AN: So this chapter took an extra week to get out because my college classes have started up. (Hazzah progress for my creative writing minor and my major in biology!). Unfortunately due to this, my update process will without a doubt slow done. However, I'm passionate enough to keep working on this alongside the manuscript for my novel. I averaged about thirty pages a week, not including the extra twenty or so a week I devoted to fanfictions on the side. My fanfiction work has now dropped to two pages a week. At least until I'm more used to my school schedule. But with this, I also have some good news, I know have an outline for this particular fanfiction. It will be eight chapters long, not including an epilogue. But I've no doubt dragged on long enough, for now, please enjoy chapter two, (for an additional reference chapter two is almost 25 pages), and thank you for your patience. I'll see you star side, my fellow geeky nerds.

AN 2: So this is the revamp for chapter two, with how the fic is going, I felt the need to revamp the first chapter a lot, and give the second one some more touch-ups. But now that revamps are done, along with finals from college, that means I get to focus quite substantially more on the fifth chapter for this series. It's had a bit of a rough go of it, but now I think I know what I want to do with it, it shouldn't take me that long to find my groove for it. I'm hoping the end of May 2021 at the earliest, more likely it will be mid-June.

The two of them were too afraid to speak as they made their way through the hotel to an outdoor pool almost hidden away, the towering adjacent building almost obscuring it from the sight of the main road. Honestly, the only reason they knew it existed was that it had been referenced during the hotel tour. But it had become apparent nobody used it during their stay.

Who would when the beach was right out beyond the glass-paned fence?

With the pool in sight, Ritsuka chuckled to himself. There was only one real obvious answer to him on that. The only couple that enjoyed the time to themselves away from the crowds and frequent parties at the beach.

I guess I have my answer. My sister and Edmond Dantes are probably the only ones.

Alter's eyes flicked up to him, her shoulder pushing against his. Her eyes narrowed, "What's so funny?" From the look he was being given, he could only assume that she was imagining the worst of him. That he had been laughing at her.

For this one, he decided he could be absolutely honest. "My sister and her...unique personality. With the beach so close, only she and her boyfriend would somehow make their way to the pool instead." And as soon as the word left his lips, he suddenly felt terrible as the reason came burrowing back to his mind like a drill spike.

Jeanne tilted her head slightly, hugging him closer. She'd caught onto his quick sullen mood too, and she looked away for a second, and then back to him. Her fingers open and closed around his for a moment as her amber eyes tried to soften with her harsh expression. It was hard to deny how awkward her voice sounded. Like she was testing new words on her lips. "What's wrong?" Unsure if she was doing something correctly.

It makes her unbearably beautiful.

The dark reason as to his sister's absence was nearly forgotten in an instant as a renewed flush entered his cheeks. The proximity of how she was practically clinging to him, how close their noses were. His voice came out airy as if he'd barely managed to find it beneath the few inches of clearance he'd had from Alter's nose. "My sister's reason." He paused for a moment just before they entered the pool. "She'd been too embarrassed since that first summer to ever come to the beach again."

Alter ran her thumb up and down the side of his hand. She hummed, sensing something sensitive about this subject. And it took visible effort, for her to reign in her berserker, alter, and avenger instincts. She wanted to mock him, as she always did. Her lips and face formed into a wince, as one of those rude remarks had undoubtedly come and gone through her mind unbidden. There was only silence that started to sit longer between them. She rubbed the knuckles of their interlaced hands.

The urge to kiss her as a reward to that visible effort of restraint grew stronger. He too also had to restrain himself. Mostly because his experience (or as his sister would say: "lack thereof") screamed at him about all the uncertainties of how Alter would feel. Would she even be interested? Or would she be disgusted? And they would have to force their partnership through the rest of this seemingly endless summer. It all came as a swirl to his mind. The sobering thought was a reminder that it had taken this long for them to be even able to have lengthy conversations. As they had often simply restricted themselves to short interactions.

If he was being even more honest with himself, he had never been certain as to why. Only that it had seemed to prevent a potential worsening circumstance between them. And that if not for Shinjuku, or this currently forced prolonged partnership between them thanks to BB, he doubted they would've ever managed to learn how to hold long conversations with each other.

Ritsuka wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth of course. He was getting to know her more because of their circumstance.

That too, was something I'd wanted for a while.

After a few seconds, Ritsuka managed to fill the silence. "My...sister." He paused for a moment trying to find better words to describe it. "She got...hurt really bad during some of the pseudo singularities." He looked down at his own shirt and could imagine all the scars he had under there. He wasn't particularly open about them like his sister. Though, it was easy to remember how they'd both gotten them. "We both had scars…"

They stopped just short of the gate to get inside.

Alter felt the grip on her arm tighten, her shoulder squeezed against his. Her mouth opened and closed, a sign she was further used to not having to comfort someone. Too naturally abrasive, and after a few seconds of silence, she seemed to deflate against his arm still. It wasn't a defeat she took lightly either. A panged look of regret touched her features as she looked away.

He still appreciated her effort and squeezed her fingers comfortingly. And even though she still wasn't sure how to express whatever her thoughts were, she returned that comforting grip as much as she could manage.

