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"Valentines? What the hell is that?"
With how crowded Chaldea was, given the gacha addict Master they had, it wasn't uncommon to find Servants chilling together inside some random room. This time, a pack of Cú Chulainn's, Sig, and a recently arrived (but already maxed out bond) Taira no Kagekiyo were amicably exchanging words, with one Cú Chulainn already stabbed by Taira's sword and laying half dead on the floor.
"It's February already, most servants are showing Master their gratitude and appreciation with a gift and a few words. I gave her mine this morning!" Sig enthusiastically said.
"Is that so?" Taira retrieved her sword from Cú Chulainn's body and sheathed it. "Well, I couldn't care less. As long as I get to kill Genji, it's another good day for me."
Caster Cú poked Lancer with his staff, and ignored the corpse of his other self when he talked to Taira.
"Aren't you at least one bit grateful to Master? You should show your appreciation, or do something, at least. Say hi. What do I know?" he shrugged and sat down. "Listen, Sig gave her a drawing, Emiya gave her a cooking set, hell, even Musashi gave her a gift."
"Food. Dango, actually." said Sig.
"See? Everyone around here gave something to Master. And she accepted them all, even Quetz's Xocolatl, knowing she hates spicy things, so really, anything will do."
Taira no Kagekiyo raised her eyebrows behind her mask, not like anyone saw it.
"What? I don't care if she accepts my gift or not. I don't have anything to give and I really don't care about it."
Sig frowned and Caster Cú sighed and walked away, dragging the other Cú with him out of the room. He knew the conversation would go nowhere so he left so he wouldn't waste his energies on a pointless debate.
"What's wrong with showing how much you care for Master? Is this because you're an Avenger?"
Taira frowned and smiled darkly.
"I'm an embodiment of hatred and evil, devoid of kind feelings towards humanity, just like a certain someone Master hasn't been able to summon yet. I'm nothing but a weapon at her disposal. I'm the one who kills Genji!"
"Yes, yes, I get it." Sig looked away, awkward. "Still, I think you should at least thank the one who has allowed you to kill 'Genji' to your heart's content. If not for her, where would you be? And she loves you, we can all tell. Why would she struggle so hard to ascend you and level you up otherwise?"
The woman fell silent and the smile was wiped off her face. The boy wasn't talking nonsense.
"So what?" she spoke defensively. "I never asked her to do that. It's her own fault for putting so much effort into something I didn't even request. I don't care."
Sig gave up and stood up to walk out of the room.
"Having a heart is beautiful, Taira… it's painful, but it's beautiful, I promise you. Think about it for a while… you're not just an embodiment of hatred."
With that, the Caster left the room and closed the door behind him. Taira huffed, annoyed, and turned around to stare at the last person standing in the lounge with her.
"And what the fuck are you doing, standing there in the dark? Aren't you going to say anything?"
The Berserker growled something between gritted teeth and looked away. She remembered he was also one of Master's favorites, and his bond was as high as hers. Maybe he knew something more interesting.
"Hmph, I was here before any of you maggots came in. I didn't mean to hang out with scum at all."
"Well, you don't have to be a little shit about it either…" she said quietly, regretting speaking to the alter version of Cú Chulainn. "Why does Master even like you at all? Sometimes you're insufferable."
"How should I know? I'm nothing but her spear. I don't particularly care for anything else."
'And I'm nothing but her sword.' Taira thought about saying, but Cú went before her.
"However… even if I say I'm just her spear and nothing else, she still cares. And she acts way better than Mebd. She was a bitch, Master is actually decent and… kind. I think a strong spear feels good to be held in the hands of a good warrior, so I feel good to serve Master, just like the spear. Does a sword feel good when a worthy swordsman draws it?"
For a moment, the Avenger thought about that man, Muramasa, the Saber their Master had failed to summon (and cried about for a few days after). He felt as if his philosophy and Cú Alter's were similar. But when she opened her mouth intending to make one last question, she noticed the Berserker was nonchalantly leaving the room, not even sparing her a last glance.
