Valentine Scenes: Paris
A collection of short Valentine scenes for Original and Crossover Characters who appeared in the Paris chapters, in a hypothetical scenario where they were summoned in Canon Chaldea.
Merry
"So, I can't help but notice… everyone seems very busy these past few days. Is there something I've missed?" Merry d'Lyon finally asks, a confused look on her face."
"Oh! I guess you wouldn't know - your summoning is super unusual, even for a Pretender. Oh my, oh my, where to begin…" Charlotte Corday mutters. "Alright! So, as you know, Saint Valentine's day is approaching!"
"That's true… but it isn't just the Catholic Servants who seem excited. Is there something about Saint Valentine that makes him special even to pagans?" the younger girl asks.
"Ah… not quite," Charlotte gives a forced smile. "Basically… as society grew more secular, Valentine's Day became a holiday to celebrate romance. After that, it grew into a holiday where one gave gifts to their friends - and in Japan it specifically took on an identity where 'girls give chocolates to boys'. There's some giving of 'obligation chocolate' there, but the important part is-"
"I see, so it's about courtship…" Merry mutters, her face turning slightly red. "Still, women giving gifts to men directly… isn't that a bit… forward?"
"Right?" The Assassin replies, strained smile remaining in place. "But anyway, considering Master is from Japan, the girls who fell in love with him have been giving him chocolate every year. It always turns into a really big mess…"
"O-oh…" Merry mutters, looking away. "I guess… I should probably stay out of that, then."
After all, these feelings in her heart… the circumstances of the Ninevah sub-singularity… she hasn't sorted them out yet. Besides, Ritsuka is a pagan, and from a different time, and really there's just no way she, a teenage girl with the eyes of a dead fish, who surrendered even the aspiration to become a maid on her first confrontation with a certain Beach Tyrant, could possibly compete with the beautiful legendary women after his heart.
Charlotte nods. "Yup! You should just stay out of it. This is why you and I get along so well, Merry!"
…Why does her friend's smile make her so angry, though?
***
"E-even you're making chocolate, Gray?" Merry asks in shock. "I didn't really think you liked Master like that…
"Oh! No, um, don't misunderstand. For Master, it's just obligation chocolate," The other girl waves her hands back and forth.
"But that leaves things unsaid about my brother, right?" As Reines El-Melloi intrudes on the conversation, Merry's body rapidly enters fight-or-flight mode.
"Um, I was just leaving-!" She stands up, trying to retreat from the tea room, but-
"Hey, Merry, you get along with Gray just fine," The Rider complains. "Do you really have to run so quickly every time I try to get to know you?"
"Th-that's-! You're a English Noblewoman, and I'm, um-!" The peasant girl tries to stammer an excuse.
"Now, now, sit down. I promise not to hurt you," Reines says, but the smile on her face promises something else entirely. "Now, why don't you tell me about your problems?"
***
Merry opens her mouth, and closes it again. And then she does it again. And again.
"Um, Merry?" Ritsuka asks. Somehow, he manages to avoid asking the girl if she's doing a fish out of water impression. Somehow.
"O-o-obligation! It's obligation chocolate!" She shouts - before she places a four by four foot box into his hands.
"Ah, just obligation chocolate, huh…" Ritsuka mutters, peeking at the contents - wow, that is one enormous heart-shaped chocolate. Decorated with smaller hearts. And an entire poem.
Somehow, he manages to stop himself from raising an eyebrow as he looks at the Pretender.
"R-right! B-besides, you have beautiful women like Artoria giving you chocolate-!"
"You do know you've got basically the same face as Arotoria, right?" He asks. Sanpakugan and sharp teeth aside, MHX definitely has effective damage on this girl.
A million thoughts pass through her mind at that moment. But in the end, they all resolve into one.
Merry d'Lyon flees, tears in her eyes.
