((Sorry for the long wait! I'll apologize and things later at A/N))

Disclaimer still applies, warnings haven't changed.

A few moments later, Saber's friends were already out of sight. Gilgamesh had dragged her wordlessly, and the blonde woman—finally regaining her composure—was trying to get free from his strong grip. Steadying her steps to match Gilgamesh's fast stroll, she glared at the spiky head in front of her.

"Where are you taking me so suddenly?" she demanded. "And must you drag me like this?"

Gilgamesh stopped his tracks and considered. Frowning, he released his iron grip, taking a quick glance at her wrist to make sure he didn't hurt her.

Saber held her breath of relief as the blonde man in front of her looked away. The two stood in silence for some moment—with Saber now refusing to take any further steps.

"Do you realize what you are doing?" she retorted. "I had plans with my friends, and you—" she glared, "—you just... ruined it."

Saber shook her head. Gilgamesh stared at her, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Surely my plan is far more of significance than theirs."

The woman groaned—she instantly knew that she was dead wrong if she thought Gilgamesh would care.

"That is what you think, Gilgamesh. I was really looking forward to our plan when you suddenly appeared like that and dragged me away."

Gilgamesh snorted. "Listen, woman, I'm not regretting my actions if you are expecting me to do so. Can you for once just come along? I don't have any time for this little brawl!" he demanded. When Saber only looked at him with annoyance, he sighed.

"And why should I care about whatever you are planning?"

"You did promise me that you'll accompany me when I want you to," Gilgamesh reminded, crossing his arms in a smug victorious smirk.

For some moment Saber's words were caught in her throat—well, she wasn't an oath breaker. "But—But surely not by interrupting my important plans. That is fair rude."

Two blood pools looked into clear emeralds. Gilgamesh realized very well that he might be just a little at fault this time, but he wasn't going to back down just like that. Even though the woman in front of him surely thought the same. He sighed. "I can guarantee that you won't regret it."

Saber only stared, and a long, silent, sharp gaze ensued.

"And your... friends probably had given up and went home anyway," he quickly added, breaking the frozen air. Saber narrowed her eyes, thinking.

Gilgamesh was starting to look a little exasperated.

Maybe, she should give him a chance afterall.

After giving a last glance to the empty roads behind her, she finally gave up, knowing that coming back wouldn't be of any good—her friends would start questioning their relationship, and besides she somehow felt that they might already not be there at the moment. She'd better finish whatever Gilgamesh wanted and get it over with, then she could deal with her upset friends later.

The King of Swords sighed. "Alright, just because I don't see a better choice and I want my debt paid as soon as possible. You better make it up to me, having ruined my important plan like that."

Gilgamesh grinned as he offered his hand.

"Well then, shall we go?"

Saber stared at his hand, then shrugged.

"Sure," she answered nonchalantly, walking past him.

Gilgamesh frowned, but then shrugged it off. "Suit yourself," he muttered under his breath.

Saber didn't understand what made the man in front of him grin so gleefully on their way to the shopping mall—which was the place she and her friends were going to go—but upon reaching the lobby, her jaw had nearly dropped open.

Gilgamesh smirked as he watched his queen's expression. "Well? How do you like it?"

Saber had no words to utter out.

Slowly, she stepped forward, reaching the wonder in front of her. Crowds gathered and the air around were lively. There, on the white marble floors of the giant shopping mall was a giant exhibition of a certain familiar lion.

Yes, it was definitely the same lion as her plushie was.

Was it what her friends were trying to show her earlier?

No, she reminded herself. No one but the all-knowing conceited man knew about her secret obsession, she thought to herself as she observed her surroundings. She was partly glad that they hadn't come here—she could have lost control about her secret obsession in front of her friends—which was just unspeakable.

Everything were practically decorated in the cute lion's figure—games, books, dolls, merchandise, wallpapers, even a big mascot the kids were constantly tugging at. Lionhead balloons were fled, and two rubber lion statues greeted her as she stood in front of the entrance.