"She got it worse though, especially during Salem." Ritsuka continued. "Under her uniform, she walked around with burn scarring and discoloration." His frown deepened. "There came a point where she could barely turn her head a certain way anymore. She had to sleep a certain way. Edmond and I were the only ones she ever talked to about it. Until finally she worked up the courage to ask the healers to make it all go away." He smiled a bit and looked down at Alter. "But now she only goes to the pools or the beach at night with Edmond."

Ritsuka took a step towards the gate, but Alter kept him rooted in place. She was looking down at the ground when he turned to see her.

"But...why would she not just come out? Or ask for help?"

The answer to that was even more complicated.

He turned to face her. "Embarrassment on both ends I think?" He scratched his head with his free hand trying to think of how best to explain. "She was... self-conscious. Like for her, it was too much to be seen with you, Nero, Arturia, or Nicortis, Scathach...and all the rest of you."

Alter's confusion only deepened. "Why?"

"Because she looks up to you." He frowned with a hum. "I think she also compares herself to all of you. Like she wanted to be as beautiful as all of you, mix and mingle as best as she could with a smile, knowing she could blend in with her favorite heroes. Or maybe she wishes we could do more than our meager magecraft." He shrugged and gave a sad smile towards Alter for only a second. "The scars that covered her just served as a physical reminder that she could never be."

Jeanne looked away, still clutching onto his arm. "That's stupid."

His nostrils flared. "Is it?" He leaned in towards her, so their faces were only inches away. Suddenly he could feel his own anger rise, just tangibly enough that he had to filter it out as he spoke. It was his sister after all, and they would always be protective of each other. "Tell me do you have a scar somewhere on you that I've missed beneath your bikini?" His frown deepened. Only just barely managing to keep himself from saying something worse.

She turned red. "Of-of course not!" her lips twitched. "And you should watch where you let your eyes linger master!"

Fuck, I just admitted I stared at her enough to know she doesn't have any scars.

He forced himself to take a long breath and sighed rubbing his temple with his free hand falling quiet for a moment. "It's…" He'd started, but he paused again. "How about this. We are the saviors of humanity, so small things like this shouldn't bother us." He looked away. "It's not a rational feeling that we have. But it's a feeling that we have all the same." He shrugged with a slight scoff. "And there is nothing we can do about it." He let go of Alter's arm and pushed open the gate to the pool.

Alter remained standing in place for a moment, her eyes burrowing into the back of her master's head. Her palms opened and closed, as she shook her head of whatever thought had cast a shadow over her expression. Then she followed her master into the pool area, closing the gate behind her.

Ritsuka paused by the edge of the pool leaning on his hip. The pool area was dark as if there were no lights on to expose it. He could feel a frown forming as he pressed his lips together. That, at least, was something he was certain could be rectified if he looked around the fenced-in area for the pool.

She followed him to the edge of the pool. "Why wouldn't she tell us?" Her lips quivered at the question that had come unbidden from her throat. There was a reflex of her trying to cover her mouth to prevent from blurting another one out.

He turned away, walking towards the edges of the glass-paneled fence. Meaning to look for something that would be a light switch for the pool area. "She didn't want you all to think you thought of her as weak." He paused and looked back at Alter and he laughed a bit with his eyes closed. "I mean, you guys are the ones actually saving the world, she and I just direct you around. She didn't want you guys to know how much those little things worried her." He huffed a bit. "Or me, for that matter. I don't like sharing all my thoughts and concerns because of what we have to do."

And me.

Jeanne Alter's footfalls were right behind him as she followed him. "But...why...did…" Her brow started to furrow and in the quiet, dark silence that filled the space between them, Ritsuka could only imagine the expressions on her face. However, it was easy to see that something was bothering her.

This time, the master did notice something lingering in the depths of her question. The way she was facing him in the dark. His mouth twitched and he looked away.

Why didn't I tell you?

The answer to that question, for him, was even more complicated. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Help me find the lights." Rtisuka wanted to move off the subject for now. He wanted to be able to see her for the conversation at hand. Then he raised himself a bit straighter as an idea popped into his head like a light bulb. A simple spell came to mind. It was something Lord El-Melloi had taught him, something that he'd apparently done a long while ago.

He checked his pockets, digging furiously through the small notebook, a wallet full of Gil bucks, until he finally reached beneath them all, and pulled out two capsules. He set his wallet and notebook down, at one of the vaguely silhouetted tables he could see. As he clutched the capsules in the palm of his hands. His blue eyes glowed slightly as a small mana surge flowed through him. He clapped the capsules together and almost instantly they vibrated a cool green in his hands before he lobbed the light into the air above them. After traveling ten feet up into the air, the light paused, glowing brighter, hanging suspended.

Rituska smiled, at the quick solution, and then he glanced back at Alter offering her the same small smile. All of it as if to say that he was still enjoying her company despite the rather morbid topic, and the present situation. He was pleased to see that for once the Alter servant had seemed impressed with him.

Probably because I'm such a shit mage that even this is considered impressive.

Her eyes were wide on the light, some of the nervousness and concern leaving her voice, in favor of the moment. Amber's eyes flicked from him to the light, and then back to him. "I didn't know you could do that?"

