The 'Lady' and the Guardian
For the record, I'm not actually a die-hard fan of this pairing, but it's kinda hard to ignore the possibilities. Plus having animal forms brings up a lot of interesting ideas to mess around with…(No, I'm not doing this to outshine anyone in particular...)
In terms of humor, all I'll say is that before writing Nanoha fics, I never knew how fun it was to include subtle parodies in your stories... Try to catch them all! (Erm, this one NOT included...)
As always, please review after reading… It makes me feel like a big man to receive your review… And if you HAVE to flame, leave my grammar out of it- I get the point, I'll never be able to write an epic novel…
…Erm, moving on…
Zafira begin tapping his paw patiently.
For as long as he had known her personally, Arf had never fail to be late for any appointment, by now he had gotten used to the fact that the female tsukaima is just downright horrible at getting up on time.
Had he known what he was getting himself into the day he agree to it, he would had fought fang and claw against it. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't matter since he was ambushed and cornered by the not only Arf, but also the combine force of their individual masters.
They wanted him to accompany her for walks daily, as Arf doesn't like to do them alone. Her usually company would be either Amy or her master, Fate. But with the recent troubles at the Bureau, it's a lot harder for them to find time.
This leads to them sweet-talking him to be her partner for the task after surrounding him one fine day.
Now, Zafira treasures this period of time he has to himself rather dearly. He considers it his retreat from his ever-crazy 'family' and was more than ready to outright decline had Hayate-sama and the young Testarossa girl not used the dreaded 'puppy-dog' eyes technique, as Chrono Harlaown calls it.
("Ah, the irony…" Chrono smirked.)
For future protection, Zafira made a mental note to be well prepared for the likelihood that his master might perform that dangerous technique on him again.
Not that it would actually help one bit.
Even if he did muster the courage and will power to say 'no' to her, he probably wouldn't be able to fend off against Signum's silent treatment, Shamal's disappointed looks, Reinforce Zwei's heart-wrenching cries, as well as Vita's spiteful words.
It's really not easy being the good guy.
("Ehehe- I know how you feel…" said Yuuno sympathetically.)
With a heavy heart, Zafira agreed to baby-sit the other familiar.
("Don't be so mean, Zafira!" teased Hayate, while the other members of the Wolkenritter could be heard snickering behind.)
Because of his one moment of weakness, he had to endure waiting in the park for the last thirty minutes, listening to crappy music played by senior citizens out for their morning exercise, and dodge children who were on their way to school from groping him... And as if things couldn't get worst, the sun had purposely positioned itself to direct it's rays at an angle that is now blinding his eyes.
"Still," He sighed, "She didn't have to make me swear on my honor…"
("ZAFIRA! DO YOUR BEST, DESHOU?" encouraged his fellow knights with much enthusiasm.
"… I hate you guys…" Zafira mumbled bitterly as he walked off.)
Arf showed up fifty minutes later.
"You're late… Again." Zafira pointed out. "...With a new record." He added.
"Oh don't be such a grouch!" Arf pouted.
"I'm not. I'm just stating the obvious…" Zafira counted. But Arf was already ten steps ahead of him.
"Come on slowpoke!" She laughed.
Zafira sighed, knowing that nothing good will happen today... The best course of action is just to go with the flow and hope that things would just work itself out... Or at least be over a lot faster. Not wanting to fall behind, he quickly picked up the pace and caught up with his female companion.
"Where are we heading?" Zafira asked.
"I'm thinking of heading to Nanoha-chan's family work place first," Arf's eyes lite up, "If we get there fast enough we can make it for the morning breakfast meal!"
"Didn't you eat before you came?" Zafira asked, but Arf ignored him.
"Let's see, I think we should head to Fate-chan's school after that." She said, "Even if we take our time, we should still be able to make it around noon!"
"Wait, why are-"
"OOH! OOH! I heard Suzuka-chan always bring Ootoro during this day of the week!" Arf rambled on. "Those things really are delicious! You should try some!"
"Eh, Arf…" Zafira nudge her with his nose.
"Hmm where else can w- OH! I know!" Arf giggled excitedly, "There's a restaurant near your place! I remember Fate-chan told me about it when Hayate-chan brought her there! I always wanted to try that!"
