"... Ahahahaha..."

Nanako scratched the back of her head, cheeks coloring a little. She didn't exactly want to let on she was hungry like that, but it seemed things had slipped out regardless.

"I haven't eaten a lot the past few days, since I was out of it all the time. In that case..."

Nanako got to her feet.

"I've been sitting around too much," she continued. She really did feel that way, honestly. Everything felt sort of heavy... She needed to stretch her limbs and get going. "I hope you don't mind having to accompany me too badly. I've still got some money, so... if anything catches your eye I can buy it for you."

She knew it had to be likely that Melt would rather go out on her own, so the least she could do is make an offer in return.

@PKMNB0Y

It was a nice day for a walk, in the Caster's opinion--though every day was quite nice. She hadn't yet found anything that was able to pin down why certain information was unavailable, which was quite frustrating. She was being forced to use Google and a phone to find some information about what was going on in Fusang... and with her ability to determine what was going on restricted, any mysteries that existed couldn't be solved so easily. It also made it a lot harder to find the interesting magical items that might be smuggled here.

But the internet seemed to be much more likely to recommend restaurants to her than Clairvoyance was and experiencing all the cuisine invented since her death... as fun as it was to stick to all the variations on the familiar, Kaguya wanted a burger. The bun, the potato... both were extremely unfamiliar, even if she knew what they should taste like.

Of course, it just so happened that something had interrupted her before her destination: another Servant and their Master were in the way. Not that this was reason alone to stop in Fusang with its abundance of Servants. No, what caused her to stop was the Servant's hat. Even more specifically, the live bird in the hat.

The bird that, entranced by the beautiful lady and her Noble Phantasm, had turned completely around to gaze at her... along with the hat it was sat in. Who had a bird in their hat?

---

The glasses-wearing girl looked over from her position on the couch, eyes lingering for just a second on her Servant's assets--really, how could she be someone so famous with those--before turning back to the TV. "But that sounds like a ton of work, and they were just about to get to the Beef Wellington..." Not that anything Hana ever watched on cooking shows was going to be cooked here; the limit of her culinary aspirations was instant ramen if simply ordering food was out of the question.

What a pain... this girl was cute, but couldn't she have been a more independent class like one of those Archers? Someone who would go out and do whatever things Servants wanted to get up to and leave her alone. Maybe a dashing robin hood figure who'd earn some rewards in the process. She was nice but couldn't she see that Hana just wanted to sit here and watch people make food?

.

It was, admittedly, a bit surprising that Nanako had decided to head outside today rather than order food; the purple-haired Alter Ego had fully expected her to dawdle about in her room—doubly so, given her injury—but at this point she supposed that there was no point in pushing for her to stay behind. In many ways, escorting her to whatever place she decided she wanted to eat at was likely safer than playing rooftop guard again. As much as she wanted to get a better feel for her surroundings, Meltryllis had to admit: it was a lot easier marking locations mentally at ground level despite an aerial view making scoping out the area far easier.

Well, that and the fact that those skyscrapers made it difficult to move about without being spotted. She still despised the prosthetic limnbs that Nanako had forced her to use in public, but at this point, it was better than drawing more unneeded attention at this point.

"Fine, fine," she complained, materializing the prosthetic limbs in question before standing back up. "I'll keep you to that promise, then. I'm not going to let you get away with doing anything rash, though, so do keep that in mind."

A few days ago, going along with her Master like this would be near-intolerable, but at this point, there was some semblance of obligation to at least keep her alive. As blockheaded as she had been, it would have been unbecoming of her to let her get into trouble after going so far as to throw herself in front of an arrow like that.

"I'll wait until you're ready. You're the one in need here, not me."

@VitaVitaAR

---

The Japanese heroic spirit merely gave a light 'shrug', as the modern world so termed it, before giving a soft smile to Charlotte. At least she was thinking of things to do while out here, that was good! Yes, a good start to better habits overall to accompany the girl's studiousness. Or perhaps his hopes were getting a tad high at the moment. Frankly, though, he didn't much care either way. Progress was progress.