Ritsuka shrugged, nonchalant as if the channeling of even that minor amount of mana hadn't caused him a slight pain in his palm. "Ah, it's more alchemy than magecraft." One of the reasons he knew, that it was something that he could more easily do. "Though it is powered by my mana." He scratched the back of his head. "However it doesn't last long" As if on cue the little green orb above the two of them flickered. "Come on, let's look around."

The light of course had been enough for them to at least narrow the direction down a bit. There seemed to be a sort of walled-off area, almost connecting to the fence in the corner, near the back of the pool area. The light faded again soon after they'd made a quiet jog towards it, and left them stumbling around in the dark.

He frowned as he stepped over a crack in the floor, the tile or brick adjusted slightly upward. He paused at the entrance of the fenced area straining his eyes and squinting into the dark to see if he could make anything else out. Ritsuka also couldn't help but grimace at the reminder he couldn't see as well as most mages might in the dark by simply enhancing their vision.

I do wish the lighting was better back here from the hotel.

"Gah!" Alter yelped.

Ritsuka whirled around, fearing that it was those crabs that had somehow gotten through the barrier. Or perhaps some of Medb's followers. His heart pounding as he could feel the adrenalin coursing through him. Only he turned around just in time to catch Alter's silhouette colliding with him, he blinked as he lost his footing, the both of them fell to the ground, his arms wrapping around her. Her elbow pressing into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

He coughed a couple of times and gasped for air.

She hissed. "Damn fucking…" Her voice trailed off immediately as she realized where she was. She propped herself up, allowing him to get air fully back into his lungs. "Sorry." Then even in the dark, he could almost see Alter's expression change to one of apology to shock. "Idiot. I'm a servant, why would you try to save me from getting hurt?"

He groaned as he felt soreness seep into his back. "Not that I would've chosen differently but I really didn't have the time to move out of the way." He reached up meaning to rub his forehead, only instead managing to grab onto her as she was trying to stand back up.

Alter's voice once again ripped into quiet darkness around them. "Hey! Watch it!" She scrambled to pick herself back up, trying to untangle as quickly as possible the mess of limbs they'd both created on the stone floor. Their legs brushed together as they were untangled. Her chest pressed up against him, and he tried to be as still as possible. Only once he felt the weight lifted off his chest from her, did he wiggle up a bit.

He could hear her in the dark brushing herself off a bit and see the movements of her silhouette. He winced slightly as a few more curses escaped Alter's lips. "Sorry, sorry." He whispered into the darkness. Finally, he started to focus again and he became aware of her silhouette holding an arm out towards him. Ritsuka wrapped his fingers around her hand and allowed her to pull him up to his feet.

This time, though, she didn't let go of his arm, she looped her arm around the crook of his elbow, and her grip remained firmly attached to his. Evidently, it was obvious she had no intention of letting go again until they'd managed to find themselves a light source. Something Rituska could only agree with.

Practicality, for stumbling around together in the dark, it was probably for the best.

A gesture he returned, intertwining their fingers.

Less practically, I'm happy she enjoys it.

Then it was back to the matter at hand, as they both rounded the darkened corner of the where they suspected that they might find some controls. They were rewarded with exactly what they'd hoped for. Along the wall, were darker silhouettes that looked like switches, slightly bigger than what you typically find for room light.

Fictional Hawaii.

Came the soft reminder in the back of his head. It was probably a servant's preference that allowed them to look like circuit breakers instead of simple light switches.

Easier than stumbling around for a small light switch.

Alter snorted, and gestured with her free hand. "Should we just flip them all to see what happens?"

Ritsuka huffed a small nervous chuckle. "Well, the last thing I need is any version of Gilgamesh getting angry with us." He looked towards Alter, on his arm. "I don't think I could save us from that, even with a command seal." With a couple of steps, he took them both closer to the switches along the wall. Only to find that there were three in total.

He probably wouldn't care that much.

And Jeanne Alter flipped the first. There was a low crank at the switch's movement, but then it was replaced by a nearby low hum, that sounded almost like a generator kicking on, but it seemed too quiet to be a simple power generator. She hummed, as she noted the obvious fact that they were still shrouded in darkness. "Guess not." She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Your turn."

Ritsuka strained his ears, he could fear the faint popping and churning of water. Then his features smoothed as he figured out quickly what had been turned on."I think you turned the bubbles of the jacuzzi on." He smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it. He gave a slight shrug, "We'll probably finish up there I suppose."

She gripped him tighter a bit tighter, her voice sounding slightly strained, and more ice than it had been only seconds ago. "Maybe. Not exactly fond of overly hot places." Then she blinked, and whatever thought had been present faded, "I can barely stand this summer heat after all." She offered a forced smile at her joke. Her head turned to peer towards Rituska in the dark.

He wanted to respect that privacy the dark had given her. So Ritsuka did his best not to go rigid under her grip, and his best not to meet her prying eyes in the dark, and instead focused on flipping the next switch. This one sounded like a water pump of some kind activating. Then instead of the sound of churning water, he could hear distant plashes come from the direction of the pool.

Maybe a filter of some kind? No, too much splashing to be a filter.

But they were still shrouded in darkness, so the main problem hadn't yet been resolved.

