Now that Saber was aware of the nearby convenience store, she hurries out of the house in order to save her meal, leaving Shirou to deal with being stuck between her toes during that run. And because food was on the line, Saber was running quite quickly, putting her master through terrible punishment as a side effect. Her feet would crash onto the ground with such intensity that he feared that his bones would break one by one, but he somehow remained intact. The only explanation in Shirou’s mind was that the grail was keeping him alive, which was good for him at least.

Each time Saber turned a corner, her foot would pivot in such a way that he felt his whole body get ground into the sides of her toes. And due to the force that she exerted with every step, Shirou would find himself sinking even deeper between her toes. And because how how focused she was on getting her spices, and that alone, her concerns for her master became nearly nonexistent. Though Shirou didn’t mind that much, since he was well aware that Saber loved to eat food almost as much as she did being an honorable knight.

But after less than a minute, which felt far longer to Shirou, she makes it to the convenience store. When she walks over to the spices area, she telepathically asks “Which spices will I need, Shirou…?” Unfortunately, he was still dazed from the experience, causing Saber to grow impatient. Due to that, she begins to tap her foot, causing him to get dislodged from her toes and land under them. And as she continued to tap her foot, Shirou found himself repeatedly crushed under her toes, as she telepathically says “I asked you a question, master… You must not lose focus when our meal is at stake!”

Shirou then rubs his eyes while still getting pounded under her toes, before saying “Okay, okay… These are the spices you should get!” He then informs Saber of what she needed to buy, so she purchases them with his card, before heading out of the convenience store. 

But just as she left, a boisterous voice called out to her, yelling “Saber!! What are you up to??”

Surprisingly, Taiga Fujimura was standing right in front of Saber…

Taiga grins while waiting for a response, causing Saber to say “Oh, hello Taiga. I was cooking lunch when I realized that I lacked certain ingredients, so I rushed to the store…” While she was happy to see Shirou’s legal guardian, she was also in a hurry, making her feel conflicted. Due to that, she started to shuffle in place, absentmindedly grinding Shirou under her massive toes.

When Taiga hears that, she tilts her head and says “Why are you cooking…? Shirou isn’t being lazy, is he…?”

Saber shakes her head and says “No, but he is quite sick. He’s currently resting, so I wanted to cook instead.” She felt bad about lying to Taiga, but she felt like if she told her the full truth, it’d only worry her. That didn’t stop Saber from nervously bobbing forward and back, continually rolling Shirou under her foot in the process.

Taiga’s widen when she hears that bad news, causing her to say “That’s a disaster!! What’ll I do without his cooking??” But then she smirks and says “I am curious about your cooking, so I’m gonna head over for lunch!”

Saber soon becomes nervous, causing a wave of sweat to travel downward, overwhelming Shirou as she quietly says “Are you sure, Taiga…? I am not yet confident in my proficiency in cooking.”

Taiga just laughs and says “I’m sure Shirou gave you pointers! I’ll be over in an hour, so look forward to it! And I’ll even see if Sakura wants to come.. Bye!”

With that, she walks away before Saber could convince her to change her mind. And once she was alone again, she frowns, before muttering “What should I do now…”

Shirou hears this, so he telepathically says “I believe in you Saber! I think your meal will turn out great!”

When Saber hears that, she gleefully smiles and says “You truly mean that, Shriou? In that case, I shan't give up!” But then her eyes widen as she explains “The meal!! Shirou, brace yourself, for I must hurry back home!”

Following that, she takes a deep breath before rushing away, running as fast as she could manage, nearly flattening the tiny mage between her damp sock and her sweaty foot. He’d seen her run this fast before, but it was another story to be in her boot while she did it, since each thunderous step threatened to crush his body into paste. There were times where he actually felt his bones snap under the extreme pressure, but Avalon would heal them just seconds after they would break. Even though Saber wasn’t intending it at this point, this was a good way for him to build up his tolerance for pain, since Avalon didn’t completely eliminate the pain he felt. And if it helped him become strong enough to be a true hero of justice, he’d accept that pain readily.

