount of food that she's prepared: during the time that I've been working, which is about two and a half hours, Tamamo has apparently spent all that time cooking, and all the food that she's set on the kitchen counter in the large window that peers into the dining room next to the kitchen vouch for her efforts: a huge platter of fluffy fried rice, fluffy pancake stacks eight high with blueberries and just the right amount of maple syrup, a large dinner plate filled with perfectly cooked hashbrowns topped with equally as perfectly cooked strips of crispy bacon and sausage patties and links with eggs made scrambled, over easy, and sunny side up surrounding everything in a curious pattern that reminds me a little of a flower, and even a large fruit salad bowl filled with blueberries, peach slices, and apple slices dressed with thyme, ginger, and a dash of lemon juice.

"Wow, you sure made a lot," I remark and announce my presence to Caster, who spins around and enthusiastically waves hello to me with a slightly greasy spatula in hand, even though the kitchen doors are no more than five meters away from her. "And an American breakfast?"

"Well, you know what they say, the whole 'When in Rome' thing that a certain Red Saber used to always hammer into my ears at some point," Tamamo rolls her eyes quickly to herself before going back to tend the potato and carrot stir-fry, using her spatula to mix the ingredients well before seizing the frying pan by its handle and giving it a few good shakes. "Would you have preferred it if I made you a more traditional Japanese-style breakfast instead? Or perhaps maybe even a Korean one? I'll have to study how to make a Korean one first, though..."

"I can cook Master a traditional Chinese breakfast, if you'd like ~ " Yuuyuu pipes up behind me as she joins us in the kitchen, but at the sight of her co-Servant, Tamamo quickly latches onto me, as if she thinks Youkihi's arrived to steal me away from her grasp.

"I cannot accept that, Miss Youkihi! Cooking is my turf, don't you dare try to encroach onto it!" she hollers lightly, causing Yuuyuu to smile deviously back at her.

"Haoooooo? I seeeeee, Miss Tamamo, you're scared that I just might take Master away from you by proving to him how much of a better Servant I am than you, huh? Just like how I was clearly your superior last night when we did battle ~ "

"Horseshit! Absolute horseshit, Miss Youkihi! You did not beat me, it was a draw! Don't even try to twist the truth around to fit your tastes!" Tamamo screeches as she begins to brandish her spatula in Yuuyuu's direction.

"Yeah, it was a draw because I had to step in before one of you killed each other - or who knows, maybe you two would've ended up killing each other, and I would've been left here without any of my Servants," I take Tamamo's side this time. "I know I keep saying this, but I did say to not go that far, but at least neither of you did anything too drastic."

Finally elated that I'm supporting her this time for once, Tamamo squeezes my right arm around her voluptuous breasts separated from my own bare arm by a single piece of kimono fabric. "Ah, I knew you'd be reasonable just like me, Master! You tell Miss Youkihi that she's stepping too far out of line!"

"But I would like to try a traditional Chinese breakfast too. I know I've had one before, but it's been a long time."

"B-Bwwweeeeehh! And there he goes again with the instant back-stab!" Tamamo reels in pain from the psychological damage done to her heart as soon as I mention Yuuyuu's suggestion of a Chinese-style breakfast, and of course, Yuuyuu smiles brightly with the power of a miniature sun while holding her hands together and giving a series of cute micro-claps to convey her happiness.

"I just need a little bit of practice first, Master. And then, I'll be able to show you what genuine 8th century Chinese court breakfasts are really like! You'll literally be eating a part of history, you know!"

"Yeah, that's actually really cool, now that you put it that way. One of my business partners is a big food history guy, and he always talks to me about how food history is so fascinating and stuff every chance he gets. I guess we're not gonna get any more authentic than this."

"O-Oh yeah? I can make authentic 12th century Heian cuisine! Master'll love it more than yours, Miss Youkihi!"

"Will not!"

"Will too! Gurururururu..."

Growling like a feral, Tamamo locks eyes intensely with her rival, who reciprocates as they enter yet another standoff with sparks flying from both of their eyes, though at least there is no murderous intent involved like there was the last time they did this.

Hearing the intensifying sizzling behind me rather than in front, I turn around and, with Tamamo still latched onto my arm, take the frying pan to lift it off the flame to shake the contents before they start burning. This easily gets Tamamo to disengage from the glaring contest she was just having with Yuuyuu and tend to the stir-fry in alarm, realizing that she's allowed herself to be distracted.

