Chapter 144
Saber managed to walk all the way to the door, then her legs finally gave out as she crumpled to her knees right in front of the sliding doors leading to her and Shirou's room. With a heave of effort, she raised her hands and pulled aside the door, shuffling on her knees into the room, and then collapsed on the floor, her cheek pressed against the tatami mats she closed her eyes in the dark room, her spirit and energy spent.
After being electrocuted, and with her small pool of mana quickly dwindling even with Shirou's circuits opened properly by Caster, she just couldn't stay conscious anymore. As she slept, Avalon worked it's magic, her muscles and wounds slowly repaired as she rested, fatigue and exhaustion healed as she laid on the floor, peacefully sleeping the time away.
She would have slept until next morning if Shirou hadn't come over to tell her that dinner was ready. When he saw her on the ground, face pressed against the floor and armor dispelled, wearing the dress underneath, he rushed over and checked her mouth, placing a hand in front of her nose to check for breathing. Her body may have been composed of Ether, but it was designed to simulate that of their old bodies as human-like beings, life forms that required respiration to survive. Hence, Shirou was able to feel a faint tickle on the back of his hand from her nose when she breathed out, and he let out a sigh of relief to know that she was alive.
Rolling her body over, he carried her body, light and warm to the touch, and placed her on the futon that he had rolled out beforehand, placing her head on the pillow and tucking her hand in the blankets. Smoothing the hair out of her face, he couldn't help but smile at her sleeping face, a far cry from the taut and guarded expression she wore whenever she was awake. As she was right now, she seemed so defenseless.
The blood rose to his cheeks after he realised he had been staring for some time, his hands pressing against the floor as he hurriedly got to his feet and tried to leave the room.
Somehow though, Saber woke up at the same time, possibly disturbed by the sound of his shuffling feet.
"Sh...Shirou?"
He had just stood up, but when the small, half-asleep words drifted up to his ears, he knelt back down next to Saber.
"Ah, just keep resting. I was going to tell you that dinner was ready, but it looks like you need to sleep more…"
His words trailed off as Saber bolted upright at the words dinner, a determined glint in her eyes as she snapped fully awake.
"Dinner is ready? Then let us feast, as going to sleep with an empty stomach will only make it harder to fully rest. Hunger is our enemy."
She stood up and made it to the door before her knees gave out, her hands on the sliding door to support herself.
Shirou slid over and hunched his back, letting her lean on him as she rested her head against his shoulder, getting to her feet again.
"Then let's go get dinner, shall we?"
With the two of them walking out together, they managed to get to the dining hall, settling in place next to Kuzuki and Caster who had already settled there a long time ago and were simply waiting for the other two.
Caster looked at Saber as she voiced her concerns, staring at her leaning on her Master worryingly.
"Are you ok Saber? We can just save some for you to eat later if you really need to rest first."
The blonde with the same face shook her head, sitting down at the table.
"I've had worse. Let's eat."
Seeing Saber sit there and stare at the food with such intensity that it seemed like she would burn a hole into the table, Caster and Shirou couldn't help but grin wryly at each other, while Kuzuki noted that perhaps food could be used as an incentive for Saber, to persuade to do things she otherwise wouldn't.
"Itadakimasu!"
The four of them dug in the food, freshly steamed rice and tofu garnished with spring onions, a simple soup of vegetables with carrots, konbu kelp and radish, garnishings of lotus root and asparagus decorating the dishes, with beans and fermented food covering the majority of dishes on the table. In particular, the radish paste Caster had accidentally created was also on the dish, as well as some other 'unique' creations like the slightly, just slightly, crispier than normal tofu skin, and the weirdly colored tempura that seemed to be cut in blocky cubes, and several plates of murky liquid with eggplants and sesame seeds floating in them, with a strange smell wafting off the plate.
Nevertheless, Shirou had managed to salvage something from these dishes and turned them into something edible, working his magic into the ingredients after Caster had some accidents to create safe and aesthetically pleasing, not to mention tasty, food that the four of them could enjoy.
It didn't take long for both Caster and Saber to start snapping at the last few pieces of food as the morsels disappeared into their stomachs, the two Masters watching them as they went it, the humans desperately trying to secure their pieces of food as well before they were pulled into the gastronomical blackholes. When Caster's chopsticks met Saber's over the last piece of tofu, the two of them exchanged an intense glare, the two of the staring at each other, and then Shirou spoke up, sweating as he thought of what would happened to the plates and cutlery with the amount of hostility there was in their eyes.
"We made extras for everyone, I'll go get the dishes."
Caster blinked, then remembered they did cook extra food, slowly lowering her chopsticks and then standing up from her seat to help Shirou get the food. Saber also broke out of her food-induced haze and sat back down, waiting patiently to be fed, kneeling on the cushion with her back straight like a cat.
The extra food was summarily cleaned up in no time by the two as well, leaving Shirou with a large pile of empty plates and several pairs of chopsticks. And his own slightly empty stomach, from having to sacrifice a bit of his portion to the two Servants.
At least I left some secret snacks for myself.
He managed to cook some extra dishes that he had hidden from Caster and Saber, anticipating that they'd chew through the food faster than woodpeckers on a tree, and it had turned out to be a successful bet. While he felt guilty that Kuzuki was probably going to be guilty, he just couldn't think of a way to sneak food to him.
Or maybe when he asked Caster about her magecraft…
Sitting in the kitchen by himself while eating the cucumbers, he wondered how to transport the plates to Kuzuki while savoring the salty and sour taste of the stock they had been immersed in.