Fate: Hammer Time

Chapter 25: The Resolution of Many Matters

"..."

Eyes blinked slowly, gazes locked onto each other with laser-like intensity, as neither girl wanted to break the staring contest first.

"..."

Bodies were tense, coiled almost, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice.

"..."

"..."

"..."

This was not at all going as planned!

Ayako had to forcibly suppress a powerful sigh as she looked at Sakura and Rin, who were staring at each other without speaking a word.

They had been going at it for almost ten minutes now, ten straight minutes of wordless staring while they shifted around like they were about to launch into combat.

It had all started so well too. Ayako had almost squealed in delight when Rin called Sakura 'imouto' and Sakura called Rin 'Onee-san' in turn. She'd thought that such a start would mean that the rest of the conversation would go smoothly too, that Shirou would come home to the sight of two sisters having reconciliated already.

Instead, at this rate, he would come home to cold stares and awkward silence.

Should Ayako do something herself? Would that be welcome, or would the sisters be annoyed at her interruption? Was there anything she could do?

She'd already made tea and served the biscuits and cakes Sakura had prepared for today, which had prompted no reaction from either of them, and neither had loudly clearing her throat, several times, done anything to break the stalemate.

At this point, she was seriously considering knocking their heads together, if only to break the oppressive silence. They were both already leaning forward in their seats, their full attention on each other. Grabbing the back of their heads and smashing them together should be easy.

It wasn't exactly a kind thing to do, but she was getting desperate here.

Ayako stood up slowly, carefully, not making a sound. Equally as carefully, she ghosted forward, reaching out until her hands were behind the sisters' heads, preparing to knock them together just hard enough to slightly hurt-

"Is everything to your satisfaction, Nee-san?"

-Only to scramble back into her seat when Sakura suddenly spoke up, her heart almost jumping out of her chest in shock.

It didn't seem like Sakura had done it on purpose, but hell, had she given Ayako a fright there.

At least they were talking again.

"Huh?" Rin blinked several times, as if she had just woken up, before frowning slightly with an apologetic expression. "Excuse me, what did you say? I wasn't listening."

"Is everything to your satisfaction?" Sakura repeated, gesturing towards the tea and biscuits. "You haven't touched any of it yet."

Neither had Sakura though, but Rin refrained from mentioning that in favour of taking a sip of her tea.

"It's excellent." She praised as she put the cup down again and took a slice of cake, nibbling daintily from it. "The cake is delicious too."

"Thank you." Sakura smiled shyly. "I made it this afternoon. I remembered you liked cinnamon, so I added a little to the cake."

"You remembered that?" The corners of Rin's lips twitched upwards for a moment, before they settled back into a neutral position. "That is very kind of you, but you could have thought about yourself as well. You could have made one with chocolate-sprinkles for instance, I remember you really liked them."