But as she ran, she passed Lancer who was casually walking out of a ramen shop, piquing his curiosity. He then decides to run after her, quickly getting next to her, before saying “Yo Saber… What are you in such a hurry for?”

Saber simply nods to the fellow servant, before flatly saying “Greetings, Lancer… I am afraid I cannot stop to chat for I must get back to the meal I was in the middle of preparing…”

Lancer laughs to himself and says “Ahh… Well, I don’t got orders to fight you or anything, so I’ll leave ya to it. If you’ve got spare time, then I’d be fine with a battle. But whatever suits you. Oh, and tell your brave master that I said ‘hey’... Later!”

Thankfully, he left without causing an incident, prompting Saber to reenter the Emiya household, rushing to finish preparing their lunch…

Now that their lunch was mostly ready, it just needed to cook for the next 40 minutes, allowing Saber and Shirou to take a moment to breathe easier. She takes off her boots and her socks, before freeing her master from under her toes, before placing him on the table in front of her. And as they sat down, she explained to him how Taiga invited herself and Sakura over for lunch, before saying “How would you like to proceed, master?”

He thinks for a moment, before saying “Well, I have no problems with Sakura knowing about my condition, but I’m a bit more hesitant with Taiga. Knowing her, she’d definitely try to mess with me at this size. But I’ll leave that decision up to you, Saber. I wouldn’t be against either of them knowing. They’re bound to want to check on me if they I’m sick, so it might be difficult to keep that lie going.”

Saber nods and says “That was an excuse I thought up on the spot, so I apologize if it was not convincing. But I will show you to them when they arrive…”

After that, Shirou taps his chin and says “Sounds good to me, Saber. But we have some time, so what do you wanna do for now?”

Saber remains silent for a moment, before slowly feeling more and more confident, making Shirou wonder if she was about to boss him around again. His suspicions were confirmed once she folds her arms and authoritatively says “I believe a foot massage is in order, master…”

Shirou nods in response and says “Sure. I don’t mind doing that if it’d make you feel more comfortable…”

Saber smugly smiles when she hears that answer, causing her to say “Good answer, Shirou! After I used my feet to provide a valuable training session, it is only fair that you return my favor by massaging them. We can even treat this as an additional form of training. And I shall not allow you to rest until I feel satisfied!”

Shirou just nods again and says “I understand! I’ll work hard for you, Saber. You already do so much for me, so it’s the least I could do…”

His statement nearly melted Saber’s heart, causing her eyes to widen as she says “You truly are a great master, Shirou! And allow me to apologize for what I just said, if you need to stop for any reason, I will not interfere…”

With that decided, Saber brings her tiny master over to her current bedroom, before sitting onto the mattress and placing Shirou down in front of her feet. After that, she happily smiles and says “You truly are a wonderful master, Shirou… First you give me pointers to cook a good meal and now this.”

Shirou scratches his neck and says “You still did the actual cooking yourself. I’m certain that Taiga and Sakura will love it.”

Saber nods, before clearing her throat and saying “You may start as soon as you are ready. I will take this chance to read, so please forgive me if I bother you while you work. I fear I am more ticklish then I would care to admit…”

Shirou just laughs to himself and says “Don’t worry about it! That’ll just make it more of a challenge…”

When Saber hears that, her eyes light up as she says “In that case, would you find it more enjoyable if I made it even more difficult for you?? I would gladly treat you most cruelly, if that was what you wished me to do…”

Shirou quickly shakes his head and says “You don’t need to go that far, Saber!”

Saber nods in response, before smiling and saying “Then I shall strive to ignore you while you work. I will also make sure to forcefully scratch away any itches I feel, if only to give you a more efficient training session…”

With that concerning promise given, Shirou prepares to give his heroic spirit the most difficult foot massage he’d ever performed...