The Den's kitchen was filled with the sound of chopping and sizzling. Wafting from it was a wonderful scent, cooking fish, onion, and various spices.
The first to enter the Den's dining room, drawn by an almost supernatural sense of smell, was Saber. Quickly following her was Taiga, also gifted with an unnatural sense of smell.
Peeking into the kitchen, they were able to see Shirou and Sakura at work, whipping up a dish for dinner. Nodding, they left for the table, fighting against the desire to see what they were going to eat.
They had already been punished by Shirou enough with less food whenever they got too curious. But they couldn't help wondering.
"Hey, Sakura, can you pass me the mirin?"
"Okay, Senpai."
Saying such, Sakura moved from the frying pan over to the counter right next to her, before grabbing and handing the mirin to Shirou.
Thanking her, Shirou then lightly drizzled the mirin on the salmon, before putting it aside to marinate. He then began to chop up more carrots and onions.
The two were making 'Salmon and Mushroom Cooked in Foil'. Shirou happened to get a good (read: not as expensive as usual) deal on salmon, and had some vegetables left over from the last material distribution, so he decided on this.
The reason they were juggling cooking one pair of salmon and prepping another was because of the high amount of staff at the Den. While most of them have homes they go to, and some of the God Eaters prefer something simple, everyone else normally comes for dinner. So they need a lot.
"Senpai, the salmon are done."
"Good, because I just finished setting up the next two."
The two were setting up plates, being assisted by the people currently in the dining hall, which has grown from just Saber and Taiga.
"Ah. The best part of staying in the Den is eating Shirou's cooking..."
Kota was there, along with his own teammates.
"I agree! Sir Shirou is an excellent cook, greater than even that of a king! Truly, we are blessed by his presence!"
That was Emil von Strasbourg, long time member of the 1st Unit, and looking to be Kota's successor. He had short blonde hair with a long, curly fringe, blue eyes, and was wearing a purple suit.
"Calm down Emil! Geez. His cooking's good, but you don't have to oversell it!"
That was Erina der Vogelweid, ex-member of the 1st Unit that joined Cradle, and is apparently the captain of a 14th Unit. Or she's at least on the fast-track to that position. She had neck-length grey hair with a white beret, blue eyes, and had a white coat over a blue top.
"How could you say such a thing!? Saying Sir Shirou's food is lesser than that of a king is an insult worthy of divine intervention!"
The two should have been setting the table, but they were instead 'arguing' over the quality of Shirou's food. Or, Emil was arguing and Erina just wanted him to stop talking.
"Um, guys?"
Kota, as their captain, tried to get the two to stop arguing. He was a little out of practice, as Erina had been spending a lot of time around the world on Cradle missions, meaning it was like the first time he had to break up an argument between the two.
As the amusing display continued, Hibari, now off the clock, came over to break up the argument for Kota. Laying her hands on both of their shoulders, she smiled menacingly and said,
"Now, now. If you two continue to be so loud, then Shirou will probably lessen your shares."
The two paused in their arguing to listen, before going pale and quietly apologizing for their volume. In the midst of all this, Shirou and Sakura went back to and left the kitchen bearing plates of something wrapped in foil.
At once, everyone moved to their seats and went silent. Shirou and Sakura walked around, handing off one of the foil-wrapped pieces of food to everyone, and two to Saber.
When everyone had at least one, Shirou and Sakura took their seats before they, and everyone else, clapped their hands together and said,
"Thank you for the food."
Saying that, Shirou and Sakura peeled open the foil to reveal the salmon within. Everyone else followed suit, before taking a fork and eating a piece of it. There was a universal pause, where they all thanked their lucky stars or personal deities for letting them eat this food, before dinner properly went underway.
While everyone was enjoying it, Shirou was criticizing his meal, thinking he should have maybe cooked it for a little longer, and more accurately balance the spices.
Everyone was having their own conversations, but then Shirou was drawn into a conversation by Sakura, who had a wondering expression on her face.
"Hey, Senpai... Is it just me, or does it feel like someone's missing?"
"Missing? How so, Sakura?"
"Mmm. I'm not sure. It just feels like... someone that likes fish isn't here to have some."
Tilting his head, Shirou knit his eyebrows in thought.
"Hmm. Fish... Fish... Fish...ing? Who likes fishing? Hmm."
"I don't know why, but I also think of dogs. Isn't it normally cats that like fish?"