"I was hoping to get you to at least sit upon a bench and get some fresh air. That and walking back home if nothing else," Momotaro said, giving a soft but polite chuckle before continuing, "Of course, if you would wish to eat or shop about some first I would be happy to follow."

However, if she had tried to run back to her hidey hole in an instant he felt he might have summoned Monkey to grab her. A rash decision that would have been, but in the end he was merely concerned with Charlotte's health. Good habits nourished the mind! Such was the wisdom of his own human parents, in an age where the oni had been at the top of the food chain before he came along. That and her seeming inclination, at least to his eyes somewhat, to seemingly treat a 'Servant' as a 'servant' more than the powerful 'could kill someone if they get pissed off heroic spirit' familiars they were. Ah. She did have him there for her, at least, too help with any mess and 'problem people' or their servants. One thing at a time, however, just one thing at a time to try to help foster her growth.

"...Can almost smell those Tamafries from here...," the Rider-class servant quietly mumbled under his breath to himself, attempting to be subtle about it at least.

Nanako paused for just the tiniest moment. Just a split second. Melt had put on the proportional, mundane prosthetic legs, the ones she hated, without even complaining or giving her a look. The brunette didn't want to let her reaction show, she felt like that would be unlikely to turn out well as she got to her feet. But inside... she couldn't help but feel a little happy. Nanako knew Melt hated those legs, it was obvious, and yet this time when she swapped them out she didn't even let it on at all. Not that she felt Melt was hiding her dissatisfaction, she wasn't the type to do that. At least as far as Nanako knew.

Rather, it had no longer become something that outweighed what else she was doing enough to make visible note of? Or something like that. Nanako wasn't sure, but she hoped it was a good sign.

"Don't worry," Nanako replied, smiling slightly, "Doing something rash is a lot harder when you only have one arm that you're allowed to move!"

Doing most things was, as it turned out. Taking a shower had been pretty rough, as had changing into a different set of clothing to go out in. Technically, her right arm could move, but doing so was not only painful and difficult when it was bandaged like this but also bad for her injury. She didn't know exactly how long full recovery would take. The Caster in charge of her healing had said it would be much shorter then it would need naturally, but that for her own benefit it hadn't been rushed either. She knew that the hole was no longer all the way through her arm, at the very least.

Still, it only took a little longer for Nanako to get ready then she otherwise would have.

"Okay, I'm all set," Nanako said, heading for the door. Even in spite of her injury, when she opened it she paused to let Melt through first.

They'd be heading by the market district again. This time Nanako wasn't really sure what she was in the mood for, aside from being very very hungry.

Oh well, she'd decide when they got there!

@PKMNB0Y

"...Please go easy on them..." Hakuno murmured with a worried smile. She couldn't exactly deny that Saber's cooking was far superior to any fast-food place - or, well, any establishment that sold food - but she almost felt bad for the poor cooks that would face her brutally honest criticism. Perhaps it could simply be seen a a necessary sacrifice in the name of hunting evildoers! Yeah, that made it slightly more worth it. Probably. Maybe.

Well, they were already outside the restaurant, so it was a little late to suggest lunch at home instead. Hakuno glanced at her diminutive Servant, and noticed that the bird in her hat seemed distracted by something. The young magus couldn't remember the sparrow ever looking so intently at anything, and followed its gaze to the source. Hakuno found her breathe catching, taken-aback by the sheer beauty of the stranger before them. Hakuno considered herself a pure soul, devoid of any lecherous, suspicious or even curious thoughts about others. As her frequently-cleaned search history could obviously attest to, she was a person of great moral standing, and even she had to admit that there was something to that black-haired beauty.

Of course, Benienma was still the absolute cutest Servant in the universe, but still!

When Hakuno realised she'd just been standing around like an idiot for several moments, she awkwardly coughed and stepped aside, avoiding the woman's gaze, "S-sorry, you can go on ahead."