Alter huffed, loosening her grip to step out again. "Third times a charm, I guess." With a crank, she flipped the switch. With a start, the generator behind them activated with a groan, chugging along as it started to power up. Immediately, a light came on from the small garden behind them, lighting both the small fenced area they were in and around them, from around the fence, they could see the whole area starting to light up.

They were both still jumpy, and they were both startled by their sudden illumination. Rtisuka's grip on her arm tightened, and he'd wrapped an arm around her. Staring at the sudden light behind them. Mostly, he thought distantly, was a worry that he'd been caught red-handed at doing something he wasn't supposed to.

She was practically hugging his arm, having pressed herself against him. But her other hand was on the grip of her most used sword, strapped to her left leg, rather than the other two strapped against her back. She had gritted her teeth a bit, lying in wait to strike despite their proximity to one another, like she was waiting for whatever predator that had lurked in wait behind them, to try something stupid.

He did his best not to blush at the way she'd tucked his arm down the center of her chest. Right between her- Ritsuka shook his head quickly and looked away from her to the light, and forced out some calming meditative slow breaths as he tried to loosen the tension in the muscles of his more free arm wrapped around Alter. As the quiet few seconds ticked by, he finally let out an audible sigh of relief.

No chicken or crab ambushes at least.

Her eyes rounded to him, having gone red from ear to ear.

I, without a doubt, look as flushed as she does.

There was no point in denying that, as he could hear his heart pounding in his head. Finally, his instincts had caught up with him, and he released his hug that had pulled Alter so close. Rituska pressed his lips together, in order to try and keep from saying anything that would ruin this night for them both.

She promptly untucked his arm from her chest, but still wrapped her fingers around his forearm to keep him close, hanging off him as she stepped back. Her other hand didn't leave the hilt of her sword for a few seconds longer until finally, she forced herself away from the combat instinct, and the hand to rest twitching at her side. Alter let out her next breath slowly, also pressing her lips together to bite back whatever remark she had been meaning to yell.

Finally, Ritsuka tugged her by the hand gently along back the way they came. The two of them stepped out from behind the wall, to look back over the pool. He had to fight his jaw-dropping to the amusement of Alter.

To say it was impressive was an understatement.

The pool area's fence was illuminated by colorful lights that slowly transitioned to different colors, lights tucked away in the garden lined up against the fence. They started from deep golden yellows, transitioning to reds, then blues, then purples, then lastly greens, before their cycle would begin again.

The pool itself was illuminated by deep blue unchanging lights, almost an inviting calm contrast to the other light show. In the center of the pool, meant to be used for fun, was the source of that splashing sound that had activated with the second switch. There was a stone-looking fountain that had been built up in the center of the large pool. Where you could climb in and sit. It was easier for smaller children to play there with the supervision of elders that would churn the pool around the fountain.

The fountain was a perfect circle and had three levels, the first one sitting in a way that both the pool around it and water inside the fountain, sat only an inch and half from crossing over to one another. Splashes were expected to create spillover. Easy enough to imagine that if the pool had been filled with regular clientele, with a good view of the beach, that it was often jam-packed during the day.

The second ring above the first had a single attraction, a slide, built-in giving shade to one half of the fountain, and leading off into the deep end of the pool.

And the third was just for show, built with an ornate design, of a mini globe atlas too small to sit anyone inside, but water pumped from the top, splashing down with a spray to other parts of the fountain creating ripples.

Alter's grip on her master tightened. "Wow.."

Ritsuka nodded in agreement. "Yeah...wow."

The pair of them walked, still clinging to each other's arms, right up until they were on the edge pool. The water had been heated throughout the day, so when Ristuka leaned over to wipe his hand against the surface of the water, it was the perfect temperature.

It was cooler than the warm air around them, but only just. The later into the night it would get, the pool would eventually be what kept them warm.

Of course, the latter is dependent on how long we stay.

He glanced towards Alter, as she leaned down too, their arms still intertwined. She ran her fingers through the pool's surface, and her grin widened with excitement. She bounced a bit on her toes like she had when she first talked with him about a doujin idea. Alter made a face at him, closed eyes and sticking her tongue out with a cute grin.

There was an air of privilege he'd felt in that moment, because of how normally reserved Alter tended to be. Abrasive was another tool Alter used to keep her distance from both him and other servants. But he'd not only seen her make that same face on this endless summer vacation once now, but twice. He wanted to cherish the two memories that would be forever imprinted on his mind.

Ritsuka chuckled as he stood back up, feeling his starting to warm again.

I'm going to be fighting my rising blushes constantly huh?

When Alter opened her eyes again her smile started to transition. Going from the cute excited, thoughtful expression to something more sadistic. Something more reminiscent of her avenger origin. Her eyes in their amber levity became more calculating as she glanced up at him. A smug smirking expression came to her lips.

The grip on his arm tightened.

He blinked as his mind, too distracted from Alter's more wholesome expression, finally and in quick order put the pieces together of her next plan. "You wouldn't-"

Ritsuka didn't even get to finish as he was hoisted off his feet, with their intertwined left arms, she hefted him onto her right shoulder. He huffed and tried to push off, but from that point on, he knew it was simply a futile gesture. No amount of human strength could ever overcome a servant's.

