16 – Da Vinci Makes Her Appearance
In the luxurious high-rise apartment, the kitchen range hood was humming. The boy grabbed the frying pan and flipped the ingredients with practiced ease—he was making dinner.
At first, Shirou was only helping out. But as they cooked and chatted, he casually complimented the girl's cooking skills. Somehow, that lit a fire in Yukinoshita's competitive spirit.
She insisted on dragging him into a cooking showdown.
The boy and the girl stood on opposite sides of the stove, each preparing a dish of their own.
The hot oil sizzled, smoke curled upward, and after about ten minutes, the dishes were placed on the dining table in the living room, served on cat-patterned plates.
Shirou had made a Chinese-style dish: stir-fried beef with daikon radish. Yukinoshita, on the other hand, had made a Western-style dish: pan-seared steak with broccoli. In the pot, there was also a bowl of miso soup with tofu, flavored with bonito flakes and kelp. The rich aroma of soy products wafted through the room—it was not only delicious but also nutritious.
"Judge, please enjoy," Shirou said as he handed Mash a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.
Yukinoshita, too, fixed her eyes on Mash, waiting in anticipation for her judgment.
"Alright, I'll begin the tasting now," Mash said, getting swept up in the mood.
She carefully took off her glasses and put them away. She glanced at both of her seniors and gave a solemn nod.
Her chopsticks first reached for the steak.
The reddish-black meat was seared to perfection—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. As she bit into it, rich meat juices burst forth, and the tender flavor combined beautifully with the savory sauce, completely satisfying the carnivorous instincts of any meat-eating human.
Next, she picked up a piece of bright green broccoli, soaked in steak sauce, and popped it into her mouth. It was crisp and smooth.
It felt like riding a cow across a green mountain meadow—cow hooves brushing past flowerbeds, butterflies fluttering up in a whimsical dance.
Mash's appetite had been completely awakened. Like that, she cleared the plate—steak and broccoli—without a single bite left behind.
"Yukinoshita-senpai's cooking is so good! Even professional chefs might not beat this," Mash exclaimed with great satisfaction.
"Thank you for the compliment," Yukinoshita replied with a calm smile and even shot a smug glance at the boy. Back when she was teaching Yuigahama how to cook and saw Shirou
performing better than her, she had secretly practiced ever since, vowing to win back her pride one day.
"Next is Shirou-senpai's dish," Mash turned toward the stir-fried plate that also emitted an enticing aroma. The daikon looked like translucent white jade, layered neatly with thin slices of beef—beautifully arranged and mouthwatering.
However, Mash had already been fully satisfied by the previous dish, both in terms of meat and vegetables. Even though the delicious flavors still lingered in her mouth, she wondered—could she really appreciate this next dish properly?
Holding onto that doubt, she picked up a slice of daikon, wrapping it with a piece of beef. The moment she took a bite, all her doubts vanished.
It was unbelievably delicious. The daikon's sweetness and the beef's rich tenderness exploded in her mouth. It felt like a refreshing spring stream had suddenly burst forth, washing away the richness of the previous steak and the crispness of the broccoli, leaving her mind clear.
This was a nostalgic flavor for the girl.
She had eaten this dish before at Chaldea. The one who made it back then was the Heroic Spirit Emiya, whose cooking was perfect—truly the pinnacle of homemade meals. And now, in this dish, it was as if that pinnacle had an added flavor: something called "happiness."
"It's so good... As I thought, Shirou-senpai's cooking is the best," Mash said, completely immersed in the world of flavor.
"Thank you. That means I win," Shirou chuckled and looked over at the black-haired girl.
Mash quickly added, "But Yukinoshita-senpai's food was super delicious too! I finished it all!"
"Thanks, Mash. But judging by your expression earlier, the result was obvious. Though I hate to admit it... I acknowledge Shirou's cooking is indeed better," Yukinoshita said, glancing at Shirou again. Then she split her portion of steak in half and gave it to Mash.
"Ah... Thank you, senpai." Mash initially wanted to refuse, but in the end, the steak's allure overcame her modesty, and she accepted it bashfully.
Then Shirou smiled and said, "Here, I'll give you half of mine too. You're pretty slender, Mash, but surprisingly good at eating. Is that how you're able to wield a shield as big as a dining table?"
"Senpai! My appetite at Chaldea isn't that big!" Mash protested, but she still happily accepted the beef.
Shirou and Yukinoshita sat on either side of Mash. Watching her eat with total focus, completely enchanted by the food, they couldn't help but think she looked like an adorable
little kid. Both of them chuckled and shook their heads—and their eyes met.
Yukinoshita then sat down and took her time savoring the boy's stir-fried beef and daikon. The heat level, the expertly thin slices from his knife skills, the way the juices filled her mouth, and the smooth texture—all of it was handled to perfection. When combined, it turned this humble home-style dish into something stunning.
"As expected... No matter how many times I eat your cooking, it's still astonishing." The girl thought to herself—maybe the boy's culinary skills were even stronger than his archery.
"I really like the steak you made, Yukinoshita. The crisp broccoli suits my taste too. You're improving a lot now that you're living alone," Shirou said seriously as he tasted her cooking.
"Is that so? Thank you," Yukinoshita replied indifferently, but her brows and eyes showed a trace of happiness.
It seemed that ever since she met this boy, all the effort she put into improving her cooking every day hadn't been in vain.
After dinner, they moved to the living room—it was finally time to get down to business.
"Thank you, Yukinoshita-senpai, Shirou-senpai, for all your help today. First, I'd like to introduce the director of Chaldea, the organization I belong to," Mash said, pulling out her phone and connecting it to the Chaldea of another world.
A beam of light projected from the phone, forming a holographic image. A woman who looked like she had stepped out of a Western medieval painting appeared, sitting on a chair and sipping tea leisurely.
"Da Vinci-chan, what are you doing? The call is already connected," Mash reminded her.
"As you can see, I'm swamped trying to defend against enemies that keep attacking no matter how many times we defeat them. It's exhausting," Da Vinci said, spreading her hands with a sigh.
"But you're clearly just drinking tea! You're slacking off!" Mash protested at the screen.
Da Vinci replied confidently, "A genius needs three times the rest of an ordinary person. That's why I'm thirty times more efficient when I actually get to work."
"Ugh, this person gives off a really annoying vibe," Yukinoshita whispered to Shirou.
"Yeah, totally has that sleazy merchant face. Mash said she's the one who made FGO," Shirou replied in a low voice.
"Hey, that's so mean! Why are you saying you hate me before even properly introducing yourselves? Is being tsundere trendy in your world right now?" Da Vinci said, smiling in that
They exchanged a smile.
mysterious Mona Lisa way. "By the way, next gacha pool will have a limited-time Cleopatra—'The Last Pharaoh.' Super tsundere voice too. Interested?"
"Da Vinci-chan, please take this seriously! If you don't, I... I'll break you down into mana even if I summon you someday!" Mash said, pouting at the screen.
"That's fine. You won't summon me anyway~" Da Vinci laughed it off with ease. Then she turned her eyes to the boy and girl, still smiling. "Alright, let's get to the main point. Let me explain the situation on our end first."
And with that, Da Vinci began to explain everything to Shirou and Yukinoshita—how things came to be, what Chaldea really was, and why Mash had come to this world...