----------------------------



"It's only a light training regiment..." Berserker weakly countered, shoulders sagging. She glanced towards the TV, wondering if these cookery programs held some kind of hidden hypnotising spell. How else could those devices ensnare so many helpless humans in their grasp? True, all that food looked divine compared to what Guan usually ate in life, but none of it was real, right?! It was all just fake images on the other side of a screen! It was surely meaningless unless her Master cooked it for herself!

Berserker pondered over this issue for a few moments. Luring her Master outside was proving to be virtually impossible... oh, but what if she just reversed it? If Hana was so eager to just lie on her couch all day, then Guan would make sure she worked for that privilege!

"Excuse me for a moment, Master," Guan retreated from the room, collecting various items into a bag. A couple bottles of water, shoes, and a few towels should do the trick! Smiling, the dutiful Servant approached her Master once more, and without missing a beat, hoisted the girl over her shoulder, heading for the door.

"You should earn the right to laze around, Master! Besides, think of all the fun you'll be missing out there~!"

It was for her Master's own good, so it was okay, right? Maybe they could stop for something to eat if it would sweeten the deal.

~Charlotte~

Shopping Center
@Crusader Lord

---

"...for someone who seemingly touts health, your eating habits are quite poor." Charlotte replied with a sigh. Tamafries? Really? She might not have been some fitness nut, but at least she tried to eat healthily. She did cook a majority of her own meals, at least, even if they were rather simple most of the time. She couldn't be bothered to make anything fancy. Too much time wasted.

"But fine, if you're that set on it, we can get something after we stop at the store." She continued, redirected the two of them towards the shopping center. In particular a clothing store that also had fairly decent fabric she could purchase. She had frequented it before, but not with Momo. She cast a glance over to her servant as they walked. The legends were fairly true. He was certainly quite good looking...mhm...perhaps a gold color? Maybe a deep, red would be good? A kimono, or maybe a more western style dress...maybe she should let him wear one of hers...?

Oh. That was...that was a fun mental image-Charlotte readjusted her glasses and shoved the errant thought out of her head.

"A-ahem, A-anyways, Momo, indulge my curiosity, do you have a favorite color?" They had reached the entrance of the store, and now it was just a matter of finding something she liked.

"If I do not inform them of flaws and improvements they could make, how could they grow as chefs?" asked Benienma, tilting her head at her Master. 'Going easy' on someone who was pursuing the culinary arts didn't make any sense to her. Rather, it made sense to be honest. Brutally so, even, if necessary. Someone who wanted to cook good food needed to know exactly what they were doing wrong and what they were doing right, and the same held true for those who fancied themselves purveyors of food. A restaurant, even a short order establishment, should aim for the highest quality food possible to deliver in the short time they intended to deliver it! In some ways, they pursued the correct path. Fried foods and thin pieces of meat that cooked quickly. But the quality remained to be seen.

Quick cooking times did not excuse poor quality, after all.

These thoughts were what occupied Benienma's mind for several moments, until her hat began to rotate atop her head. Alongside this unusual event, a tingle seemed to run up her spine... Confused, the redheaded enma reached up to try and adjust it, noting the bird had turned. Normally, he was quite attentive and only looked around if necessary, which immediately perplexed the tiny girl.

When she turned in the direction he was facing, Benienma froze for a moment.

That long black hair, pale skin...

"..."

Immediately Benienma turned back towards her Master. What kind of feeling was that?! Just looking at her... it was hard to look away! There was no mistaking just who that was. A Japanese Servant would be remiss in failing to recognize one such as that.

The Servant was undeniably Kaguya-hime, the central figure from Taketori Monogatari. Even with Benienma's degree of resistance to magecraft, the sheer beauty of Kaguya-hime surpassed a mere charm-effect magecraft on sight. Not that the enma would allow herself to be so swayed, but it was possible to feel it. On top of that, something seemed...