Alter kept a steady and firm grip on him, and he could feel her muscles churning beneath him working quickly. She arched her right arm and shoulder back, her grin widening as he looked down at her with shock. All the playfully vindictive and signs that she was enjoying every second of this.

With a grunt, she flung him over to the other end of the pool, over the fountain, making certain that he wouldn't be injured too terribly. She made a gesturing post of accomplishment. But in his mind, through their bond, he could hear her thoughts, as her barriers were down. "Yes!"

He could see the fountain pass beneath him, and he wanted to chuckle at his predicament before he tried to twist himself. Ritsuka had bellyflopped into a pool before. At the speed he was going, he imagined something like that would mean he would be in pain for the rest of the night. He spared Alter only a glance, as he tried to angle himself into a better fall.

Do I know any spells to help protect myself?

He racked his brain quickly as he saw his calm still pool water growing closer and closer as the nanoseconds ticked by.

A shield?

Ritsuka would've shaken his head, that was overdoing it. Surely his mystic code would help. It was designed for such situations. All the same, he twisted himself just a little further so he could control how he landed. He wasn't sure how deep it was, which ruled out diving as an option. In the final brief second, he tucked his legs in to form a cannonball and closed his eyes.

Soon the sound around him was drowned out as water filled his environment with an eruptive splash disturbing the once peaceful water. And he sank all the way to the bottom, colliding with the floor as if he'd just fallen into a chair.

The surface of the pool must've been at least ten feet up. He'd expected to hear and feel a buzzing pressure against his ears. He'd expected the water to sting his eyes. He expected to struggle as he would have to swim his way back to the surface.

But he was fine. He could see clearly at the bottom of the pool as if he was wearing goggles. The pressure he'd expected to feel against him was nothing. The only difference to him, it seemed was the pool water itself, flowing and ebbing around him. His hands waving around, dragging bubbles and water as it churned around him.

The temperature of the pool was as perfect as it had felt when both he and Alter tested it just seconds earlier.

He smiled, and untucked his legs, pushing off from the bottom of the pool with all his might, chugging straight for the surface. His lungs had only just started to burn as he burst through the pool's surface and gasped for air. Ritsuka's laughter was quick to follow, echoing across the pool as he ran his hands through his hair, feeling it clinging to his skin. He checked his aloha shirt and his smile widened as he could feel mana pulsating through it. He swung himself around to look towards the fountain.

Alter had made her way over, and outside of the now sloshing water, her laughter was the only other sound that filled the area. She was clutching her stomach as she came into sight from around the fountain.

He raised his brow, chuckling to indicate he wasn't angry. "I could've been hurt you know?"

Alter looked away waving her hand. "Psh, DaVinci was nice enough to fill me in on your mystic code specs this year." She placed a hand on her hip as she finally came to the edge of the pool. There was a pause as she looked elsewhere. Her eyes being drawn to the fountain. Then she sat down, letting her feet dangle into the water.

He ducked his head back into the water and back out. He started treading towards her, not really having a swim form. "You were really excited to bring me here." Ritsuka's smile widening.

Her lip twitched. "I was not. I was just doing the proper research a servant should, to know her master's strengths and weaknesses." She straightened as if proud of the fact. "I even made suggestions to her."

That raised yet another brow. "Did you now?" He looked down at his shirt, with a renewed interest. And gave it a gentle tug. "I suppose I should thank you." Ritsuka looked up at her becoming a bit more genuine. "I was going to skip out on this summer in favor of some alone time at Chaldea. I might not have come if you hadn't been so fervently inviting." He shrugged as he got closer. "Or excited." He nodded at her. "Thank you."

She lifted a leg and started to pull off her shoes. Her eyes narrowed towards him. "Was. Not. Excited." Repeating that same line she'd been saying to him all summer so far. Her eyes flicked from him, back to the task at hand. She'd freed her foot of the exposed heel, and set it aside. Moving onto the next one in line.

Ristuka decided not to press her on it again for now. He swam to the edge of the pool just beside and tucked his feet up behind his back. It was easier for him to pull off the sandals he was still wearing. He set them both beside the pool and sat floating for a moment watching Alter out of the corner of his eye.

Alter, lingered on her right leg after she'd pulled off her shoe. It had an extra step given the extra-long lingerie-looking red sock that came to a stop just before her knee. She set her open heels next to his sandals and pulled the sock free. She only frowned as she realized the bottom of the sock had gotten wet. Alter still rolled it up, and set it aside in her right heel shoe.

Some confusion had slipped into his voice as she watched stripped down to her bathing suit. "Can't you just dispel your clothing as needed?"

She started to turn red.

Alright. I could've thought of a better way to phrase that.

He winced and the splash of water he felt, came from a gust of wind being cast beneath her feet, like a mana burst when a servant jumped really high. Only she'd used it on the water between them.

"Okay. I deserved that." He pushed the hair back that had fallen over his eyes.

