Aiolos had been planning this Valentine's Day for almost 3 whole months.
There was so much he had to ensure before being able to spend the entire day away from his responsibilities. Coordinating his schedule, but also Saga's schedule to make sure they both had that day entirely free.
Aiolos first had to tell Saga to clear the day. Saga was often busy at Sanctuary by his own intent, and would work from sunrise to sunset unless someone stopped him. By telling him to take the day off in advance, Saga would spend the time leading up to that day tidying up any work that crossed his desk.
It was perfect, because this way Aiolos could ensure Saga was free, but also be able to work on his own plans without worrying on Saga finding out what he was preparing for the day.
Once that was done, Aiolos had to free his own schedule. Which was easier said than done.
Aiolos had to make sure that all of his training plans for the next few months were airtight. He'd stayed up all night for almost an entire week writing and double checking those plans, and once he was satisfied, he handed them right over to Tatsumi.
"Ah… Sir, you do know that it's currently the end of November, correct?"
"Correct."
"…So why are you submitting plans for as far forward as February?"
"Because I have plans for the 14th." Aiolos smiled in that rehearsed way he'd perfected after his years with Mitsumasa Kido. Tatsumi couldn't help the shudder that ran up his spine.
"O-Okay sir, thank you for your diligence!"
Next, Aiolos had to assign administrative duties to Marzipan for February. Luckily, it was easy enough to direct her. Marzipan was smart, and a quick learner. As he handed her the clipboard full of tasks she had to memorize, she glanced at him with a vaguely inquisitive look on her face.
"This is only for the first couple of weeks of February."
"Indeed."
"There's nothing here after the 14th."
"That is correct."
The two stood in silence for a moment, Aiolos with his practiced smile and Marzipan with a very suspicious glare.
"You're doing this just so you can go on a date with Saga, aren't you?"
At that, Aiolos simply shrugged his shoulders. Ah, so he wasn't even going to admit to it to me.
"Will you take care of the tasks for me?"
All Marzipan could do was sigh in annoyance. "Do I even have a choice?"
Again, Aiolos smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He was just asking as a courtesy, there was no choice here at all!
"…I'll handle it."
"Thank you, Marzipan~!"
―
"Father, are you planning on going on a long trip?" Saori asked, sitting across from Aiolos during their daily tea time. Even though she was 17 now and fully awakened as Athena almost a year ago, she still refused to let divinity take away what made her Saori.
Aiolos appreciated her stubbornness, but the amount of choice words his fellow Gold Saints had for him when Saori refused to stay in her temple was quite the ordeal.
"No, not at all. Why?" he asked, setting the tea cup down to refill it.
"How strange… I'd heard buzz around the manor about you preparing to take some time off."
She must've heard about my plan to clear out Valentine's Day…
"I'm planning on taking a day off in February, that's all. But I have to make sure that there's nothing that could come up unexpectedly before that point."
Saori tilted her head in confusion for just a moment, before she seemed to figure it all out right away.
"Oh! Are you planning to spend Valentine's Day with someone?!"
Sometimes Aiolos forgot that she was the goddess of wisdom. To guess with just that small tidbit of info he mentioned…
"Saori-"
"This is so exciting! Shall we clear out the manor and set up a lovely dinner here?"
"Saori-"
"Or perhaps we can rent out a popular restaurant in another country! How about France? I hear it's the perfect place for lovers on Valentine's Day!"
"Saori!"
The girl blinked, finally being shaken from her thoughts. "Yes Father?"
"You don't need to worry about any of that, I'll be handling the plans for the day myself. All I ask is that you help me keep that day entirely clear. I don't want any distractions, and you're the only one I can trust to keep an eye on the manor while I'm gone.
"Can you do that for me?"
Saori couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. Of course she was ecstatic that Aiolos was trusting her with the work at home, but when does she ever get to talk with him about his personal life and romances?? As far as she knew, he was single without a care for anyone who crossed his path.
When she was little, she had assumed her father never dated or remarried out of respect for her mother. But when she awakened as Athena and learned that Aiolos was not in fact her biological father, she realized that his solitude must've just been his preference. Saori was fine with this, of course. She didn't need a mother, she had Marzipan and that was good enough for her. But surely, her father deserved to happy sometimes…
"Saori?"