"M-Masta!" half-stammered the tiny redhead, somewhat flustered, "That Servant is attempting to seduce one of my attendents dechi! And Benienma!"

@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

Nanako pointing out the supposed 'upside' of her injury only caused Meltryllis to roll her eyes in mild exasperation. She had expected her Master to be somewhat less gung-ho about her injury, even if it had almost healed, and touting the lack of use of an arm was nothing to feel happy about.

Doubly so, given her own lack of properly functioning arms, but that was that and this was this.

Once she had finished her preparations and opened the door for her to lead the way, though, Meltryllis nodded and obliged, stepping out of the apartment (properly) before waiting for her Master to lock the place up.

"So we're going to get you something to eat so you don't end up starving, right?" she asked, crossing her arms as she waited Nanako to finish before walking with her to the elevator. "Do you have anywhere in mind, or are we simply going to wander about until something catches your fancy?"

It wasn't as if she knew much about what shops there were on the ground as opposed to what she had seen from moving from building to building over the last few days; her knowledge of what was at ground level was limited almost wholly to what she had witnessed on their first few excursions, and no more. That lack of information, as nonessential as it was, bothered her.

"I don't mind either way, though."

@VitaVitaAR

The brunette looked thoughtful as she summoned the elevator, considering the options for a few moments. Initially she'd been so hungry that she just wanted to eat something and didn't have anything specific in mind... but now that she thought of it... It would have been nice to maybe try out some street food. There was a lot of stands down towards the east side of the Market District, plenty of them carrying Japanese streetfood, or stuff that was popular back home at the very least. Nanako was a bit of a fan of that kind of thing, and with the variety on display she was sure she could find something Melt would like too... right?

"There's a lot of places that sell streetfood on the east side of the market district," she said, finally, as the elevator opened in front of them, "So I was thinking of checking out what they have for sale down that way."

She waited for Meltryllis to go through the elevator, and then stepped through herself.

"It's probably not the biggest meal, but some of it's pretty filling," she continued, pressing the required buttons to send them down to the ground floor, "I haven't had any in a while, too..."

She still had to pick beyond that... and hopefully she'd find something easy for Meltryllis to eat, too. The Alter Ego didn't need to, but it'd feel wrong to be the only one eating. Hopefully there'd be something easy for her to hold.

@PKMNB0Y

---

The male servant raised an eyebrow as he walked alongside his master, both materialized and his arms crossed/hidden into his long kimono sleeves.

"Well, I believe that blue, gold, peach, and red would be my favorites. Usually these would apply as favorites in regards to my own attire, however, of which I have always preferred a proper kimono or yukata."

Momotaro felt a light chill run up his back for a brief moment as he looked back at his master, though swiftly shooed the feeling away as he focused on the matter at hand. Yes, his master would go about shopping at the very least and walk around to get some fresh air. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Then perhaps after a nice meal he could direct her to the park for a bit at least. Or something of the sort.

Yet he too felt disappointed that she had assumed he wanted Tamafries! Clearly homemade kibi dango were the superior snack food in all the world! No amount of Americanized junk food would compare in his eyes. Though...perhaps his rose-tinted nostalgia goggles were superglued onto his face, in a manner of speaking.

~Suzuka~

@Pyromania99

---

The next few minutes were passed with Suzuka eating and idly chatting with Mana. A few more selfies were taken, much to her masters likely chagrin and Suzuka's seeming indifference. She had almost ordered one of those fancy bubble tea things, she wanted Mana to try something with it but just as she was about to, a small shiver went up the JK's spine.

"...Eugh, where are those totes bad vibes coming from?" Suzuka commented idly, just having to happen glance out of the window. "....!" Mana would notice something for just a split second as her servants expression shifted to something that could be described as sheer and utter terror. It was fast enough that Mana might have thought she was seeing things. "Eeeh, master, this place is totes starting to bore. You done yet?"

