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That same evening, after her sister had left and her son had been put to bed, Irisviel had all the time she needed to think.
It was probably brave of her to want to aid her sister; but while lying in a hospital bed, she could hardly be of any help to Ria.
To be fair, she also did not know whether Ria actually needed any help.
Ria had never needed her help, not once during their entire lives. Of course she valued her advice and listened to her, but Irisviel had never been what Ria had been to her: a true friend.
Ria had always been the one to support her, help her, defend her… all without question. Her husband, Kiritsugu, had been that to her too – but, as much as she loved him, they had had a much shorter time together. Her bond with her sister was different from the one she had had with Kiritsugu; her sister had been the one to always look out for her.
Always.
Ria had been – and still was – the grown up between the two of them. That had been proven with many decisions made during their lives.
For example, Irisviel had decided to adopt a little boy orphaned by a fire. The sentiment and the motivation had been noble and pure, but had she thought it through completely before deciding on it?
She would never regret that decision, because Shirou was her son, her boy, and she was his mother and she loved him. But at what cost?
Had she ever considered that?
Had she ever considered the fact that she had decided to adopt a child while her husband was ill, and therefore she had not had the concrete means to look after him? Had she ever considered the fact that their jobs did not pay well and therefore they weren't doing the boy a favour, by giving him a home in which neither of his parents were going to be present to give him the love and affection he deserved?
She had meant to help and to do something good, but she had not thought things through. Not like Ria had.
And yet, it had been Ria who had – once again – supported her decision. While she and Kiritsugu had slowly been recovering, Ria had handled the paperwork and had been the one to spend her time with the little boy – she had been the one to actually mother him. Even as she continued with college, and her part-time job at the café, and all her commitments, she had done the impossible to be there, both for Shirou and for her, whenever there had been need of her.
An ocean of guilt crushed over Irisviel.
She had been so selfish.
Her sister had done – and was doing – everything she could for her, sometimes even more than she could.
She had even gotten married for her sake…! Without love, without anything else than a contract binding her to the man who had become her husband, Ria had sacrificed her future life, her possible career, her privacy, even a part of her moral code, just for her, little Shirou, and her unborn baby.
That had happened because Iri had not looked after her own wellbeing, had not acted with sense and had not thought things through before making her decisions – leaving Ria to deal with the mess she had created.
She, Irisviel, had failed in everything as an older sister.
Now that she was awake from her coma, what could she do, as older sister? What could she do?
She could not interfere with the choices Ria had made and was making, because she had no right to. As first thing, she could do what Ria had always done for her: support her in her decisions and be there for her as much as possible.
Irisviel sat a little straighter in her bed. She could not be a strong woman, probably, and she would never be able to repay her sister for all she had done for her, but she could help her by finally starting to walk on her own legs and ceasing to always lean on others.
It did not mean that she would pull away from her sister. It simply meant that she had to finally take charge of her life, as it was high time for her to do already. She was a mother, and she had a responsibility not just to herself but to her son and her unborn baby as well.
She was an adult, for heaven's sake.
It was time for her to start acting like one.
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Gilgamesh and Arturia had not exchanged messages through the phone in quite a while, as there was scarcely need for it.
However, after Iri woke up from the coma, Arturia began to send him texts in the afternoons to let him know that she was not going to be home for dinner, and that she had already asked Sakura to make the necessary arrangements for his meal.
Needless to say, Gilgamesh was not pleased with the change.
To a certain extent, and very reluctantly, he had to admit that it was not something he could argue about with her. At the very beginning, they had agreed on the fact that her family would always come first; since her sister had just woken up, she obviously intended to spend as much time as possible with her, to be supportive of her and to fill her in on what she had missed during those months. Therefore, she was fully justified in staying at the hospital until late in the evening and always missing dinner at home.
Nevertheless, it was not something he deemed acceptable. That was because he had to face it: he disliked the fact that she was not around as much anymore.
For some reason, her absence at home was something he noticed quite acutely. It wasn't because he missed her though, of course not.
Or at least… not exactly.