"Oh no oh no oh no, the stir-fry! It almost got burned - " Tamamo whines quickly, taking the frying pan from me to finish cooking. "Master, I'm almost done with this, just please wait a little bit longer ~ "

"Sure. Yuuyuu, let's start taking the plates over and setting the table," I call over to Foreigner, who nods happily as usual and takes the fruit salad bowl and the big plate of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and sausage while I grab the platters of pancakes and fried rice. I take another trip to the kitchen to fetch the forks, knives, and chopsticks from the utensil drawer, and I return with Tamamo in tow, who's bringing over the stir-fried diced potatoes and carrots cooked with a touch of butter. Once we've set the table and taken our seats - I've had to sit on the side of the table where there's only room for one person to sit because if I were to sit at one of the lengths, my Servants would quickly devolve into yet another feud over who gets to sit next to me and who must be forced to sit across from us - we give our thanks for the food and start digging in.

"You weren't kidding when you said I'd love your cooking," I chuckle after downing a forkful of hashbrowns and bacon, reaching for a glass of no-pulp orange juice that Tamamo has kindly poured for me. "This is the best breakfast I've had in years."

"Squeeeeeee ~ "

Perhaps as expected, Tamamo practically melts in her seat upon hearing her Master praise her cooking; fidgeting without pause, she can't stop her tail from wagging at very high speeds. I figured this would be the case, so I specifically brought over one of my old backless chairs that I used to use back when I took piano lessons while I was still in school so that her fluffy tail can swing to and fro to her heart's content.

"Still ever the pure-hearted maiden she is. During my own days as Imperial Consort, receiving praise such as this was a constant occurrence," Yuuyuu retorts a little, politely cutting out a big wedge from her stack of syrupy pancakes with a knife and fork, as though we're eating at some high-class restaurant or something.

"So even something like that can be considered a skill, huh..." I muse aloud. I'm very surprised that Tamamo is able to cook a classic American-style breakfast so well; she was only talking about her intention to try her hand at American cuisine yesterday, and it's not like she spent all night practicing in the kitchen. Maybe this is part of the knowledge that FATE gave her as well to help her cooking talents adapt to a normally unfamiliar setting? Or is she just that talented at cooking that she can just start cooking something she's not familiar with and can immediately get a feel for how it's supposed to go? Talk about having an Instinct skill solely geared for cooking.

"Of course, Master. During my consort years, due to my title of Guifei, everyone wished to be on my good side to receive my favors. I thus had to develop the ability to tell apart those who were genuine with their sentiments from those who merely wished to take advantage of their connections to me to further their own positions in court."

I chew on my sausage links thoughtfully. "So...basically everyone in court," I conclude rather bluntly.

"W-Well...not...not everyone..." Yuuyuu shrinks a little in her seat out of slight embarrassment. "...but...but yes, there were...I had my fair share of...sycophants, I believe is the word...but no really, it wasn't as if everyone was like that. There were a few members of court who were genuine, and they really did wish me the best."

"Hm." After pausing to deliberate for a quick second, I lean towards my Foreigner Servant. "Yuuyuu, you're beautiful today as well."

"Huguuu - Haoooooo...!"

Hearing me whisper this to her right as she's about to take another bite of her pancakes, Youkihi doubles over, dropping her fork with the neatly cut stack of pancakes on it onto her plate to smash her hand against her face to hide it from my view. Her reaction is quite spectacular, and it's a treat and a half to watch - if it made any sense to eat dessert after breakfast, Yuuyuu's reaction would be it.

"Mikoooooooon! That's unfair, Master, you never told me I'm beautiful!" Tamamo shrieks, immediately snapping out of her squee'ing as soon as she hears this. "Also, so much for calling me a pure-hearted maiden when you yourself cannot even handle simple flattery such as that!"

"No, no, no, wait, both of you, please, I-I-I-I can explain! I swear!" Half-giggling and half-squealing, desperately trying to get her bearings again, Yuuyuu barely manages to stabilize her posture as she forces herself to pull her hand away from her face, which is a glorious shade of bright red. "This - this is only because it was Master who told me that! O-O-Of course I would have this kind of reaction when it's Master who says such things to me!"