A brown-uniformed woman with tied back jet black hair greeted her. "Welcome to Leon's World! Feel free to look around!"

The blonde woman was at loss of words. Closing her gawking mouth, Saber decided to approach the woman.

"Excuse me, but... what's going on here?"

The woman smiled. "We're having an exhibition to promote Leon's upcoming animated series, Miss," she explained. "Leon is the cartoon lion's name," she added, noting the confused look on her face.

Saber was shocked. "There's an animated series about him?" She didn't even know if it—he?—had a name at all.

The woman looked fairly surprised. "Yes, there is. A season consisting of twelve episodes had already come out last year," she explained again. "It's popular among kids. Does maybe your younger relative like the series?"

"Y-yes, something like that," she answered, feeling too embarrassed to admit her secret fancy. "I never knew..." she admitted.

The woman smiled again. "Don't worry; it seems that Leon is not that popular in this city. I am also surprised that the exhibition is held here."

Saber only nodded, yet another surprise was being registered into her mind. A small chuckle resounded from behind her, and she was instantly reminded of the blonde man's presence as he tapped her shoulder.

"Come on, woman! Entertain yourself," he whistled cheerfully as he entered the area.

Saber snorted. He didn't have to command her like that, she thought, but her mood was far too bright to get annoyed by his little acts of arrogance. The thought about her friends tugged at the back of her mind, but she reminded herself that there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. She must think of something when the time comes, but she should as well just enjoy the exhibition while she was there. Unable to suppress her smile, she took his invitation and happily walked, looking around and admiring everything with sparkling eyes.

There was everything. The animation discs were especially alluring, and so were the comic books. Cute lion patterned t-shirts and shorts were present, and dolls of all sizes and poses were neatly lined up in big glass shelves. Many kids roamed around, masking the two teenager's strange presence. Saber walked to another display shelf with wonder, Gilgamesh wordlessly trailing close behind with a wide, amused smirk painted on his facade.

Saber was turning her head with a dreamy sigh after putting down a lion pencil case when she realized that the King of the District was staring at her. "What?" she spat out, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

"Ah, nothing. Just enjoying the view."

Saber bit her lip and huffed quietly, reminding herself not to fall into too much shame in front of the man. She glared at his twinkling blood pools, feeling extremely annoyed at his wide, smug grin. The temptation to rub it off his facade was high, but she exhaled, once again remembering not to give him the pleasure of annoying the hell out of her again.

On the other side, Gilgamesh was indeed very much enjoying his sight. Saber's emerald pools had shone with a childish excitement ever since they entered the fair, and to see the famous sword master in such a state was certainly amusing.

"You know, Saber," Gilgamesh finally called out after a fairly long silence, "—pick whatever you want. Just tell me, and it'll be yours."

Saber turned her head with furrowed brows.

"That is... very kind of you, but no thanks," she finally answered. Having that plushie doll had owed her enough, and she wasn't planning to grow the loan any bigger.

"I insist."

"Yes, but no, thank you."

Gilgamesh clicked his tongue.

"I know you like the thing very much. And we're not leaving until you pick something."

Saber crossed her arms. "And why must I pick anything, anyway? Haven't I owed you enough?"

Gilgamesh groaned at her persistence. It'd be easier if the woman just pick something—anything and get the thing over with.

"I say you pick, so you must," he ordered.

Saber shot back an intense stare, not willing to have him order her around. Suddenly, Gilgamesh's figure loomed over her, and she readied herself for whatever he was trying to pull out—but apparently he was just reaching behindher. For a moment she was stunned by his warm, spicy perfume scent that has a fruity undertone, and his ticklish spiky crown that barely brushed the side of her head. After a split second, he pulled back, inspected the thing he just picked, and shoved it into her startled hands.

Looking at it, she saw that it was the special edition disk of Leon the Movie including Leon's newly aired character song, with a small Leon notepad, pen and keychain bonus. Saber's emerald pools twinkled as she gasped with excitement, slowing down her response to Gilgamesh quick steps as he walked past her.

