It was another sunny summer day. Even if school was out, Shirou still kept up with his studies. Learning English with Fuji-nee and refining his magecraft with Tohsaka kept him busy as a bee. Plus, he had the added sword lessons courtesy of Illya. Adding to his packed schedule, was his part-time job. Despite his packed schedule, he didn't skimp on his other responsibilities. Especially today, when he would be working long hours. At this point, everyone knew where he worked. It was a secret for a while, but soon people like Fuji-nee and even Illya knew. Heading to Copenhagen, his boss greeted him.

"Emiyan!" She smiled at him, which Shirou reciprocated.

"Good afternoon, Neko-san."

"Ready for another fun day? We have a lot to do. I hope you're ready."

"You should know by now. I'll do anything asked of me."

"Yeah, that was a dumb question. By the way, we have another worker with us." She opened the door, which contained spare glasses and other objects.

"You can come out, brat—no need to hide yourself." Since Neko-san called her a "brat", Shirou had a hunch about who it was. As the girl emerged, he had guessed right. She exited, locking eyes with him. She ran up and grabbed his arm.

"Shirou!" She looked up at him and smiled. Shirou confusingly looked at the older woman.

"Neko-san, since when did Illya start working here?" His boss looked at Illya and shrugged.

"You want to explain?" Illya nodded, as she began talking.

"I wanted to see where you worked, Shirou. The kind of work you do and what it's like. Taiga was out of the house, spending time with Raiga the entire day. So, I came here." She looked at Neko, a sour expression on her face. "I didn't want to work here, but the mean lady here is forcing me!" Neko looked indifferent, despite Illya's annoyance at the situation.

"Oh? Sorry, brat, I hate to break it to you, but I'm running a business here. Besides it's going to be a busy day, so having another employee wouldn't hurt." She then looked at Shirou, smiling. "Emiyan was around the same age as you when he started working here. Unlike you, he's never complained.

"That's unethical, you exploited him!" Neko waved her hand, dismissing her outburst. Shirou butted in, contributing his thoughts on the matter.

"Illya, she didn't exploit me. I worked and continue to work here because I want to. No one forced me to do this." Neko nodded, giving him a toothy grin.

"And that's why you're my favorite employee, Emiyan! And currently my only reliable employee." Illya glared at the older woman, who again didn't even notice. As work commenced, things would only get worse for the white-haired girl.

The first task was putting boxes of spare glasses into the closet. The bottles were to go on the top shelf, which Shirou easily managed. He was accustomed to this, having done it countless times. Illya, on the other hand, had immense trouble.

"Isn't there a stool or something in here?"

"Here, I can do it." Shirou extended his arms, but Illya didn't give him the box.

"No, Shirou, I'm doing it. You don't have to work so hard, leave it to me." She looked around the cramped closet but found nothing. She opened the door, looking for a chair. Fortunately, there was one right there. Dragging it into the closet, she put a box on the top shelf. Looking back, she saw three more boxes on the ground. To her side, she saw Shirou putting another box on the shelf.

"Shirou, that's your last box! Sit outside, I'll handle the rest of these."

"Illya, it's fine. I've done this many times before." However looking at Illya's serious face, he decided to acquiesce to her demand. Going outside, Neko-san looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Emiyan, what are you doing out here? I thought you were helping Fujimura's brat."

"She wants to do it by herself."

"It seems she can work hard. She looked at the glass she was cleaning while talking. "That's nice, I think she'll get a kick out of what's next." The older woman brought out many boxes containing alcoholic beverages. The contents ranged from beer to exotic wines.

"I supposed we need to load these into the truck," Shirou asked, and Neko's nodding confirmed.

"Right! These are going to a special place. I suppose I should let go of Fujimura's brat. I doubt she'll be useful with lifting." The girl in question came running out of the closet, furiously looking at Neko.

"I can lift heavy things! I'm coming along. I won't let you misuse Shirou." Neko looked at her, before flashing a smile.

"I like your spirit, brat! Emiyan, help me load these into the truck. We're all going!"

As Shirou and Neko began loading the contents into the truck, the redhead couldn't shake his worry. Illya went to the bathroom, as they worked.

