Chef's Kiss Ch. 8 (Fate/Grand Order) (Patreon)

A/N: In which a decision is made~

EDIT: Had to repost the chapter because I forgot a SUPER obvious and completely NECESSARY voting option! If you already voted, make sure to vote again!

-x-X-x-

Letting out a sigh, Shirou nods to Ritsuka.

“Yes… we’ll help. Rin and I will agree to become Provisional Masters of Chaldea for the length of this emergency.”

Ritsuka perks up at that, and the look on the red head’s face makes Shirou sure that he’s made the right call. She’s just so relieved. It’s as though an immense weight has been lifted from her shoulders. But then to be fair, expecting her to do this all by herself… that wasn’t fair. The world was gone though, so fair had gone right out the window.

Without their presence, Ritsuka would have had to do what she could with the support and resources that she could. But WITH them here, she didn’t have to go it alone. It would be the height of cruelty to leave Ritsuka to fend for herself when he and Rin were perfectly capable of helping her in this manner.

Though, the relief is overshadowed by confusion as she properly parses his words and furrows her brow in response. Glancing over at Sakura, she looks uncomfortable for a moment before asking the question on the tip of her tongue anyways.

“Not… not her as well?”

Shirou and Rin share a glance, while Sakura smiles and shakes her head before answering for herself.

“It wouldn’t be a good idea. Someone like me… I don’t always summon the nicest things.”

The shadows flicker around her ominously as if to make her point. But then, given what Shirou knows of Sakura’s control over said shadows, they probably ARE flickering just to prove her point. Ritsuka, meanwhile, blanches a bit at the idea. Even though Sakura is being purposefully vague, she’s said more than enough to let the Master of Chaldea’s imagination run wild. Finally, Ritsuka just nods and then bows at the waist to all of them.

“Thank you for your help! I promise, you won’t regret this!”

Rin scoffs at that, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You can’t make a promise like that, so don’t even bother trying. We might all very well come to regret this before the end and that’s just a fact. However… I know Shirou. He’d definitely regret it if we didn’t help out, so might as well avoid his moping and pouting.”

Lifting her head, Ritsuka looks Rin in the eye and places a finger on her chin in thought.

“… You’re a very cynical person, aren’t you Senpai?”

Rin flushes at being called Senpai, and though she scowls a little bit at Ritsuka’s words, Shirou can also tell that the form of address pleases her all the same. Sniffing haughtily to cover up that fact, Rin flips her hair back.

“I’m a realist. The fact is, you can’t promise that. So promise that you’ll have our backs no matter what instead. And we’ll promise the same to you.”

Smiling brightly, Ritsuka’s eyes already starting to shine with a little bit of hero worship, the red head nods.

“Of course, Senpai! I promise, I’ll have your backs no matter what!”

Chuckling, Shirou pipes up then.

“And I promise as well.”

With that, it’s settled. He and Rin will… present themselves alongside Ritsuka to Chaldea’s Acting Director as potential Master Candidates. Of course, first they have to make themselves actually presentable. Mostly by putting on clothing, but Rin also demands some time in the bathroom to do… whatever it is girls do before they go places.

Eventually, about thirty minutes later, he and Rin depart from their rooms, following Ritsuka through the halls of Chaldea until they eventually reach the Command Room. Luckily, Dr. Roman is already inside, hard at work. Though the look on his face when he sees them with Ritsuka is… strained to say the least.

“Ritsuka…”

Gulping audibly, the red haired Master of Chaldea immediately waves her hands in the air.

“W-Wait! I know you said not to get too close to them or to investigate on my own! But before you get mad Director, you have to understand… it all happened so fast!”

Shirou exchanges a slightly alarmed look with Rin. Was Ritsuka about to tell Roman EVERYTHING about how they ended up in this situation? He certainly hoped not! That would be… highly embarrassing. Rather than wait to find out, Rin steps forward, clearing her throat and placing a hand on Ritsuka’s shoulder.

“Director Roman. I understand that you likely have your suspicions about us. After everything that’s happened, you would be a fool not to. I can even go ahead and confirm that some of your concerns are true. We aren’t who we seem to be. This much is factual. We have our secrets… but this is bigger than that.”

Dr. Roman frowns, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans to Rin’s speech. Seeing that he’s not going to interrupt, Rin quickly continues on.