"Arf… Why are all the places you suggested are related to food? "
"Oh, that's just coincidental…" Arf replied off-handedly.
"Somehow I get the feeling that it's intentional- Hey, wait up!"
"Hurry up!!" Arf yelled from across the road.
"We're here." Zafira pointed his paw in front.
In front of them, the little café came into sight. Midori-ya has been the Takamachi family's business for several years, long before they ever met the young white mage.
Business seems to be blooming for the family as the duo could make several different people waiting in line for a place to sit, while of current occupants of the table hungrily polished their meals.
Arf has never been worry about crowded places, she had spent most of her life just with Fate, so it always excites her to go anywhere full of different people.
Zafira on the other hand, is literally a lone wolf. He didn't like to share his space with anybody. The Wolkenritters were special of course; they are the family he never had… Anyone else would just be an acquaintance.
"Arf, it's better if we stick tog-" Zafira warned, or at least he tried to warn.
"Miyuki? Miyuki!"
"-What the?" Zafira was shocked to see how fast Arf manages the cross the distance.
"Miyuki? Has somebody seen Miyuki?" Arf asked the crowd, but being in puppy form all they could hear was barking.
Thankfully, Arf seems to have forgotten about that.
"Arf! What are you doing!!" Zafira hissed as he caught up with her.
"I'm looking for Nanoha-chan's sister!" Arf replied.
"What? Why would you-?"
"That sound… Arf-chan?" Came a voice from behind.
The two of them turned to see who had identified the orange-brown puppy. It was a young woman with light brown hair and deep green eyes, she wore a uniform and a simple pair of glasses.
"Arf-chan, is that you?" asked the woman.
"MIYUKI!" yelped Arf as she leaped into her.
"Wh-oa! Arf-chan!" Miyuki startled as she fumbles to get a grip on the hyperactive familiar.
Zafira wonders where all that boundless energy is coming from, considering she's didn't have anything to eat…
… Or did she?
"Miyuki! I'm so glad to see you! I missed you SOOO much! It's been what, three weeks? I'm so sorry I couldn't come and see you earli- !" Arf fired in rapid succession. All around her people turned their heads to see what's been trying to kill their ears.
"-I'll try to make it up to you! I visit you everyd- OUCH!" Arf cried in pain. "What the- ZAFIRA! Let go of my tail!"
In order to stop her meaningless chatter from driving him insane, the blue wolf decides to go with more the practical approach.
"Arf, stop it, you're driving me nuts," Said Zafira after he release his bite on her tail. "Also, humans including this young lady over here don't understand barking."
The young woman, whom Arf calls 'Miyuki', was clearly surprised.
"You… The blue dog… Are you talking…?"
"That is correct ma'am." Zafira did a little bow, "I am of the same species as my companion over there."
Arf, finally 'switch on' her thought speech so that Miyuki could hear her, quickly interrupt him, "It's hard to believe it huh?"
"No, it's pretty obvious," Zafira countered, "We're both look similar, it's not too hard to draw that conclusion."
"Oh yeah?" Arf retorted, "Then why am I the life of the party, while you are such a wet blanket!?"
"That's because…"
Miyuki seems to be considering something, as she looked back and fore between the two puppies arguing with each other. She tit and scratched her head for a few seconds before she finally clapped her hands together in realization.
"Arf-chan!"
"Hmmm?"
"Could this be your m-?!" Miyuki asked excitedly.
"MIYUKI-CHAN?" A voice from the back of the café yelled. "You'll be late again if you don't hurry!"
"On my way mom!" Miyuki yelled back.
"Miyuki, you're leaving soon?" Arf asked.
"Yeah, I'm so sorry Arf!" She bowed apologetically, but then thought of a way to make up to her. "I know! Follow me you two…"
The two guardian beasts gave each other a questioning look before doing exactly just that.
They followed her to the back of the café. Miyuki asked them to wait out here for a second, then disappeared to the kitchen.
She emerged shortly after with two plates of spaghetti balanced on each of her palms.