"Ah- Yes, Father. I'll take care of everything on my end!"
Aiolos smiled, one of the rare genuine ones that he'd saved only for her, and Saori could sense the relief he felt. This date was this important to him?? Now she HAD to know who this person was. But she couldn't just ask outright; if Aiolos hadn't introduced her to this person yet, then perhaps he wasn't comfortable bringing them into his life.
"…Will you excuse me, Father? I'd like to get started on some tasks as well."
"Hm? Of course, don't let me stop you. But don't you want to-"
Saori politely bowed her head and quickly left before Aiolos could finish his sentence.
"… I guess she didn't want to know who I was spending the day with…"
Once the door shut, Saori hiked up the ends of her long skirt and sprinted down the hall to her bedroom. She yanked the door open before slamming it shut behind her, blocking the door with her body as if preventing anyone from approaching.
Alicia Mii Benethol, Saori's secretary and closest friend, was startled so badly she dropped the bedding that was bundled within her arms. She must've been making the bed before Saori arrived.
"S-Saori-san??"
"Alicia! Can you call my aunt please? This is a matter of utmost importance."
Mii quickly shifted to Saintia mode, gripping the Dolphin medallion that hung from around her neck.
"Is it an enemy? Perhaps Poseidon or Hades have awakened? …Wait, your aunt, as in Hoshiko-san?"
Saori nodded sternly. "I need her help, my father is going on a date!"
Mii's shoulders immediately went slack. "Saori-san, Master Atsuya often gets marriage and relationship proposals from influential families. If we dropped everything for each one, we'd―"
"No Alicia, you don't understand," Saori gripped the other girl's shoulders, getting nearly nose to nose with her. Immediately, Mii's face went red. "Father chose this date all on his own. He's cleared his entire schedule for it. On Valentine's Day."
"…"
"…"
"I-I'll call Hoshiko-san right away!"
―
While Aiolos was toiling away at clearing his schedule and any potential obstacles, Saori was now working on her own plans for Valentine's Day. And such plans included help from her foster aunt, Hoshiko Guraad.
The two women sat opposite each other, staring intently into the other's eyes. Mii bustled around them, placing tea and snacks before them as they continued their impromptu staring contest. Strange to any outsiders perchance, but this was a common practice amongst the Kido women. Started by Vander Guraad herself, the intention of this stare-off was to gauge the limits of the opposing party.
The first to blink was deemed the submissive one of the conversation, and was forced to hand over control of the discussion to the winner. Admittedly, Vander only ever used this tactic with business partners or when she wanted to get Hoshiko to confess to some sort of misbehavior, but the intentions of this particular use of the tactic were crystal clear.
The winner gets to take the lead of their Valentine's Day plan.
Though neither of them shared a single drop of blood with Aiolos, they both loved him as family. Saori with unconditional love to her father figure and Hoshiko with her teasing love to her brother figure. As such, milestones like these were exceedingly rare. The loser of this bout will potentially never get another chance like this ever again.
However, Saori was at a distinct disadvantage. She shared no blood at all with the Guraads, meaning that Hoshiko, who was Vander's daughter, was genetically predisposed to win this game of wits. And unfortunately, she could hold the gaze no longer and blinked.
"Woo-hoo! Sorry, Riri, but you're 20 years too young to master the patented Vander gaze!" the older woman cheered, much to Saori's disappointment.
"Hoshi-nee, this was a rigged competition and you know it." She slumped onto the table, avoiding knocking anything over thanks to Mii's swift repositioning of the tea cups and plates.
"You agreed to it! Besides, I'm not actually gonna lord it over you." Hoshiko sat back down, grabbing a cookie off the serving plate and stuffing it into her mouth. "Mmn, we have to work together for something like this. I mean, this is way bigger than either of us can comprehend!"
Saori nodded, sitting up. "R-right! Father never once mentioned a romantic partner to me, so this is very important! But we have to be secretive about this, I don't want him to be embarrassed about us finding out like this."
"Why not just ask him outright? If he didn't hide the fact he wanted to spend his time with someone on Valentine's Day, surely he would tell you who he was seeing if you expressed interest in knowing?" Mii asked, standing beside the table with a serving tray held against her abdomen.
