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Fluffy… The first thing Shirou felt when he awoke was the brush of his servant’s catlike ears on his cheeks. He couldn’t help but crack a small smile as he opened his eyes. Atalanta was wary of Shirou when she was first summoned, and it took some time for her to trust him due to her past with men that claimed themselves to be heroes and didn’t help both were reckless. However as the war progressed she slowly became more open to him at seeing his selfless nature and when she saw on the dream cycle, the fire of Fuyuki from 10 years ago, the roles changed in that night but after exchanging their life experiences both began to really grow fond of each other as few understood their same pain and even less use that pain to chase a dream.
“Archer,” Shirou nuzzled his chin on Atalanta’s head gently. “Archer, it’s time to wake up.”
“Nnn…” Atalanta shifted in his arms, burying her face into Shirou’s chest. “Can’t thee spare a few more minutes?”
“As much as I want to, we have to get up. We’ve got a big day ahead of ourselves,” Shirou gently blew into Atalanta’s ear, who stiffened and jumped out of bed in response.
“S-Shirou!” Atalanta pointed a betrayed finger at Shirou, who was snickering to himself as he stood up. “Thou hast promised not to do that anymore!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Shirou held back another fit of laughter as he looked Atalanta in the eyes. “I just can’t help it. You’re just too cute when you react like that.”
“I…” Atalanta’s flushed cheeks only deepened in color as she huffed and turned around. “Did thee not say we have a busy day? Let us go acquire breakfast.”
“You’re right,” Shirou said, walking over and wrapping his arms around Atalanta. He rested his chin on her shoulder and let a smile wash over his face. He could never get sick of this. “Thank you.”
“No, I must thank thee,” Atalanta smiled as she placed her hands on Shirou’s arms lovingly. “For everything.”
-
“Shirou! Food!” Both Shirou and Atalanta were already in the kitchen when Taiga burst through the door. “Good morning, Aika.”
“Good morning,” Atalanta said with a smile. “Shirou and I are preparing breakfast. It should be done soon.”
“Thank you,” Taiga said respectfully as she went to sit down.
“When are we going to tell her your real name?” Shirou asked as he opened the refrigerator. When Taiga first interrogated Shirou, Atalanta had introduced herself as Aikaterini, which was apparently a modern Greek name. If he summoned a different class servant, like a Saber, he might have been able to get away with using her class name. “How does omurice sound?”
“When willst thou tell her we are involved romantically?” Atalanta asked with a cheeky smile as she took the eggs while Shirou took the rice out of the refrigerator.
“Soon,” Shirou sighed. Somehow, they’ve managed to evade Taiga’s wrath for three months (with some help from Rin), but he didn’t know how long they could keep it up. “Atalanta, can you get the—”
“Sorry I’m late!” The door flew open. Shirou had to get on his toes and peek over to see Sakura with her hands on her knees, panting as if she just ran a marathon.
“Good morning Sakura,” Atalanta greeted, peeking her head over from the kitchen.
“Good morning…” Sakura eyed Taiga before turning back to the servant, “Aika.”
“We’re making omurice this morning,” Atalanta said. “Would you like to join us?”
“Omurice?! Heck yeah!” Taiga whooped.
“Alright! I’ll get started on the veggies,” Sakura took a deep breath and headed into the kitchen and immediately started dicing the carrots and onions. Atalanta had placed the rice aside and started to get to work on the chicken. Shirou went to get the rice before turning on the stove and placing a bit of butter on it..
“Here you go, senpai,” Sakura handed Shirou the vegetables and he placed it in the pan. As Shirou started to stir the vegetables, Atalanta threw the chicken in.
“Thank you, dear,” Shirou said. His smile grew as he saw Atalanta’s ears twitch as she went off to get the eggs. Shirou continued to mix in the ingredients before adding rice and ketchup. When it was done, he moved the food to a different bowl.
“Here,” Atalanta handed Shirou the beaten eggs and Shirou poured it into a new pan. When it was ready, he added the rice and shaped the omelet. Finally, he placed it on the plate and drizzled ketchup over it.
“Alright, that’s the first one,” Shirou said. He turned to Atalanta and Sakura. “You guys can sit down. I’ve got the rest.”
“Alright, senpai,” Sakura dipped her head before following Atalanta out of the kitchen.
I’m lucky to have them, Shirou thought. Sakura and Rin have been invaluable friends, even after the Holy Grail War. After all the preparation, making the other servings didn’t take all that long. Shirou grabbed two of the plates and walked out. As he exited the kitchen, Atalanta immediately stood up to get the other plates.