Alter nodded in agreement with him. "For your information," she answered, unhooking the small leather belt that was tied to her thigh, and her main sheathed sword. "I can't. My spirit origin transfer...ran into some complications." She glanced away. "Normally, when a servant changes their spirit origin, our outfits change with them naturally to reflect that change." She gestured to the shoes, sock, and belt sitting beside her. "But I wanted to edit mine as much as possible. And as such, I accidentally made my outfit…" She tilted her head a bit. "For lack of better words, real. Think of it like a Mystic code that suppresses…" She frowned searching for the right words. "Well, suppresses me I guess..."

He was quiet for a moment. Words got lumped into his throat as the first obvious response had come to his mind. That he was perfectly fine with the way she was always. Even during the times she'd been more rough-edged towards him, she'd always had good reason. Ritsuka's eyes widened.

She shrunk into her shoulders just a bit. "Even when I try to pick a class that could anticipate anything that holy maiden would throw at me..." Alter sighed. "I always seem to fuck something up. Even if I'm not a lancer, thanks to my berserker class, I can be effective against her. Only now I can never try to be as… stunning as her. Nor have any outfits ready for situational adaptation." She scoffed and looked off to the side, propping her hands up against the ground. "And now, by the end of the night, Marie and your sister will have dressed her up enough to make her look like a princess."

Ritsuka inched a bit closer and wrapped his hand around her wrist. "Doesn't matter. You look good either way."

Alter huffed, almost ignoring the compliment outright, but a small smile found its way to her lips all the same. "What is it you said? We shouldn't let the little things bother us, but they do anyway?"

He chuckled with a nod. "Something like that."

She smiled a bit, and reached down and started unhooking the other belts and ties around her waist. Until finally the other swords came free. "For the record, the sword I use the most is the only one that I can summon properly. The others are...problematic still. With all my other edits, they couldn't be tied directly to my spirit origin." Alter leaned over a knee. "I've been told I'll get better at them with practice."

"I'll bear that in mind." He said with a nod, letting go, allowing her to finish.

Alter at last shrugged off the black jacket that she wore over her bathing suit. Setting it aside with the last of her gear. She offered a smile, her cowlick strand of hair bouncing up and down from the movement of her head. She finally scooted closer to the edge of the pool now that she'd finished getting her gear off.

Ritsuka, who couldn't suppress the playful urge of revenge, curled his chest with a heave plunging his legs through the water and with a swift motion, planting his feet against the wall. His grip on Alter's wrist returned.

Her eyes widened at the touch, distant faints of confusion came but were quickly replaced with an immediate sense of what was about to happen. She started to react, meaning to try and find something to grip herself on, but she yelped as she was pulled airborne, just before she had the chance to find something.

He'd pulled her with all his strength, throwing her over him, and unlike him, she had no time to coordinate herself as she tumbled into the pool with another, eruptive splash. He pushed off the wall too, diving away so he was in a different position when she came bursting to the surface.

She surfaced with a burst, some of her playful spite, and blinked the water away from her eyes as her long white hair started swirling loose. Her amber eyes flicked around until she'd found her master and the first splash coming barrelling towards her.

#

"This is nice, you, me, this tree trunk that's separating us." His voice was filled to the fullest of sarcasm one could imagine.

Guadako's lip twitched and looked at Edmond's dangling legs, the only part of him that she could see from around the tree trunk. So she sent them a scowl instead of sending it directly to him. "I know Edmond, I just wanted to check on them."

Edmond seemed to stiffen. "You're scowling at me right now aren't you?"

"Pfft." She made a noise as she looked back at the pool. "No, I'm not." Guadako was tempted to flick herself in the head to stay focused on the task at hand. Jeanne, Mash, and Marie could stand it if the two of them were a little late. "Look...Jeanne Alter's been unpredictable before. She's also been very cold towards us…"

Edmond sighed, but still he nodded to himself from the other end of the tree. Resting his hands behind his head. "I know...I know." Guadako could hear him shift his weight a bit. "How are they doing?"

The orange-haired master hummed, her eyes alight with a glow. After a few seconds more of observation, she hummed with a small smile. "They're doing good. I think...they're starting to get over their own jittery nerves finally. They might even be able to have a lasting conversation after tonight." Guadako pressed her fingers of her right hand against her temple, just a bit longer. Long enough to see what happened next.

Jeanne Alter appeared to be beating out her brother in another competition of some kind. Which was unsurprising with her being a servant after all. However, it looked like the both of them didn't care all that much, judging from their smiles and laughter.

Maybe they'll fool themselves into having some vacation time after all.

It brought a small smile to her lips. "We should go. I don't want to be late for our outing with Marie and Jeanne." She swung her legs and hopped down from the tree. She looked up and waited.

Edmond fell too, while he was shirtless, and in trunks, he still had his long black coat on, that flowed out behind him as he dropped down too, landing on his feet. He straightened his hat.

She raised a finger. "We should also see if we can't find Mashu and Ushiwakamura. I think they'll want to join us tonight." She rubbed her chin a bit. "Yes, I think we can dress Mashu up like we want to dress up Jeanne. That young woman has put so much on the line for all of us...she needs some vacation time too."

Edmond feigned a groan, "Remind me again, why I have to tag along for a girls' night?"

Guadako batted her eyelashes. "Because you," she pointed, "love me." Her smile widened as he let the gushing girlfriend inside of her fade, speaking more practically. "And it is always nice to get a man's perspective on how we should dress. Telling us we look nice in something is only good depending on the occasion, and situation. Sometimes we genuinely want criticism of the outfit, especially during shopping."