***
Obligation Chocolate (False)
Chocolate representing the earnest feelings of a pure-hearted peasant girl. Decorated with red and pink highlights, both in the form of more heart shapes and a poem. The literary servants of Chaldea have kindly refused to comment on it. Except for Anderson, who called it irredeemable trash.
The chocolate itself is quite good, though, thanks to the oversight of Gray and Reines.
By the way, Corday didn't speak to Merry for a day after learning about this.
***
Edward of Woodstock
The familiar sound of steel creaking against steel rings out in the halls of Chaldea as the Black Prince examines his received gift.
"I know you can't actually eat it, but…" Ritsuka's explanation trails off as she gives him a smile.
{"No, I appreciate the gift regardless."} His voice rings out in her mind, buttery smooth as always. {"But, Master, I can't help but worry. You shouldn't make a habit of giving gifts to wicked men."}
He's probably right about that. Goodness knows her next visit is going to be nerve-wracking. However- "That doesn't matter here. Because Edward is a good person."
The Rider freezes. He doesn't make the associated sound, but she can tell from the way his shoulders move that he takes a single deep breath. In, and out. And then-
A crash of steel rings out in the hall as his gauntlet slams into the wall next to her head. Edward leans over her, and his frigid fingers grip her chin, tilting her head up towards him.
"Are you sure about that?" Ritsuka shudders as his voice, barely a whisper, issues forth from his armor.
"I am." A simple kabedon won't faze the last master of humanity! Even if her heart is racing!
"If I had a real body… who knows what might happen to you." The empty black helmet draws close to her face - and then, he takes a step back, hand brushing through her hair as he withdraws. {"...Thank you for the gift, my Master. I do hope you summon me as a Saber one day."}
And with that, Edward turns and goes on his way, leaving a slightly flushed Fujimaru Ritsuka behind.
It takes a few minutes for her to finally notice the black rose slipped into her hair. "Th… that damn smooth, Otome prince-!"
***
Black Rose
Return gift of Edward, the Black Prince. In the civil war that followed the death of him and his father , the rival factions each had a different color of rose as their emblem - oh, who are we kidding. He picked a black rose because he's an edgy Otome prince.
Black Roses do not exist in nature. They are created by dyeing a red or white rose - and just as dye can be removed from a flower with the right means, perhaps with love, you can cleanse his black heart. Or something like that.
Love won't fix his Innocent Monster skill, though, so you should probably just summon him as a Saber.
***
Lye Batenkaitos
"Happy Valentine's!" Ritsuka barely has time to say the words before the chocolate is snatched from her hands and stuffed into the grinning mouth of Lye Batenkaitos, wrapper and all.
"Ah! Oh my! So this, is Valentine's! Amazing, spectacular, wonderful, delicious, *slurp*!" Batenkaitos babbles as he gnashes his teeth. The sound of paper and plastic tearing prompts a grimace from his Master, naturally. "This really is… kind of… boring."
Lye's face falls into a disappointed frown. "...Is that really all? It's just another candy. Master, we don't really understand. Why was everyone so excited…?"
Ritsuka gives a kind smile. "That's because it's not about the food. It's about the feelings behind it. Surely you understand that concept, right?"
"Ah," a smile returns to the Foreigner's face. "Yeah, we get it now. But, Master, the truth is, we're not that good at understanding other people's emotions from interaction."
"Mm, so it's like that," Ritsuka mumbles. "Okay! I'll just say it outright. Ley, the way I feel about you is - even though you were an enemy at first, even though you're kind of an annoying guy to interact with, seeing you stack all of those buffs on yourself at once when your Noble Phantasm gets popped really gets my dopamine flowing, so I appreciate you!"
"We… we don't understand," He mutters - but then, his grin goes wide. "We've never had a feeling like that!"
He lunges for her, left hand outstretched-
"[Gandr]!" - and is sent tumbling backwards as a curse nails him straight in the forehead. "Seriously Ritsuka, what the hell are you thinking, talking to this guy alone!?" Natsuki Subaru shouts. "And you-!" Batenkaitos activates his [Leaper's Talent] and vanishes before Subaru can give him the treatment he deserves.
