Chapter 2
Appartements Mont-Royal Sud, Montreal, QC, Canada
December 25, 2016
An additional table had been added to the line, and everybody who wasn't involved in serving the meal had found places where they could sit comfortably. Sakura and Rin had kept a spot free for Shirou, and Konata and Kagami had kept a spot on the other side of the long table free for Tsukasa. Of course, the Brights's chairs were at each end of the table.
Sakura frowned when she realized that Tsukasa was going to be sitting directly across from Shirou, but then she consoled herself with the knowledge that she was right beside him.
Once everyone else was seated, the cooks started bringing out the food, beginning with a whole roasted ham. Grahame mentioned, "I'll carve this after we've finished the soup, so it stays warm longer."
"Soup?"
"Italian tomato and white bean potage," answered Cassiopée as she brought out a large rectangular glass pan filled with a savoury pie. "A little something to get us started before we begin the meal."
Shirou brought out an identical pan. "Where should I put this tourtière?"
"At the far end of the table from this one," Cassiopée replied while Tsukasa brought out a tray holding two bowls of pork meatball stew. Once they were on the table and the teens and Grahame went back to the kitchen, Cassiopée told everyone else, "They're both tourtière du Saguenay, so you won't miss anything if you don't get any of one or the other of them."
Kagami asked, "What's in tourtière du Saguenay?"
"Most tourtières have pork and veal in them, along with root vegetables. Saguenay style tourtières also include duck and rabbit." And Cassopiée headed to the kitchen, holding the door open for Shirou as he brought out two bowls of garlic mashed potatoes.
"Rabbit?" Rin asked with dismay, thinking of the Rabbit in the Moon.
"Why not?" Rider replied, thinking of the stew that would eventually become kouneli stifado.
"You don't need to eat everything," Cassopiée said as she brought out a dutch oven filled with fèves au lard. Tsukasa followed her with a large serving dish filled with maple-glazed carrots and parsnips. "We have enough vegetarian food to feed you today, if you don't want to eat meat." Grahame followed them out of the kitchen carrying a glass tray of pickled beets, and Shirou brought out a jar of homemade chunky tomato ketchup with a spoon.
Then the four of them went back to the kitchen to — finally — bring out the soup and the bread.
Once the bowls were in front of the people at the table and their glasses were filled with either water or Cariboo, everybody but Tsukasa took their places at the table.
"Do you expect us to eat all this in a half-hour?" Kagami asked. Like Rin, she was worried about the rabbit in the tourtière; unlike Rin, she was looking for an excuse to leave the table without eating any of it, despite what Cassiopée had said about not needing to try everything.
"Not at all," Cassiopée replied while Tsukasa emerged from the kitchen one last time, placed baskets of fresh-baked and fresh-sliced bread near each end of the long table, then finally sat down to eat with everybody else. Cassiopée continued, "A proper Quebecois style Christmas dinner takes all afternoon to eat, with everyone talking with each other during the meal."
Konata looked over at Caster. "The less we eat, the more there will be for the rest of you, eh?"[2]
"I was not expecting a feast."
Artoria looked surprised. "You were not expecting a feast on a feast day?" While she was amazed at the sheer amount of food that the Brights could afford to put on the table for a single meal, she did her best to avoid showing her emotion about the feast itself, presenting her reaction to Medea's comment instead.
"Do you know how many feast days your One God and His saints have? Every day is a feast day. At least the rest of us don't pretend we aren't hedonists."
Saber did not deign to comment, to Caster's disappointment. Instead, Grahame gave the formal thanks for the meal, and then they all started in.
The topic of discussion over the soup course was introductions, since only Konata knew who everybody at the table was. Their hosts started the ball rolling.
"Je m'appelle Cassiopée Bright. Je gère cette résidence."
"And I'm Graheme Bright, Cassiopée's husband, which means I'm living my dream." His wife smiled at that comment. "I'm a coder at Motive Studios."
That got Konata's attention. "You write video games?"
"I code video games. The creative staff write the plots and create the characters and settings; I just turn them into something playable. You may as well go next, Ms. Izumi."
"Sure, I can do that. I'm Konata Izumi, I'm a second-year high-school student at Ryouou High School in Kasukabe, or maybe I should say that I'm from a story that's called Lucky Star in this world. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm an anime and game otaku."
The glasses-wearing pâtissier nodded and said, "It's good to be honest about yourself. Ah, yes, I'm Sennosuke Andou from Académie Sainte-Marie. Or perhaps I should say that I'm from..." He looked at Konata. "Yumeiro Pâtissière, was it?"
"That's right," Konata replied.
He smiled at Konata as he said, "Thank you. My dream is to run a sweets shop that sells both Japanese and Western sweets."
"Patisserie Belge already does that," Grahame pointed out.
Turning his head to look at Grahame, Sennosuke replied, "Ah, but I don't own Patisserie Belge. We share it in common. I don't own my Sweets Spirit companion, Caramel, either; we're work partners."
The young-looking spirit who was perched on Sennosuke's shoulder smiled shyly and bowed. "Hello!" The she fell off his shoulder.
He managed to catch her before she fell into his soup. "Please be careful, Caramel."
"I'm sorry..."
"There's no harm done."
The Brights, the girls from Ryouou, and most of the Heroic Spirits and their masters wondered what had just happened. Caster said, "I know that you can fly, miss Caramel."
"I have to start to fly before I fly, miss," replied Caramel in a matter-of-fact tone. Then she asked, "Are you an elf?"
Caster smiled. "You've noticed that my ears come to points. No, I am as human as any of the other Heroic Spirits are. Oh, but I'm being rude. While I'm called 'Caster' in this world's story about us Heroic Spirits and our Masters, stories other than Fate/stay night give my actual name, Medea. Since I was originally from Colchis, I go by the name 'Medea Colchiseli' in this world. I am a divorcée, a kin-killer, and a mage." Many of the others around the table looked worried when Medea admitted to being a murderer. "There are millennia-old stories and plays about me, and there are also Internet articles about who I am in the Fate story, so it would be foolish to try to hide these facts." She said that last while looking at Saber... who, again, refused to show any reaction to Medea's words. Sakura and Rider looked surprised at the mention of Internet articles about Fate/stay night, though.
"And I am Souichirou Kuzuki, Medea's fiancé," said the nearly-emotionless man sitting beside her. "If you enrol at F.A.C.E. school, I will be your history teacher. By the way, this is excellent soup. My compliments to whoever made it."
"Why, thank you! I based it on a recipe that Mme. Cassiopée shared with me. And I'm Tsukasa Hiiragi, Konata's classmate back at Ryouou. We aren't in school yet here."
Sakura was happy that Tsukasa wasn't in school yet. One less distraction for Shirou's attentions!
"But we're going to be in school soon, I hope." (Sakura wasn't happy to hear that.) "Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa's twin sister. When we're not in class or socializing with our friends, Tsukasa and I sometimes work as miko at the shrine that our family tends to." (Little did she know that they'd be meeting a much more powerful miko in a month's time.) "I hope to become a lawyer."
"This is definitely the city to learn about law," Cassiopée replied. "Three of our country's Prime Ministers graduated from the law program at McGill University."
"Oh?" Kagami was very interested in that fact. "Where is this McGill?"
"I pass it on my way to work every day," Graheme replied. "It's literally across the road from F.A.C.E."