"Here you go, Arf-chan!" Smiled Miyuki as she saw Arf yelping in delight, and she place both plates on the ground. "And this is for…Erm…?"
"Zafira, ma'am" The wolf introduced himself, "Zafira of the Wolkenreiter."
"Hehe, so polite…!" Miyuki giggled, as she patted him head. "That's quite a cool name!"
"I-"
"Nice to meet you, Zafira!" Miyuki greeted, as she interrupted him. "My name's Takamachi Miyuki. If you know Arf-chan, then you must know my little sister, Nanoha?"
"Yes, we have met several times before…" nodded Zafira.
"Miyuki… THIS IS DELICLIUOS!" declared Arf in thought speech. "Did you make this yourself?"
One advantage of thought speech, you can hold conversions and stuff your face full of food at the same time.
On one hand, Zafira's glad that he's not hearing a disgust speech with bits of food flying around. On the other hand, there's really nothing stopping her from eating the whole plate.
And at the rate she's going, he thought it'd be better to be on stand by just in case.
"Haha- no no… My mother made it," laughed Miyuki, "I'm still not as great a cook as she is…"
"Oh, then tell your mom I said it's wonderful!" said Arf as she swallowed another mouthful.
"Arf, you shouldn't be so rude…" lectured Zafira. "And that's disgusting; swallow your food at least…"
"Ahaha, no worries…" Miyuki gestured to the other plate. "Why don't you try some, Zafira-kun?"
"I wouldn't want to b-" Zafira begin to decline.
"Oh don't be such a stiff!" Arf scolded.
"I'm n-"
But Zafira didn't get to finish his sentence as a sudden blur of movement occurred in front of him. The next thing he knew, his mouth had been filled with the pasta.
"I got to go, now" Miyuki smiled as she ran out. "Bye Arf-chan! Zafira-kun! I'll play with you guys some other time!"
"Take care Miyuki!" replied Arf, who was still busy conquering the defenseless plate.
Zafira was too stunned to reply. He never thought the girl would have such fast reflexes to have caught him off guard.
"Well? How was it?" asked Arf.
"…It's very well made." Zafira answered as he swallowed.
"See? I told you so!"
Her blue friend said nothing and went on to finish the rest of the content on his plate.
"Honestly, I don't know what you were think..." Sighed Zafira.
"Hey! He started it!" complained Arf, struggling to break free.
"That's your excuse all the time…" Zafira retorted. "And stop moving!"
"YOU stop moving then!"
(Flashback…)
After the wonderful meal offered by Nanoha's sister, Arf and Zafira were preparing to make their way to the next destination when Arf spotted a table where two young couples were engaged in some sort of physical interact with their hands underneath the table cover. Zafira, knowing better, promptly averted his eyes.
Unfortunately, it was a grave mistake to let Arf leave his sight.
Eyeing the untouched plate on the table, Arf's animal instinct took over. Using her small size as an advantage, she skillfully evaded the jungle of legs to sneak up onto it.
With nothing stopping her, she opened her jaw and went in for the kill…
And at that exact moment, Murphy's Law kicked in.
The man on that table decided that the time was right to begin polishing his meal, unfortunately for him, he didn't feel that it warrant his attention and his eyes did not leave his partner.
A painfully mistake indeed.
His cries of agony reached the ears of everyone in the area.
Before Zafira knew it, Arf was being surrounded by many people; all trying they're best to restrain the familiar. With extensive knowledge of Arf's personality, those people would be leaving in pieces if this continues.
Thinking fast, Zafira quickly shift into his 'adult' wolf form when nobody's watching, and made a mad dash into the crowd.
"Back! BACK I SAY!" growled Arf as she attempts to defend her loot. "This is MINE! ALL MINE! Nobody's going to take my…M-My…MY PRIC- WHOA!!"
"W-What the heck was that?!"
"I don't know, I couldn't see anything!"
"It's was fast!"
"Hey… Where did that little bi-?!"
From across the road, had they looked in that direction, they would see a big blue wolf carrying off a little orange puppy with its mouth.
"Ouch! Let go idiot!"
"I don't want to hear that coming from you!"
"How dare you treat a lady like this!"
(Present…)
"And I said stop moving already!"