Hoshiko waved the girl off, shaking her head. "No way, Atsuya would never spill the beans. He probably wasn't expecting Riri to guess that he had plans that day. He'd probably keep the secret until the day he dies."
Saori nodded in agreement. "He would have told me something this important. I wonder if the person is someone I wouldn't approve of."
"Perhaps it's someone from his past, before he became Atsuya. Maybe he doesn't want them to see he's a rich heir to a huge conglomerate!"
Saori gasped in horror. "Do you think he's worried they'd only like him for his money? Or maybe they'd leave him if they found out how much responsibility they'd have to deal with??"
Hoshiko sucked her teeth in annoyance, as if already building a negative image of them in her head. "Or worse, maybe they don't like children that aren't their own."
"What? Father would never get involved with someone who hates children-"
"Well, you're almost 18 right? Not to mention you're also the reincarnation of a goddess. Maybe he's expecting you to move out right away and do your goddess duties, so he didn't even think it would effect you much."
Suddenly, Saori felt a bit self conscious. Aiolos had told her that she could stay with him as long as she liked, especially if she didn't feel comfortable at Sanctuary among strangers. However, if Poseidon or Hades awakened, they agreed that she would have to return and embrace her destiny as Athena. He was always hyper aware of her feelings, and did all he could to accommodate her. No matter how selfish her request, he granted it. But would he ever prioritize his feelings over her own?
Saori wasn't so sure that he would.
"I don't want Father to make those kinds of decisions just for my sake. If he loves someone, I want to support that. I want him to love freely."
"Same here! I think if anyone can crack his exterior, then that's someone I wanna be friends with. Listen, I have a great idea! Let's follow him on his date! Just until we can see how he really feels about this person!"
Mii scrunched up her nose in concern. "But that would be invading his privacy, no? What if he catches you?"
"I'm a master of disguise! And we won't stay close enough for him to even notice us!"
Mii really didn't look very convinced, but Saori seemed excited. To be able to meet the person her father fancies and witness him being in love? How could she ever say no to that?
"Let's plan our mission carefully, Hoshi-nee!"
"Right!"
Meanwhile, Aiolos had been so busy planning his day that he didn't even notice that Saori and Hoshiko seemed to be plotting something on their end. Or maybe he did notice, but didn't put much thought to it. Well, as long as they didn't give him any extra things to worry about, then it'll been fine…
And with that train of thought in mind, the aforementioned day finally arrived.
"Saori, I'll be gone for the day and I may be home late." Aiolos said to her on the morning of, checking himself in the hall mirror to make sure everything is perfect. He wasn't dressed overly fancy, but it was notably that he was indeed dressed up for the day. His hair was properly brushed and far less wild than it usually was.
"Have fun, Father! I'll actually be spending the day with Hoshi-nee and Alicia, so you won't have to worry about me!"
Aiolos blinked, turning to look at Saori. He hadn't heard anything about her leaving the manor today. "Hm? Are you three going out?"
"Oh, just into town to pick up some snacks, and then we'll be right back!"
"Hm…?" For some reason, the way she said that made him a bit suspicious. But he didn't have time to worry about that now, Saga was known to be very punctual. If he took too long to leave, he'd end up making Saga wait.
"Ah, wait, did you need a ride into town or-"
Saori gasped and immediately pushed him towards the door. "No no, Hoshi-nee will drive us! Go on! Don't worry, we'll take care of everything at home for you!"
At that, Aiolos' worries faded away. With Saori watching after things, surely today will go off without a hitch.
He waved and walked out, getting into his car before driving off towards town. Once Saori was sure he was gone, she waved over Hoshiko who was hiding nearby.
"He's already left, let's hurry."
"We'll use one of the unmarked cars so he doesn't realize it's us. C'mon!"
―
Aiolos parked his car at the meeting point, a little cafe in the downtown area. He didn't see Saga and at first, he was worried that he had actually beaten him here. However, those fears were alleviated when a sudden burst of golden light flashed beside him. A cosmo he knew all too well, of course.
"Saga!"
The aubergine-haired man gently brushed his shoulder off before standing upright. Despite having traveled here using light-speed, there wasn't a hair or wrinkle out of place. As expected of a Saint trained from birth.
