Chapter 8

Chicken Soup

One early morning, when the snow had cleared and the sun had cast merry golden shadow upon the earth, Rin donned her warm clothes and coat and went outside to enjoy the cold air. She looked around the garden, seeing its darker contours beneath a blanket of white. The bare branches, the frozen fountain, the silent bush, and from beyond the little hill where the mansion was situated the city of Fuyuki was slumbering peacefully... The worst of winter was over. The light warmth of the sun on Rin's cheeks seemed to carry the promise of spring.

Rin swept her eyes around, hoping to find a familiar figure clad in red and black. Normally he would be sweeping the gardens at this hour, but today Archer was nowhere to be seen. With plenty of spare time on her hand, Rin decided to trace the garden path in search for Archer.

The sound of hammer hitting tile invited her attention. Grinning, she let it guide her to the garden shed, where she found her butler busily trying to extract a heavy ladder from within.

"Good morning, Archer." She said brightly, glad to see him. "What are you doing?"

"It seems that the roof of the gazebo requires some fixing," her Servant replied. "Probably it was not designed to withstand such heavy snow, as we have experienced in the last couple of days."

With one arm, Archer lifted the ladder on to his shoulder. With his other hand, he grasped the handle of a tool box and carried both down to the gazebo by the frozen pond.

Rin followed him hurriedly, eyeing him with concern.

"It's good that you're working hard, Archer," she bit her lip. "But why don't you take a break? Why don't we go into city?" she offered.

From where she stood behind him, she could only see his broad back. His expression was hidden from her, yet it seemed like he didn't even pause.

"Why?" He asked, tone level and focussed. He had already scaled the ladder and was going about fixing the hole in the gazebo roof with new tiles.

Rin struggled to think of a reason other than the fact that she wanted to spend more time with him, which would be too humiliating to admit to his face. So she shrugged, "I'm bored."

That did make him pause, and she caught him glancing back at her before turning away. "I'm sorry about that, Master. But as you can see, there is a lot of work to be done. The city market wouldn't be open on a day like this either. If you're so bored you can go occupy yourself with books."

He replied. Although she was sure he didn't intend to speak to her coldly, she still felt hurt.

Feeling shot down, Rin burst into protest. "But that's all I've been doing. I've had enough. There's nothing else to do!"

Archer's hands only moved mechanically as he went through his task, "Frankly I don't care what you do, Ojou-san, as long as you don't interfere with my work."

That made her furious.

"What's with that attitude? All I want is for you to get some rest, too!"

She felt both embarassed, angry and humiliated now. It took no small amount of thought and debating with herself to ask him like this. And when she did, she was sure he would agree.

Lately she had seen him so little, since they were both occupied in their work. They had seen each other only at meals when he stood vigil beside her and when he gave her the daily report in her study before retiring at night. She was worried that, with other household servants gone, he had had his work cut out for him. She wondered if she was counting too much on Archer's abilities to cope with anything thrown at him. She was thinking that if they could go do something together, she could find a way to thank him for all his hard work. But he just made her look like a spoiled child!

"Hey, don't ignore me!" She yelled furiously. How dare he misunderstand her intentions. And now, just as she was pouring her heart out for him...

Red-faced and frustrated, Rin gave the wall a mighty kick. "Listen to me, you jerk!"

She heard Archer yelp in surprise, and looked up to see the sheet of snow on the second level of the gazebo slide towards him and swept the ladder from under him just as he reached out to clear a pile of broken tiles.

There was a great crash and suddenly a great mound of snow had materialised next to her, burying within it broken tiles, dead leaves, some scattered tools and-

"ARCHER!"

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Rin gathered her courage with one breath, then knocked on the door. Without waiting for an invitation, she gently pushed against it with one arm and allowed herself in.

"I made you some soup." She smiled as she eyed the figure resting on the bed, a thick winter quilt draped over him. At her approach, Archer opened his eyes and shifted to sit up. "I thought...you could use something like this to warm you. You know, winter's here after all. It gets nippy outside, and it's cold even inside the house."

She didn't mention anything of how she thought the manor looked even colder to her without him in it. Instead, she went over to check whether the room was well-heated.

Archer looked at her, not bothering to hide his curiosity. "You can cook?"

Rin snorted. "What do you mean? Of course I can!"

One thing about Rin, she absolutely hated the idea of not being able to take care of herself, and she despised the idea that Archer thought of her that way even more.