"Never! Let me go!"
"Not for another mile… Could you PLEASE stop struggling?!"
"Oh bite me!"
"You have no idea how redundant that is..."
"Hey! Just because I don't speak German doesn't mean I don't know that's a swear word!"
"Sigh..."
After twenty minutes of non-stop…Erm, 'bitching', the duo miraculously manages to reach their second 'check-point' of the day without killing each other via stress.
Once they arrived at the gate of the school, Zafira dropped Arf and shift back to his smaller form, trying to catch his breathe.
Arf, with the exception of a pain in the neck (literally), had enjoyed a free trip and was in perfect condition. But for some reason she's hungry again, so she figures now's a good time to look for her next meal ticket…
Zafira, on the other hand, had to carry the struggling, hyperactive orange ball of fur with his mouth. Normally this wouldn't be anything he couldn't handle, but the said furball had made him argue with her throughout the entire time, causing him to forget that there's no need to be running at top speed all the way.
From a distant, the school bell could be heard, and the rumbling sound of shifting chairs signals the start of the afternoon lunch break.
"Well, that took awhile…" Arf scanned the surrounding area. "Hmm… We should be able to sneak pass the students and make our way to their class…"
"W-Wait… Ans-wer… Me this…" Zafira wheezed. "Why are you…"
"No time! Come on!" Arf squeezed through the gate.
The two of them slip through the gates with easy and make their way to the stairs. Arf, being the more energetic of the two, was happily trotting along while poor exhausted Zafira struggles to keep up.
"If I'm not wrong..." Arf whispered to herself.
"What are... You..." Zafira took in deep breathes, "Looking for?"
Arf gave him a look as if he had asked the colour of her hair. "Didn't you hear me?"
"I don't recall you ever mentioning it..." He pointed out.
"We're going to look for Fate-chan and the others!" Arf obviously ignored his remark.
"Why-?"
"Quit whining… Come on!"
The plan was simple, they know where the girls usually hang out during breaks, but since the two of them had arrived early, it might be possible to catch them while they were still in class. Arf has done this before so she knows where their classroom is.
("Wait, what you mean 'done this before'?" Zafira asked her.)
"Okay, I know a route that would get us up there quickly and avoid any people at the same time…"
"We don't have to avoid anyone, it's not like we're doing anything wrong…" Said Zafira stubbornly.
Arf was about to answer back when a metallic 'clank' was heard behind her.
It was a soda can that had felt from above.
Just when the familiars were about to dismiss it as nothing, a rumbling sound of footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Zafira barely manages to leap out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled by the group of students rushing to the cafeteria.
The can, however, wasn't so lucky…
Arf smirked, "Any more questions?"
Zafira could only shake his head.
"Good, now come on," Arf pointed her head in one direction. "It's this way…"
As they walked, they could hear trembles going off all around them, screams of excitement pounded their ear drums… It's times like this that they wish they didn't have a superior sense of hearing.
"Ouchh…" complained Zafira, "Make it stop…"
However, because of these noises, Arf was able to judge which is the safer path to take, should they require to switch route. But this method has proven to be highly unreliable as the duo narrowly escaped from turning into living room rugs by their 5th stampede.
After roughly five minutes of trekking, dodging and backtracking, the rumbling sounds slowly starts to fade away. Feeling that they should be in a relatively safe area, the two of them took a brief rest. Zafira's completely burned out and Arf's tired from all that navigating. After a minute or two, they completed their long ascend up the stairs.
When the two of them arrived to the next floor, they re-checked their location and realize that they're only one floor behind.
"Alright, now we just need to cli-"
Suddenly, Zafira's sharp senses detected something.
"Wait!" Zafira stopped her.
"Huh?"
"Shhh… Do you hear that?"
A small tremble could be felt, which slowly begins to grow in magnitude.
And is coming from above them...
Fear struck the two puppies as they realized what it could only mean.
"A-Arf, I thought you said…?"
"Heheh… Y-Yeah, I thought so too…"
"Right… Sooo erm…"
"Ahemm…."
Looking at each other, the bickering couple came to the same conclusion...
"RUNNNNN!!!!! "
... And not a moment too soon.
