"Phew. That's a lot of plates here..." Shirou thought as he placed a wet plate onto the drying rack next to him. As he did, he continued washing the next plate.

Right now, Shirou was cleaning the dishes in the cafeteria after the daily lunch with Arturia and her counterparts was over. And the number of plates that were left behind when lunch was over was a lot.

To be fair, a lot of servants do come into the cafeteria for lunch. Not to mention the fact that Arturia and her counterparts eat a lot.

However, he was not alone in doing the dishes as he has a helper next to him.

Boudica, the Queen of Victory.

"Hey Shirou, are you done with the dishes over there?" Boudica asked.

"Yeah. Here's the next one Boudica," Shirou replied as he gave her a dirty dish for her to clean at her station.

"Great! Thanks, Shirou!" Boudica replied happily.

Right now, Boudica is helping Shirou cleaning the dishes in which Shirou is responsible for washing the dishes while Boudica is responsible for drying them.

And how does Boudica knew about Shirou? Well let's just say it started a while ago...

(A few days after Shirou's victory over Archer Gilgamesh...)

Shirou was walking in one of Chaldea's hallways, minding his own business. As he did, he came across Boudica, who appears to be looking for him. As she saw him, she immediately came up to him, looking at him.

Shirou was a little creeped out by Boudica's and asked, "Um...can I help you?"

"Excuse me, but are you Emiya Shirou? Arturia and her counterparts' scabbard, consort, and queen?" Boudica asked.

"Y-Yes. And you are?"

Boudica smiled. "My name is Boudica! Nice to meet you Emiya Shirou! Don't mind the formalities."

"I-I see. Nice to meet you too Boudica...how did you know who I am?"

"Well, let's just say I've been hearing how much great care you've been giving to Arturia and her counterparts from her knights and that mage known as Merlin."

Shirou let out a small sigh. "Figures..."

"Anyways, do you want to have a chat with me?"

"Sure, but why though?"

"Well, aside from you being famous for beating that arrogant King of Heroes along with slicing his arm off, I want to know more about you since you're Arturia and her counterpart's scabbard, consort, and queen."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. After all, I just want to know about the person that my successor is in love with," Boudica said with a smile on her face.

Shirou blushed at what Boudica said. "O-Okay then. Shall we move to a better location then?"

"Yeah!"

And Shirou and Boudica moved to the cafeteria in which they had their conversation together. As they had their conversation, they eventually became friends.

And that's the story of how Shirou knew Boudica...

(Back to the present...)

Shirou let out a small sigh as he continued washing the dishes. "Man, there's so many dishes to wash here...well, to be fair, I did have to feed Arturia and her counterparts in which they have the stomach compacity of a black hole..."

"Shirou! Are you done with the dishes over there?" Boudica asked, snapping Shirou out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah! All that's left is for you to dry them," Shirou replied as he handed her the last wet plate.

"Great! Thanks, Shirou!" Boudica replied as she took the last plate from Shirou and soon began to dry it off. As she did, she put the dried plate onto another plate.

Which in turn, created a small pillar of cleaned plates.

"Phew! We're done now!" Boudica said with a sigh of relief as they were done with doing the dishes.

"Yeah...honestly, I feel a bit exhausted from washing all of those dishes. Even though I've done this many times..." Shirou said with a tiny moan in his voice.

Boudica let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. I feel that way too when it comes to feeding Arturia and her counterparts as well. Even with the extra help around here, it feels like a battle every day here in the kitchen."

"Hey, you know what they say, the kitchen is a battlefield."

"Yeah. That's funny, your counterpart said that the first time I was here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He gave me that helpful piece of advice when I started cooking here in the cafeteria. At first, I didn't understand why he said that...until the crowd came in," Boudica said as she started to remember her first day in the cafeteria.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. And ever since then, I never let my guard down when I'm in the kitchen."

"I see..." Shirou said as he took off the apron and began to sit down at a table and got some rest. As he sat down on a chair, Boudica then handed him a glass of water. "Oh, thanks," he said as he took the glass of water from Boudica.

"You're welcome," Boudica replied as she sat down next to Shirou. "You know, I'm glad that you're here."

Shirou was confused with what Boudica just said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well...it's like this. Before you arrived here, I've never seen Arturia or any of her counterparts let out a genuine smile before. Of course, there were times where I did see her smile, but it looked like she was missing something."

"Is that so?" Shirou asked.

"Yeah. Even with her knights around, she still looked like she was missing something. However, ever since you arrived here, Arturia and her counterparts seem a bit livelier than before. I thank you for that Shirou. You have my gratitude. And you better keep making her happy," Boudica said with a smile on her face.

Shirou blushed for a moment before saying, "Yeah. Yeah, I will. That's something I decided a long time ago."

Boudica's smile grew even further. "Good," she said as she took a sip of water from her glass. "Although I wish Nero and her counterparts would stop barging into Shirou's business every time they meet. I swear, she needs to stop interfering with Arturia's love life..." Boudica thought as she remembered an event that happened in the past...

(A while ago...)

Boudica was walking in Chaldea's hallway, minding her own business. As she did, she passed by an event that annoyed her to no extent.

It was Nero and her counterparts dragging Shirou around.

"Come on my Praetor! Let us go to the mall next!" Saber Nero said.