Edmond scoffed. "And of course you leave it up to us to figure out which of those times is which." He pocketed his hands as he strolled closer.

She nodded. "Can't make it easy for our potential partners now can we?"

The alter hummed, disappointed in his voice. He folded his arms as he looked down at his master. "Since I know you want us to find Mashu and Ushiwakamura solely so that you can give your brother and that dragon witch some much needed alone time, may I remind you that we should probably find Robin while we are at it."

Guadako blinked and rubbed her chin. "Shit, that's right." She looked away for a moment.

Edmond snaked his arm around her, to tug her close. "I'm betting he's off taking that particular Oni to a candy store somewhere."

She tilted her head and hummed. "Or at the very least, shopping for her, or keeping an eye out for her." She started nodding again. "Alright, I agree. Let's go round up the others first. We don't have long." Guadako took half a step, something of a determined look on her face.

But Edmond quickly tugged her back into his arms and pressed a kiss onto her lips.

Long enough for her to turn red.

He chuckled. "There, now we can get underway."

#

Ritsuka was out of breath. In fact if not for the pool water, he would certainly be drenched in sweat. He waved up his arms, the aloha shirt still clinging to his body, covering his chest. "Alright, alright." He huffed having keeled over a little as he grabbed his stomach. "You win."

Alter's smile widened obviously nowhere near out of breath as her master. She shook water free of her hair. Her cheeks were tinted red from the excretion of their race. There was no doubt in either of their minds of who would win from the start. But it was clear she had at least exerted herself. "Fufufu." Her laughter rolled off the tongue as she suddenly flopped onto her back onto the pool's surface and stuck a hand up. "You did better than I expected for a glutton."

He groaned a bit at wishing now the pool was a bit cooler. He swam to the edge of the fountain with a huff and hauled himself up and over. Inside the rim of the fountain, it was about a foot deep, the stone tiles provide a nice small place for younger children. Though for tonight, it would serve as a brief place of rest.

She paused halfway to him, the red in her cheeks subsiding with a smaller grin. Alter ran her fingers through her hair, seeming to enjoy the feeling of it having been wet down for the moment. Alter had swam and floated from one end of the pool to the other, still laying on her back as she backstroked her way around.

Until finally spinning herself around, a hand latching onto the rim of the fountain. Her amber eyes met his as she settled near the fountain's edge.

The night air was cooler than the pool water at the moment. He sat down, so most of his torso was above water. It was an attempt to use the night air to cool down a bit faster while he caught his breath. He glanced up at the night sky, which he thought looked beautiful, but held firm uncertainty of whether it was real or not.

With how many different skies I know to be unreal unpacked in singularities, I don't know how I'd be able to tell.

His lip twitched at the thought, vaguely aware of Alter swimming coming to an end. He tore his eyes off the night sky to look down at Alter.

Ritsuka straightened his aloha shirt, the wet mystic code tugging against his skin as he twisted to be a bit straighter. Though with as promising beautiful the night sky was, it still didn't beat out what was in front of him. It took him a few moments longer to even consider pulling his gaze away.

Thankfully, she seemed just as lost in the silence. Returning the eye contact for longer than she normally might.

He broke his gaze first, his breath coming out more evenly. "Thanks for joining me."

She took a breath, and dove underwater, spreading her arms and legs wide, swimming closer to him, around the rim edge of the fountain so she was facing him. Then her fingers gripped the stone rim of the fountain in the center of the pool and pulled herself up and over the edge to join him. Alter hummed, "No sign of chickens yet."

The master chuckled. "Right." Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched her get comfortable a couple of feet away, stretching herself out in the one-foot deep water fountain.

Alter propped herself up, hands behind her. Her eyes went up to the night sky a small grin coming to rest on her lips. "I don't know if it's real, but is accurate." She said at last.

Ritsuka blinked and followed her gaze up to the night sky. "How can you tell?"

She scooted closer, just enough for him to notice. But just out of arm's reach. That happy grin, that was such a rare sight for her normally. Even more noticeable was the excitement in her voice as she spoke. Alter didn't scoot closer, but she leaned over and pointed her finger up at the night sky. "See that one?"

He leaned over to her, so his eye was practically in line with her shoulder, to follow her gesture to the sky. "That star specifically?" Then he scooted closer so he didn't have to lean as far.

Alter shook her head. "No, the constellation." She bumped their foreheads together, too excited to notice how warm he was getting again. However, it was done for a practical reason. She dragged her finger slowly across the night sky, painting lines between the stars. "That...is Centaurus. It's often only visible from Hawaii and…" She tilted her head the other so she didn't bump into him again. "And not from the majority of the North American continent."

His frown deepened trying to put the picture of all the imaginary lines she drew together. "Despite the name, it looks like a spider...almost."

Alter, he was sure, had missed his comment as he saw her scanning the night sky again. Trying to find something else. She mouthed something quietly to herself and gestured up again. "Crux...I think…" She stuck her tongue out like she did when she was happily concentrating on something.

She's close enough to kiss.

He pressed his lips together and shook the thought from his head.