Ah, it was so much fun to see Saber try on all those outfits! As weird as it was to be teasing King Arthur, she was just so cute when she was embarrassed that it was impossible to resist! Aaah, maybe she'd spent too much money on clothes, but so many of them looked so good on her that she just had to get them.

...Especially the suit. Just thinking about it made her cheeks feel hot, her breath grow short and her legs tremble. Such a powerful force would be deadly in the wrong hands, so clearly she had to make sure she had it all to herself. Yes, that was clearly the only reason why she bought the suit for her. No other reasons or ulterior motives whatsoever.

With her bags fuller and her purse emptier, Ritsuko happily left the store with Arturia, although she felt like she was forgetting something. Something important...

...Something that suddenly came back to mind when she heard her stomach rumbling.

"...Oh... Oh right, food! Uh..."

...Unfortunately, her purse was a lot emptier now... And she couldn't survive on just eye candy...

@VitaVitaAR

"Master? What is it?"

As they left the store, Arturia had rather insistently begun to take the bags from her Master. They had been purchased for her, after all. It was only correct that she carried them. The outfit that she had settled on to wear after the shopping had finished was the first she had tried on, the lion shirt had drawn her attention far too much to ignore and the skirt was easy to move in. These were obvious reasons for selecting such an outfit. Especially the lion, it was quite noble.

"We were to purchase food after this, were we not?" she continued. That had to be the only reason her Master had mentioned the food, hadn't it? Of course. While Arturia technically did not require food, it was undeniable that she had been looking forward to sampling some more of the city's cuisine. Simply because she did not need it did not mean she did not want to eat, and either trying out a restaurant in a city with such varied options, or having more of her Master's cooking seemed to be the perfect idea.

Indeed, she was quite eager to eat more.

"As long as it is of high quality, I am happy to try anything."

@Rin

"I..." Kaguya trailed off, looking at the cute Servant on top of the hat. Seduce her and her... attendant? How could she be accused of seducing anyone just by being beautiful? The only way that made sense was if this Servant was also a bird and influenced by the Impossible Requests. That raised a lot of questions about how exactly a bird was looking so human to begin with--but less when you considered such thing as magecraft and youkai--and if this was a talking bird with a lisp...

"I have no intent to seduce you, I promise; I just cannot help but fascinate birds no matter what I try," the Caster stated, suddenly holding a pretty seashell between her fingers for just a moment--but also pretty much staring at Benienma's mouth out of curiosity. Though her eyes did flicker briefly over to Hakuno, "Your bird is a remarkably cute one. You are too."

---

Really, Berserker would just have to live with the disappointment, her idea of a light training regime sounded like the start of a torture session from Hana's perspective. She was just going to stay here, enjoy the rest of her cooking show, and then consider whether it was worth watching more or swapping over to something else. There was a special on desserts on some other channel, if the unwilling Master could remember the schedule--

Being hoisted up by a pretty girl like this was nice, Hana thought, but she really didn't want to be carried around like a sack of potatoes! Her clothing was entirely inappropriate for exercise, and there'd be so much bouncing that it'd be horrible! Unfortunately, she wasn't really able to vocalise all her complaints properly: "I'm already thinking about all the fun I'm missing!"

The walk down to the shopping district was, all in all, pretty uneventful. They did stop briefly when Jack noticed a young woman walking a floppy-eared puppy, which not only served as a chance for Jack to pet a puppy but also for Yuriko to do her best to chat up the young woman. She hadn't seemed entirely unreceptive... but it didn't really go anywhere and Yuriko didn't get a number, so she might as well have been.

Soon enough, they arrived at a children's apparel shop. It was only the second time Yuriko would be entering one.

"Alright, Jack, we're going to pick out some cute clothes," the dark-haired young woman said, glancing around the shop. The selection was much as it had been when she'd entered previously, but this time Yuriko was going to give Jack a little more freedom to pick out something she liked. At least for one of the outfits. She decided it might not have been the best idea to give her freedom for all of them... especially after she somehow managed to destroy the clothing she liked the most from the last pair. Yuriko still didn't quite understand how that had happened.