From above, an unstoppable horde of stomping legs descend upon them, consuming anything and everything in it's path.
"This way!!" Arf screamed and started running across the corridor to the other flight of stair. Not wanting to return home as a new doormat, Zafira made a mad dash along side her as well.
But like an over dramatic Hollywood horror movie, for every classroom the duo pass, it's door would immediately open up, spewing more students who coincidentally seems to be heading in the same direction as them. These small groups eventually merge with the main horde and began… erm, 'hounding' after the familiars.
"ARGH! It's getting bigger! I don't wanna die a v-!"
"Shut up and don't look back!"
"TOO LATE!!"
Right ahead of them they could make the second flight of stairs just a few feet ahead, but at the same time, they could feel the horde of mindless zombies, fueled by the need to feed, catching up on their tails.
"We got to make a jump for it!" Yelled Zafira.
"What? You crazy?! We'll never make it!!" Screamed Arf.
"We don't have a choice!" Roared Zafira, "On 'three'…!"
"Wait! I'm not ready yet!" Protested Arf.
"THREE!! "
(Author's Note: Heheh, I did say 'over dramatic'…)
As the hungry zombie-student army stampedes off to some place else, Zafira and Arf let out a sigh of relief as the immediate danger had passed.
Burning off whatever calories they had just put awhile ago, the two of them mustered every last ounce of strength left and begin crawling towards a classroom. The entire corridor was devoted of life.
Once there, the duo fell on the floor spread eagle and started panting. At long last, our heroes have finally arrived at their destination.
"Arf...I've ... Just realized something..."
"W-What?"
"... I've been running ever since I got here … No wait," Zafira accused. "I've been running ever since I met you this morning..."
"Shut… Up…!" Puffed Arf, after finally doing some real exercise today.
Suddenly the door in front of them opened, due to reflexes developed from their run from the 'zombie' students. Arf and Zafira's immediate reaction was to leap back two feet away from were they stood.
"…Arf-chan?" The surprised voice of Alisa Bannings could be heard.
"...Zafira-kun?" Which was matched equally by her good friend Tsukimura Suzuka.
"Wow... I never expect to see you guys here!" exclaimed Alisa.
"Can't really blame you..." sigh Zafira.
"Did you say something...?" growled Arf.
"Ahaha! Maa... Maa... No need to be angry," said Suzuka in an attempt to calm her down. "It's really nice to see you two again..."
With Arf in Alisa's arm and Zafira in Suzuka's, the four of them made their way up to the roof of the school where the five girls usually meet for lunch. After all, it'll be difficult trying to have a decent conversion with two adorable puppies without drawing attention, both good and bad.
On their way up, the two girls told them that Nanoha and the others were called to their teacher's office to help her carry up some books used for their class later, so they'll probably be joining them much later.
"And Hayate…?" Zafira asked.
"Huh? Isn't she at home?" Suzuka was surprised.
"No, she-"
"We're here!" declared Alisa as she pushed open the door.
The view was excellent. From here they could see several blocks across the street, as well as make out the hundreds of people walking around the area. If he really wanted to, Zafira could squint his eyes hard enough to find his house.
For some odd yet convenient reason, other then the four of them the area was completely devoid of any sentient life, which is unusual considering this was one of the more 'peaceful' place in the school. One would figure that people would take advantage of that trait.
Taking out their bento, the two girls settled down on a shady spot. Having felt a sense of security, Arf and Zafira finally relaxed completely and positioned themselves comfortably in their individual carrier's lap.
"So… What's with the sudden visit?" Alisa finally asked. "And how did you manage to find us? This school is huge!"
The both of them looked at each other.
"Well… Erm…" Arf stuttered shyly. "Oh… Where should I start…?"
"From the beginning then," Suzuka smiled encouragingly.
"Well, okay…"
Arf began their tale of misfortune, starting from when she met up with Zafira earlier today. During this time, the blue wolf was observing her actions and speech… Base on his personal experiences, the friendly and polite matter in which she interacts with them seems alien to him.
"For some reasons, she's treating me differently…" Zafira thought to himself. "…Wonder why? I don't recall doing her any wrong…"
"Wow… That was quite an adventure…" Suzuka spoke at the end of Arf's account of the situation.
