Remaining Days: 2
Suddenly, Saber got much heavier. And it did not take me long to realise why—her whole armour had suddenly materialised, along with a helmet that covered her whole head. I could not really keep her from falling, all I could do was to slow down her fall. Her armour was that heavy.
It disappeared just a moment after, but left Saber unconscious. And nude. Why did her whole armour dematerialise? Maybe I messed up really badly?
I took her into my arms and carried her to our bed, then covered her with our blanket. She was still breathing, at least. And another check revealed nothing out of the ordinally. I chalked it up to this process being somewhat draining, and Saber was just fatigued. After a night of well rest, she would be fine, just as usual.
However, even in the morning, Saber oversleeps. This is not any unusual and yet, due to the circumstances, it worries me. I check her status again—for the probably 20th time by now—but still, nothing seems wrong. Her stats are the same, there are no new penalties, really, everything should be fine. So why is she still fatigued? I wish the terminal could show something like a health bar for Saber. But that would make this just like some kind of RPG, which it is not—this is real.
Without Saber, I cannot do much. Thus, I settle for another attempt to meet Fujimura so I can give her this pudding she asked for. Not that I really expect to meet her, but who knows.
Against the odds—-/at least in the way I saw it—I do meet her in the hallway.
"Ritsuka-chan!" She beams upon spotting me, as I am already walking towards her. "Do you have my pudding?" I feel like I can almost see drool dripping from her lips. Is chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce really that good?
"Yes," I tell her as I take the pudding out of the terminal's storage, and hand it to her. "Here you are." Immediately, she rips the pudding from my hands in anticipation and runs off. Is running not prohibited in the school? I wonder. But at this point, with not many left, I hardly think anyone minds. Especially when it is an NPC.
Before my teacher is completely gone, though, I raise my voice to ask something very crucial.
"What about our reward?" This would cheer Saber up a lot when she wakes up, after all. And admittedly I am looking forward to an even bigger, softer bed and a nice, hot bath as well.
"Your room should have been updated the second you gave me the pudding," Fujimura replies, like an automatic pop up text in a game. At least something works out today. Somehow excitedly, I make my way back to our room. I doubt we could or should go train today, since it is already afternoon. And it is not like we would badly need it.
When I get back, the bed is almost twice as big as it was before. And sitting on it, I feel like I am sitting on a cloud—at least that is what I imagine sitting on a cloud to feel like, if one could. It feels like you are just physically unable to not sleep well on this new bed. And its pale red colour suits Saber, so I like it even more.
"Mmnh…"
My head turns to Saber in an instant. She slowly sits up and rubs her eyes. Still drowsy, she opens her mouth wide to yawn.
"What happened?" asks my Servant, genuinely concerned. "How long was I gone?" I chuckle at this. I am just more than happy that she is fine after all, I rather worry for no good reason than to be right about my worries.
"Not much," I tell her. "You passed out while your armour fully materialised, and soon after your whole armour… disappeared. I put you to bed then." At this moment, her face flushes as she realises that I in fact forgot to dress her into her sleep wear. Not that she should be this embarrassed, we are lovers now, after all. "Also, I just gave Fujimura the pudding."
I glance to a new door in our private room—or now private rooms—which must lead to the bathroom we were promised. Immediately, Saber jumps up and drags me there. No hints of fatigue left in her demeanour. I really worried for nothing.
In the bath, I take off my clothes reluctantly.
"Why are we bathing together?" It is not that I mind, but I am wondering why. I feel like this is reasonable, in case Saber passes out or something like that but on the other hand… well, it is embarrassing after all to be seen like this by Saber. Even though it is irrational.
"It saves time and the tub's big enough," Saber states. But her gaze that is avoiding me tells another story—she just wants me by her side and is trying hard not to look at me. I do feel the same, it is hard not to stare. To me, Saber's body just looks so perfect but it would be really awkward to be caught staring so I try my best not to. Which is even more awkward, in the end.
Thankfully, it does not take long to prepare the bath. A simple fill_tub(); Code Cast does the trick. I easy myself in right after Saber and the bathtub is really way too big. I am sure a third, maybe even a fourth person could fit inside. I can feel all my muscles relaxing in this hot water and I am glad I got myself a hair tie similar to Saber's so I can put my hair up—it would be annoying otherwise.
The steam also covers most of what I should not be staring at but badly want to. Maybe another time, I tell myself, somewhat disappointed of myself. This is just immoral, I should not be this much of a pervert, really. Not many minutes after we fell to silence in the bath, I can feel Saber's shoulder touching mine. She inched closer, little by little, without me noticing it. Who would have thought Saber of all people could be sneaky?
"Feels nice," she comments. I am not sure what exactly she means, so I am asking for clarification.
"The water, or me?" Her cheeks turn reddish way too easily, but it is still cute every single time. Especially when Saber turns into an adorable, stammering mess.
"B-both," she admitted. "But I meant the water." I am a little disappointed that hot water beats me on her 'feels nice'-list. I wrap my arms around her, it feels different to be this close in water, but not any unpleasant. "M-Master?"
"Just felt like it," I explain. And it is true, I have not much of a reason. I would not mind if there were more intimate touches to our relationship—even innocent things like hugging and cuddles—but Saber is just Saber. I know she enjoys it, but she is trying so hard not to show it and I do not want to spoil her too much.
"I see." Saber shifts a bit and ends up leaning her head on my shoulder. In moments like this, I really appreciate my height. Minutes pass, maybe close to an hour, in silence. We both have our eyes closed and just enjoy the relaxation of the hot water on our skin, and our skin touching.
I will admit that I could not help but think about doing something indecent to Saber in the bath. She is just so defenceless right now, it would be too easy to surprise her. But I just cannot bring myself to do it. There is a big battle coming up—yet again—and Saber deserves this nice rest. Maybe another time.
Then, another thing pushes its way into my mind. This is the second day I have not been checking on Rin. Is she even fine? How can I be this irresponsible? I was the one to save her, so now I am responsible for her. I need to take this more serious.
"Something bothering you?" Saber looks up to me cutely, not taking her head off my shoulder. This adorableness should be forbidden.
"Not much, just worried about how Rin's doing. I haven't seen her for two days." Saber distances herself from me as if I just insulted her whole heritage.
"You're thinking about her now, really?!" She gets up and raises her voice. I do not really have time to gawk at her, though, and it is the last thing on my mind right now.
"Of course I am! What is so bad about this?" Saber looks almost the same amount of hurt as she looks angry.
"Fine. I'll go to bed." And with that, she leaves the bath. How can she be this irresponsible? I should not be in this all by myself. At least I do not feel too bad about sneaking a glance at her butt now in this perfect chance, which just makes me angry at myself for making her go.
I should apologise first thing in the morning—I doubt Saber would want to talk to me this evening anymore.