Fate: Hammer Time

Chapter 21: Heavy Conversations

"So, what is it that you girls wanted to talk about?" Chiaki asked, teacup in hand and arms crossed expectantly as she looked at the girls sitting across from her.

It was the day after the police-interview, and so far, everything seemed to be going well. No doubted anymore that Zouken had been responsible for burning the Matou-estate down, and any ongoing investigations were nothing more than a formality.

Sakura was fully in the clear –not that Chiaki had ever expected anything else– and had come over to the Mitsuzuri-estate that morning to thank them for their support during the interview.

At some point though, Sakura and Ayako had suddenly pulled Chiaki aside and asked if they could talk to her, or to be more specific, if they could ask her a question.

Not seeing any reason to refuse, Chiaki had made tea and then sat them all down at the table, before asking the girls what they wanted to talk about.

'This might take a while though.' She thought, as the girls suddenly seemed very hesitant and unsure of where to start the conversation, if the shifty looks, the constant tapping of fingers, and the way Ayako clung to Sakura for support were any indication.

"Well?" She prompted, making sure to keep her voice soft and kind. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uhm, well, we need some advice." Ayako began, her eyes looking everywhere but at Chiaki. "And you're the only one we know who can help us with... t-this."

"Oh? And what about your father? Or Shirou? Perhaps a teacher or another friend?" Chiaki hedged, partially teasing, but also genuinely curious.

"None of the teachers are close enough to us, our friends won't know anything more than we do, dad is... well, a man and Shirou is actually a part of the problem." Ayako replied promptly. "You're our only hope, mom."

So Shirou was part of the problem. That made deducing the cause of this conversation much easier.

Chiaki's mood darkened as she realised that they were probably intending to ask her for romantic advice. She had known this day would come at some point, when the girls would approach her for lessons in love, but she had hoped that it would be far, far away. Like, well-into-adulthood far.

It wasn't that she minded them asking for love advice, in fact, she was delighted both Ayako and Sakura trusted her enough for that. The problem here was that they both had feelings for the same man, Shirou.

Chiaki feared that the girls might ask her to determine which of the two would get to pursue Shirou and who would have to back off. That they had decided to settle the matter once and for all by asking an adult to make that choice.

Chiaki couldn't do that! She just couldn't. One of the girls was her daughter, and the other was her daughter in all but blood. How could she ever be expected to choose between them, especially when it came to something as complicated as love?

"I see," Chiaki eventually said, carefully keeping her emotions hidden behind a poker face. "Then I suppose I would indeed be the only choice left. What kind of advice do you want?"

Damn, that came out way too harshly, and now they were looking at her with concern. She had to smile, smile dammit.

With great effort, she managed to put a smile on her face. It was a brittle thing, but it seemed enough for the girls, who were noticeably set at ease at the sight.

"Ah, I-I guess it's l-love advice." Sakura whispered, her face completely red. Not that Ayako fared any better at the moment. "We j-just wanted to ask you about relationships, and w-what to do when you b-both like the same p-person."