The pink-haired meganekko sitting beside Konata commented, "Since we're in this reality's Montréal now, I hope to attend McGill as well, but in the medical school. I'm Miyuki Takara, Konata and Tsukasa's classmate. I'm also on the Ryouou school council along with Kagami." Even sitting down, everyone could tell that she was the tallest of the girls from Ryouou... and that, of the four of them, she had the largest bustline.
"I'm sure that all four of you lovely ladies will be successful at whatever you put your minds to doing," the green-eyed pâtissier said with a smile to the girls from Ryouou. "I'm Satsuki Hanabusa. It's a bit cliché, given my family name, but I've been surrounded by flowers for all of my life; my mother is an artist in the field of flower arranging. If you taste roses in something from Patisserie Belge, it's probably something made to one of my recipes. My partner is named Café, although I admit that I haven't left him with very much to do lately."
"We shan't go into why during a party, since I know I won't convince you otherwise today," the only male Sweets Spirit in the room said to his partner and to those who could hear him. Bowing, he continued, "As Satsuki said, I'm Café. While my skills and interests don't align as well with Satsuki's as the other Spirits' skills work with their partners', we still make a good team in the kitchen."
"Yeah, I got lucky in pairing up with a chocolatier," said the only black-haired Sweets Spirit in the group. "I'm Chocolat. I think everything should have chocolate in it." (At that point, a continent away in Aria House, Taeko Minazuki sneezed.) "And you might have noticed that the other Sweets Spirits carry spoons. I have a fork, and I'm not afraid to use it."
The blond male pâtissier sighed. "Excuse me, my partner's being tsun-tsun again."
"I know what that's like," Konata sadi while looking at Kagami.
"I'm not your partner and I'm not tsundere," Kagami pointed out. "I just get annoyed with your antics sometimes."
The male blond turned back to the others at the table. "Now that that's handled, I guess it's my turn. Makoto Kashino, part-time pâtissier and full-time chocolatier. Chocolat already mentioned that she's my partner."
"Your work partner," the brunette female pâtissiere added. "I'm your life partner, right?"
"And I'm yours, Ichigo," Makoto answered. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
Ichigo smiled at Makoto's statement. (So did Sakura; it meant that there was one fewer competitor for Shirou's love.) Continuing the introductions, Ichigo said, "I'm Ichigo Amano, but Mlle. Izumi and Mlle. Takara already knew that. I'm the least-experienced pâtissière at Patisserie Belge, so sometimes my partner Vanilla is more like my tutor, but together we make the best strawberry tarts outside of France."
The slightly-plump blonde Sweets Spirit smiled. "And I'm Vanilla. Ichigo and I are less partners and more friends at this stage of our relationship."
"It's good to be friends with your partner," the slim blonde Sweets Spirit said. By her bearing and enunciation, she appeared to be of a higher class than the others. "Honey, at your service."
"And I'm Honey's partner, Mari Tennouji," added the remaining blonde pâtissière. "I believe you've all met me already, if only in passing yesterday evening. Officially I'm in charge of Patisserie Belge, but that's only because I'm a year older than the others."
"Judging by how busy your shop is at lunchtime, I'd say you're all doing a good job of it," Cassiopée replied. "Do any of you have your high-school diplomas?"
"Not yet," replied Mari. "We hadn't graduated from Sainte-Marie back home, and we've been too busy to even look up the process to get one here."
"If you're past your sixteenth birthdays, then you're old enough to get an AENS," Cassiopée replied. "That would let you get into [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEGEP"]CEGEP[/url] without finishing grade 11 here, although actually taking the high-school classes would look better on your transcript. We can talk about that after dinner if you'd like. Right now, we still haven't heard from most of the people from Fuyuki City."
"I may as well go next, I guess. Shirou Emiya. I'm good at fixing things. But I really don't understand the whole 'Heroic Spirit' thing, let alone what I'm supposed to be doing with one, so I can't fix my life right now."
The blonde seated next to him followed with, "And I am the Heroic Spirit that Shirou-san sumoned for the Fifth Grail War. I am called Saber."
Konata leaned over to Miyuki and told her, "In the game, Saber is Artoria, King of the Britons." Seeing the looks of surprise on Sakura's and Rider's faces, she added, "I guess some people didn't look themselves up on the internet."
Saber glared at Konata. How dare she be so presumptuous as to reveal other people's secrets!
Rin noticed Saber's reaction and coldly said, "Izumi-san, do you remember what Uiharu-san told you about mentioning that game in my presence?" While Belldandy's geas meant she couldn't actually attack Konata, there was nothing stopping her from reminding Konata of what somebody else had said and letting her reach the wrong conclusion.
"I'll shut up now," Konata hurriedly replied. (Caster wasn't happy to hear that — she had been hoping that Archer's secret identity would have been revealed as well — but said nothing.)
"Thank you. I'm Rin Tohsaka, student at F.A.C.E. and participant in the Fifth Grail War that is on hold for the foreseeable future. And, like Caster, I'm a good enough mage to be able to see your companions."
The grey-haired man sitting beside her merely said, "Archer. Heroic Spirit, not starship captain or secret agent."
Everyone but the Brights looked puzzled at the comment. Konata decided to ignore it and ask what was on her mind. "You're pretty young to have grey hair. What caused it?"
"Having to put up with nosy kids who can't keep their mouths shut," he replied with a nasty grin.
"Yeesh. You'd think knowing things was a capital crime around here," muttered Konata.
"If there was a Grail War going on, it would be a capital offence to know about it."
Konata nodded. "Good thing that there isn't a Grail War going on, then. What's the deal with that, anyway?"
"Let's let the others introduce themselves before answering that," Cassiopée insisted. "Mlle. Matou, if you would?"
"Of course," the purple-haired girl smiled. "Sakura Matou, student at F.A.C.E."
The pink-haired meganekko who had yet to say anything ate the last spoonful of her soup before speaking. "I'm the Heroic Spirit called Rider. I have to warn you, if you ever see me without my glasses or my blindfold, it will be the last thing you see, because my name when I was alive was Medusa. So please don't try to see what I look like without my glasses."
"Important safety tip," Konata quoted before finishing her own soup. "Hey, does anybody else here think that Rider and Miyuki look like sisters?"
Everybody looked at both young women for a moment. Finally, Archer said, "I'm not seeing it. They don't even have the same skin colour."
"And Miyuki-san's face is rounder than Rider-san's," added Tsukasa.
Kagami nodded in agreement. "All they really have in common is their height, their hair colour, and the fact that they both wear glasses."
"Spoilsports," muttered Konata. Then she asked, "I think that's everyone, isn't it?"
"It is, yes," Grahame replied while standing up. "And I believe everyone has finished their soup."
Since they had finished the soup course and introducing themselves to each other, Grahame and Shirou collected the bowls while Tsukasa and Cassiopée brought out plates.
Once the four cooks were seated again, except for Graheme who was carving the ham, Cassiopée told everyone, "Go ahead and serve yourselves!"
Most of the Japanese girls avoided the tourtière to begin with, although Miyuki helped herself to some without hesitation and Sakura took a small portion when she saw that Shirou was trying it. Once they said that they liked it, the others tried the dish as well... except for Rin and Kagami.