"Aiolos- Did I arrive late?" Saga looked confused to see him there. Not surprisingly, considering that Aiolos was usually the last one to arrive to their gatherings. But not this time, as he so proudly displayed.
"I decided to make sure I was on time!"
Saga glanced at a wall clock nearby. It was almost 20 minutes before their designated meeting time.
"Hm."
"Are you ready? This is going to be a wonderful day for the both of us." he extended his arm for Saga to take before leading him into the cafe.
The first step of today was to have some coffee and a light snack. An easy endeavor that Aiolos wasn't worried about in any regard. And since it was Valentine's Day, the cafe had plenty of new pastries to try.
On the street outside, Hoshiko and the younger girls parked the car in a nearby lot before stepping out to survey the area. They were all dressed in fancy yet inconspicuous clothing, with their hair tied up in tight buns and tucked under large sun hats.
"Okay, so he's supposed to be in the cafe right? But it's not even their meeting time yet, why'd he have to leave so early?" Hoshiko adjusted the large sunglasses on her face, looking over at Saori who had a large sheet of paper in her hands.
"I think perhaps his valentine is prone to showing up early, so he wanted to match that."
Mii sighed, the least dressed up of the three. She was still adamantly against this entire situation, but she was powerless against Saori's pleading. Still, it didn't stop her from injecting her two cents into the conversation.
"I still think we could have just asked him outright… And where did you even get that plan?"
"Oh, we just eavesdropped on him making the plans. We probably much have everything planned out here, but there are a few gaps." Hoshiko shrugged. "Nothing we won't learn while following him. Riri, do you recognize the person he's with?"
Saori squinted through the large sunglasses, unable to properly see the face, but she couldn't shake that she recognized the person. Especially the hair.
"…It's too far away, I can't see-"
"We can't get any closer without him notici-"
"That's Gemini Saga," Mii said, having removed her own pair of sunglasses to see better. She had perfect eyesight, and was trained to notice things most people couldn't thanks to her position closest to Saori. Despite the difference in how the man looked and was currently carrying himself, she knew it was him.
"Saga? Really??"
"Whozzat?" Hoshiko interjected, tilting her head.
"He's a Gold Saint under Athena's army. Currently he acts as the Grand Pope of Sanctuary." Mii raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, I should have expected this. I always thought Master Aiolos had a strange soft spot for him."
Saori was conflicted; on one side she was happy to know that Aiolos was progressing his relationship with Saga after the 16 year stagnant period they encountered. The two were childhood friends, and had worked hard to cooperate despite everything that happened. However, she wondered if it truly was her fault that Aiolos didn't mention this to her.
Saga, though he was possessed, HAD tried to kill Saori years before. It took nearly a year and a half for her to convince him that she didn't blame him at all for the situation, but she could tell how uncomfortable Saga was with being around her. Perhaps the secrecy was an effort to spare them both the headache.
"Huh. Well, I can't lie, he's super beautiful. Are you sure that's a guy?"
Mii nodded. "Only men are allowed to act as Athena's Saints. A woman's only option to join the army is either as a Saintia, or as an Amazon."
"Amazon? Like Wonder Woman?" Hoshiko asked, sitting at one of the outdoor cafe tables. It still granted a good view of the cafe without putting them in Aiolos' line of sight.
"Not quite. Amazons must abandon their womanhood and wear masks in order to become Saints. They effectively become men."
"Wow. That's kinda sexist..."
"The point is, if Saga were a woman, he would be wearing a mask."
"They have to wear the mask all the time?? Even in public??"
"Of course. It's a part of them. To see an Amazon's face would be even worse than viewing her naked."
"What?!"
The door to the cafe opened, causing all three to stiffen and fall silent.
"I'm always surprised by all the different ways there are to prepare coffee beans." Saga remarked, exiting first as Aiolos held the door open for him.
"Wait til you learn about canned and bottled coffee." Aiolos grinned, following after him. His eyes caught the three women sitting nearby, and his gaze lingered for just a moment before Saga gained his attention again.
"Where to next?"
"Oh, there's this lovely bookstore nearby―"
The girls waited until the mens' voices drifted far enough away before tentatively glancing around.