He would not indulge his mind with those kind of thoughts. He just knew that it was not good for his image if it was known that his wife spent so much time away from him. Yes, that was the reason for which he disliked her absence.
It was true that, during the first weeks of their married life, he himself had never been home much and had spent very little time with her. But, lately, he had started to get along slightly better with his wife, and they had almost settled in a sort of regular schedule of meeting and having meals together. Even though Irisviel had now woken up and Arturia obviously wanted to be with her more often, he was not happy about the fact that she was away most of the time. He saw very little of her, as she seemed to come home only to go to sleep.
In fact, she was so little at home that once he had actually been surprised to wake up and find her still asleep, as she usually had her alarm clock set a few minutes before his. As if sensing his eyes on her, she had woken up a second later with a jolt and, upon realizing that it was later than she thought, she had frantically looked for her clothes before bolting out of the door. In the process, some locks had fallen out from her usually perfect chignon, and he had had the opportunity to notice that her hair was longer than he remembered, since the last time he had seen it unbound had been on their wedding day, and already two months had passed since then.
However, he should not have noticed such things about his wife, and they were not what he should have been focusing on. The mere fact that she was busy enough not to look after her usual appearance was what confirmed, once again, that she was truly spending too much time away from the place that was supposed to be her home.
He forced himself not to sigh, quashing his irritation. He had given her his word that he would not interfere with the time she spent with her family, but there were limits to that, and there were possible solutions that agreed with him. After all, he and Arturia had also promised their young cook more free evenings, and that particular detail would be perfect for him to execute his plans.
Another thing that still irritated him was the fact that there was her cousin, that mongrel of a doctor – Darmond or something – lurking around at the hospital. It was his place of work, that was perfectly true, but he did spend quite some time with his wife. Too much, for Gilgamesh's tastes, especially considering that he was not the one who was actually treating Irisviel, but just supervising her recovery.
When in the evening she sent him a text to let him know – yet again – that she would not be home for dinner, he was done being patient. As soon as his working hours were finished, he drove to the hospital.
He knew he had made a good choice – or at least, one that would amuse him – the moment he saw his wife's astounded expression when he entered the room.
With all the tolerance he was capable of producing – which wasn't much, to be fair – he let her young nephew chatter for a while, making even the effort of listening, but only because he was well aware of the fact that Arturia would have been furious if he upset him in any way. Not that he actually minded her anger, but he did not want to provide her with excuses to refuse his subsequent request.
Therefore, when he was no longer able to control his impatience, he stood up, giving a passably civil nod to both the boy and the white-haired woman in the bed, before addressing his wife.
"It's time for us to go – we haven't had dinner yet."
Arturia slowly stood up and studied him, while the other two people in the room remained silent. Brilliant green eyes carefully examined blood red ones, trying to make sense of what was going on.
After a few tense seconds, recognizing that for some reason he was serious in his request, she did not deny it by declaring she wanted to have dinner with her family or anything of the kind. Instead, she slightly inclined her head in acceptance.
She gave her nephew a kiss on the forehead before ruffling his hair, and squeezed her sister's hand briefly, before taking her workbag – she had gone straight to the hospital after work – and leaving with her husband.
During the car ride, he felt her eyes on him, staring at him in a questioning manner. She was not a fool; she knew that there had to be a reason for him to come to the clinic and pick her up, since it was not a normal behaviour for him.
If she wanted an answer, however, he was going to give her a question first.
"Arturia, when was the last time you had dinner at home?" he asked, his tone controlled and casual.
She stared at him strangely, and suddenly narrowed her eyes as she began to understand. He couldn't actually mean…
"What exactly are you trying to say– or imply, Gilgamesh?"
He did not mean to let it slip, but for some reason or another, he seemed to say more than he should when this woman was involved.
"You should be aware of the fact that your presence at dinner is not optional."
That was a very strange thing to say and, noticing her still interrogative expression, he elaborated, "The change from our former usual evenings is distasteful."
That was an even stranger thing to say, therefore she pressed him a little more, noting, "What you just told me isn't much of an explanation."
His sigh was almost imperceptible.