The discussion for the first hour, when it wasn't about the food, was primarily about Refuge itself; explaining why the Grail War was on hold, expanding on what Cassiopée had told them earlier, glossing over what little she and Grahame knew about the reasons why everyone was being displaced there, listing who all that they knew had shown up so far, and going into detail about how they were managing to cope with the help of others in the same circumstances. Most of this was already known to the once and possibly future Grail War participants, all of it was new to the pâtissiers, and the students from Ryouou had already been picked up some of it by osmosis during the previous evening's party.
The next half-hour was spent talking about everybody's schools. They came to the conclusion that the only thing Académie Sainte-Marie had that Ryouou Gakuen and Homurahara Gakuen didn't have was the extensive student kitchens and the student-run bake shop on the campus. Shirou, Rin, and Sakura spent more time telling the others how their school in Montreal, Formation artistique au cœur de l'éducation, was different from any of the Japanese schools.
"We have to play a musical instrument?" Miyuki asked in surprise.
"You don't have to play it well," Sakura replied, "but you do need to play something."
"Kagami and I can play the recorder," Tsukasa mentioned.
"Yes, a fine example of my point. And it was so good of you to let your sister shine when the two of you played 'Joy to the World' during the carolling session last night," Sakura said with a smile that wasn't reflected in her voice. Just because she couldn't attack the girl who her Shirou had noticed a day ago didn't mean she couldn't make pointed comments.
Tsukasa looked dejected as Kagami replied, "I suppose we can say that's how it happened."
"Maybe I should look at that equivalency exam that Mme. Bright mentioned to the pâtissiers. I don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer.
"What do you want to do with your life, Tsukasa?" Graheme asked.
"I don't know for sure, but after seeing and using the kitchen here in the bistro, maybe I'll become a professional cook."
"That's a fine career," Ichigo commented. "Would you want to be a pastry cook?"
"Oh, I couldn't do that as well as you can, I'm sure. I'd be happy to be a general cook. And maybe start a restaurant and have a contract with Patisserie Belge to supply the desserts!"
Mari smiled as she swallowed a bite of bread. "That's something for the future. There must be some courses somewhere in Montréal that you can take to learn the business before then, but if they're anything like Sainte-Marie's classes, you'll be taking them for at least a year."[3]
Conversation moved away from the future and settled into topics about the present. Makoto asked whether there were any displacees who shared his name, which led to Tsukasa mentioning Makoto Kino in Ottawa, and that led to Rin talking about her growing friendship with Kino-san's apartment-mate Kazari Uiharu. Then Cassiopée paired her cellphone with the bistro's speakers and played some of the music from the Halloween and Christmas parties, giving people a chance to eat and drink while they listened to Hokago Tea Time and the Hanagumi.
Which was a mixed blessing. By the time that the first pan of tourtière was empty, Chocolat was feeling tipsy due to the amount of alcohol in the cariboo.
"Café, Café, Café, when are you going to get a clue?"
Café sighed. He didn't know why humans thought that a liquor-filled chocolate was a special treat at this time of year, because this particular Chocolat couldn't hold her liquor. "I said we shan't talk about that today. Especially not in front of people who we just met."
"Aw, none of 'em can hear us anyway."
"Except for Medea and Rin."
"Whatever! Café, you gotta dump Hanabusa and find another partner. Now. Maybe one of these new girls. Tsukasa looks like a good choice."
"Tsukasa just said that she doesn't want to be a pâtissiere, Chocolat. Satsuki is my partner."
"But Hanabusa doesn't want to be a pâtissier any more!"
Satsuki nodded. "Chocolat is right, Café," he commented, puzzling the people near him who couldn't see the Sweets Spirits.
"Of course I am! You want to turn you back on being a pâtissier and be a 'life coach', whatever that is! You're planning to hide your talent under a bushel!"
(Not too far down the table, Rin winced. In her opinion, mixed metaphors were bad enough when they weren't based on passages from the Bible.)
"And that's my choice to make."
"See!" Chocolat turned back to Café. "I know it, he knows it, you're the only one who doesn't want to admit it! Walk away from this dead-end job and find somebody else to work with before you waste decades of your life!"
"If I was to stop being Satsuki's partner just because that was the easy way to resolve things, what would Mocha say?"
"Don't you dare bring Mocha into this!" And Chocolat literally flew off, away from the conversation.
Of course Makoto noticed. "Excuse me," he said quickly while standing up to chase after his partner.
"What was that all about?" asked Konata.
Rin sighed deeply. "It appears that Christmas dinners in Montréal are like any other family dinners I've attended. It was only a matter of time before somebody said the wrong thing. If I may ask, who or what is Mocha?"
The Sweets Spirits looked at each other. Café refused to answer. Finally, Honey replied, "I have no idea."
After an uncomfortable silence, Grahame finally said, "Miss Izumi, you mentioned that you enjoy playing video games and reading manga. I've looked at a few of the web pages about you; did you know that you have a reputation at Comiket?"
"I've been going for years, so that isn't a surprise. Is it a good one?"
Graheme nodded. "A very good one, yes. The artists in your world say that their books are guaranteed to sell if you like them. The ones who don't know your name call you 'Legendary Girl A'."
Konata grinned and said, "I like the idea of being a legendary girl, eh?" Then she ate a slice of pickled beet... before realizing that she'd added a verbal tic to her comment. "Okay, why did I say 'eh' at the end of that?"
"It's part of the local version of English, eh?" Sennosuke replied, deliberately using the confirmational. "And we did notice that you spoke the local version of English perfectly."
"What's up with that, anyway? Miyuki and Kagami have accents, but Tsukasa and I sound like we grew up in Montréal."
"I suspect that's the megami's fault," Graheme replied out as he cut a bite of ham from the slice on his plate. "Assuming that Ms. Takara and Ms. Hiiragi already spoke English, they didn't need to be given fluency in the language. As for 'eh?', that isn't something that I hear at work very often. It's more a thing to say in casual conversation."
"I guess that means I'm getting used to being here," Konata said. "Maybe I should call myself 'Legendary Girl, Eh?' on manga and gaming forums.
"Why not?" Sennosuke said with a smile.
The conversation around the table settled into small talk: which of the two nearby grocery stores were good places to find certain foods, when to stay away from the nearby football stadium in order to avoid crowds, and other matters of similar importance.
Finally, people ran out of things to talk about as they ran out of food on their plates. Not that there wasn't food left to eat, but nobody felt hungry enough to ask for another helping.
"Why did I take more of that stew?" Kagami asked herself. "I mean, it's good, but I stuffed myself."
Miyuki said with a bit of concern, "I hope you left some room for dessert."
"You mean there's more food?"
"I know you saw our neighbours bring over gâteaux moka," Miyuki replied as Graheme, Shirou, and Souichirou started clearing away the remnants of the main course.
Rin raised an eyebrow. "Mocha?"
All that Café was willing to say in reply was, "All Sweets Spirits are named after flavours."
As he passed his wife on the way to the kitchen, Graheme asked, "Why don't we just have coffee and tea now, and save the fruitcake, maple fudge, shortbread, and gâteaux for a half-hour or so?"
"That's an excellent idea," Cassiopée replied.
Tsukasa sighed deeply. "I want to try all of those, but even a half-hour won't be long enough for all the food I already ate to settle."
"Our hosts did warn us that we'd be eating all afternoon," Sakura pointed out. Then she added with an innocent look on her face, "Wasn't it Democritus who said 'Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not an adult'?"
"Yes, it was," Caster replied, slightly annoyed that she didn't get to make that observation.