"Do you see anything you like?"

Yuriko herself certainly did. The girl behind the counter was impossible to ignore. A knockout body and a pretty face...

Ah, but she had to at least help Jack pick something out before she got too distracted!

@Raineh Daze

Mana

Mana was sitting there, doing her best to converse with Suzuka. She thought she was doing somewhat better in that regard... Only, maybe somewhat. Still, while they were talking, Mana kept eyeing Suzuka's food. And when the fox servant looked outside for a few seconds, her master snapped into action. She extended her hand and snatched a fry before stuffing it in her mouth. Now she was feeling hungry again. Perhaps all this worrying made her burn through more and more calories? When Suzuka asked if she wanted to leave because it was boring Mana pointed her fingers.

"Leave... Umm..." She swallowed as she looked to the front counter and then back. "I, umm, want to get another Wham Burger." She scooted out of her seat and started to walk to the counter. "Just let me get one for... Later... And I'll be ready to go." This was the start of Suzuka knowing her master is a bit of a glutton for hamburgers and other things of the sort. "H-hello. I'll take another Triple Wham to go..." She swiped her card through the reader and paid.

"We'll have your food to you soon." The cashier said as she turned to look at something else. Mana sighed in relief and went to put her card back in her wallet but somehow missed it and the card bounced across the ground a bit towards the front door of the restaurant.

The idea of leaving the house to go and get street food was not exactly the most enticing of thoughts for Meltryllis, who had already decided to follow her Master as she wandered around regardless of her final destination. Though her body would remain the same no matter what she ate or what she did, the same could not be said of her Master's. Coupled with an empty stomach, and...

Well, so long as she could maintain some level of restraint, that wasn't exactly an issue in her mind.

"Street food? Fine, as you wish," she responded, shrugging her shoulders as the two walked out of the elevator. "I would have preferred something a little more sophisticated, but I suppose it can't be helped."

---

As Nanako had said, the market district had stalls set up left and right; some seemed to be in preparation for a night market instead of simply appealing to the students who wished to while away their afternoons, but there were enough to warrant at least a few careful looks here and there. The tantalizing smell of foods from all over the world seemed to drift about, and despite the street that they were walking down having more than its fair share of Japanese street food available, there was definitely enough variety to surpass many of the other famous multicultural meccas of the world.

Having Heroic Spirits from across time and space tended towards that, anyhow.

"Have you found anything that you want yet?" Meltryllis asked, making sure to stay close enough to her Master to make sure that she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Her gaze seemed to linger over a windowfront crepe shop for a little longer than it had for most of the other shops and stalls in the area, but she soon returned to simply looking over the area carefully. The crowd made it a bit harder to memorize the area, but there was enough that stood out about the place to name that less of a factor than it might have been compared to the residential areas that seemed to blend into one another.

@VitaVitaAR

There was only one problem with this area of the shopping district. The simple fact that there were so many different places to potentially pick up street food, from a full-blown meal to a light snack, made it incredibly difficult to actually make a decision. Nanako was consistently a little overwhelmed by the fact there were so many different foods from so many different places all being sold from a variety of different stands.

It wasn't the first time Nanako had this problem, and it likely wouldn't be the last.

As she tried to make her decision, Meltryllis asked her if she'd spotted anything that looked particularly appealing. The brunette turned to face the Alter Ego after a brief pause.

"Not yet, there's so many options it's a little difficult to-" she stopped, noticing the fact that the petite purple-haired girl's eyes seemed to be lingering on a crepe stand for considerably longer then they had anywhere else.

"..."

A savory crepe wouldn't be bad at all, really. And it cut her agonizing decision-making process down quite a bit. Without another word, Nanako proceeded over to the line in front of the crepe stand, taking her spot there.

"What kind did you want, Meltryllis-san?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder at her Servant as she spoke. Even without anything else that had happened, it was only natural to make the offer.

@PKMNB0Y