"Even though I didn't even put any effort into that?" I shrug flatly.

"Hauuuu!" Yuuyuu puts up both hands this time to cover her face, and her blush even extends all the way to her ears, making it impossible for her hands to completely hide her embarrassment.

"Beep, beep! Fraud alert, fraud alert!" Tamamo catcalls from across the dinner table, hooting and jeering with glee. "This just in, Miss Youkihi can't even handle being called beautiful by Master! Is Yuuyuu-chan in reality just an easy girl!? So much for your Guifei title, fraaaaaaaaauuuud!"

"Y-You take that back! My Guifei is a beloved title to me, I shall not allow you to speak badly of it!" Still with her blush plastered on her face, Yuuyuu swiftly snatches up the knife that she's using to cut her stack of pancakes with and brandishes it at her co-Servant. "En garde, Miss Tamamo! We shall settle this score right here, right now!"

Tamamo slams the dinner table with her fist, causing her own unused fork to jump up suddenly into the air, where she deftly snatches it herself and returns Yuuyuu's gesture. "Well met, Miss Youkihi, we shall finish what we started last night! It's now or never, and I ain't gonna live forever!"

I calmly pull a forkful of over easy eggs off with my lips as the world's most brutal table fight breaks out right in front of me, with Tamamo's and Yuuyuu's knives clanging and clashing against one another to the extent that actual sparks are flying about the dining room. Today, I learned that table knives are capable of creating sparks if struck against one another with enough force...I'm not sure exactly how I should feel about that. I guess this reminds me of those medieval entertainment places where you pay to eat dinner while a medieval-style jousting tournament unfolds down on the stage, except this is far more entertaining...and somewhat worrying at the same time, because I have no doubt in my mind that both ladies could turn their table knives into the world's most dangerous-seeming weapon if they really tried.

...wait a minute, aren't they doing that right now?

Alas, as much fun as it is watching the two of them go at each other with nothing more than table knives, I'd like to stop them before they set my dinner table or the dining room itself on fire, because I'm sure they'll find a way to do that somehow, even if it only involves the sparks they're making. So I clear my throat and ask loudly to make myself adequately heard over the clanging of their table knives:

"Alright, please break it up, you two, let's eat breakfast in peace, yeah?"

Half to my surprise, Tamamo and Yuuyuu actually do cease their fighting immediately, returning to their respective meals swiftly as if nothing had happened, though they do shoot mean girl looks at each other, which reminds me of the popular girl fights that broke out every so often during high school.

"Ah! I meant to ask yesterday night, but you looked like you wanted to go to sleep after you were done with our treatments so I held off on it," Yuuyuu turns back to her Master in an effort to change the subject, "but your healing magic was incredibly effective, Master! My body is already back to full functionality, even after the huge spar Miss Tamamo and I had. Are you perhaps a doctor in your spare time or something?"

"Doctor? No, not really. I think it's more accurate for me to be called a field medic," I correct Yang. "When I made the decision to practice magecraft while I was still in school, I realized pretty early on that I'd probably be operating alone, because other than the RGA that I'm a part of, there really isn't that much of a magical presence in this area, so I can't, like, learn from other mages...not that they would even want to teach me in the first place, at least not most of them. So I volunteered at a hospital's intensive care unit, or ICU for short, so I could observe and study surgeries; I worked for a year as a part-time paramedic during my senior year in high school; I have a friend who used to be a combat medic and had been on a few tours before, and so I had him teach me what he could. That, and of course, my own experience operating as solo mage, because if I get injured, most of the time I can't just go to the hospital because then the staff's gonna start asking a whole lot of annoying questions that I'd rather not answer and stuff."

"But it couldn't have been just basic surgeries and stuff that you did for us when we came back home last night," Tamamo notes. "You were definitely using your mana on us, Master."

"Yeah, because I combine nonmagical surgical knowledge and techniques with magic to get the best of both worlds, so to speak. The problem with purely magical techniques of healing and regeneration is that they're normally very mana-intensive on the user because wounds that would need magical healing are usually pretty serious, and the worse the wound, the more mana you'd need to repair the damage. For someone like me who doesn't really have a whole lot of mana, since I don't, like, come from a magical family or anything, it's very important for me to be as mana-efficient as possible."