“You all need our help. That isn’t up for debate, unless somehow the outside world has begun existing again in the last couple of hours?”

“… No. No it has not.”

Rin nods sharply at that, before pressing her lips together in a thin line.

“… We do not want to reveal ourselves to everyone. We have told Ritsuka the truth about who we are and why we’ve come to Chaldea in the first place. Let me reassure you, our purpose here was never to disrupt or harm anyone. We only wanted to hide.”

A fraction of the tension in Dr. Roman’s shoulders relaxes at that, the Acting Director mulling over Rin’s words for a moment before sighing.

“I believe you. Your actions so far don’t seem like the work of saboteurs or enemy agents. And I saw the look on that bastard Lainur’s face when your friend helped to save Director Animusphere. That definitely wasn’t part of his plan, so while the survival of the cafeteria and kitchens when so much of the rest of the facility was bombed is suspicious… I suppose I can’t deny we’re in dire need of assistance.”

His eyes turn to Ritsuka at that point, who freezes in place under his gaze. Not that Dr. Roman is looking at her very harshly at all. In fact, Shirou can see a warmth in the good doctor’s eyes as he looks upon Ritsuka. There’s already fondness and even some affection there.

“Ritsuka… they claim they told you everything at least. So do you trust them? As the Master of Chaldea, I leave this decision in your hands.”

Ritsuka remains frozen for a long moment, clearly stunned by Dr. Roman’s vote of confidence. But finally, she straightens up and squares her shoulders.

“I do, sir. I trust them.”

Letting out a sigh, Dr. Roman uncrosses his arms and runs a hand through his hair.

“… Very well. Welcome aboard I suppose. Though… what exactly do you intend to bring to the table?”

Shirou and Rin exchange a glance at that, hesitating and rightfully so. But Ritsuka has no such hesitance to her it would seem.

“They’re going to join me, Director! As Masters of Chaldea!”

That gets a reaction from Dr. Roman, his eyes damn near bulging out of his head at that information. He looks between Rin and Shirou in a completely new light, even though Shirou knows that Rin’s Mystic Codes should still be obfuscating their true identities from the Acting Director. His mouth opens and closes a few times and it’s obvious he has… so many questions.

Shirou can’t help but be a little grateful when the other man manages to swallow said questions and roll with the punches.

“I… see. I won’t ask if you’re both qualified. You wouldn’t be standing here with Ritsuka if you didn’t think yourselves capable. So be it then. As Acting Director, I’ll put you both in the system as Provisional Masters.”

That turns out to be surprisingly easy, and before Rin or Shirou know it, a strange sensation comes over the two of them. Looking down at his hand in surprise, Shirou watches as once more, Command Seals appear on the back of his hand. It’s the same for Rin, the two of them suddenly catapulted back in time for a brief moment, to a war that they’d both survived more than won.

Letting out an explosive breath, Shirou reaches over and takes Rin’s hand in his own, giving it a good squeeze. She startles before flashing him a grateful smile and squeezing his hand right back. Ritsuka, meanwhile, squeals in excitement and yanks them both into a big three-way hug, before pulling back a moment later in embarrassment and stammering out a ‘S-Sorry Senpai’ like she thought Rin was going to bite her head off.

Whether Rin would have had a harsh word for the other woman or not, they never find out because Roman is quick to call them over.

“I best get you all up to speed now. The situation has NOT improved one bit, and things are more dire than ever.”

As they crowd around him, Dr. Roman continues on with his explanation.

“I’ve scanned the past with SHEBA, and a new distortion has been discovered. The scale of this thing makes the Singularity that Ritsuka and Mash managed to deal with pale in comparison. There are in fact SEVEN more Singularities, each at different turning points in the history of humanity. Each of them shatters a core foundation of humankind’s past. They are the true source of humanity’s destruction.”

Fiddling with the controls in front of him, Roman shows them the results even as he explains what they mean. Shirou is more than a little grateful for the explanation if he’s being honest. He can’t even begin to read the results on the console. Though from the way Rin’s eyes are darting back and forth and she’s nodding in understanding, she might actually have a better idea of what they’re being shown.

“The mission is simple. You all must Rayshift into each of the seven Singularities, retrieve the Holy Grails giving them form, and save humanity by returning history to its proper form. Only then will the world outside of Chaldea exist again.”