"Neko-san, are you sure Illya can help? She's pretty tiny, I don't want her to hurt herself.

"Relax, while the two of you were putting the spare glasses in the closet, I made a box just for her. "It only weighs two kilos, she'll manage. She pointed to the box that had different markings than the others. "She can lift this, feel satisfied, and stop complaining that I made you do everything." Once again, Shirou acquiesced and continued working. Once Illya returned, she spotted them working without her.

"Hey! I'm supposed to help here, remember?" Neko looked at her and shrugged.

" You went to the bathroom If you want to help now, go inside to the counter. There should be a "Closed" sign, get that, and put it on the door." Illya did so, and soon everything was ready to go. The drive wasn't long, and they reached their destination quickly. Getting out of the truck, Shirou examined where they were. It then dawned on him where they were. They were at Ryuudou Temple. Which meant they had to climb the stairs while carrying heavy boxes.

"Ah, isn't this great, Emiyan? Think of the exercise we will get going up those stairs.

"Neko-san, you've been here before, haven't you?" His boss nodded her head feverishly, which was the confirmation he needed.

"Yep! Now come on, we got to go!" She quickly balanced the weight of the boxes around her. She charged up the stairs, pacing herself accordingly. At the rate she was going, she would reach the top quickly. Shirou would be surprised if she even broke a sweat. Shirou looked back, waiting for Illya.

"Shirou, is the crazy lady gone?"

"Yeah, she's gone." Illya got out of the truck and looked for a box to take. Shirou remembered which box Illya needed, and got it for her.

"Here, Illya, this one is yours." He gave the lightbox to the girl, who eagerly held it. Her eagerness didn't last long, as she quickly realized how light it was.

"That's it? This..this is nothing! I thought I would get something heavy! Shirou, I have been had!" She pouted at the boy, but he was unamused by her outburst.

"Right, let's give the small girl multiple heavy boxes. And then, let's have the small girl climb multiple stairs! Surely, she won't get tired from all that weight! That sounds like a great idea, am I right, Illya?"

"Fine, Shirou, you win this one. Just make sure, you carry fewer boxes than your boss." Shirou smiled at her before the both of them walked up the stairs. Illya was making faster progress, but Shirou wasn't too far behind. As they reached the top, they entered a small room inside the temple. Inside, Neko was waiting for them.

"About time you two showed up! She turned to Illya, before continuing. Fujimura's brat you can stay here, Emiyan and I will get the rest." She and Shirou walked away, leaving the girl behind. She wouldn't stay put here, and wait. She stepped outside, examining the temple.

"Oh, and who might you be?" She turned around, eyeing the foreign man. He was tall, with a muscular build. His hair was minimal, and his eyes closed.

"I'm Illya." The foreign man absorbed the information before a smile showed on his face.

"Illya? Ah, Fujimura has told me about you! It's nice to finally meet you."

"How is any of this nice? I don't even know who you're." The tall man chuckled at her bluntness.

"Right, my name is Reikan Ryuudou. I'm a friend of Fujimura, I met her during our high school years! I heard you cause quite a headache for her."

"Taiga's lying, I do nothing to her. She's the one antagonizing me." The older man chuckled again.

"Oi, Reikan!" Both of them looked to Neko, who had reached the top. Behind her was Shirou, who much to Illya's frustration, was carrying more boxes than Neko.

"Ah, Emiya-kun, Otoko!" The two workers put their boxes, before meeting him outside.

"Rei-kun, taking a walk I assume?" The man nodded.

"It's nice weather to walk in. I was reminiscing about the past until I bumped into Illya-chan here." His expression saddened as he continued. "Usually around this time in the summer, Souichirou-dono and I would spar to our heart's content. I miss him, his passing was untimely."

"I never properly met him, I wish I did," Neko mused, looking sad as well.

"Who is Souichirou-dono?" The adults looked at Illya, snapping out of their melancholic thoughts.

"Ah, he was a master martial artist. The best one I ever laid eyes on! It would take years for me to reach his level!" Neko chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm. Just then, Shirou came out catching the eyes of everyone.