"They're gone." Mii confirmed, exhaling softly. Despite her saying that this was a foolish idea, she found herself swept up into the shenanigans nonetheless. The idea of being caught was almost terrifying!
"I could feel his eyes staring holes into the back of my head," Saori mumbled, pulling the hat down further. "I thought we were caught for sure."
"Who goes to a bookstore on Valentine's Day? When we get home, I'm coaching Atsuya on the right way to romance a valentine." Hoshiko stood, gesturing to the direction they went. "Let's hurry before we lose them, alright?"
"Right!"
―
At the bookstore, Saori learned that Saga apparently loved books. He had bustled about, looking at all the different types of books available. It seemed like history books were his favorite, judging by how long he lingered in that area. And Aiolos seemed happy to just watch him.
"Ah, he's a nerd. Like a kid in a candy store…" Hoshiko said, amused.
Saori was extremely engrossed in the scene; she wasn't able to speak to Saga about anything personal like this. So being able to see his likes and hobbies with her own two eyes was a rare situation indeed. She could've watched them all day.
"Saori-san? What're ya doin'?"
"S-Seiya?!" What was he doing here??
Seiya was holding a large paper bag, dressed in his usual attire of a red shirt and jeans. She'd hadn't seen him in a few months, and still he bore some scars from his fight with the Gold Saints despite his cosmo and the expensive medical attention he'd received.
Her heart clenched at the sight.
"Why're ya wearin' this weird hat?" He gently grabbed the rim of the hat with his free hand, lifting it to get a better look at her face. "Are ya here to buy some books?"
"Uh, no I-" Saori looked behind Seiya and didn't see Hoshiko or Mii anywhere. Did they abandon her?!
"Oh hey, that's Aiolos and Saga in there! No wonder you were here, you wanted to chat with 'em!" Seiya knocked on the large glass window and opened his mouth to say something.
"SEIYA NO!!" Saori yanked him out of the window's line of sight and pinned him against the brick wall.
"S-Saori-san??" She quickly put a hand over his mouth, going silent as the bookstore door opened and the two Gold Saints walked out.
"How odd, I swear I heard someone tap on the glass." Aiolos mused, looking around. He noticed the two pressed against the wall, but the large hat obscured their faces.
"Ah, how cute," Saga chuckled. "Young love is the same everywhere, it seems."
Aiolos grinned mischievously, softly nudging the other with his elbow. "Reminds you of our youth, hm?"
"Oh please."
The two continued onward to their next destination, and once they were out of earshot, Saori finally freed Seiya.
"What was that about??"
"Oh- Father is on a very important date and I'm trying to make sure it goes perfectly." She crossed her arms under her chest, shaking her head. "Don't you know what today is? I can't believe you almost interrupted them without a care!"
Seiya didn't seem to understand the situation, but he did understand that it was something he shouldn't interfere in. Instead, he reached into the paper bag he was carrying and pulled out a smaller paper bag.
"What's this?" Saori asked as Seiya dropped the bag into her hands.
"Three strawberry muffins. Got em for free when I was buying some stuff for the others." he smiled, gesturing behind him. "You're here with a couple friends right?"
There stood Hoshiko and Mii, who were hiding behind a pole a couple feet away.
"Oh… thank you-"
"No problem. Happy Valentine's Day, Saori-san!" Seiya waved and walked off, leaving her dumbfounded and admittedly, a bit flustered.
"How dare he get so close to Saori-sama… And to gift her something on Valentine's Day no less…" Mii dug her nails into the pole, denting it with her sudden influx of cosmo.
"Easy there-" Hoshiko gently put a hand on Mii's shoulder. "Let's just go on to the next stop..."
―
If Saori thought Seiya was the only familiar face she was going to encounter today, she was sorely mistaken.
For some reason, every single person she knew was out on the town today. And they were all dangerously close to encroaching on Aiolos' date!
At the restaurant they went to for lunch, Saori ran into Shoko and Kyoko. Then Jabu and Ichi arrived, which almost led to a fight between Jabu and Shoko. Luckily, they managed to diffuse the situation before something awful happened, however keeping Aiolos and Saga from sensing the sudden rise in cosmo was the real struggle.