"Your… company during meals is perhaps not required, but it's not unpleasant – and I dislike your absence."
That silenced her, but did not stop her from almost glaring at him when she took in the full meaning of what he had said.
He truly couldn't just be direct and tell her that he wanted her to have dinner with him, could he?
She made an effort, however, to keep her voice pleasant.
"If that was the case, all you had to do was ask."
He threw her a glance as he parked the car, but didn't say a word until they were inside the house.
"The Tohsaka girl has been given the evening free," he informed her, as he went to open the fridge to check its contents.
She stared at him with a raised eyebrow, knowing perfectly that he had given Sakura the evening free.
"There are vegetables ready to be cut," he said, bringing her out of her thoughts as he turned on the stove, putting water to boil.
It was as close to a polite request as it was going to get. Therefore, feeling as if it was a somewhat unreal experience, Arturia slowly took out a knife and started to cook dinner, together with her husband. It was still quite weird to see the man she had married – the one with a holier-than-thou attitude – stand in the kitchen, wear an apron and actually cook.
No words were exchanged that did not concern the food, but perhaps there was no need for anything more than that.
At least for this specific evening.
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That night determined a small shift in their dealings with each other.
When Arturia did not let him know anything about the following evening but was not home when he was finished with work, he showed up at the hospital again, driving her to their house. Gilgamesh did not miss the way her sister pierced him with her eyes when he escorted his wife out, but he ignored it. The white-haired woman knew about the contract he had made with Arturia, but she didn't have the right to interfere with it in any way.
Even though, if he had to be honest, there weren't any specific indications in it regarding dinners.
The Tohsaka girl had already cooked and gone home for the day, leaving everything ready for them. On this occasion, they exchanged more than just comments on food.
With some amount of hesitation, she addressed the subject of the dinners themselves.
"I am aware of the fact that my sister waking up has changed the routine we were used to – but, Gilgamesh, Iri is pregnant and she has a very young son who needs attention. I am already worried about how all this might influence his way of thinking and the wellbeing of the unborn baby." She shifted a little, and her words were oddly, carefully gentle. "I intend to have dinner with my family, at least sometimes."
He continued to eat, not replying right away.
Then he calmly said, seemingly out of the blue, "Is your sister required to follow a specific diet?"
Even though she had no idea what he meant to find out with that question, she decided to answer it.
"No, she is lucky in that. She has some cravings, yes, even if she must make sure to have only very small meals, but she can eat almost anything."
He took a sip from the wine he had taken out, savouring the taste before bringing his eyes back on her.
"Then, since there are plenty of take-away places in Tokyo whose reputation is not entirely despicable, dinner for four people can be bought there, taken to and eaten at the hospital."
Gilgamesh had seen that the brat could eat anything and Arturia had just confirmed that the white-haired woman – his sister-in-law, he reflected – had no restrictions to follow. Since he refused to have his wife have dinner anywhere that was not with him, he considered the new arrangement he was suggesting even too generous on his part.
One of them would buy dinner – or they could order the food, as was much more preferable – and she would have the meal with both her family and him. It was a perfect solution; it required to have the boy and Irisviel present too, but those were his wife's conditions, and if they were needed to have her accept, then their presence could be bearable.
Looking up, he had his evening amusement as he saw Arturia gaping at him. She had evidently not expected this turn of events, had she?
Well, too bad, he thought with a smirk.
"Is this arrangement not suitable?" he asked, his tone deliberately holding a note of wonder.
She narrowed her eyes at him but, like she had done the day before at the hospital, she just studied him. There was something odd about him lately, and she was not sure what it was. It didn't truly matter though, as long as the contract was respected and her family's wellbeing was assured.
What was strange was the fact that what Gilgamesh was doing respected both those conditions and even made sure they didn't have to quarrel about it.
Very strange, indeed.
He was intrigued by her rapidly shifting expressions, as it was rather obvious that she was mulling over the changes that were going to take place.
Their evening-schedule was also going to affect the Tohsaka girl's job in a positive way. She was going to have more free time, and that would do her a favour, with her younger sister and with finishing moving into a better neighbourhood; he knew that Arturia was going to be pleased about it, too.
