A/N: Hey guys, please read the closing Author's Note for this chapter!

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“R-Right! And if we win, you’ll spend the evening with us!”

The words spill forth from Ritsuka’s lips before she can really think it through, truth be told. Just like when she’d stepped in to volunteer herself and Mash in the first place, now she was again letting her mouth get ahead of her mind.

Silence falls for a moment as Boudica blinks briefly before glancing between herself and Spartacus with some level of uncertainty.

“Oh? Both of us?”

Ah… no. That had not been Ritsuka’s intention whatsoever. But she could probably still back out by pretending it had been. She didn’t have to-

“N-No… just you…”

Ah. There her lips went again, speaking without permission. Boudica tilts her head to the side, staring at Ritsuka with such intensity that she’s convinced she’s ruined things for all of them with this request. But rather than getting upset and rightfully so, Boudica smiles after a moment. It’s a surprisingly kind, almost motherly smile as she gives Ritsuka a simple nod.

“Very well. But don’t think Spartacus and I will take it easy on you now~”

R-Really? That worked?! Ritsuka doesn’t know what to make of that fact. Except that… she can’t afford to pass up this chance. No sir!

“A-Ahem. O-Of course not… Mash and I are a team! You’ll see!”

Boudica looks amused while Spartacus seems ready for a fight. Together, the four of them along with the others from Chaldea, all make their way over to an open area in the center of the Gaul Expedition’s base camp. As Ritsuka and Mash face off with Boudica and Spartacus, Ritsuka lets out a shuddering breath before glancing over to Mash.

“Mash…”

Looking at her from under her fringe, the demiservant listens intently.

“Yes, Senpai?”

“Don’t lose. No matter what… we’re not allowed to lose.”

An expression of pure determination spreads across Mash’s face at that.

“Yes, Senpai!”

With that, Mash brings her shield up, ready to do battle. Across from them, Boudica and Spartacus bring forth their own weapons as well. Both of them wield swords, though in Boudica’s case she also has a small buckler in her off hand. Spartacus has nothing in his other hand however, growling and snuffling as he is.

Looking at the two of them, Boudica frowns a little.

“Ah… where is your weapon, young one? You’ll need more than a shield to take on Spartacus and I.”

Ritsuka glances at Mash, but the Shielder Demiservant doesn’t look put out by Boudica’s words in the slightest. Instead, bolstered by her Master’s orders, Mash actually has a smile on her lips as she slams the point of her massive shield into the ground before her, kicking up some dust.

“That’s where you’re wrong! Don’t underestimate me, or you might just come to regret it!”

And then, in a move Ritsuka has never seen Mash pull before, the Shielder suddenly uses her shield to launch herself forward, pushing off the ground with both feet and the leverage provided by the shield tip. Boudica’s eyes widen in surprise as the Shielder suddenly appears right in front of her and Spartacus. Spartacus, on the other hand, isn’t surprised at all and immediately lashes out.

Ritsuka’s heart catches in her throat for a second at that… but Mash is able to block the Berserker with her shield and push him away with her strength, setting Ritsuka’s nerves at ease.

The battle begins in earnest after that… but while Mash isn’t able to completely overwhelm the two Stray Servants, she also isn’t outmatched despite it being two on one. It’s just as Ritsuka had noted before. For Servants like Boudica and Spartacus… without Masters to call their own, they’re left weakened. They need the support of a Master in order to unlock their full powers.

Though… that’s not all Ritsuka notices. As the battle continues, she thinks Spartacus at least is giving it his all. Maybe he’s not going full strength, but this is just a duel between what SHOULD ostensibly be allies. Still, he’s also not holding anything back and Mash is being pushed by some of his attacks, forced to focus on defending against him more than she is against Boudica.

That’s because… the Queen of Britannia definitely IS holding back. Oh, she’s not hanging back entirely like Ritsuka is, but she also isn’t giving it her all. And she’s certainly not pushing Mash as hard as Spartacus is. Hell, she’s not even going for some of the openings that fighting Spartacus is leaving in Mash’s defenses.

Ritsuka’s eyes narrow. Surely Boudica isn’t throwing on purpose, is she? There’s just no way… unless there’s something about the Britannian Queen that Ritsuka doesn’t know. Maybe she realizes more about what Ritsuka is planning for this evening then Ritsuka even realizes. Maybe-

Nope. Ritsuka’s eyes widen as she sees it nearly too late. Boudica hadn’t been holding back and ignoring all of those openings because she was trying to throw the duel. Rather, instead the Stray Servant had been holding back and ignoring openings… to lull Mash into a false sense of security! It’d taken a while, because the Demiservant WAS the Shielder after all… but it happened all the same. Probably without Mash even noticing, probably completely involuntarily. But even still… there came a point where Mash almost stopped seeing Boudica as a combatant altogether and put the vast majority of her focus on Spartacus.