"Huh...but that's strange, Master, you seem like you have a lot of mana to spare," Yuuyuu points out to me. "That's how Miss Tamamo and I were able to fight like that yesterday, because we knew we wouldn't be taxing your mana to any worrying degree."

"Eh, that doesn't really mean much. In this world, the quality of your mana is held in higher regard than the amount. Sure, I might have a lot of mana, but I'm nowhere near as talented as some other mages I know because my mana's pretty damn average in terms of actual quality, if not below average. And besides, even if I do have a lot of mana to go around, I've always tried being optimal with my mana output, and it'll be even more important for me to keep that up, now that I have two Servants to support, and two strong Servants, at that."

"Ah, yes, yes, that's true, you're absolutely right. Forgive me, Master, I didn't...I didn't think ahead far enough..." Yuuyuu quickly apologizes.

As I'm telling Yuuyuu that it's alright and that it's nothing to apologize for, I notice Tamamo sitting in her seat, pouting a little as she chews on some slices of peaches and apples from the fruit salad that she's prepared.

"Something up, Tamamo?" I ask, and she turns to me with that same adorable pout.

"And here I was thinking that I would be able to heal my Master to my heart's content. I guess you don't need me for that...mmmuuu."

Tamamo deepens her pout, helping herself to a big spoonful of fluffy fried rice.

"...what makes you think I'm somehow a better healer than you? Because that's absolutely not true," I grin a bit awkwardly over at Caster. "The biggest disadvantage that my style of healing has is time; I need a lot of it to do it."

"But you only needed about fifteen minutes for each of us!"

"Yeah, because you're my Servants, and the mana you're getting from me's not only healing you but also making my own healing and treatment twice as effective, pretty much, whereas you can probably use your powers to heal people instantly, or damn near instantly. Obviously I'm not going to stop in the middle of a fight and start treating someone's wounds or my own wounds like I do; I'll still rely on you to heal us if need be."

"Ah! You have a point there: I guess there's nothing to worry about. Yaaaay ~ "

I guess Tamamo really doesn't like it when she realizes that the people she's with can do the same things as she can, even if it's her Master in question.

"So what did you think about our spar last night? You said that you were impressed, right?" Yuuyuu asks.

"Yeah, I did. Both of you were not only decisive about your attacks, but you also put everything you had into each of them, and I like that. It's how I go about doing things too, so knowing that I've got Servants who fight like I do is really nice; it'll make my job a lot easier if we're all on the same page. It's also good to know that Tamamo can more than hold her own up close if she has to."

"Do you like working with people who are self-sufficient in that sense?"

"I don't just like them; for everyone's sake, that's how it should be. See...in a normal job setting, like, let's say for example that the job that I have required me to work in an office with other coworkers, right? Typically, you'd have different departments or different people that handle different responsibilities and have different roles; no one person does everything because that'd be too much responsibility on one person and too inefficient. But when it comes to magework, it's the opposite; because of the potential danger associated with magecraft and how mages won't hesitate to kill each other if they feel like other mages are getting in the way of their work, you can't really trust others to handle their fair share of responsibility, so you have to be self-sufficient in a sense. It's either that, or you better have some damn good connections that you feel like you can rely on to get stuff done, and not everyone's fortunate enough or privileged enough to just rely on a network or something. My whole training myself to become a sort of medic-mage is because of that."

"But that's why we're here, right? So that you can trust us!" Tamamo says cheerfully.

"Yeah, things'll admittedly be a lot easier now that I have you two, for sure. Though that's what I'd hope, seeing what Chaldea wants me to do."

"Speaking of Chaldea, have you gotten word back from them yet? About another Singularity or something?"

"Not yet, still waiting for the call. That's why after we eat, I'd like to head down to go visit that ex-military friend of mine so that I can prep some stuff on my end." I look down at all the food on the table. "And I just realized, but...isn't this more like lunch instead of breakfast that we're eating? It's almost noon, right?"

"I believe the proper word for a meal like this is...'brunch'?" Yuuyuu informs us

"Brunch, huh." I rub my chin thoughtfully, once more surveying the food. "Next time then, let's include French toast or something; I like the ones where you can dunk them in syrup, those are my favorite."