"Dogs? A dog that likes fish... Wait," with a look of horror, Shirou continues his thought, "You don't mean Lancer, do you!?"
Nodding, Sakura responded,
"Ah, that's right! Lancer! Don't you think he'd love to eat this?"
With a sigh, Shirou answered,
"Yeah, probably. Along with some alcohol and some girls. And a good fight."
"Oh, that's right. You and Lancer don't get along very well, do you?"
Saying that Shirou and Lander didn't get along was an underexaggeration. It's not necessarily because of anything they found wrong with the other, but just something about them turns them both competitive. Especially when it comes to fighting.
Kind of like Rin and Luvia, now that Shirou thinks about it.
Reminded of the guy, Shirou couldn't help but think back to the first time they had met.
It was maybe two or three months after Shirou waking up from his coma, in around May or June. The first month was spent making sure Shirou was actually okay from his coma and using someone else's God Arc. That didn't last long. The rest of that month and the next was spent fixing Unlimited Blade Works and syncing it to Shirou.
After that, Shirou was sent on missions less often, normally with a full team to assist him. While their coddling annoyed him, he was also glad they were worried about him. Made him feel wanted.
His school studies had slightly suffered from his coma, but some tutoring from Taiga helped him reach a reasonable level of knowledge. It was reintegrating that was hard, especially with Shinji being... gone. But Sakura gave him a hand, as did his old club president and the president of the student council, other friends of his.
But it was in the month after all of that, where he was given a strange request from Sakaki.
"Excuse me Shirou. Do you think you could help a new transferee acclimate to the Den? He should be arriving in around an hour."
Agreeing to help, because that's what Shirou does, he made his way to the Den's entrance, determined to wait for the transferee. In the interim, he helped Hibari out with organizing some paperwork and sharing some conversations with God Eaters that were passing through.
After an hour had passed, he looked around, wondering where the transferee was. Was he running late? That was Shirou's initial assumption. After five minutes, he became worried that maybe he was in the wrong place. Was he supposed to be on the roof with the helipad?
After ten minutes, he began to believe that was the case. So he stood up, ready to move to the elevator to ask Sakaki when, suddenly...
"Yo! Are you Shirou Emiya?"
Jumping, Shirou whipped around to see who had snuck up on him, only to see someone completely unfamiliar. He was taller than Shirou, but an average height, with long blue, spiky hair kept in a ponytail, and crimson red eyes.
He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a black jacket with rolled sleeves, and black jeans, but also carried a strange presence about him. Contrary to Saber's noble air, and Archer's mysterious one, he seemed to have an air of... danger.
What stood out to Shirou was the Armlet on his right wrist. It was the same as Saber's and Shirou's own.
"Hey~ You in there?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Shirou looked to the man and apologized.
"Ah, sorry. Just thinking about something. I am Shirou Emiya. Since you knew my name, does that mean you're the transferee?"
Grinning, and oh did his teeth look sharp, the man chuckled.
"Yup. That's me. You can call me Lancer, alright kid?"
Seeing Shirou scowl slightly, the man, Lancer, chuckled again, before walking past him and saying,
"Now then! Where's the bar, kid? I think it's time for some fun!"
Shirou turned and quickly followed him, looking annoyed but still telling him all about where everything was.
Unfortunately for Shirou, this would only be the beginning of the pain in the ass known as Lancer.
Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, nothing much to say. That beginning was a reference to the SoL Fate anime, popularly known as Fate/Stay in the Kitchen. Fun fact, both Archer's and Lancer's clothes were a reference to what they wear in that anime. Good times.
Second, Shirou and Lancer don't get along well. From what I've seen in the anime and games, the only beef either gas with each other us that Lancer killed Shirou and Shirou didn't die. Aside from that, they're cool. But Archer and Lancer don't like each other, are passive-aggressively antagonistic to each other.
If it wasn't obvious, and if you didn't forget, which I wouldn't blame you for, Shirou has been, slowly, integrating Archer's personality into his own. Does Shirou seem like the type of person that would smirk?
So, if Shirou is channeling Archer, then wouldn't the bits of Archer Lancer dislikes appear in Shirou? And wouldn't Shirou have the bits of Archer that make him dislike Lancer? It's not meant to be meta stuff, just an excuse for when I eventually fail at trying to display friction.
Third, I discovered the Page Break button. Tell me if it works.
Goodbye.
Word count: 1559