That’s when Boudica strikes… but fortunately Ritsuka sees it coming.

“MASH! BLOCK!”

Thrusting her hand into the air, one of Ritsuka’s three Command Seals flares with power and then vanishes. This was the true purpose of the Command Seals in Ritsuka’s humble opinion. Some might say they were supposed to be used to keep unruly Servants in line… but she only had three of them and they took HOURS to recharge. If an unruly Servant didn’t want to obey, they would eventually be free to do whatever they wanted with Ritsuka powerless to stop them until she got more Command Seals.

Instead, in Ritsuka’s mind, Command Seals were for moments like these… Absolute Commands in the heat of the battle that would make Mash perform beyond all possible expectations. Indeed, Mash Kyrielight doesn’t even see Boudica’s strike coming, as surgical and tactical as it is. But it doesn’t matter that she doesn’t see it, because with the power of the Command Seal…

The look on the Queen of Britannia’s face as Mash’s shield almost seems to teleport behind her to block the strike fills Ritsuka with satisfaction. But she’s not done yet. She still has two Command Seals… so she might as well use a second.

“NOW COUNTERATTACK WITH ALL YOUR POWER!”

Before Boudica can even raise her own buckler in defense, the second Command Seal flares and vanishes… and Mash glows in turn, blasting forward and slamming the full length of her shield into Boudica’s body. The Queen of Britannia lets out a startled cry as she goes flying, landing a few dozen feet away on her back and groaning in dismay.

With Boudica down for the count, Mash can now put her full focus and pressure on Spartacus. In the end, she brings him down as well. Not because she’s so much stronger or more powerful than he is, but because her defense is too much for the Berserker to get through. Ultimately, he winds up flat on his back and since Boudica is still struggling to catch her breath…

“I’d say this is our victory.”

Ritsuka can’t believe how good it feels to say those words, even as she crosses her arms over her chest and smiles. She tries not to be too smug… but damn it all, they’d done well! Oh sure, she wasn’t an idiot… both Boudica and Spartacus were probably holding back their true power to avoid any accidental injuries or killing blows.

In that way, Mash had the advantage from the start. Any friendly spar or duel between allies would naturally benefit the Shielder over any other class of Servant because even her most powerful attacks weren’t likely to kill anyone… well, anyone that was a Servant anyways. Ritsuka had already seen what Mash’s shield could do to normal people if she applied herself properly…

“Yes… yes I suppose it is. You have proven yourself worthy, young one. Tell me, what is the name of the one who defeated us?”

Ritsuka blinks before straightening up as a flush rises to her face. Oh yeah, she’d introduced Mash but not herself. Whoops.

“R-Ritsuka! Ritsuka Fujimaru!”

And then, like an idiot, she gives Boudica a thumbs up. Only for a moment before she quickly retracts her arm like it’s been burned, but… well, too late. Boudica gives her a motherly smile and inclines her head.

“Well then, Ritsuka Fujimaru… I suppose I shall be in yours and your friend’s care this evening.”

O-Oh. Right. Yes, she had made that demand, hadn’t she? And all for the sake of getting into Shirou’s pants again. Only, she hadn’t actually discussed this plan with Shirou ahead of time. Nor did Boudica know that he would be joining them. Would he be upset with her? Would Boudica?

… Ah! Ritsuka perks up as the perfect idea comes to her.

“Y-Yes! Exactly as we agreed… but first, dinner time!”

She doesn’t even have to say anything beyond that. The moment the words ‘dinner time’ leave her lips, Shirou suddenly perks up from where he’d been watching the duel nearby.

“Oh right! I should go and find the Camp Cooks to see what they have to work with and how I might be able to help them!”

Boudica looks rather confused as Shirou runs off to do exactly that, while Spartacus continues to just be Spartacus. Everyone else is unsurprised by the red haired man’s antics, Ritsuka included. But she’s not just unsurprised… she’s pleased beyond measure. Everything was coming together…

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Mash felt like she was floating on a cloud. Not only had her Senpai finally stepped up and proved herself to be the leader that Mash knew her to be… but Mash herself hadn’t let the young Chaldean Master down! It wouldn’t be wrong to say Mash had her fair share of insecurities. For one, she was just a Demiservant, not a real Servant. She was half and half and some might argue that would always make her ‘lesser’.