In addition, with those changes, his wife was going to be at home more often. It was… more natural to see her with him in his – their – home. Not for any special reason, just knowing that she was around was enough.
He saw her as if she belonged there, he realized. Together with him, in their home.
In many ways, she actually did. She was not a prisoner there, of course; but she wasn't there willingly, either…
He was about to shake his head to get rid of those thoughts, but he managed to stop himself in time. If he did shake his head, she would notice, and he did not intend to face her questions, questions to which he could not give her answers, for he did not have them himself.
He took another sip of wine, feeling a headache coming up.
He was going to take a special private train to Yokohama early in the morning; he needed to get a few hours of sleep before then, and such bizarre, unrequested thoughts were not going to help his rest.
Yet in the end, he did not manage to sleep much that night.
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Before Arturia could properly digest Gilgamesh's strange behaviour, their social engagements came back to remind them of their existence. Since Iri was doing very well and Shirou even better, there was no excuse to avoid taking part in them.
As it turned out, when Sakura was cooking breakfast together with her – Arturia had dismissed the girl's bashful protests about the fact that she helped out when it was her job to cook – she admitted that she was proficient in hairdressing. And since she had received more evenings off and was almost in awe of her employers' generosity, she shyly offered to help style Arturia's hair for the events. Even though the blonde woman did not see the point of having elaborate hairdos, she didn't have the heart to refuse the girl's honest proposition.
She was however taken aback by Sakura's kind approach; she seemed to know that her mistress would not appreciate complicated coiffures, therefore she brushed her locks until they were shining and then made her an elegant crown of simple braids that looked stunningly ethereal. Arturia found herself very much satisfied with the girl's work during the trial evening of hair styling.
Sakura still continued to call her 'Mrs. Ria' instead of simply using her name – the Starks and the rest of the staff insisted upon calling her 'Mrs. Uruk' – and Arturia had decided to just let it be, since it seemed to put Sakura at ease. Arturia thought that treating her employee as a person and not as a servant was something positive, and if she preferred to still call her 'Mrs. Ria' to feel more comfortable, she would let that happen.
Since a particular event Arturia and Gilgamesh had to attend would take place on a Saturday afternoon, she was quite reluctant about leaving Shirou alone at the hospital for the whole day. It was a good occasion, she thought, to ask Sakura for help in that sense; she had already mentioned this to Gilgamesh, and her husband had not found anything to complain about her plans.
"Sakura, I need to ask you a favour. This Saturday, Gilgamesh and I will attend a social afternoon at the Water Gardens. My five-year-old nephew, Shirou – you've met him already, he comes by sometimes – will be here. Would you keep an eye on him for me?"
The purple-haired girl's eyes were wide as she stared at her, and Arturia continued, "You will be paid for this babysitting job, of course. And he will have homework and other things to keep him busy, so don't worry about having to entertain him."
Sakura opened her mouth, no sound coming out of it, and then she gave a nod with her head, signalling that she agreed to do what was asked of her. However, she looked somewhat uncomfortable, and Arturia stared at her keenly. The girl's thoughts were not difficult to guess, so perhaps…
"Moreover, would you like to bring your sister Rin here as well? In such a way, you can look after both her and Shirou, and they can maybe play together too."
The young girl was startled, and her violet eyes widening even more confirmed to Arturia that she had correctly guessed what Sakura had been worried about.
"But… this is too much… I could never impose…"
Arturia waved her hand and gave one of her rare, small smiles.
"You wouldn't be imposing at all. I'm asking you to do an extra job – the minimum I can do is try to make things easier for you. After all, you'd be doing your job even better in such a way, and both Shirou and Rin would get a playmate."
The girl looked a little worried.
"I'm not entirely certain about that, Mrs. Ria… my sister can be quite the stubborn girl. She might become rude and I would never want to–"
Arturia wasn't concerned about it.
"Please don't worry. It will work out."
She had met Rin herself and she was quite certain that she and Shirou were going to clash at the beginning, because they were very different children, but she believed that in the end, meeting each other would be beneficial for them both as well.
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