"Ah… Now I'm gonna need to track him down later and let him know I'm not mad…" Ritsuka mutters.
"No, you should be mad! You should definitely be mad!" the Foreigner servant protests.
"Mm.. I mean, this is pretty much just who he is, so I won't resent him over it." Ritsuka says. "No harm was done in the end, since you made it in time!"
"No harm was done, she says.." Subaru mumbles, rubbing the base of his skull. "Look, I'll ask Louis to track him down later, but for now I'm going to give you an escort."
"Oh! While she's at it, can she let him know I'm still expecting a return gift?" Ritsuka says, Yen symbols visible in her eyes. "If he can't think of anything, an infant [White Whale] would be cool!"
"Your standards for return gifts are insane!"
***
White Whale - Super Duper Compact Model.
Ley Batenkatios's return gift. A tiny version of his Noble Phantasm, it belches fog and lets out annoying high-pitched screams in the middle of the night. Ritsuka swiftly regretted asking for it, but before she could figure out how to get rid of it, it disappeared mysteriously.
The Mini-Cu plushie has been looking awfully satisfied with himself lately, for some reason…
***
Natsuki Subaru
"Anyway, you've got really good timing, Subaru! One hand-made chocolate, just for you-!" Ritsuka says, handing him a red bag which he gingerly unwraps.
"A-ah, I, um, th-thank- OI, this is clearly from a convenience store!" He shouts, pulling out and pointing at a popular candy bar. "What the hell is this!? Ley gets handmade chocolate, and I get Strawberry and Thunder Crunch!?"
Ritsuka doubles over laughing. "Ha! Ha-haha, the look on your face - open it! Open it!"
He inspects the candy bar, and- "Oh, this end is taped shut. Let's see…" He opens it, and finds that wrapped around the expected candy bar is a piece of paper. "...Oh, it's that 'buy a star' scam. Did you seriously pay for this?"
Ritsuka is totally unfazed by his disappointed expression. "Wait! Wait, look at it! Read the name!"
"'Subaru's… Valentine choco. Oi, they seriously okayed this!?" The girl falls down laughing at his gobsmacked expression.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'll eat my Strawberry and Thunder Crunch and cry myself to sleep," Subaru mutters. "How did you even get this set up? Is this Caesar's new business or something?"
"No…" Ritsuka stands up again, wiping the tears from her eyes. "No, I set this up a while ago. Before you went missing."
Subaru looks away, gritting his teeth.
"...I know you aren't the Subaru I know." Ritsuka finally says. "I never existed in your timeline, right? For you… I'm just some girl who thinks she's your childhood friend. So if you want to reject that-"
"No." Subaru says. "No, I'll accept it fully. Even if I don't recall a single bit of it… Fujimaru Ritsuka is my precious childhood friend. So… just give me a bit to remember exactly who we are to each other."
"Mm." She nods, a bittersweet smile on her face.
"...By the way, you want to compare rosters? Our little gang of borderline feral children - I'm curious to see if anyone else is missing from one or the other." Subaru says.
"Okay! So, first, there was EMIYA-"
"Liar! I get that this whole childhood friend angle is totally contrived but don't just make things up!"
"-second is Fujino-"
"Please don't just pick all the modern Japanese!"
"-Flat is third-"
"It would be cool, but he's twice our age!"
"-then Miyako-"
"That one's true, though."
"-Eh?"
***
Patxy Plushie (Handmade)
Return gift from Natsuki Subaru, to commemorate the conquest of the first Lostbelt.
Even if something was erased, it still matters. Subaru earnestly believes this, even now.
By the way, the fact that he's been summoned as a Servant and Emilia can't be means that he's totally single! You can do this, Ritsuka-chan! Just ignore the fact that Rem can also be summoned! The Childhood Friend always wins, after all (lol)!