Konata noticed that Sakura was trying to belittle one of her closest fiends, but couldn't think of anything to say in order to score any points for her own side. Instead, she changed the subject. "The fruitcake that you mentioned. Are you going to set it on fire?"
"Certainly not!" Cassiopée considered the idea ridiculous. "This is a proper French fruitcake, not an English sodden mass of molasses and brandy."
Re-entering the room, Graheme added, "Which means we can't light it on fire. Again, don't feel that you have to eat everything, Miss Hiiragi. I'll just be having coffee and shortbread. And one of the gâteaux that our new friends brought over, of course."
"Of course," Makoto replied with a bit of a smile.
"That's the least we could do to repay your hospitality," Mari added.
"And we do appreciate it," Cassiopée replied, "but it really wasn't necessary."
"We have so much food left," commented Souichirou once he and Grahame were in the kitchen again. "It seems a pity to waste it."
"Oh, we won't waste it. It's already in the fridges along with the tourtière and the bowl of meatball stew that we didn't bring out to the table." Grahame smiled as he almost-asked, "I gather Japan doesn't have the concept of 'leftovers that you'll be eating all week'. We were planning on having enough prepared food to last us until New Year's Day so that we could relax for a week, but we didn't know enough to factor in the presence of the pâtissières. We might actually cook something new before the end of the year."
"I expect that we'd have to do that anyway. My students aren't used to eating such heavy food, or so much of it."
"If you'll excuse me," Cassiopée said while standing up and grabbing her coffee mug, "I do need to inform our financial backers about how all of you at Patisserie Belge were left uncontacted for three months, and how you're going to move in officially today." Almost to herself, she added, "I've never had to work on Christmas before."
Konata nodded to herself as Cassiopée headed for her office. Of course she had to level-grind with these small missions before she got her actual quest! Self-satisfied, she wondered what the next quest would be... and who it would come from. Then she thought about how Sennosuke-san seemed to be happy to talk with her over dinner... and wondered whether she was getting something other than powers today. He was a nice enough boy, after all; maybe they were meant to be together.
Finally, after the sweet course was completed, Cassiopée said, "I know that probably nobody wants to do anything right now, but we should get you moved into your apartments."
"We can do that later today," Grahame pointed out. "And if we help you move your personal possessions, then we'll have a better idea of what the ladies need to buy tomorrow and the gentlemen need to buy on Tuesday."
Graheme turned to look at Shirou, who knew what was coming. "Sure, I can help you move."
"I'll help as well," Souichirou volunteered. "The sooner you're done, the sooner it won't be noisy right outside my apartment. How long will it take you to pack everything to take upstairs?"
Mari smiled ruefully. "We've been so busy that we haven't had time to buy proper furniture other than the beds. Everything we own is in cardboard boxes."
"We're re-using the boxes we get our ingredients in," Ichogo admitted.
"Which means you're already packed," Cassiopée pointed out while holding up a set of key rings. "I found the keys to the stairwell from Patisserie Belge to the apartments, so we can start moving your personal possessions and mattresses whenever everybody's ready and not have to worry about taking anything outside. Now, who wants to live across the hall from Souichirou and Medea, and who wants to live in the apartment above theirs?"
Epilogue
The Steeple, Philadelphia, PA, USA
December 27, 2016
"No, my daughter isn't interested in becoming a pâtissière," Momoko Takamachi said. "She takes after her father more than she takes after me. But you're welcome to stay for a few hours and catch up with Pêche."
"Mother," Nanoha asked while walking into the room side-by-side with her closest friend in Refuge, "who are you talking to?" She was curious, while Fate was puzzled by seeing two people who seemed to her to be Unison Devices of types she's never seen before.
"Oh, hello, Nanoha. Hello, Fate. We have another Sweets Spirit visiting us; she thought that you might want to become a pastry chef and would want tutoring."
"Hello, Nanoha," the young cinnamon-brunette visitor said while bowing in midair. "My name is Cinnamon, and I was here to make you an offer to train you as a pâtissier."
"Ah. Thank you, spirit-san, but I'm not interested in cooking for a living." She turned to her mother and added, "I'm surprised that the spirits followed us to Refuge."
Fate was still puzzled. Looking at the two hovering girls, she asked them, "What is a Sweets Spirit?"
"Ah, that's right. We haven't met yet," the pastel-orange-haired girl with the peach-shaped derrière said while turning from Momoko to Fate. "You so rarely visit the kitchen. Hello, Fate, my name is Pêche. Cinnamon and I are from the Sweets Kingdom, and we came to Earth to partner with humans who can become great pâtissières."
Momoko added, "Pêche has been my partner and friend since I was Amy's age or thereabouts, and it's thanks to her tutoring me that Midoriya's cakes and pies taste so good."
The Sweets Spirit smiled at her partner's compliment, then gave one of her own; "They wouldn't be so good if you weren't such a good student back when we met and a diligent chef even now."
Nanoha grinned as she turned to Fate. "Haven't you ever wondered why mother wasn't surprised when we told my family about magic and the TSAB? She's known about magic since before Kyouya and Miyuki were born."
![[Image: 300px-P%C3%AAche_and_her_namesake.jpg]](https://kanrikyara.miraheze.org/w/thumb_handler.php/9/9f/P%C3%AAche_and_her_namesake.jpg/300px-P%C3%AAche_and_her_namesake.jpg)
Pêche
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
December 28, 2016
With two of the three biggest eaters in residence out of town, Makoto Kino wasn't sure whether she'd be able to use up all of the Christmas leftovers before New Year's. But, she figured, that was better than not having enough food to last.
Then she noticed that she wasn't alone in the kitchen. The other ... person? ... was so small that she could stand on Makoto's palm. She had an athlete's build, pale skin and cinnamon-brown hair and eyes, and was wearing a pastry chef's uniform and hat.
"Who... or what... are you?" asked Mako-chan. She'd seen so many unusual people over the last few months that she wasn't surprised, just curious.
She bowed slightly. "Hello! My name is Cinnamon. I'm a Sweets Spirit, sent to this world to find somebody who has the potential to become a great pâtissier and help them develop that potential. Momoko Takamachi in Philadelphia suggested that I speak with you. I'm happy to meet you, Miss Kino."
"Yeah, hi. Makoto Kino, but you already knew that. Do you mean you're like those fairies in A Little Snow Fairy Sugar?"
"No, they're Season Spirits. We have a lot in common, but we also have a lot of differences. I'm here to teach as well as to learn. If you're interested in becoming my partner, learning techniques and recipes from each other, show me what you've got in the way of skills; make your favourite dessert for me."
Makoto shrugged her shoulders and decided to go with the flow. If the spirit didn't know anything that was new to Makoto, it didn't matter, and if she did, it would be worthwhile to learn. Besides, she didn't seem to be a new enemy. "I'd already chosen to make that for dessert for twelve people today. Two cherry pies, coming up!"
![[Image: 300px-Cinnamon_SD.jpg]](https://kanrikyara.miraheze.org/w/thumb_handler.php/7/7b/Cinnamon_SD.jpg/300px-Cinnamon_SD.jpg)
Cinnamon
2: RK: Yes, Konata's gift of the local languages when she arrived in Refuge included more than she realized. She isn't going to overdo the Canadianism.
3: RK: A year and a half, actually. One of the top-rated culinary schools in Canada is only one Metro stop away from Appartements Mont-Royal Sud.