After lunch, the two had gone to a park to spend some quiet time together. Unfortunately, this was also where Saori found Hyoga, Ban, Ikki, and Nachi fishing. Fishing, in a public park! She gave them an extremely length and violent tongue lashing, so much so that she almost didn't notice Aiolos and Saga approaching.
In a sudden bout of panic, she threw the boys into some nearby bushes just in time for the pair to pass by without an issue.
After the park, the two had gone to watch a movie. Saori was hopeful that at least this would be uneventful, until she ran into Shun, Shiryu, June, and Geki. A hopeful situation turned into another catastrophe as June and Geki got into a heated argument about what to order at the concession stand, causing enough of a ruckus to start drawing the attention of other theatre guests.
Saori mediated by buying a bunch of items and shoving them into the arms of the four before sending them off to their movie, which was thankfully in a room completely different from the one Aiolos and Saga were going to.
The final event of the day was dinner at a high-end restaurant, and this time Saori was certain that nothing could go wrong. She'd already dealt with the Bronze Saints and none of them would be able to afford coming to a place like this without her help anyways, so she was ready to settle down and watch the night wrap up.
That is, until she ran into an unlikely group right outside the restaurant.
Aiolia, Marin, Shaina, and Milo were apparently just as surprised to see her there as well.
"You all- what are you doing here??"
"Marin and I were on our way back from dinner at Seiya's place." Aiolia said, gently shaking Saori's hand.
"Milo and I had a spa and manicure day, we just finished actually." Shaina added, gesturing to the other two. "We all agreed to meet up to head back to Greece together. What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, uhm-"
Aiolia paused, turning towards the restaurant. "I sense my brother's cosmo, is he who you came to meet?"
"Saga is there too," Milo crossed his arms, looking down at Saori. "Are you having dinner with them?"
"No, they're on a date! So we can't bother them, it's not every day that they get to spend time together!"
The four glanced at each other, before Marin spoke up.
"Have you been monitoring them all day?"
Saori's shoulders slumped a bit. She'd been running herself ragged alongside Hoshiko and Mii all to ensure that Aiolos and Saga had a good day, and it was finally starting to wear on her. If there was any other interruptions, she might just collapse.
"Athena," Aiolia gently placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to meet his eyes. "You didn't need to go to such lengths. Even if Aiolos wanted this day to himself, he wouldn't approve of you breaking your back trying to protect that. It's just one day, you know?"
"It's not just one day! It's Valentine's Day, and they deserve to have the day for themselves! It's the least I could do, since I make Saga so uncomfortable-"
"Who told you that?"
"F-Father??"
Aiolos and Saga had chosen that moment to leave the restaurant, cutting into the conversation on complete accident.
"Lady Athena, what made you think that you make me uncomfortable?" Saga approached her, gently taking her hands into his own. "Nothing you could ever do would lead to such an outcome."
"What-? But, I thought that you were uncomfortable after the whole temple fight! I thought that that's why you two haven't been open about your relationship to me!"
"It was nothing like that, but what do you mean we weren't open? I thought it was apparent that Aiolos and I were in a relationship?" Saga looked around to varied responses.
"…Erh… Maybe we were a bit more reserved than I thought…"
"Saori," Aiolos leant down to her level, putting a hand on her cheek. "No one is embarrassed or uncomfortable around you. And no one was hiding anything from you either. It's just rare for Saga and I to have some free time."
"…
"If that's true, why didn't you tell me that you were seeing Saga today? Why hide it?"
Aiolos tilted his head, apparently confused.
"I wasn't hiding anything? If you wanted to know, you just had to ask-"
From the back of the group, Mii shook her head in annoyance, shooting a very knowing glare towards Hoshiko.
"Hehe… Oops…"
dividers by @uzmacchiato
Valentine's Day prompts and event by @shions-corner
Aiolos: Are there any other pretty princesses around?
DeathMask: Me but yk continue.
DeathMask: Sorry did I ruin the moment?
[Plain text:/ Aiolos: Hey pretty princess… / Saga: A-are you talking to me..?! / Aiolos: Are there any other pretty princesses around? / DeathMask: Me but yk continue. / DeathMask: Sorry did I ruin the moment? /End plain text]