“Thank you,” Shirou said as she brushed past him. He placed the two plates in front of Taiga and sat down, Atalanta not far behind him with his food. She placed a plate in front of him and sat down with the last one. With a quick prayer, they all started to dig in.
“So, you guys going to the orphanage today?” Taiga looked up from her food to look at the couple.
“Yeah,” Shirou nodded his head with a smile.
“You know, Neko’s been really sad ever since you started to work over there,” Taiga said with a raised eyebrow. “Every time I would go there for a drink, she’d whine about how she misses her Shi-chan.”
“I know,” Shirou heaved a sigh. “I just… cooking for the orphanage makes me feel good. Neko has treated me well, but I’m really passionate about this.”
“Yeah, yeah. Helping and feeding the kids brings you one step closer to being a sup—”
“Anyways,” Shirou turned to Sakura. “What are you planning on doing today?”
“Medea invited us to go shopping, so I’ll be doing that with her and Rin,” Sakura replied with a smile. “She finished Rider’s new glasses yesterday so she wants to find some outfits that match.”
“That sounds fun,” Shirou said. All things considered, he was grateful that things ended amicably with Medea. Her Item Creation skill had proven itself to be very useful when she made Rider a pair of Mystic Eye killers. Ever since then, Rider had Medea make her more glasses that differed in style and based her outfits off her glasses. Truly, glasses were very versatile.
“Oh! And after that, I have a job interview,” Shirou noticed Sakura’s small smile widened, if only a little bit. “I’m super excited about it.”
“Oh? Where are you working at?” Taiga looked up from her empty plate.
“I’ll tell you once I get the results. It’s a surprise,” Sakura replied.
“Aw, come on, Sakura. It’s your first job! Spill the tea,” Taiga whined.
“Nope,” Sakura seemed to find amusement in Taiga’s dismay as she shook her head.
“Well, we should head out soon,” Shirou said as he stood up. Everyone had finished their breakfast surprisingly quickly. Even Sakura, who was known for being a slow eater, demolished her meal. “Here, I’ll wash the dishes.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Sakura stood up in turn. Shirou opened his mouth, but Sakura spoke first. “ If you say hi to Yumi for me.”
“Will do,” Shirou said with a smile. Yumi was one of the kids at the orphanage and although both Shirou and Atalanta swore off picking favorites, Sakura and Rin had no such stipulation. Despite only visiting once, both Sakura and Rin already had a bias, which funnily enough, happened to be the same person. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you, senpai,” Sakura said.
“Stay safe,” Taiga’s exaggerated features simmered down into a genuine smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah,” Shirou nodded before turning to Atalanta. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” Atalanta said. The two walked out of the house, only letting their fingers intertwined when the door closed behind them.
“Lady’s first,” Shirou opened the door to the Fuyuki Orphanage. Atalanta gave Shirou a pointed look before walking in. The walk took a bit of time, but the daily stroll he had with his girlfriend had grown on him. The first person the couple saw when they walked in was a young boy with brown hair and green eyes. He was walking down the hall when he noticed the two and a huge smile spread across his face.
“Ata!” The boy exclaimed as he ran over to Atalanta.
“Good morning, Daichi,” Atalanta squatted down so she was eye level with the kid. “Where are thou headed?”
“Outside,” Daichi said. “Ken and Yumi wanted to play.”
“That sounds fun,” Atalanta nodded her head and ruffled the kid’s hair. “Dost thou know where Miss Reiko is?”
“Ah, she should be in the staff room with everyone else,” Daichi pointed to the hall where he came from.
“I thank thee, Daichi,” Atalanta stood up and smiled down at the child. “I shalt see thee for lunch.”
“See you, Ata!” Daichi said before enthusiastically running off.
“I guess they’re really enjoying their summer break,” Shirou muttered absentmindedly.
“Let us go meet with Miss Reiko now,” Atalanta said.
“Alright,” Shirou said. He knew the layout of the orphanage like the back of his hand. At first, it was imposing, but he was already used to living in a rather large place, considering the size of the Emiya estate, so he got used to the long hallways of his new place of employment quickly. After climbing the stairs, he made a left and found his way to the staff room.
“Excuse me?” Shirou knocked on the door. “Miss Reiko?”