Indeed it was, but little did they realize they're only just halfway through…
"Zafira-kun? Are you not hungry?" Suzuka asked with concern.
"Erm, no… I mean, that's not it…"
"Huh? Whats wrong then?" said Alisa. "It's really good!"
"Well…"
"Don't mind him," Arf laughed. "He's always like this…"
"I'm surprised that you can still eat any more… Let alone of the same food… " Zafira countered.
"What? I'm always hungry at this time!" replied Arf innocently while she continues to clean out her servings of spaghetti that Alisa offered her.
As it turns out Suzuka ran out of Ootoro at her place last night. So instead, they'll be dining on the Italian dish that Alisa had brought to school once again.
"It had only been less than t-"
"Ahaha- It's really okay…" Suzuka laughed.
Arf stuck her tongue out at Zafira before resuming demolition.
Zafira could only shake his head and sigh as he watches the three ladies dine.
The next few minutes were spent chatting about how each one of them had been doing for the past few months. Alisa and Suzuka talk about how the five of them got into trouble several times because of Nanoha's recklessness, Fate's clueless-ness and Hayate's playfulness.
Suzuka tried to bring up something else as well but Alisa quickly silenced her by shoveling more food into her mouth.
"…As well as Alisa's viole- "Was all that Zafira and Arf could make out.
Zafira tried to avoid talking about his work with the TSAB, it wasn't really anything of interest in his opinion and he would rather talk about anything else. So he begins to describe the other knights' recent obsession with Hayate newly acquired, monster-sized plasma screen television. From Vita's addiction to morning cartoons, to Signum's craving for late night horror movies, and finally to Shamal's over enthusiasm with daytime drama.
"And I've heard that Hayate had just subscribed for a 'fashion' channel of some sort…" Zafira sighed.
"Ehehe… Sounds just like Hayate-chan all right…" Alisa sweat-dropped. "I don't know the others, but that definitely something Hayate would do…"$
"HAHA! That's so true!" Arf laughed out loud.
"Alisa-chan is so mean…!" Suzuka finally managed to swallow down. "What about you Arf?"
"…Huh?"
"What have you been up to these days?"
It happened for only a fraction of a second, and most people would have missed it, but Zafira had be around longer than most people.
It wasn't easy to spot, but he definitely saw sadness in her eyes.
"Well I-"
But before she could finish what she wanted to say, the door from which they came from opened with surprising force.
"Fate-chan!!"
But it was not the blond girl. In fact, Arf had no idea who those five girls stand in front of were. But judging from the looks on their face as well as their posture, she could tell they mean trouble.
"Eh? And I was wondering which stray animal could have wandered into our place…" sneered the middle girl.
"Wait Akane, it looks like this time there really is some animals among them!" the tall girl beside 'Akane' laughed.
"A family gathering…" nodded another girl who is a lot shorter than the other two.
Almost immediately, Zafira notice the changed in atmosphere as Alisa and Suzuka visibly tensed up upon recognizing the new comers as they arrogantly stroll towards them.
"Who are they?" Zafira whispered.
"Trouble," Alisa replied quietly. "You guys better stay back and let me and Suzuka-chan will handle this."
"Yukimura-san," Suzuka greeted politely.
"Heh? It's such a rare sight to see the rich and famous Tsukimura Suzuka hanging around such a place…" mocked Akane, "I hope you're not too tainted by such an unworthy place for royalty such as yourself?"
"Surely you jest, Yukimura-san" Suzuka smiled "We're all fellow students here; I don't see why we can't enjoy this place like every other person."
"Whatever…" Akane then face Alisa, "And here we have the barbarian princess herself…"
"Bastard, what did you just say?!" Proverbial steam could be seen coming out from her ears.
So much for handling it… Zafira sweatdropped.
"Heheh, it's so easy to push her buttons!" laughed another girl.
"Now now Kaoru… You wouldn't want to make funny of her majesty…"
"Why you little-!!" Alisa was all ready to give them hell when Suzuka put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
"You must forgive my friends…" Akane smirked. "They're quite a cheeky bunch."