Appartements Mont-Royal Sud, Montreal, QC, Canada
December 25, 2016
An additional table had been added to the line, and everybody who wasn't involved in serving the meal had found places where they could sit comfortably. Sakura and Rin had kept a spot free for Shirou, and Konata and Kagami had kept a spot on the other side of the long table free for Tsukasa. Of course, the Brights's chairs were at each end of the table.
Sakura frowned when she realized that Tsukasa was going to be sitting directly across from Shirou, but then she consoled herself with the knowledge that she was right beside him.
Once everyone else was seated, the cooks started bringing out the food, beginning with a whole roasted ham. Grahame mentioned, "I'll carve this after we've finished the soup, so it stays warm longer."
"Soup?"
"Italian tomato and white bean potage," answered Cassiopée as she brought out a large rectangular glass pan filled with a savoury pie. "A little something to get us started before we begin the meal."
Shirou brought out an identical pan. "Where should I put this tourtière?"
"At the far end of the table from this one," Cassiopée replied while Tsukasa brought out a tray holding two bowls of pork meatball stew. Once they were on the table and the teens and Grahame went back to the kitchen, Cassiopée told everyone else, "They're both tourtière du Saguenay, so you won't miss anything if you don't get any of one or the other of them."
Kagami asked, "What's in tourtière du Saguenay?"
"Most tourtières have pork and veal in them, along with root vegetables. Saguenay style tourtières also include duck and rabbit." And Cassopiée headed to the kitchen, holding the door open for Shirou as he brought out two bowls of garlic mashed potatoes.
"Rabbit?" Rin asked with dismay, thinking of the Rabbit in the Moon.
"Why not?" Rider replied, thinking of the stew that would eventually become kouneli stifado.
"You don't need to eat everything," Cassopiée said as she brought out a dutch oven filled with fèves au lard. Tsukasa followed her with a large serving dish filled with maple-glazed carrots and parsnips. "We have enough vegetarian food to feed you today, if you don't want to eat meat." Grahame followed them out of the kitchen carrying a glass tray of pickled beets, and Shirou brought out a jar of homemade chunky tomato ketchup with a spoon.
Then the four of them went back to the kitchen to — finally — bring out the soup and the bread.
Once the bowls were in front of the people at the table and their glasses were filled with either water or Cariboo, everybody but Tsukasa took their places at the table.
"Do you expect us to eat all this in a half-hour?" Kagami asked. Like Rin, she was worried about the rabbit in the tourtière; unlike Rin, she was looking for an excuse to leave the table without eating any of it, despite what Cassiopée had said about not needing to try everything.
"Not at all," Cassiopée replied while Tsukasa emerged from the kitchen one last time, placed baskets of fresh-baked and fresh-sliced bread near each end of the long table, then finally sat down to eat with everybody else. Cassiopée continued, "A proper Quebecois style Christmas dinner takes all afternoon to eat, with everyone talking with each other during the meal."
Konata looked over at Caster. "The less we eat, the more there will be for the rest of you, eh?"[2]
"I was not expecting a feast."
Artoria looked surprised. "You were not expecting a feast on a feast day?" While she was amazed at the sheer amount of food that the Brights could afford to put on the table for a single meal, she did her best to avoid showing her emotion about the feast itself, presenting her reaction to Medea's comment instead.
"Do you know how many feast days your One God and His saints have? Every day is a feast day. At least the rest of us don't pretend we aren't hedonists."
Saber did not deign to comment, to Caster's disappointment. Instead, Grahame gave the formal thanks for the meal, and then they all started in.
The topic of discussion over the soup course was introductions, since only Konata knew who everybody at the table was. Their hosts started the ball rolling.
"Je m'appelle Cassiopée Bright. Je gère cette résidence."
"And I'm Graheme Bright, Cassiopée's husband, which means I'm living my dream." His wife smiled at that comment. "I'm a coder at Motive Studios."
That got Konata's attention. "You write video games?"
"I code video games. The creative staff write the plots and create the characters and settings; I just turn them into something playable. You may as well go next, Ms. Izumi."
"Sure, I can do that. I'm Konata Izumi, I'm a second-year high-school student at Ryouou High School in Kasukabe, or maybe I should say that I'm from a story that's called Lucky Star in this world. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm an anime and game otaku."
The glasses-wearing pâtissier nodded and said, "It's good to be honest about yourself. Ah, yes, I'm Sennosuke Andou from Académie Sainte-Marie. Or perhaps I should say that I'm from..." He looked at Konata. "Yumeiro Pâtissière, was it?"
"That's right," Konata replied.
He smiled at Konata as he said, "Thank you. My dream is to run a sweets shop that sells both Japanese and Western sweets."
"Patisserie Belge already does that," Grahame pointed out.
Turning his head to look at Grahame, Sennosuke replied, "Ah, but I don't own Patisserie Belge. We share it in common. I don't own my Sweets Spirit companion, Caramel, either; we're work partners."
The young-looking spirit who was perched on Sennosuke's shoulder smiled shyly and bowed. "Hello!" The she fell off his shoulder.
He managed to catch her before she fell into his soup. "Please be careful, Caramel."
"I'm sorry..."
"There's no harm done."
The Brights, the girls from Ryouou, and most of the Heroic Spirits and their masters wondered what had just happened. Caster said, "I know that you can fly, miss Caramel."
"I have to start to fly before I fly, miss," replied Caramel in a matter-of-fact tone. Then she asked, "Are you an elf?"
Caster smiled. "You've noticed that my ears come to points. No, I am as human as any of the other Heroic Spirits are. Oh, but I'm being rude. While I'm called 'Caster' in this world's story about us Heroic Spirits and our Masters, stories other than Fate/stay night give my actual name, Medea. Since I was originally from Colchis, I go by the name 'Medea Colchiseli' in this world. I am a divorcée, a kin-killer, and a mage." Many of the others around the table looked worried when Medea admitted to being a murderer. "There are millennia-old stories and plays about me, and there are also Internet articles about who I am in the Fate story, so it would be foolish to try to hide these facts." She said that last while looking at Saber... who, again, refused to show any reaction to Medea's words. Sakura and Rider looked surprised at the mention of Internet articles about Fate/stay night, though.
"And I am Souichirou Kuzuki, Medea's fiancé," said the nearly-emotionless man sitting beside her. "If you enrol at F.A.C.E. school, I will be your history teacher. By the way, this is excellent soup. My compliments to whoever made it."
"Why, thank you! I based it on a recipe that Mme. Cassiopée shared with me. And I'm Tsukasa Hiiragi, Konata's classmate back at Ryouou. We aren't in school yet here."
Sakura was happy that Tsukasa wasn't in school yet. One less distraction for Shirou's attentions!
"But we're going to be in school soon, I hope." (Sakura wasn't happy to hear that.) "Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa's twin sister. When we're not in class or socializing with our friends, Tsukasa and I sometimes work as miko at the shrine that our family tends to." (Little did she know that they'd be meeting a much more powerful miko in a month's time.) "I hope to become a lawyer."
"This is definitely the city to learn about law," Cassiopée replied. "Three of our country's Prime Ministers graduated from the law program at McGill University."
"Oh?" Kagami was very interested in that fact. "Where is this McGill?"
"I pass it on my way to work every day," Graheme replied. "It's literally across the road from F.A.C.E."