“Coming!” A feminine voice came from the other side. After a couple seconds of shuffling, the door opened to reveal a young woman. She had her jet black hair tied in a bun and she wore something similar to a maid outfit. The bags under her eyes were only amplified by her glasses and she had a patient smile on her face. “I already told you that you can call me Hina.”
“Sorry, force of habit,” Shirou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He then peeked over his shoulder to see that she was the only one in the room. “Where’s everyone else?”
“Ah, Daigo and Murasaki are out supervising the kids, but Daisuke called in sick,” Hina rubbed her chin. “Oh, and Chinatsu doesn’t come in until tomorrow.”
Shirou pursed his lips, which Hina immediately caught onto.
“I-I’m hiring, though! I promise!” Hina held her hands up. “There’s even a couple of people coming in to interview today!”
“If you say so,” Shirou heaved a sigh. Despite being only 24, Hina had inherited the shelter from her parents who had died tragically from a gas leak two years prior. Shirou was happy the orphanage went to someone who truly cared about the kids, but there were a few things that worried him. Hina had severe trust issues. She was adopted by the Reiko family when she was a child after being in an unsafe foster home, so she had trust issues when it came to hiring staff. In fact, Shirou and Atalanta were the only ones she had hired, and that was only because Taiga vouched for them when Shirou was looking to do some volunteer work.
“Anyways, I’ve already prepared everything for you in the kitchen,” Hina said, her strained look shifting back to her smile. Shirou saw Atalanta’s ears twitch, but he ignored it.
“Is there anything else we can help out with?” Shirou asked.
“Well… I’m a bit nervous about the interview,” Hina’s smile twitched, but she forced it through. “Part of the process includes them interacting with the kids to see if they’re a good fit. If it’s possible, can you stay and help me make sure everything’s alright?”
“We can do that,” Shirou assured her. He looked at Atalanta, who nodded. He already knew she wouldn’t turn down more time with the kids.
“Leave everything to us, Miss Reiko,” Atalanta said.
“Please, it’s Hina,” The orphanage director heaved a sigh. “Well, I shouldn’t take up any more of your time. You have a lot of work ahead of you, after all.”
Shirou grimaced as he counted all the children in his head. “That we do.”
Shirou and Atalanta entered the kitchen to see that a bunch of rice was already prepared for them. A lot of it seemed to be leftovers from breakfast, but it would work well enough.
“Onigiri?” Shirou asked. At this point, it was just a formality.
“Onigiri,” Atalanta agreed. Without another word, the two immediately got to work. While Atalanta started to add vinegar to the rice, Shirou took a look at the refrigerator. He accounted for all of the kids’ likes and took out beef, chicken, and fish.
Ever since they started working at the orphanage, the couple’s onigiri became an instant hit. Onigiri was a recipe that led to a near limitless amount of combinations and with Shirou’s modern cooking expertise and Atalanta’s ability to think outside the box in combination with her more archaic approach of cooking, the two made an amazing team.
As Shirou started to cook all of the meats, Atalanta started to make the balls. She left indents in each of them and added a bit of seasoning before setting them to the side. When Shirou finished, Atalanta brought the balls over and the two started to stuff the meat in the balls before adding the nori.
“Alright, this should be enough for all of them,” Shirou looked at the large platters of food. There was enough for thirty people. No small feat for two chefs. He then looked up at the clock in the kitchen. 12:30 pm. They were right on time.
As if the universe was replying to his thoughts, the sound of chattering children started to approach. As Shirou and Atalanta each grabbed two plates, they heard the door open to see Hina followed by a middle aged man. The man was big, his muscles showing through his T-shirt and shorts and his piercing brown eyes were enough to intimidate anyone.
“Afternoon, Daisuke,” Shirou walked up to the man, who was a head and a half taller than him. The man looked down at Shirou before a warm smile spread across his face.
“Afternoon,” Daisuke greeted. “The kids are ready for you. We’re just here to help.”
“Thank you,” Shirou nodded with a friendly smile as he made his way out of the dining room. The two walked in to see that the four large tables were already filled with six children each.
Twenty-four sets of eyes immediately homed in on not the couple, but what they were holding. Twenty-four children waited with baited breath as the adults placed their meals in front of them. Twenty-four children turned their heads to Hina and waited for the sign. Hina led Shirou and Atalanta to the front of the room where everyone could see them.
“What do you say?” Hina asked.
“Thank you Shirou and Atalanta!” A chorus of voices flooded the room. Shirou felt his heart swell. The appreciation that each child had for his cooking is why he got this job.