Stop it.

Ritsuka let her concentrate on finding the next constellation, and ducked his head back into the pool water, getting his head wet, and his thoughts cooled. Ritsuka came back just in time it seemed. He wiped his forehead and hair back with his fingers.

Alter's eyes were on him, thanks to the movement, and whatever questioning glance she was giving him, fell to the wayside when she continued. "Crux is another constellation that can only be seen from here." She frowned, "Actually I'm pretty sure that holy maiden might enjoy this constellation."

Rituska leaned in close and followed her finger across the night sky again. This one required a lot less concentration, and it was finished a lot more quickly. He hummed. "A cross?"

She nodded looking pleased with him, and herself for having known the information in the first place. Alter leaned back into the water, propping herself up with her elbows.

He smirked, just a little. "Let me guess, all of that was in the brochure too?"

Alter turned red. "O-of course it was!" Her fingers curled and came to the surface, and she smashed the water between them.

Laughter escaped his lips.

She turned away, hugging herself in a pout. "Idiot. I keep telling you…"

"I know I know." He sighed. "Maybe I will read it when I get the chance."

"Tch," Alter huffed, still facing away from him. "At this point, I just want to be proven right." She relaxed once more, propping herself up by her elbows. In the water, against the stone reflected a deep blue, illuminating her.

Ritsuka scratched at the collar of his shirt. Now that the mystic code was thoroughly wet, and starting to dry in places, it started to get less and less comfortable. He glanced at Alter. "Still, it doesn't hide the fact you were excited to come here."

She sent a half-hearted frown at him. "Reading the brochure does not equate to me being excited."

He shrugged. "You're still the only one out of all of us who even bothered to read the brochure. And I'm pretty sure no one else bothered to learn how to swim in between singularities and Chaldea's recreation center."

That last one had caught her attention and she seemed to shrink into her shoulders. She turned away, to hide her red cheeks in her shoulder. A pout touched her eyes for a moment. But then finally Alter made a snort of disapproval, though this time, she remained quieter than before. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction that he'd guessed right.

Ritsuka smiled a little. "It's alright, really. I'm actually really touched that you wanted to learn how to swim before we came here."

She huffed. "Yeah, well whatever." She sat up a little to hug herself, and bury her face into the pool blowing out churning bubbles. But when she'd finished, she crossed her arms over her knees, and rested her forehead on them.

The pool water around them eventually started to still, and the water sloshing around slowly gave way to the distant sounds of the ocean's waves crashing against the beach. The ocean breeze too slowly started to cool the air around them.

Alter shifted in the water, sitting forward to hug herself a little tighter. She hid the flush of her cheeks behind her arms, but her glowing amber eyes flicked from the night sky to Ritsuka.

He did his best not to stare at her illuminated in the blue light. The sight made him speechless, and if she said something he wanted to be able to respond to her. Something he couldn't do when she glanced at him a certain way.

She pulled her legs closer, hugging her knees to her chest. "A question, master?"

He peaked at her out of the corner of his eye, then went back to focusing on the distant horizon. "Certainly."

"Why did you swim in your aloha shirt?" She tilted her head out from behind her arms. "I mean...normally, guys like to…" Her lip twitched. "Swim shirtless?"

So she did notice? Should've figured idiot. She can be very perceptive when she wants to be. It's probably not as big a deal as I think it is...

All the same, Ritsuka had fallen silent at her question. The only hint that he gave that he'd even heard her question was that he glanced down at his mystic code shirt. It had saved him when Alter lobbed him across the pool. But after, there was no reason at all to keep it on. In fact, it would've been easier if he had taken it off. It was rubbing wet, and uncomfortable against his skin.

And the scars.

Alter, bless her heart feared she'd said something wrong. She seemed to shift quickly uncurling herself. A different sort of embarrassed flush replacing the last one. Alter spoke quickly into the gap between them. "Not that there's anything wrong with you, not wanting to remove your shirt like everyone else-"

"You just expected me too." He said with a small smile and he looked back up at the night sky.

I almost said want.

She seized the window he provided her to escape the word trap she'd accidentally placed herself in. Admitting she cared was never one of Alter's strong suits. She started to speak more slowly, hoping that it would help her catch things she didn't want to say or wasn't ready to. "I mean, you look better than half the guys at Chaldea..."

He thought quietly. "My sister had it worse."

Alter raised a brow.

"But I had it bad too." He glanced her way. "Only difference is, healers didn't have the time for me. My sister needed it more since she had the burns." A frown started to form on his lips, as suddenly this vast pool they were in was starting to feel claustrophobic. Something he knew to be a trick of his mind. But he was starting to get too tired to care about it. He closed his eyes and stood up. Stretching his legs up in place for a moment. Water dripped from his trunks and shirt as he did. "I think I'm done for the night…"

But it's not like I want to leave her side.

Alter suddenly looked guilty. Worse, she looked like she was about to get angry at herself. He knew that look all too well, whenever he'd felt useless in his journey through all the singularities. Her bitter frown deepened as she looked away. She shifted too, having gone through half a motion to get up, only she'd frozen.

I didn't intend to make her feel guilty.

He reached a hand out towards her. "Come on, let's head back to the room."

###