The pink-haired meganekko sitting beside Konata commented, "Since we're in this reality's Montréal now, I hope to attend McGill as well, but in the medical school. I'm Miyuki Takara, Konata and Tsukasa's classmate. I'm also on the Ryouou school council along with Kagami." Even sitting down, everyone could tell that she was the tallest of the girls from Ryouou... and that, of the four of them, she had the largest bustline.
"I'm sure that all four of you lovely ladies will be successful at whatever you put your minds to doing," the green-eyed pâtissier said with a smile to the girls from Ryouou. "I'm Satsuki Hanabusa. It's a bit cliché, given my family name, but I've been surrounded by flowers for all of my life; my mother is an artist in the field of flower arranging. If you taste roses in something from Patisserie Belge, it's probably something made to one of my recipes. My partner is named Café, although I admit that I haven't left him with very much to do lately."
"We shan't go into why during a party, since I know I won't convince you otherwise today," the only male Sweets Spirit in the room said to his partner and to those who could hear him. Bowing, he continued, "As Satsuki said, I'm Café. While my skills and interests don't align as well with Satsuki's as the other Spirits' skills work with their partners', we still make a good team in the kitchen."
"Yeah, I got lucky in pairing up with a chocolatier," said the only black-haired Sweets Spirit in the group. "I'm Chocolat. I think everything should have chocolate in it." (At that point, a continent away in Aria House, Taeko Minazuki sneezed.) "And you might have noticed that the other Sweets Spirits carry spoons. I have a fork, and I'm not afraid to use it."
The blond male pâtissier sighed. "Excuse me, my partner's being tsun-tsun again."
"I know what that's like," Konata sadi while looking at Kagami.
"I'm not your partner and I'm not tsundere," Kagami pointed out. "I just get annoyed with your antics sometimes."
The male blond turned back to the others at the table. "Now that that's handled, I guess it's my turn. Makoto Kashino, part-time pâtissier and full-time chocolatier. Chocolat already mentioned that she's my partner."
"Your work partner," the brunette female pâtissiere added. "I'm your life partner, right?"
"And I'm yours, Ichigo," Makoto answered. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
Ichigo smiled at Makoto's statement. (So did Sakura; it meant that there was one fewer competitor for Shirou's love.) Continuing the introductions, Ichigo said, "I'm Ichigo Amano, but Mlle. Izumi and Mlle. Takara already knew that. I'm the least-experienced pâtissière at Patisserie Belge, so sometimes my partner Vanilla is more like my tutor, but together we make the best strawberry tarts outside of France."
The slightly-plump blonde Sweets Spirit smiled. "And I'm Vanilla. Ichigo and I are less partners and more friends at this stage of our relationship."
"It's good to be friends with your partner," the slim blonde Sweets Spirit said. By her bearing and enunciation, she appeared to be of a higher class than the others. "Honey, at your service."
"And I'm Honey's partner, Mari Tennouji," added the remaining blonde pâtissière. "I believe you've all met me already, if only in passing yesterday evening. Officially I'm in charge of Patisserie Belge, but that's only because I'm a year older than the others."
"Judging by how busy your shop is at lunchtime, I'd say you're all doing a good job of it," Cassiopée replied. "Do any of you have your high-school diplomas?"
"Not yet," replied Mari. "We hadn't graduated from Sainte-Marie back home, and we've been too busy to even look up the process to get one here."
"If you're past your sixteenth birthdays, then you're old enough to get an AENS," Cassiopée replied. "That would let you get into [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEGEP"]CEGEP[/url] without finishing grade 11 here, although actually taking the high-school classes would look better on your transcript. We can talk about that after dinner if you'd like. Right now, we still haven't heard from most of the people from Fuyuki City."
"I may as well go next, I guess. Shirou Emiya. I'm good at fixing things. But I really don't understand the whole 'Heroic Spirit' thing, let alone what I'm supposed to be doing with one, so I can't fix my life right now."
The blonde seated next to him followed with, "And I am the Heroic Spirit that Shirou-san sumoned for the Fifth Grail War. I am called Saber."
Konata leaned over to Miyuki and told her, "In the game, Saber is Artoria, King of the Britons." Seeing the looks of surprise on Sakura's and Rider's faces, she added, "I guess some people didn't look themselves up on the internet."
Saber glared at Konata. How dare she be so presumptuous as to reveal other people's secrets!
Rin noticed Saber's reaction and coldly said, "Izumi-san, do you remember what Uiharu-san told you about mentioning that game in my presence?" While Belldandy's geas meant she couldn't actually attack Konata, there was nothing stopping her from reminding Konata of what somebody else had said and letting her reach the wrong conclusion.
"I'll shut up now," Konata hurriedly replied. (Caster wasn't happy to hear that — she had been hoping that Archer's secret identity would have been revealed as well — but said nothing.)
"Thank you. I'm Rin Tohsaka, student at F.A.C.E. and participant in the Fifth Grail War that is on hold for the foreseeable future. And, like Caster, I'm a good enough mage to be able to see your companions."
The grey-haired man sitting beside her merely said, "Archer. Heroic Spirit, not starship captain or secret agent."
Everyone but the Brights looked puzzled at the comment. Konata decided to ignore it and ask what was on her mind. "You're pretty young to have grey hair. What caused it?"
"Having to put up with nosy kids who can't keep their mouths shut," he replied with a nasty grin.
"Yeesh. You'd think knowing things was a capital crime around here," muttered Konata.
"If there was a Grail War going on, it would be a capital offence to know about it."
Konata nodded. "Good thing that there isn't a Grail War going on, then. What's the deal with that, anyway?"
"Let's let the others introduce themselves before answering that," Cassiopée insisted. "Mlle. Matou, if you would?"
"Of course," the purple-haired girl smiled. "Sakura Matou, student at F.A.C.E."
The pink-haired meganekko who had yet to say anything ate the last spoonful of her soup before speaking. "I'm the Heroic Spirit called Rider. I have to warn you, if you ever see me without my glasses or my blindfold, it will be the last thing you see, because my name when I was alive was Medusa. So please don't try to see what I look like without my glasses."
"Important safety tip," Konata quoted before finishing her own soup. "Hey, does anybody else here think that Rider and Miyuki look like sisters?"
Everybody looked at both young women for a moment. Finally, Archer said, "I'm not seeing it. They don't even have the same skin colour."
"And Miyuki-san's face is rounder than Rider-san's," added Tsukasa.
Kagami nodded in agreement. "All they really have in common is their height, their hair colour, and the fact that they both wear glasses."
"Spoilsports," muttered Konata. Then she asked, "I think that's everyone, isn't it?"
"It is, yes," Grahame replied while standing up. "And I believe everyone has finished their soup."
Since they had finished the soup course and introducing themselves to each other, Grahame and Shirou collected the bowls while Tsukasa and Cassiopée brought out plates.
Once the four cooks were seated again, except for Graheme who was carving the ham, Cassiopée told everyone, "Go ahead and serve yourselves!"
Most of the Japanese girls avoided the tourtière to begin with, although Miyuki helped herself to some without hesitation and Sakura took a small portion when she saw that Shirou was trying it. Once they said that they liked it, the others tried the dish as well... except for Rin and Kagami.