"It's okay, no harm done." Suzuka smiled diplomatically. "Rigth Alisa-chan?"
"Hmph!"
"Ah thanks you Tsukimaru-sama, Miss Bannings…" Akane bow insincerely, and added softly as she eyed their large serving of food. "By the way have you two been putting on some weight?"
Everyone there at that time could hear something snapped.
"THAT'S IT!" Alisa rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles, "You and me, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! LET'S GO!"
"I wouldn't act so tough if I were you, Bannings" scoffed the tall girl as she and her other three companion ready themselves behind Akane "Unlike the last time, you little foreign friend isn't here to save you again."
"Bring it!" Alisa challenged. "I don't need Fate-chan to give all of you slime-balls the ass-whooping you so deserved!"
"A-Alisa-chan… Girls must be elegant…" Suzuka sweat-dropped.
"Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!" exploded Alisa.
Both Zafira and Arf watched the drama unfolded from the sidelines, neither one of them knew whether to laugh or be worry about the situation…
Finally, Zafira decided on the latter.
"Are the two of them going to be alright?" He cautiously asked. "Things are about to take a turn for the worst…"
Arf waved him off, "Oh I wouldn't worry about them…"
"Huh?" Zafira was surprised.
"Despite how they look," Arf smirked to herself, "the two of them can really handle themselves in a fight, especially Suzuka!"
"Seriously?! Alisa I could see that happening, but Suzuka as well?" Zafira point at the purple haired girl who was trying desperately to calm her friend down to no avail.
"You obviously haven't seen any of her matches, have you?" Arf said wryly.
"This isn't a game Arf…"
"It's all the same…"
Zafira wasn't too keen on taking her word for it, but Arf knew them longer then he had, so he decided for once to trust her on this. After all, Arf isn't one to leave her friends alone if she didn't think they could handle themselves.
And the fact that she hasn't stop eating further strengthens his decision to not worry.
"Let's not waste anymore time." Akane decided that playtime's over. "I'll cut to the chase, why don't you uptown girls just beat it?"
"WHAT?! I don't what you've been smoking, but-"exploded Alisa
"Yukimura-san, I think what Alisa-chan is trying to say is that-" Suzuka cut in before her friend gets vulgar.
"Listen, I don't care what comes out of your mouths," Akane spat. "This entire area is ours during lunch breaks, I'm not going to let some holy-than-thou rich kids park their unwelcome butts here!"
"She's asking for it, Suzuka! She's so gonna g-!"
"C-Can't we all just get along?" The purple-haired girl pled with them.
"Oh spare us the righteousness, Tsukimaru…" Another girl rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, isn't it against the school rule to bring your pets to school?"
"Heh, so much for the model student…" snickered Kaoru. "Remember to get this down, Midori… I'm sure the teachers would be very interested in this…"
"On it…" nodded the girl with glasses at the back of the group.
"What are you, six?" Alisa rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Anyway, we didn't bring them. They're strays that wandered in by themselves."
"That's like the oldest excuse in the book," scoffed Akane. "How typical of you to push the blame onto someone else, thinking they'll cover for you…"
"Whatever, I don't HAVE to convince you about anything," Alisa replied harshly. "Let's go Suzuka-chan, dealing with them is a waste of time and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
Something Alisa said or done must have hit a switch cause immediately after she had said that, that's a noticeable murder-intend emitting from Akane.
"Don't you walk away from me like I'm nothing!" Spat the girl. "Neither you, nor that two-faced Testarossa girl would get away with this!"
Time froze for Arf.
Zafira, who had noticed this, felt an overwhelming sense of dread in the air.
"What. Did. You. Say?" Alisa grind her teeth with barely controllable anger, but this time Suzuka didn't try to calm her down.
"You heard me, Bannings. The whole lot of you are the same!" Akane sneered. "But she's the most hypocritical of all!"
Oh shi- Thought Zafira has he could somehow hear the ticking of a time bomb.
"Everybody thinks she's such a great person! So kind and gentle," She said with a mocking voice. "So smart and beautiful! So PERFECT!"
"The hell is wrong with you?!" Alisa demanded.