"I'll take that one," he said to the shopkeeper. Saber woke up from her trance and quickly turned to his figure, but before she even uttered a single word of protest, another item caught Gilgamesh's eyes as he smirked. "And that one, please."

"Wha—"

Her potential rant was cut off when Saber felt something was shoved onto her head. "What..." touching it, she recognized the shape of a lion plushie beanie. The woman gawked as she stared at Gilgamesh with disbelief—the said man only grinned back in amusement. Feeling at shame, Saber quickly pulled it down, glaring.

"That looked good on you," Gilgamesh protested with a slight scowl. "Wear it again."

"No," she answered quickly. "Besides, Gilgamesh, I cannot take all this."

Gilgamesh shoved back the merchandise Saber had dropped to his hands. "No, you have it. I have decided to give them to you, so you must keep it."

"I'm not going owe you more things, if that is what you had expected. Why do you keep giving me these things anyway?"

Gilgamesh raised his brows. "I'm just giving a present," he replied. "Is it not your birthday tomorrow?"

Saber was at loss of words. She hadn't remembered about it at all. How did the man know, she wanted to ask, but she reminded herself that he apparently knew about everything.

"I know common manners is I should give it tomorrow, but I'm afraid I don't have much time left. I'll be away for months after this."

Saber finally found her voice, but all she could utter was a small 'um'.

"So... you conducted all these...?"

Gilgamesh laughed. "Of course no. My friend who owns the show was looking for a place to hold the exhibition, and I only gave a suggestion," he smirked.

Suddenly a wave of embarrassment washed over her—of course he wouldn't hold a whole exhibition just for her! Her mind must have been too scrambled due to the quick pace of events, she thought to herself.

"I... don't know what to say," she finally uttered. "But really, I can't..."

"A thank you kiss would be much appreciated," Gilgamesh replied with a mischievous smirk, earning a glare from his female companion. "And keep those, woman. I don't need it anyway."

Seeing Saber's mouth twitching to protest, he added: "Or to the trash bin it will go."

That silenced her words. Saber glared at Gilgamesh for giving her such an impossible choice, looking back at the special edition CD, and felt her desire and longing defeat her pride. She finally sighed—it's not like she was going to see the item anywhere near for a while, according to the shopkeeper. "...thank you. I'll make sure to return the favor later."

Gilgamesh shrugged, ignoring her persistence. "Sure," he replied. "Now that all these are done, let's go."

Saber stared with confusion. "Go? Where?"

Gilgamesh smirked. "You didn't think I came all the way just for a quick stroll in the mall, did you?" he asked teasingly. "I require your service now."

Once again, the man dragged her away. This time—remembering her oath—she didn't protest as much.

A/N : It seems that in every chapter of every multichapter I have, an apologize I would type out. But I'll say it again :

I'm dead sorry, so very sorry. I know what it's like waiting for a fanfic but not getting anything for months. I feel really guilty, but what can I do *sighs*

But at least the highschool phase of my life is almost over, with national exam done. The studying put me in an intense writer's block, I can't even get myself to write a blog post on my personal blog. Yeah, it was that bad.

But anyways! I have the next chapter almost ready (having it beta-read now...). So I can promise a quick update! (Yay!)

I know some of you might have lost interest. This story isn't even that great or deep. But I'll do my best~! (I finally decided on an ending too...)

As always, do tell me any critiques, corrections, or suggestion you have in your mind. Reviews are precious treasure to me!

Hope you liked this chapter! Hope it's awesome enough to replace those long months of my unawesomeness! (it's never enough though...)

Ciao!

Aisu

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**sidenote : by the way, I made a fanart to apologize to you all, but it didn't turn out that well... in case you want to see my effort on apology : chocovanillax dot deviantart dot com /art/Wait-a-Sec-449723178?ga_submit_new=10%253A1398318982 (replace dot with real dots)