The air is heavy with those words for a long moment… and then Dr. Roman claps his hands together.

“But first and foremost… we’re not sending you two anywhere without a Servant. Ritsuka has Mash, but you both will need to summon Servants as well before I’m willing to put you in danger.”

Shirou opens his mouth to mention Saber, but Rin stops him by touching his wrist and shaking her head. There was a reason that it was just the two of them at the moment. Someone needed to keep an eye on Sakura and for now, that would be Saber. In the meantime… it seemed they would be summoning Servants.

With no protest from either of them, Dr. Roman leads the way to the Summoning Chamber. They meet up with Mash on the way, the Demiservant looking at them both with a slightly suspicious glint in her eye, but ultimately falling in line alongside Ritsuka in the end. Once inside the chamber, Dr. Roman clears his throat.

“Alright then. First and foremost… the FATE System hasn’t been operating very well for quite some time. I’ve come up with a solution to that issue, however. Mash… I need your Shield.”

Blinking, the Demiservant steps forward and passes her Cross-Shape Shield to Dr. Roman. In turn, he proceeds to place it down on the ground in the center of the chamber, nodding to himself as he does things that Shirou doesn’t quite understand.

“At the heart of this Shield is a simple truth. This is the place where heroes assemble.”

Straightening up after a moment, Dr. Roman steps back and nods to Shirou and Rin.

“Not to worry. The FATE System will handle most of the load that comes from having Servants tied to you. All you have to do… is give it a try. Which of you will be going first?”

Shirou tilts his head towards Rin, who gives him a wordless nod. With a shrug, he steps forward, moving into position. As the ritual begins, he can’t help but feel strange. It’s so very different then the last time he summoned a Servant. But then, he’d never even intended to summon Artoria in the first place, so of course it would be.

This was in fact Shirou’s first time really trying to summon a Servant. It didn’t hurt like summoning Saber had. He didn’t feel a constant overwhelming drain on his mana like he had back during the Fifth Grail War.

Things get bright for a long moment, really bright in fact… and then as suddenly as the summoning has begun, it’s over. As the light fades away, it almost seems to get darker in the chamber than it was before. As though the light isn’t just fading, but actively being sapped from the room.

“… I have come in response to your summon. Are you the one who is to be my Master?”

Shirou’s mouth opens… and then closes. For a moment, he’s at a loss for words. Behind him, distantly as though she’s a thousand miles away, he hears Ritsuka squeak. But it’s hard to hear her over the blood rushing through his ears. Swallowing thickly, Shirou takes in the Servant he summoned. A Heroic Spirit, he’s pretty sure it was supposed to be.

Well… on the one hand, Artoria Pendragon was nothing if not heroic. On the other hand, this was not the Artoria Pendragon that Shirou knew. This Artoria… this Saber, rather, was twisted. Clad in dark armor with red veins pulsing through it, she wields a sword of black and red glowing metal. Over her face is a mask that does nothing to hide her identity but does hide her eyes.

Taking in her surroundings, she seems almost entirely unfazed to find herself summoned to the place of her former enemies. For this was in fact the same Saber that Ritsuka and Mash had faced in Singularity F together. This was an altered Saber. This was Saber Alter.

“I ask again. Are you my Master?”

Letting out a shuddering breath, Shirou finds his footing and nods, stepping forward. Even if this Saber is different from his own… he still trusts her. He can do nothing else.

“I am. Welcome to Chaldea.”

“Hm.”

She doesn’t seem to have anything else to say to that, interestingly enough. Stepping out of the center of the chamber, Saber Alter moves to stand at his side. His Servant… Shirou can feel that in his bones. She is his Servant. However, with the FATE System taking care of most of the load, he’s not in danger of running out of mana at least.

That said… Shirou finds himself making eye contact with Rin and seeing the same concern he now has writ large across her face. They hadn’t really considered who it was they might summon, had they? He’d gotten a darker, much different version of Saber, but it wasn’t that surprising. That then begged the question… what would Rin manage to summon?

Letting out an explosive breath, Rin Tohsaka steps forward and the ritual begins again. Shirou can only gulp as he watches on, more worried for Rin than for himself at this point.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Shirou picking up Saber Alter just made sense to me. But who should Rin pick up? Feel free to leave specific suggestions and reasons for them in comments below, I just might go with one that matches with the winning vote!