On top of that, she was ‘just’ a Shielder. One of the less sought after Servant Classes, and largely viewed as a waste of time and energy because all they could truly do with any passing ability was defend. It was a doubly whammy that Mash had strove to escape out from under with all her might. But then all these other potential Masters had come squirming out of the woodworks. And Ritsuka herself had started summoning full blown Servants.

It was safe to say that Mash had feared Ritsuka would sideline her on this next Singularity when she first summoned Ruler Jeanne d’Arc to Chaldea. But instead, Ritsuka had told Mash that Jeanne wanted a break from all the fighting and she would still be relying on her for the second Singularity. This of course meant that it was likely Mash WOULD be benched for Singularity Number Three… unless she proved that she was a valuable and crucial part of the team in some way.

But how? Well… today had certainly done a lot of work in that direction, hadn’t it? Or at least, Mash had to hope it did! After all, what more could she do then this? Today she’d dealt with not one, but two Servants at once! And sure, Senpai had to use two of her three Command Seals… but it had been worth it!

Now, hours later after an admittedly delicious meal cooked by that perverted cretin of a man Shirou Emiya, Mash found herself by her Senpai’s side as they approach Boudica’s tent together. Getting closer to the entrance, Ritsuka suddenly stops and turns to Mash with a curious look on her face.

“Mash… you don’t have to come for this next bit if you don’t want to. If you’d rather go to sleep, I understand entirely. Things will probably get… w-well…”

Ritsuka trails off here, blushing profusely. But Mash is hardly fazed. She already knows exactly what her Senpai intended when she demanded Boudica spend an evening with them if they won. And she approves wholeheartedly! It’s about time that Ritsuka started making her own harem to offset that nasty Shirou Emiya! No matter how good his food was, Mash would not falter. She would be at her Senpai’s side every step of the way!

“You don’t need to worry about me, Senpai. I’m here to help in any way you require. Even if that means holding down the ancient Queen of Britannia while you slake your unnatural desires on her. You don’t have to hold back around me even a little bit!”

Mash beams as she finishes explaining how things were to Ritsuka. In response, the young Master of Chaldea just stares at Mash for a moment, clearly caught off guard by the Demiservant’s fervor. Finally though, she recovers enough to let out a small laugh.

“O-Oh… w-well, I didn’t know you felt that way, Mash. Thank you. But… it won’t be me slaking my unnatural desires on Boudica tonight…”

Mash’s brow furrows in confusion, only for the Shielder to freeze in horror when she hears a familiar voice approaching from behind her.

“Hey you two. Uh, Ritsuka… are you sure about this?”

Turning to face Shirou Emiya, Mash’s horror only mounts as Ritsuka beams and nods.

“Oh yeah! You did as I asked, right? You made sure to give Boudica the food you cooked personally, and let her know you made it?”

Rubbing a hand through the back of his red hair, the accursed man sheepishly nods.

“I did, yeah. She enjoyed it a lot I’m pretty sure.”

“Perfect! Then she should be fine with us bringing you along. Come on, let’s not keep her waiting any longer!”

Mash’s mouth is open but no words come out. She wants to scream. What… what was happening?! Ritsuka… she’d done everything she could to keep her Senpai away from Shirou Emiya so far. And yet, Ritsuka was inviting him along to spend the night with Boudica anyways?! How?! When?! Why?!

… M-Maybe Mash had simply misunderstood. Maybe she just needed to calm down. Maybe… maybe she was overreacting. Perhaps they were just planning to play cards or some sort of board game! Yes, that had to be it, r-right? Surely… surely Ritsuka hadn’t already fallen under Shirou Emiya’s wicked sway. Surely her Senpai wasn’t already part of Shirou’s harem.

Perhaps Mash wasn’t needed after all. If it was just some games before bed, she could leave them to it and go to sleep, probably. That would be… fine. Right?

Either way, staring at their backs as they approach Boudica’s tent flaps, Mash knows she only has a single instant to decide.

[X] Mash forces herself to attend. What if Shirou tries to make them play Spin the Bottle?! - 89%

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A/N: So unfortunately this story will be coming to a rather abrupt end. There will be two and a half more chapters after today's post and then it will no longer receive updates.

The reasons for the above are twofold.

Second, and perhaps more importantly than the above, this story never really clicked for me. That might be why it was never very popular on my Patreon either, because if I can't get the story to click for me, then how can I expect it to click for my patrons? Regardless, this story fought me every step of the way, with chapters for Chef's Kiss sometimes taking me five times as long to get written as anything else I regularly write.

That all said, Chef's Kiss will be replaced with another story in this 'slot' so keep an eye out for that to start being released in the next 6 weeks or so!