She laid down the tray on Archer's bed, right in front of him. He studied it with an almost analytical gaze. For someone who had just broken his arm and was buried alive in snow, he looked awfully calm. Suddenly she was impatient for him to eat it.

"...So? Go ahead."

He couldn't seriously be thinking I'd put poison or anything into it, could he? As ridiculous as that sounded, Archer wasn't above teasing her about it, even in this state.

"I was just wondering..." He said, and Rin braced herself for whatever comes next. "Could you feed it to me, Rin?"

In a beat, her mind went blank.

"Haa?" She stared at him - in a manner absolutely unbefitting of a graceful Tohsaka heir - as if he had just said something incomprehensible. "What are you saying?"

"I'm quite sure you understand what I meant." He said, his eyes fixing intently upon her.

Immediately Rin turned away, crossing her arms as if it would protect her from what he was asking her. "W-Why would I do that?" Frantically, she realised just how great a toll Archer's simple request had taken on her. Her heart was rising against her chest, her shoulders tense and suddenly her face became incredibly warm.

She felt Archer chuckle behind her.

"I thought patients are supposed to be pampered." He merely shrugged, then paused as if contemplating whether he had embarassed her too much. She still wouldn't look at him. "Come on, it's fine. It's just a few spoonful. You want me to get well, don't you?"

Rin swallowed. As always, her infuriating servant knows just what to say to hit the mark.

Putting aside all thoughts on how intimate the action looked, Rin edged closer. Archer only watched her, as if fascinated by what she would do. She carefully lifted the bowl of chicken soup from the tray. It was warm between her fingers. She gingerly stirred it and brought the spoon to her mouth to blow off the steam. The aroma was wonderful.

She brought the spoon to his lips and watched as he stopped to look at her in the eyes. Then he obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the proffered soup without question.

After a few tentative firsts, Rin became more confident. Not once did Archer tease her. Not once did he complain or moved to make her look silly, even though she had nearly spilled the bowl at first out of anxiousness. Archer was being surprisingly good with her, letting her feed him and take care of him. It made her feel content and oddly warm, sitting by his side, seeing him like this. When was the last time she was allowed to take care of someone like this?

She didn't speak until the soup had been half-emptied, afraid of breaking the spell. Archer, for once, didn't feel inclined to speak either.

After a thoughtful silence, she set the bowl down on her lap and looked at him questioningly.

Archer's face was unreadable. It made her slightly nervous.

"W-Well?" She said, even though she had no idea what to expect. Feeding Archer wasn't nearly as unpleasant as she thought it would be... In fact, it felt natural, as if this was the way it was meant to be.

Archer tilted his head in contemplation, as if she had just asked his opinion on a valuable piece of art. "Hmm, your hands were shaking too much. Maybe I should've eaten it on my own after all."

That one snapped Rin out of her nerves.

"What the hell? So your arm was fine all along?!" she shrieked, her hands flying up into the air.

"I never said it wasn't," Archer replied pointedly. "Besides, you nearly spilled all the soup on me."

Angry, she slapped the bowl of soup down the tray.

"You're terrible!"

Archer only smiled knowingly, reaching for her hand. The warmth of it caused Rin to stop in her tracks. "Come now, Master, I never told you to stop."

"Hmph!" Rin sat back down, this time shoving him spoon after spoon as quickly as possible. "Stupid Archer. I hope you enjoy the last of it, cause I'm never making you anything again!"

Soon, the bowl was finished and she picked up the tray, fuming. As the door closed, she could've sworn she heard Archer laugh.

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A/N:

I'M ALIVE! Yes, finally, an update. I know, I know, this isn't a long chapter at all, but it's been sitting around in my draft for so long since I didn't know how to graft it onto the Shitsuji timeline (and yes, there is a timeline). But I still hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much to all the fans who love and supported this story! Thank you for your patience, and especially your reviews! Without reviews, I would never have found the motivation to continue this story.

I didn't have Rin apologise to Archer for (indirectly) causing him an accident, and neither did Archer for misunderstanding her (though I did consider it). Because they already respect each other and know how the other feels, it's not necessary to keep count. That's one of the reason why I like the RinxArcher ship. Even though both experience each other at their worst, they never lose sight of who the other truly is.

And finally, it's cute that it's Rin's turn to take care of Archer!