Nandi Chocolate (1:1 Scale):

Amakusa checked one last time if he had all the tools he needed. Finding nothing was missing, he approached the door to his Master's bedroom.
Valentine's was nearing its end, and he figured Gudako would appreciate some early help in getting rid of all the chocolate stains and heavy return gifts in her room.

As the door opened for him, Amakusa entered the room – and found carnage.

Correction, he found Gudako, Mash, Jaguar Warrior (he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine at the sight of her), Cu (Lancer), Emiya (Archer) and even Medusa (Rider) in various states of chocolate comas.
It wasn't difficult to guess that the cause of their condition was the life-sized, half-eaten chocolate bull standing in the middle of the room.

It wasn't Amakusa's first time seeing his Master succumb to the excessive amount of food given to her by her Servants, though the Ruler was somewhat confused over how Mash and the Servants got involved.

Hearing a groan, Amakusa looked to see Gudako shifting to clutch her stomach. He kneeled next to her and discovered she was actually still conscious (although going by the look on her face, she'd have preferred being knocked out).

Even without the Ruler saying anything, she explained the situation: "Parvati's chocolate. Medusa told me not to let her down, and some of the Servants decided to help. Medea managed to flee after finishing the ear, though…"

Seeing his Master shoot him a pleading look, Amakusa resigned himself to helping out as well. Though he did hope that he wouldn't have to eat himself sick like the others…


Cacao Beans:

"So according to the recipe, all that's left to do now is to temper the chocolate and then pour it into a mold."

"Understood," Amakusa said as he set about doing just that.

Gudako had asked him to help with making chocolate from cacao beans, since she herself had never made chocolates completely from scratch like this.

Jaguar Man – whose name always elicited a troubled look from the Ruler – had told her to 'eat it all up', but Gudako had no intention of chewing into raw cacao beans. As such she decided to try and make chocolate instead.
And given that the Servants that usually manned the kitchen had to run off to help with Semiramis' chocolate production facility, Gudako considered herself lucky that she'd managed to find at least one person who knew what he was doing.

After the chocolate was finished and had cooled off enough to harden, the two of them were quite content with the final product: a lot of small, rectangular chocolates, which they were going to hand out to a few Servants and members of staff.

"They taste good," Gudako concluded after popping one into her mouth.

"I'm sure everyone will appreciate these then."

"Uh-huh. Shouldn't have expected it to turn out any other way, given I got help from a Shirou."

Amakusa didn't even sigh at Gudako's belief that there was a connection between him and the red-clad Emiya, he was that used to it now. He learned there was little use in protesting, so instead he decided to just focus on being happy that Gudako was glad.


Sphinx Awlad:

Amakusa pet the sphinx cub lounging on his lap as he looked at where Gudako sat on her bed, playing with the other two cubs.

She giggled as she played with one, looking at how he kept swatting at the foxtail toy she was swinging in front of him. Where she had managed to get a cat toy, no one was sure.
She yelped in surprise when the other cub licked at her neck after climbing onto her shoulders, and moved him to her lap so he could enjoy playing with the toy as well.

Amakusa smiled at the scene, though he had to admit he appreciated Gudako's reactions even more than the adorable cubs.

He was roused from his observations by a dissatisfied noise near him. Turning, he saw Fou was still sitting on the desk besides him, almost glaring at the two cubs. It was clear he was jealous of all the attention they were getting. Amakusa had tried to soothe him by petting him as well, but Fou clearly didn't appreciate the pity as he'd swatted his hand away with a growl.

Catching movement from the corner of his eye, Amakusa looked down just in time to see the cub that had been lying in his lap until now reach out a paw towards Fou's tail, which was hanging over the edge of the desk.

"Fou?!" The fluffy animal cried out when it felt the cub pawing at its tail, either in surprise or indignation.
Amakusa chuckled at the scene, and when Gudako noticed what was going on she started giggling.

The event left Fou so upset with the both of them that he refused to come down from Mash's shoulder until Gudako actually apologized with offerings of food.


Carnivore Carnival:

With a sigh, Amakusa wondered if Gudako actually enjoyed this, given she ended up like this multiple times every Valentine's. He understood the young Master didn't want to disappoint her Servants by refusing the food they gave her, but surely that didn't mean she had to overdo it every time?

He was standing in the entrance to the cafeteria, looking at where Gudako and Vlad III (Lancer) were seated… with their heads on the table, a humongous half-eaten steak and plenty of empty dishes between them.
Amakusa was by now familiar enough with similar scenes to recognize Gudako was likely clutching her stomach in regret after overeating again.

This time, however, he decided to ignore her crisis and just walked off, leaving the two to whatever they were doing.
After all, he hadn't even fully recovered from the Nandi incident himself.


Jeanne Fan Club Monthly:

"Master, really, there's no need to keep something like that. Gilles admitted he might have been overzealous in giving you that magazine, so…"

"No, Jeanne, I'm keeping this. I'm not going to hand over a gift from someone, and that's final," Gudako said, her voice definitely giving off an impression of finality. Given Jeanne's troubled expression, she clearly heard it as well.

The Ruler had been trying to convince Gudako to dispose of the magazine Gilles (Saber) had given her, but the Master was stubbornly refusing to do so. They'd been having this exact conversation over five times now, and Gudako was honestly getting rather tired of it.

So when Amakusa passed them by in the hallway, she got an idea.

"Amakusa, good timing! Would you happen to be interested in this?" Gudako asked, holding up the magazine.

"Wha-?! Master, what are you doing!?"

"Well, you said I had to do away with this magazine, so I might as well try to give it to someone who'll have some use for it, no?" Gudako had refined the expression of cluelessness currently on her face to an art form, though by this point Amakusa knew her well enough to recognize she was fully aware of why Jeanne was unhappy with this 'solution'. In her panic, Jeanne clearly didn't.

"That's not what I meant…!"

"What's this about a magazine?" Amakusa asked, deciding to see how this played out.

"Oh, I got it from Gilles. Apparently it contains everything about Jeanne, down to her daily routine and all."

"I see, then don't mind if I do!"

Amakusa reached out to accept the magazine, but Jeanne jumped in between them to prevent that.

"What do you think you're doing? What use would you have for a magazine like that?" She demanded, growing red in the face from embarrassment.

"Why, if I read that magazine I'll be able to find out your weaknesses, of course!" Amakusa replied with a flawless smile on his face.
And Jeanne did not appreciate that answer.

Watching their squabbling from the side as she stashed the magazine away (Jeanne wouldn't be bugging her about it anymore now that she knew the alternative was Amakusa getting his hands on it), Gudako noted that as usual, the two of them got along rather well.


The compilation's a lot smaller this year, but I fear not many of the CEs sparked much inspiration in me. Let's hope this Valentine sparks more ideas for next time.

Still, I hope you enjoyed reading it, and until next month!