Taira was left in silence with only her own thoughts to give her company.
Growling, she stormed off to go do the only thing that would let her mind be at ease.
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She hated the fact she knew the places where it was likely to find Master. That was the bond's fault, and it served to prove how close they had grown over the past months. She was a being made of hatred, the thought of growing closer to someone and caring about that someone disgusted her too much.
Yet, there she was. Yelling in the kitchen with a soft Emiya looking over her as she attempted to use the new cooking set he had gifted her.
"Master." Taira announced her presence in the room with that simple word. Archer turned his head and stared strangely at her, and their Master noticed her presence a few seconds later. She looked at the Avenger and smiled widely, her happy face being bright like a Sun.
"Ah, Taira-san! Hi! Happy Valentine's day to you!"
And her voice was just as sweet as she remembered. It was a wonder how someone could keep up with that huge output of nice.
"Do you have a moment?" she asked coldly.
"Yes, sure! Emiya-san, would you mind looking over the noodles for a bit?"
The Archer frowned at Taira, then smiled warmly at Master and shook his head.
"Not at all. Leave it to me."
"Thanks! I'll make it up to you!" she enthusiastically ran past him and went up to Taira's side, walking with her out of the room and stopping when they were alone in the corridor, far enough from everyone else so no one would hear them. "What's wrong, Taira-san?"
"You may drop the honorifics."
"Eeeh!? No way! I respect you too much for that!"
"Well, whatever, it's not like I can force you anyway…" she cleared her throat. "Master, you know what day it is today, and so do I. Everyone seems to know. I believe it's a particularly special date for you."
The Master gulped nervously and stared up at Taira, who easily towered over her. Her voice was like a squeak when she spoke next.
"Y-yeah, it's uh, Valentine's. Everyone's been super nice to me and have given me so many things, I doubt I deserve this much, haha…"
"Master. Thank you for all the hard work you've done for me, thank you for letting me kill Genji to my heart's content. I'm truly grateful and in your debt."
"Ah! That! No, not at all, it's alright! I'm really happy you're here with me, so… the least I can do is let you do what makes you happy too."
Taira didn't mean to smile, but the gesture went past her and showed on her lips tenderly.
"I'm a sword, and I'm glad you're the one who wields me. Thank you, Master." with that, she bowed deeply to her Master and calmly took off one of her swords, ignoring the weird, flustered yelps of the smaller woman when she noticed what she was doing. Without more words, she gave her one of her twin blades, then walked away without looking back.
The Master held the heavy weapon with both her hands and stared at it with wide eyes, almost not believing what she was seeing. Her body moved on her own and walked back into the kitchen never taking her eyes off the sheathed sword. She didn't notice the moment Emiya stood in front of her. She softly bumped into him and quickly apologized for being distracted, but the white haired man didn't mind. His eyes were instantly drawn to the sword, and he, too, widened them.
"I… I see it was a very important talk."
"Y-yeah."
"Master, your face is really red. Taira didn't hurt you, right?"
Whoops, she hadn't noticed the blush.
"Ah! Eh, no, she didn't hurt me. She just… gave me this. It… it probably means a lot to her, I'm… surprised."
"This is Azamaru, Master. And it's the real deal, it's not a replica like my swords. I'd suggest you treat it with much care."
"I… I will." she said, nodding. With Emiya's help, she managed to hang the sword on her waist, and when it was secured there, she tried to recompose and go back to cooking her noodles, but was surprised to see Emiya had done his magic again, and a beautiful plate of spaghetti with the most delicious sauce was already waiting for her on the table. She yelled cutely and pouted at the Archer, who simply smiled innocently and urged her to try it. She couldn't resist the kind gesture in the end, and she sat down to enjoy the food, her heart warm not by how good it tasted this time, but for the unexpected gesture of her favorite embodiment of hatred.
It seemed like she was learning to love again, and that made her the happiest.
'Happy Valentine's to you, Master. Please let me continue being your most trustworthy sword.'