“Alright, dig in,” Hina nodded with a satisfied smile. The children clasped their hands together and said a prayer before the commotion began. Children happily chatted away as they ate. It was a refreshing change of pace. Children always wore their hearts on their sleeves, unlike most of the people Shirou had to deal with in his day to day, or even worse, magi from the Clock Tower.
“That reminds me,” Shirou said as he turned to Hina. “What time are the prospects coming?”
“They should be coming in about…” Hina looked at the watch on her wrist. “Half an hour.”
“Just enough time for lunch, then,” Shirou said and Hina nodded. “We can supervise the kids while you prepare.”
“Thank you,” Hina replied with a small smile. “If you’re going to do that, you should take your break now.”
“Alright,” Shirou said as he looked at Atalanta. “Wanna head over?”
“If that is thy wish,” Atalanta dipped her head. Shirou rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile before leading his partner out of the dining room.
Yumi sighed as she sat down by a tree, letting her back rest on the trunk. The boys went off to play tag. Yumi usually only joins in when a ball is involved because the boys tend to roughhouse when there isn’t. She couldn’t find herself getting along with the girls either. She didn’t know why. They were all nice to her. She just didn’t feel a connection.
“Hey,” Yumi turned to see Shirou standing next to her. “Mind if I sit here?”
“No,” Yumi shook her head. Shirou nodded and sat down. The eight-year-old examined his features and when he noticed his smile, she followed Shirou’s gaze and found Atalanta scolding some of the boys. She couldn’t hear what the woman was saying, but the defeated expression on Daichi’s face said it all.
“Boys,” Shirou stifled a chuckle. “Some things never change, huh?”
“Aren’t you a boy, Mister Shirou?” Yumi asked, earning another chuckle from the man.
“Yeah,” Shirou answered, his smile now wider. “Atalanta still has to scold me every now and then.”
“Really?” Yumi asked.
“She’s not the only one too,” Shirou heaved a sigh. “Speaking of which, Sakura says hi.”
“Oh!” Yumi felt a smile growing on her face. She remembered the time Sakura and her sister stopped by. Yumi’s best friend was adopted the previous day and she was sitting alone in the library when the two approached her.
“I’m happy she remembers me.” Yumi said. She remembered how kind and patient Sakura was. Rin looked apprehensive at first, but when she saw the book that Yumi was reading, she immediately got excited. Yumi had always liked to read. According to Rin, she had to read that book in middle school. Yumi had a lot of fun spending time with the two of them.
“Are you kidding? She asks about you all the time,” Shirou laughed. “She’s been trying to find a time to come back, but she’s really busy.”
“I can’t wait to see her again,” Yumi felt warmth flood her heart. To know that someone wanted to spend their time with her. To be wanted. Not for being a kid at an orphanage, but for her. It felt good.
“Yeah,” Shirou said.
“Everyone! Can you come over here for a few minutes?” The two heard Hina shout.
“We should see what she wants,” Shirou said as he stood up. He turned to Yumi and offered a hand. “Here.”
“T-thank you,” Yumi said as she took Shirou’s hand and let him pull her up. The two walked over and Yumi’s eyes widened as she saw who was standing next to Hina.
“Alright everyone, I wanted to introduce you to a couple people that might be joining us here,” Hina said as she turned to the two people next to her. “This is Sakura and Medusa.”
Shirou felt his own face morph into an expression of shock. He knew Sakura was getting a job, but here? Sakura seemed to notice the look on his face because she looked at him and smiled.
“Alright, you can go back to playing. Sakura and Medusa will be helping us supervise, okay?” Hina said.
“Okay!” The children chorused before running off.
“Sakura!” Yumi ran from Shirou’s side to the young woman, who smiled down at the child.
“It’s so nice to see you again, Yumi,” Sakura crouched down so she was eye level with the young girl. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been good!” Yumi chirped.
“Is this the one you were talking about?” Medusa asked. Yumi looked up at Medusa and took a step back. Medusa turned to look at Sakura. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s okay. Yumi is just shy,” Sakura said before turning back to the child. “Yumi, this is Medusa. She’s been living with me for the past few months. She’s really nice, I promise.”
“I-if you say so,” Yumi said as she eyed Medusa nervously. “Is Rin here?”
“Yeah, she’s inside,” Sakura said.
“She’s doing some… babysitting of her own,” Medusa said.
“Medusa!” Sakura glared at her friend. “Don’t be mean.”