"Exactly! There are new clothes over there that we want you to try on!" Caster Nero said.

"Umu! And there are some things we want to show you!" Bride Nero said.

As Nero and her counterparts continued dragging Shirou to the mall, Boudica looked at the scene and sighed. "Damn it Nero..."

(Back to the present...)

"Man, it still bothers me how Nero and her counterparts has an eye of Shirou here..." Boudica thought as she stopped thinking about that event and continued drinking her glass of water. "By the way, there's something that's on my mind for quite a while."

Shirou then looked at Boudica and asked, "What is it?

"Why is it that Arturia's knights call you Queen Shirou despite you being a male?"

Shirou let out a sigh. "That's something Mordred came up with when I first met with the Knights of the Round because of my relationship with Arturia and her counterparts."

"I see."

For a moment, Shirou and Boudica were quiet as they were sipping their glasses of water. After a moment of silence, Boudica continued the conversation.

"Hey Shirou, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well...why does Arturia and her counterparts hate the King of Heroes? I mean, I know he has a big ego in which some servants would find it annoying, but why do Arturia and her counterparts despise him For example, when the King of Heroes arrived here, Arturia and her counterparts were in a bad mood for quite a while. And that meeting...well..."

"It didn't end well, right?"

"Y-Yeah!" Boudica said as she was surprised at how Shirou knew the event ended.

Shirou sighed again. "He still hasn't changed at all...that King of Heroes..." he muttered in disappointment.

Boudica then turned to Shirou. "You know the King of Heroes?"

"Yeah. Remember when I said that I was Arturia's master during a holy grail war?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, the King of Heroes was the last servant me and Arturia had to go up against, and here's the thing. Apparently, the King of Heroes had a thing for Arturia and well...tried to take her for herself...without her consent."

At that moment, Boudica's mood went sour upon Shirou's explanation. "What?! He tried to take Arturia for herself?! Without her consent!? How barbaric of him! And how dare he calls himself the King of Heroes?! That's an act that doesn't fit for a king! He's as bad as Nero and her counterparts! Or maybe even worse!"

Shirou let out a sigh. "I know. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why he's known as the King of Heroes when most of the time he acts like a well...it's hard for me to say, but-"

"A complete asshole?"

Shirou paused for a moment before continuing. "Yes."

Boudica sighed. "I agree with you. Sometimes I don't even under why he's called the King of Heroes as well when he has an ego that's so inflated..." she said as she drank her glass of water. "Honestly, I feel glad that you cut his arm off during that day! That should teach him a lesson!"

Shirou chucked at what Boudica said. "You aren't the first person to say that..."

"Obviously. You have no idea how many people here were happy with you slicing the King of Heroes' arm off! I swear, some servants were even having a party after that!"

"I can see that...and it's because of that event, practically everyone here knows me," Shirou replied as he sipped on his glass of water again.

"Yeah. Honestly, the next time I see him, I should probably punch him in the face! Just like what your ancestor did in the past!" Boudica ranted as she was mad from Archer Gilgamesh's actions.

Shirou let out an inward sigh. "I have a funny feeling that's not going to end well...speaking of which, I'm surprised that Muramasa actually punched Gilgamesh right into the ceiling. I mean, even with all that strength as a blacksmith, it's crazy how he managed to pull that off. Furthermore, when Merlin gave me photos of the event, I was surprised with how it ended with Gilgamesh's body hanging in the air like a cartoon ending of a fight."

"Shirou? Are you okay?" Boudica asked, snapping Shirou out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I was just in my thoughts for a moment after what you said about punching the King of Heroes in the face the next time you see him," Shirou replied.

"I see..."

For a moment, Shirou and Boudica were silent as they were drinking their glasses of water. Eventually, Shirou was done with his glass of water and got out of his seat to refill his glass. As he was refilling his glass of water, he then said something to Boudica.

"Hey Boudica, I have something to say to you."

Boudica turned to Shirou and asked, "What is it?"

Shirou let out a small breath before continuing. "Thank you for taking of Arturia and her counterparts before I arrived here."

Boudica smiled at Shirou's words. "No problem. After all, I want to see Arturia and her counterparts happy."

Shirou let out a small smirk. "The way you're acting, you sound like you're Arturia's big sister," he said as he was done filling his glass with water.

Boudica let out a chuckle. "To be fair, I want to look out for Arturia and her counterparts, and I want to be like a relative's elder sister to her. I regard her as a queen who protected Britannia, something that I wasn't able to do in my entire life. Of course, that extends to her counterparts, the Knights of the Round, and any British-based servant."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. In fact, now that I think about it, you're practically a British servant as well."

Shirou nearly spat out of his glass of water. "W-What? I'm a British servant?"

"Yeah."

"But why though? I'm Japanese."

"Well yeah, but you're also Queen Shirou to Arturia, her counterparts, the Knights of the Round, and that mage of theirs. As such, you are part of British royalty, therefore making you British. Doesn't it work that way?"

Shirou nervously chucked at what Boudica said. "Boudica...it doesn't work that way, well...in this era that is..."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Still though, you're a British servant in my eyes considering your relationship with Arturia and her counterparts."

"Well, if you say so. By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well...do you mind making your famous galette again tonight? I do like the taste of it."

Boudica smiled. "Sure. I don't mind."

And the two continued their conversation...