The discussion for the first hour, when it wasn't about the food, was primarily about Refuge itself; explaining why the Grail War was on hold, expanding on what Cassiopée had told them earlier, glossing over what little she and Grahame knew about the reasons why everyone was being displaced there, listing who all that they knew had shown up so far, and going into detail about how they were managing to cope with the help of others in the same circumstances. Most of this was already known to the once and possibly future Grail War participants, all of it was new to the pâtissiers, and the students from Ryouou had already been picked up some of it by osmosis during the previous evening's party.
The next half-hour was spent talking about everybody's schools. They came to the conclusion that the only thing Académie Sainte-Marie had that Ryouou Gakuen and Homurahara Gakuen didn't have was the extensive student kitchens and the student-run bake shop on the campus. Shirou, Rin, and Sakura spent more time telling the others how their school in Montreal, Formation artistique au cœur de l'éducation, was different from any of the Japanese schools.
"We have to play a musical instrument?" Miyuki asked in surprise.
"You don't have to play it well," Sakura replied, "but you do need to play something."
"Kagami and I can play the recorder," Tsukasa mentioned.
"Yes, a fine example of my point. And it was so good of you to let your sister shine when the two of you played 'Joy to the World' during the carolling session last night," Sakura said with a smile that wasn't reflected in her voice. Just because she couldn't attack the girl who her Shirou had noticed a day ago didn't mean she couldn't make pointed comments.
Tsukasa looked dejected as Kagami replied, "I suppose we can say that's how it happened."
"Maybe I should look at that equivalency exam that Mme. Bright mentioned to the pâtissiers. I don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer.
"What do you want to do with your life, Tsukasa?" Graheme asked.
"I don't know for sure, but after seeing and using the kitchen here in the bistro, maybe I'll become a professional cook."
"That's a fine career," Ichigo commented. "Would you want to be a pastry cook?"
"Oh, I couldn't do that as well as you can, I'm sure. I'd be happy to be a general cook. And maybe start a restaurant and have a contract with Patisserie Belge to supply the desserts!"
Mari smiled as she swallowed a bite of bread. "That's something for the future. There must be some courses somewhere in Montréal that you can take to learn the business before then, but if they're anything like Sainte-Marie's classes, you'll be taking them for at least a year."[3]
Conversation moved away from the future and settled into topics about the present. Makoto asked whether there were any displacees who shared his name, which led to Tsukasa mentioning Makoto Kino in Ottawa, and that led to Rin talking about her growing friendship with Kino-san's apartment-mate Kazari Uiharu. Then Cassiopée paired her cellphone with the bistro's speakers and played some of the music from the Halloween and Christmas parties, giving people a chance to eat and drink while they listened to Hokago Tea Time and the Hanagumi.
Which was a mixed blessing. By the time that the first pan of tourtière was empty, Chocolat was feeling tipsy due to the amount of alcohol in the cariboo.
"Café, Café, Café, when are you going to get a clue?"
Café sighed. He didn't know why humans thought that a liquor-filled chocolate was a special treat at this time of year, because this particular Chocolat couldn't hold her liquor. "I said we shan't talk about that today. Especially not in front of people who we just met."
"Aw, none of 'em can hear us anyway."
"Except for Medea and Rin."
"Whatever! Café, you gotta dump Hanabusa and find another partner. Now. Maybe one of these new girls. Tsukasa looks like a good choice."
"Tsukasa just said that she doesn't want to be a pâtissiere, Chocolat. Satsuki is my partner."
"But Hanabusa doesn't want to be a pâtissier any more!"
Satsuki nodded. "Chocolat is right, Café," he commented, puzzling the people near him who couldn't see the Sweets Spirits.
"Of course I am! You want to turn you back on being a pâtissier and be a 'life coach', whatever that is! You're planning to hide your talent under a bushel!"
(Not too far down the table, Rin winced. In her opinion, mixed metaphors were bad enough when they weren't based on passages from the Bible.)
"And that's my choice to make."
"See!" Chocolat turned back to Café. "I know it, he knows it, you're the only one who doesn't want to admit it! Walk away from this dead-end job and find somebody else to work with before you waste decades of your life!"
"If I was to stop being Satsuki's partner just because that was the easy way to resolve things, what would Mocha say?"
"Don't you dare bring Mocha into this!" And Chocolat literally flew off, away from the conversation.
Of course Makoto noticed. "Excuse me," he said quickly while standing up to chase after his partner.
"What was that all about?" asked Konata.
Rin sighed deeply. "It appears that Christmas dinners in Montréal are like any other family dinners I've attended. It was only a matter of time before somebody said the wrong thing. If I may ask, who or what is Mocha?"
The Sweets Spirits looked at each other. Café refused to answer. Finally, Honey replied, "I have no idea."
After an uncomfortable silence, Grahame finally said, "Miss Izumi, you mentioned that you enjoy playing video games and reading manga. I've looked at a few of the web pages about you; did you know that you have a reputation at Comiket?"
"I've been going for years, so that isn't a surprise. Is it a good one?"
Graheme nodded. "A very good one, yes. The artists in your world say that their books are guaranteed to sell if you like them. The ones who don't know your name call you 'Legendary Girl A'."
Konata grinned and said, "I like the idea of being a legendary girl, eh?" Then she ate a slice of pickled beet... before realizing that she'd added a verbal tic to her comment. "Okay, why did I say 'eh' at the end of that?"
"It's part of the local version of English, eh?" Sennosuke replied, deliberately using the confirmational. "And we did notice that you spoke the local version of English perfectly."
"What's up with that, anyway? Miyuki and Kagami have accents, but Tsukasa and I sound like we grew up in Montréal."
"I suspect that's the megami's fault," Graheme replied out as he cut a bite of ham from the slice on his plate. "Assuming that Ms. Takara and Ms. Hiiragi already spoke English, they didn't need to be given fluency in the language. As for 'eh?', that isn't something that I hear at work very often. It's more a thing to say in casual conversation."
"I guess that means I'm getting used to being here," Konata said. "Maybe I should call myself 'Legendary Girl, Eh?' on manga and gaming forums.
"Why not?" Sennosuke said with a smile.
The conversation around the table settled into small talk: which of the two nearby grocery stores were good places to find certain foods, when to stay away from the nearby football stadium in order to avoid crowds, and other matters of similar importance.
Finally, people ran out of things to talk about as they ran out of food on their plates. Not that there wasn't food left to eat, but nobody felt hungry enough to ask for another helping.
"Why did I take more of that stew?" Kagami asked herself. "I mean, it's good, but I stuffed myself."
Miyuki said with a bit of concern, "I hope you left some room for dessert."
"You mean there's more food?"
"I know you saw our neighbours bring over gâteaux moka," Miyuki replied as Graheme, Shirou, and Souichirou started clearing away the remnants of the main course.
Rin raised an eyebrow. "Mocha?"
All that Café was willing to say in reply was, "All Sweets Spirits are named after flavours."
As he passed his wife on the way to the kitchen, Graheme asked, "Why don't we just have coffee and tea now, and save the fruitcake, maple fudge, shortbread, and gâteaux for a half-hour or so?"
"That's an excellent idea," Cassiopée replied.
Tsukasa sighed deeply. "I want to try all of those, but even a half-hour won't be long enough for all the food I already ate to settle."
"Our hosts did warn us that we'd be eating all afternoon," Sakura pointed out. Then she added with an innocent look on her face, "Wasn't it Democritus who said 'Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not an adult'?"
