To love a sword

Chapter 21: Twins and Celine Part 1

Beta read by Shigiya and Paragon of Awesomeness.

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-Sainan Park-

“Hah, it's too hot!” Walking in the blistering heat, the trio of Saki, Rin, and Aya sat on a bench at the park. All three were sweating profusely from the glaring sunlight soaked into their skin to the point where even having a parasol barely did anything to ward off the heat.

“Rin… why are we wasting our time walking though this infernal hellscape?” The blonde heiress asked, having her sweat wiped away by Aya with a damp towel. She was certain that if she stayed outside for even another five minutes, then not even the best sunscreen on the market would be enough to prevent her from getting a sunburn. Her dress was soaked with sweat and felt disgusting as it clung to her skin, and each breath felt like she was inhaling hot vapor. 

“We were in the process of designing Yuuki Emiya Shirou's butler outfit. You were adamant that it was best you speak with the designer yourself and work out the details in person rather than picking a set from the catalog. Once that was finished, you wished to enjoy a stroll through the park, and there was some cloud coverage at the time.” Rin answered calmly, her face emotionless and her tone dutiful. Evidently the swordswoman was not suffering as much as her mistress due to her being more used to harsh conditions, which included hot weather. Having trained with the sword under the sun for hours on end throughout the years had made her body well-conditioned, and not sweat nearly as much compared to her two companions. 

“Why didn't I just have her driven to my house, then? The park by my mansion is much better shade even on days like today.”

Was the heat getting to her that she forgot such a detail? Rin wondered… “She's hospitalized after getting hit by a bus earlier this week. That’s why we went to the hospital.” 

“...”

“Ah… right, thankfully only her leg got injured. Though you have to give her credit that she's still adamant on continuing her work. I can respect that kind of work ethic.” 

Rin didn't want to voice it outloud, but she was pretty certain that the lady was so willing to help them even in her condition mainly because the hospital turned out to be owned by the Tenjoin family — so she most likely feared offending the girl. And on top of that, Saki had been upfront about being willing to fork out a rather substantial payment for this job, enough to accelerate the designer’s retirement date by a good three years just for this single outfit. Sometimes Rin had to hold in a sigh at her mistress’ behavior, as despite being so gifted with talent, Saki was astoundingly naive in some matters. 

“B-But at least we got it done in the end,” Aya added, trying to cheer the heiress up. “You were very happy with the final design.” 

“But of course! It took so much effort just to get him to agree to the whole thing in the first place, so you’d better believe I'm not willing to let this opportunity slip by and allow him to get away with wearing a simple run-of-the-mill suit without adding some of my own… ideas to it.” She chuckled, giddy over the anticipation of seeing him go through with their promise. While he did mention that they would start as acquaintances and that only afterward would he give any consideration to her offer to become her butler, the heiress was extremely confident of her ability to impress him within a span of a single day. 

‘He only needs to step foot inside the house once, and by the end of it I'll have him be more than happy to become my personal butler, whereupon he’ll be delighted to find that I already have his own tailored suit ready for him so he can begin right away!’