“I’m not. I’m just being truthful,” Medusa shook her head. Shirou couldn’t help but chuckle. Jason was… a lot, that’s for sure.
“Can we go see her? Please?” Yumi pleaded to Sakura.
“I have to watch everyone, Yumi,” Sakura shook her head and placed a hand on Yumi’s. “Rin will be outside soon, though. I promise.”
“Alright!” Yumi chirped.
“And that’s why the Argonauts would win against the Round Table,” Jason said as he walked out accompanied by Rin, who looked annoyed.
“Whatever you say, Saber,” Rin rolled her eyes. Her expression brightened when she saw Yumi. “Yumi! It’s so nice to see you again!”
“Rin!” Yumi ran up to her before looking at Jason. “Who’s this?”
“An… unfortunate stowaway—”
“I’m right here,” Jason pouted.
“Although he can be annoying at times, he helped me out when I was in a tough spot,” Rin cracked a smile. “He’s not that bad when you get to know him. He’s really a huge softie.”
“Way to give a good impression, Rin,” Jason heaved a sigh before looking down at Yumi. “Sup kid. The name’s Jason, but you can call me Captain.”
“Yumi,” The child’s voice was not as anxious as it was when she talked to Medusa, but it was still obvious that she was still intimidated.
“Nice to meetcha Yumi,” Jason said with his signature smile, which seemed to put Yumi at ease.
“I didn’t expect thou to be here,” Everyone turned to look at Atalanta, with Daichi following not far behind. “But since thoust decided to grace us with your presence, please take Daichi to the nurse’s office. He scraped his knee.”
“Sure, why not?” Jason said with a smile as he sauntered over to Daichi, who looked like he was close to tears. “Hey, little man. That’s quite the scar you got.”
“Y-Yeah,” Daichi sniffled. “I-it hurts.”
“Don’t sweat it, kid. The nurse’ll patch you up in no time,” Jason put a hand on Daichi’s back as he led him inside. “How’d ya get it, by the way? It must have been an epic.”
“Huh?” Daichi looked up at Jason with a confused expression.
“Heroes get scars all the time, and when they do, it’s usually because they were doing something really cool,” Jason said, holding up his finger as if he was teaching something. “I bet you did something awesome.”
“Yeah,” Daichi sniffled and nodded as he wiped his tears. “Yeah, you’re right. I did do something cool. We were playing knights and…”
The two went off as Daichi started to tell this epic tale about how he tripped and fell with Jason looking like he was completely invested.
“Huh, I didn’t expect him to have a soft side like that,” Rin said.
“He can be kind when he wants to,” Atalanta admitted.
“As arrogant as he is, he is capable of empathy,” Medusa added.
“Well, we should probably check on the others,” Sakura said, turning to Yumi. “Do you want to join us?”
“Sure!” Yumi said as she made her way to Sakura’s side. Sakura paused for a moment before extending her arm. Yumi grabbed it with both of her hands and followed Sakura and Medusa as they went off to talk to another group of kids.
“I think she can do a lot of good here,” Shirou said.
“Yes,” Atalanta breathed out a sigh of relief. “It seems she is finally branching out.”
“Branching out?” Shirou turned to Atalanta.
“Did thou not notice?” Atalanta asked. When Shirou shook his head, Atalanta just shrugged her shoulders. “It is in the past. Thou needn’t worry thyself.”
“If you say so,” Shirou said.
“Now, don’t we have a job to do?” Atalanta asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, we should probably do something before they all dogpile on Rin,” Shirou chuckled as they ran off. With Rin being as easy to tease as she is and the ruthless nature of the children, it was only a matter of time before Rin would meet her match.
“What a day,” Shirou stretched as he entered his room. Sakura and Medusa ended up getting hired so they went back to the Emiya estate to celebrate. While he enjoyed everyone’s company, he felt drained afterwards.
“I must agree,” Shirou jumped as he heard Atalanta’s voice behind him.
“Jeez, don’t scare me like that!” Shirou put a hand on his chest.
“My apologies,” Atalanta walked up to Shirou and put her hand over his. “I did not intend to frighten thee.”
“I know, I know,” Shirou said as he gingerly grabbed Atalanta’s hand and led her into the bed. “Let’s just get some rest.”
“Agreed,” Atalanta said as the two wrapped themselves in each other’s arms. “Shirou, I love thee.”
“I love you too, Atalanta,” Shirou whispered as he closed his eyes. Today was a great day.