"Hello, Emiya-kun! Working hard, as usual, I see."

"It's what I do, Reikan-san. How are you doing?"

"Oh, the same as usual. Too bad Issei isn't here, he went to run an errand."

"Tell him I said hi."

"You got it!" He pivoted to a new topic. "So, Fujimura told me you want to study abroad. That's a wonderful choice!"

"Easy for you to say, I'm losing my best employee. I could have turned him into an excellent bartender," Neko lamented.

"Sorry Neko-san, I'm not the bartender type," the boy chuckled, much to his boss's sadness.

"Anyway, we need to get back to Copenhagen. We still have lots of work to do. See ya later, Rei-kun."

"Take care, all of you!" He turned to Illya. "It was nice talking to you, Illya-chan!"

"You too," Illya said, before following behind. Once they drove back to Copenhagen, work commenced inside. Soon, patrons piled into the pub, which Neko perfectly served. Shirou would do anything to assist, excluding serving drinks. Illya would copy what Shirou was doing, having a harder time keeping up. To her credit, she was helping to the best of her abilities. As the sun was setting, closing time was almost here.

"Don't more people work here? Why is Shirou the only employee," Illya fumed, staring daggers at Neko.

"Don't look at me, blame my father. He declared that part-time employees don't have to come on super busy days. Everyone who works here knows that today is one of those super busy days."

"That's stupid," Illya blurted out. The older woman nodded.

"Yeah, you're right, but it's what it is."

"Shirou's also stupid for doing all the work here. He could take a break, it's not wrong."

"My thoughts exactly. But the boy is stubborn, and I can't refuse him. He has that charm to him. She smiled warmly. Which is why, he's my favorite employee."

"More like your only employee," Illya scoffed. Just then the redhead in question could be seen. Shirou came out, holding a broom with one hand, and a bag with another. "All that's left is to sweep the floor."

"Shirou I can sweep, Illya said." Shirou looked at her, before looking back at the broom.

"Illya, the broom is taller than you. I doubt you can hold this properly."

"Nonsense! Give it to me, I can do it!" Shirou knew this was a bad idea, but relented. Illya took the broom, ready to clean. She didn't even know what she was doing. Anyone could tell she had never swept a floor before. Combine that with the broom's height, and it was a recipe for disaster.

"This is too hard!"

"Oh look at that, I was right, who could have guessed," Shirou sarcastically said.

"Brat, have you ever swept a floor? Have you ever even done chores?"

"I have servants for that!"

"You bullied Fujimura into being your servant? How the mighty have fallen," she mused. Illya didn't feel the need to correct her, simply going with it.

"Here, I'll sweep the floor. You two should get going."

"Are you sure, Neko-san? I can still stay."

"As your boss, I'm ordering you to go. She went to the cash register, pulling out more money than Shirou made in a week.

"Here, this is yours. And don't you dare refuse it."

"Yeah, Shirou take it," Illya enthusiastically exclaimed. Shirou sighed, taking the cash. Neko turned to Illya and gave her a rather small amount of money.

"That's it, this is all I get? My allowance is more than this."

"Considering Emiyan did most of the work, and making up for your sloppiness, this is very generous."

"Take it, Illya." She begrudgingly took the money, and the two exited the pub. They were met by a confused Taiga.

"Illya-chan, what are you doing here? She turned to Shirou, staring intently at him.

"Did you bring her here, to a pub? The two of you didn't drink anything, right?" Her tone was menacing, despite her cheery disposition.

"No...she came here to watch me work. What are you doing here? Illya said you spent the entire day with old man Raiga."

"No? She said she was spending the entire day with you at your home. When I got there, no one was there! So then I came here to see if you were working late." The two of them looked at Illya.

"What? If I said I'm going to a pub, you wouldn't let me."

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"You proved my point, Taiga."

"Did Otoko, did she make you do any work?" The two of them didn't dare answer, but it didn't help. Taiga instantly knew what happened.

"That's it, I'm giving her a peace of my mind!" She furiously entered the pub, ready to unleash her anger. Shirou and Illya stared at each other, wisely waiting outside. This was going to be a long evening.