"Yes, it was," Caster replied, slightly annoyed that she didn't get to make that observation.
Konata noticed that Sakura was trying to belittle one of her closest fiends, but couldn't think of anything to say in order to score any points for her own side. Instead, she changed the subject. "The fruitcake that you mentioned. Are you going to set it on fire?"
"Certainly not!" Cassiopée considered the idea ridiculous. "This is a proper French fruitcake, not an English sodden mass of molasses and brandy."
Re-entering the room, Graheme added, "Which means we can't light it on fire. Again, don't feel that you have to eat everything, Miss Hiiragi. I'll just be having coffee and shortbread. And one of the gâteaux that our new friends brought over, of course."
"Of course," Makoto replied with a bit of a smile.
"That's the least we could do to repay your hospitality," Mari added.
"And we do appreciate it," Cassiopée replied, "but it really wasn't necessary."
"We have so much food left," commented Souichirou once he and Grahame were in the kitchen again. "It seems a pity to waste it."
"Oh, we won't waste it. It's already in the fridges along with the tourtière and the bowl of meatball stew that we didn't bring out to the table." Grahame smiled as he almost-asked, "I gather Japan doesn't have the concept of 'leftovers that you'll be eating all week'. We were planning on having enough prepared food to last us until New Year's Day so that we could relax for a week, but we didn't know enough to factor in the presence of the pâtissières. We might actually cook something new before the end of the year."
"I expect that we'd have to do that anyway. My students aren't used to eating such heavy food, or so much of it."
"If you'll excuse me," Cassiopée said while standing up and grabbing her coffee mug, "I do need to inform our financial backers about how all of you at Patisserie Belge were left uncontacted for three months, and how you're going to move in officially today." Almost to herself, she added, "I've never had to work on Christmas before."
Konata nodded to herself as Cassiopée headed for her office. Of course she had to level-grind with these small missions before she got her actual quest! Self-satisfied, she wondered what the next quest would be... and who it would come from. Then she thought about how Sennosuke-san seemed to be happy to talk with her over dinner... and wondered whether she was getting something other than powers today. He was a nice enough boy, after all; maybe they were meant to be together.
Finally, after the sweet course was completed, Cassiopée said, "I know that probably nobody wants to do anything right now, but we should get you moved into your apartments."
"We can do that later today," Grahame pointed out. "And if we help you move your personal possessions, then we'll have a better idea of what the ladies need to buy tomorrow and the gentlemen need to buy on Tuesday."
Graheme turned to look at Shirou, who knew what was coming. "Sure, I can help you move."
"I'll help as well," Souichirou volunteered. "The sooner you're done, the sooner it won't be noisy right outside my apartment. How long will it take you to pack everything to take upstairs?"
Mari smiled ruefully. "We've been so busy that we haven't had time to buy proper furniture other than the beds. Everything we own is in cardboard boxes."
"We're re-using the boxes we get our ingredients in," Ichogo admitted.
"Which means you're already packed," Cassiopée pointed out while holding up a set of key rings. "I found the keys to the stairwell from Patisserie Belge to the apartments, so we can start moving your personal possessions and mattresses whenever everybody's ready and not have to worry about taking anything outside. Now, who wants to live across the hall from Souichirou and Medea, and who wants to live in the apartment above theirs?"
Epilogue
The Steeple, Philadelphia, PA, USA
December 27, 2016
"No, my daughter isn't interested in becoming a pâtissière," Momoko Takamachi said. "She takes after her father more than she takes after me. But you're welcome to stay for a few hours and catch up with Pêche."
"Mother," Nanoha asked while walking into the room side-by-side with her closest friend in Refuge, "who are you talking to?" She was curious, while Fate was puzzled by seeing two people who seemed to her to be Unison Devices of types she's never seen before.
"Oh, hello, Nanoha. Hello, Fate. We have another Sweets Spirit visiting us; she thought that you might want to become a pastry chef and would want tutoring."
"Hello, Nanoha," the young cinnamon-brunette visitor said while bowing in midair. "My name is Cinnamon, and I was here to make you an offer to train you as a pâtissier."
"Ah. Thank you, spirit-san, but I'm not interested in cooking for a living." She turned to her mother and added, "I'm surprised that the spirits followed us to Refuge."
Fate was still puzzled. Looking at the two hovering girls, she asked them, "What is a Sweets Spirit?"
"Ah, that's right. We haven't met yet," the pastel-orange-haired girl with the peach-shaped derrière said while turning from Momoko to Fate. "You so rarely visit the kitchen. Hello, Fate, my name is Pêche. Cinnamon and I are from the Sweets Kingdom, and we came to Earth to partner with humans who can become great pâtissières."
Momoko added, "Pêche has been my partner and friend since I was Amy's age or thereabouts, and it's thanks to her tutoring me that Midoriya's cakes and pies taste so good."
The Sweets Spirit smiled at her partner's compliment, then gave one of her own; "They wouldn't be so good if you weren't such a good student back when we met and a diligent chef even now."
Nanoha grinned as she turned to Fate. "Haven't you ever wondered why mother wasn't surprised when we told my family about magic and the TSAB? She's known about magic since before Kyouya and Miyuki were born."
Pêche
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
December 28, 2016
With two of the three biggest eaters in residence out of town, Makoto Kino wasn't sure whether she'd be able to use up all of the Christmas leftovers before New Year's. But, she figured, that was better than not having enough food to last.
Then she noticed that she wasn't alone in the kitchen. The other ... person? ... was so small that she could stand on Makoto's palm. She had an athlete's build, pale skin and cinnamon-brown hair and eyes, and was wearing a pastry chef's uniform and hat.
"Who... or what... are you?" asked Mako-chan. She'd seen so many unusual people over the last few months that she wasn't surprised, just curious.
She bowed slightly. "Hello! My name is Cinnamon. I'm a Sweets Spirit, sent to this world to find somebody who has the potential to become a great pâtissier and help them develop that potential. Momoko Takamachi in Philadelphia suggested that I speak with you. I'm happy to meet you, Miss Kino."
"Yeah, hi. Makoto Kino, but you already knew that. Do you mean you're like those fairies in A Little Snow Fairy Sugar?"
"No, they're Season Spirits. We have a lot in common, but we also have a lot of differences. I'm here to teach as well as to learn. If you're interested in becoming my partner, learning techniques and recipes from each other, show me what you've got in the way of skills; make your favourite dessert for me."
Makoto shrugged her shoulders and decided to go with the flow. If the spirit didn't know anything that was new to Makoto, it didn't matter, and if she did, it would be worthwhile to learn. Besides, she didn't seem to be a new enemy. "I'd already chosen to make that for dessert for twelve people today. Two cherry pies, coming up!"
Cinnamon
2: RK: Yes, Konata's gift of the local languages when she arrived in Refuge included more than she realized. She isn't going to overdo the Canadianism.
3: RK: A year and a half, actually. One of the top-rated culinary schools in Canada is only one Metro stop away from Appartements Mont-Royal Sud.
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Boycotting all products from the USA as long as that country's leader continues to threaten to annex my native country.
Government of Canada: How to immigrate to Canada
Government of Canada: Claiming refugee protection (asylum) from within Canada
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Boycotting all products from the USA as long as that country's leader continues to threaten to annex my native country.
Government of Canada: How to immigrate to Canada
Government of Canada: Claiming refugee protection (asylum) from within Canada