So as this chapter proves, this story won't be entirely from Amakusa's point of view. It'll still be for the most part, however, and I don't think anyone but him and Gudako will ever be the 'viewpoint' of a chapter.


Gudako briefly paused as she opened the door to her room and the smell of soap entered her nose. She really should've expected this – he'd told her he'd come clean again today – but it still took her by surprise. The young woman glanced around, and sure enough her room was noticeably cleaner than when she left it. She really wondered about how ridiculous it was to have a Servant – and especially one with such a special class like a Ruler – do such base tasks as cleaning a room, but he did it well and seemed to enjoy it, so she just let him be.
Perhaps housework was simply a talent for all men named Shirou? Although given the similarities in their looks, she wouldn't have been surprised if the two turned out to be alternate versions of one person. Sure, Amakusa had said him looking like someone else she knew was a coincidence, but was it really?

Shaking the silly conspiracy thoughts out of her mind, Gudako set about starting her usual coming-home ritual: the first step being checking for any traces of stalker intrusions. Luckily this time there was no note from Amakusa on the desk, and the lock on her drawer seemed to still be securely in place.
Of course, this didn't mean that no Servant had broken into her room and just didn't leave any trace, but by this point she was already glad if no one took or left any souvenirs. Especially the latter was a scenario she wanted to avoid, after multiple burnt attempts at making desserts or weird souvenirs she couldn't place the origin of being left on her desk and stinking up the room, not to mention the challenge of disposing of them without any of said Servants finding out: they might all have more life experience than her, but Gudako was not the type of girl to break anyone's hearts through rejecting their good intentions, no matter how much she disliked the result of said intentions.

With step one completed, Gudako now moved onto the next step: collapsing from exhaustion (which was only second because no matter how tired she was, Gudako just couldn't rest easy unless she personally made sure Kiyohime wouldn't tour the halls of Chaldea with her underwear again).
She had enough presence of mind to take off her gore-covered jacket (it had been one of those singularities) and toss it into the laundry basket across the room, but after that no longer cared and collapsed face-first into the blankets of her bed. She felt slightly guilty towards Amakusa for ruining his careful cleaning work - as she was well aware of how her soiled boots were just barely hanging above the floor, likely dripping more dirt onto it than she'd already left by walking up to her bed in the first place - but sheer exhaustion beat guilt.

Since the Servants running the cafeteria – most of the actual staff there had evacuated way back when the control room was destroyed, so the remaining staff was grateful to have folks who actually knew how to cook – knew she tended to get hungry after returning, they'd most likely started cooking upon hearing her work today was done. At the very least it'd take fifteen minutes, so she figured it'd be fine if she got a little shut-eye first…

Gudako was startled awake by someone gently rocking her left shoulder, a young male voice saying: "Master, I've been told to tell you the food's ready." The hand let go as she groggily pushed herself from her stomach onto her back, and from there into a sitting position, rubbing an eye as she managed to suppress a yawn.

"Hiya, Amakusa. How come Mashu's not here?" It was a pretty understandable question, since Mash was usually the one to check on Gudako – except in case of an event, but anything goes when it comes to those.

"Ah, Miss Mash is apparently still sleeping, so Boudica asked me to come get you," Amakusa's gentle smile as he answered always managed to life Gudako's by sheer virtue of how motherly it looked, but that was likely because it looked so similar to Emiya's gentle smile (in anything other related to Amakusa Gudako maintained her stance of cautious optimism, as while she liked the guy she didn't believe for a second he wasn't plotting something at any random moment in time).
It made sense: Mash had been running overtime protecting Gudako from stray (or sometimes not-so-stray) enemy fire.

"Alright, thanks. Also, sorry for making the room dirty already: I really appreciate it, but after this mission I just…"

"It's fine. I don't mind coming back to clean again soon, anyways." Gudako nodded at Amakusa's assurance, and that was that.

Amakusa went to wait outside while Gudako changed into a clean uniform, and while she was changing her waking mind drowsily picked at the conversation she'd just had.
The Ruler had said that Boudica had asked him because he happened to be close by, but she wondered what would've happened if he hadn't been. Would one of the cafeteria Servants have come to get her themselves? If so, would they have just decided, or tried to draw lots? And if they'd have asked someone else, would they have gone for a human or another Servant?
All the Servants working in the cafeteria so far had been the nurturing and kind sort, who were completely understanding when it came to how troubled Gudako sometimes felt with the affection of the more… aggressively in love Servants. They would've definitely tried to give the job to someone who wouldn't do anything to her while she slept.
Emiya in particular seemed to sympathize with her being popular – especially among the female Servants – and was always giving advice or helping her with excuses to deal with some of them. His advice on how to try and make Kiyohime less jealous when she paid attention to others had been very useful, for example. Before his advice, practically the only girl she could safely talk to wash Mash (because even Kiyohime understood that the bond between Gudako and Mash was different from the love she was seeking).
This did make her wonder how it was possible for any one man to have that much experience in calming down overly jealous women, but she decided not to question him as a show of gratitude.

Realizing with a start that she'd already finished closing her white jacket and was now just standing in the middle of her room, Gudako noted that she must've been really tired to be so out of it, and vowed to sleep in the following morning, since there weren't any rayshifts planned then anyways.
Exiting her room she found Amakusa still there, and they chatted on the way to the cafeteria.