"Oh, oh! French toast sticks..." Tamamo swiftly puts down her utensils and darts a hand into her left detached sleeve, pulling out a notepad and pen to quickly write it down. "Master...loves...French toast sticks...I'll have to look for them and figure out what supermarket sells them..."

"I wonder, Master, how do those sleeves of Miss Tamamo's even work?" Yuuyuu asks me.

"You think I know?"

"Well, you're our Master, after all."

"Yeah, for like literally only two days. Besides, I have a feeling that that's just one of those questions where you'll never really find out the answer..."

I notice that Yuuyuu's left the blueberries on her pancake plate alone for the most part when she took some of the fruit salad to put on her plate from before. Strange, I thought she'd love blueberries, but maybe that's foolish of me to assume just because her definitive color happens to be blue. Still, I let my curiosity get the better of me and ask:

"Do you not like blueberries, Yuuyuu? I notice that you've left most of them alone..."

"Oh!" Quickly glancing down at her plate, she realizes this too, seeing how many blueberries are still left on her plate. "Er, no, I was just - I was just saving them for the end. I ate a few earlier, and they're very delicious! Really!"

"Saving them for the end...like dessert, huh."

"Yes, because they are fruit. Since we couldn't find any lychees yesterday at the supermarket, I'm, uh, substituting them with blueberries for the time being..." Yuuyuu giggles a little shyly.

"I see. Then on a scale of one to Lychee, how much do you like blueberries?"

"A-A scale of one to Lychee?! Aw geez...I...I'm not sure..." Yuuyuu looks down at the blueberries on her plate. "I really do like them, but...I'd have to eat more to give you a better answer..."

So I scoop up a few blueberries on my own plate with my fork and guide it over to Yuuyuu, who is about to pick up a blueberry of her own with her chopsticks when she looks up to see what I'm doing and looks startled.

"E-Eh?! Master - f-for me...?" she asks timidly, pointing at herself, and I nod, which causes her face to pop with another luminescent blush. "H-Hauuu...um...if...if you insist..."

I can feel Tamamo's angry glare at the two of us as Yuuyuu noms the blueberries from my fork gingerly, making sure to get all three of them, but Yuuyuu's subsequent smile of joy helps me ignore it a bit better.

"Mmmm, yummy ~ " Yuuyuu sighs with satisfaction. "I think...normally, they'd be an eight out of ten, but with Master feeding me, I'd have to say it's just one below Lychee!"

"I just figured since, y'know, they're blueberries and you seem to like the color blue a lot, it should make sense that you love blueberries too. Or maybe I'm just assuming too many things?"

"No, no, not at all! I do love the color blue, and I've eaten blueberries before and they've always been delicious. It's just that I love my lychees too much ~ "

"Master!" Tamamo's impatient call can be contained no longer, and Caster lets her pout take on a voice to grab my attention. "Me too."

Figuring she'd ask for this, I was quietly gathering another small group of blueberries to pick up with my spoon this time, and when Tamamo's demand is made, I spring to action and immediately offer my spoon, which Tamamo immediately glomps with her mouth.

"Aha ~ nothing like an indirect kiss to get me going for the day ~ " Caster sings sweetly, and upon hearing this, Yuuyuu's blush strikes again with a vengeance as she realizes that she, too, must have shared an indirect kiss just a moment ago when she ate the blueberries off my fork.

"Geez, you two care about indirect kisses? I don't know about all that," I shrug at my Servants.

"Of course we do! You just don't understand the hearts of us maidens well enough yet, things like that are serious business!" Tamamo exclaims grandly. "But that aside, Master, since you were so kind to do this for us, let me offer you the same in return. Please, say aaaaahhhh ~ "

Stabbing a few small slices of apple and peach together from her own plate, Tamamo reaches over to offer it to me, and Yuuyuu also mirrors her, offering me some of her pancakes.

"Master, please let this humble Yuuyuu feed you first," she asks with ever dainty words.

"Hey, back off, I got here first!"

"Being first is not what matters, but the intention behind the gesture, Miss Tamamo."

"My intentions are purer than yours, Miss Youkihi!"

"Are you so sure about that? Then let Master settle this! Please choose, Master!"

I suddenly find myself under fire from two sets of burning eyes. When did my dining room suddenly become a minefield?

No time to ask questions though. In times like these, fortune favors the bold - so I take both of their forks and stuff my mouth with both the fruit and the pancake pieces at the same time.