"What? You think I wouldn't know?! You think nobody would ever find out?!" She sneered.
Before Alisa could retaliate, Suzuka calmly silence her by putting her hand in front of her.
She then spoke with an ice-cold tone that surprises even Alisa. "Explain, Yukimura-san."
"I've checked her attendance; she had skipped class more times than any student in her level! But yet for mysterious reason, none of the teachers felt a need to investigate the matter!" Akane ranted.
"Not once was she ever punished! She never had to stay back for her clean up duties, never attended a single make-up class, never even joined any clubs even though it's mandatory!!!"
"And who knows what she's has done to get those grades…" Her voice dripped with malice. "Never in class, never do her homework… Perhaps she had gotten close with the male teachers and had done them a few favors…"
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Alisa finally yelled in rage.
"She always have that mentality that she's better than us! That just because she's smarter and better looking that everyone must all fall in behind and do her bidding!"
"Yukimura-san, please control yourself." Suzuka warned with that deadly-tone she had carried since just now. "If this is about that time she turned you in for…"
"She thinks she's so tough! Always trying to be the great defender of justice." Akane ignored her and continue to mock mercilessly, " But it's obvious she's nothing more than a weakling on the inside, who has to depend on others all the time!"
"How dare you..."
"Huh?" Akane stop after she heard an unknown voice from no where.
"SAY THOSE THINGS ABOUT HER!!!"
"ARF! NO!" Zafira quickly jumped to tackle her. The two of them rolled off to the side.
Off the corner of his eyes, Zafira could see the girl still mildly shocked by Arf's sudden action. Tumbling away, he wasn't able to make out what Alisa and Suzuka were doing, but he did catch some very explicit gestures along with more shouting. But at the moment he was concentrating on trying to restrain a berserking Arf from using her magic on them.
With a bit of good luck, Zafira rolled on top of her, making it a lot easily to hold her back by using his body weight to pin her down. What he hadn't counted on was the ferocity of which she was struggling to break free. Screaming and crying at the same time, Arf was literally out of control and couldn't be reasoned with.
Damn, at this rate, she would really hurt someone… Zafira crack his head to quickly find a solution. Arf was really going berserk and it wouldn't be long before not even he could control her. Running out of options soon, Zafira's desperate mind came to one simple conclusion.
"Sigh…"In one swift motion, Zafira shift into his larger form. The blue wolf then grabbed his orange partner by her neck and within a second, cross the distance to the edge of the roof.
"WHAT THE-?! NOT AGAIN! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GRAB ME THERE!"
Standing on the edge of the roof, Zafira took a deep breath before saying-
"This is going to hurt…"
"Huh? What are you-" Then Arf realized where they're standing. "Wait, you can't be serious…?"
He jumped.
Arf's screams could be heard from a mile away.
"ARF-CHAN?! ZAFIRA?!" Alisa turned in time and saw what just happened and ran towards the edge where they jumped off from, but Suzuka stopped her midway.
"Don't, they'll be fine." Suzuka assured her.
"Oh right, I forgot." Alisa relaxed. "Sigh, I guess I'm still unsure about this magic business…"
"Haha, that's okay, I'm not very sure about it myself." Suzuka smiled reassuringly at her friend, "Putting that aside for now…"
Her reaction was instantaneous. Before Alisa could blink, Suzuka has caught Akane's wrist with her hand just before her fist made contact with Alisa's head. Squeezing has hard as she can, Suzuka forced Akane to back off and rub her wrist.
"… What are we going to do about them?"
Alisa grin gleefully as she punches her right hand into her left's palm. "Somebody needs to teach them a lesson on 'manners' and 'elegance' the HARD way…"
"Please hold back," Suzuka sweat-dropped "They're only humans…"
"I don't want to hear that coming from you!"
"That was an accidental!" Suzuka protested, "In any case, please promise me to not over do it?"
"Fine fine," Alisa sighed.
"HEY!" Yelled Akane to get their attention, "When you two princesses are done, your ass-kicking awaits!"
Alisa rolled her eyes as the two best friends walked towards the gang.
"I'll try it your way for once…" Said Alisa.
Suzuka smiled and whispered to her.
"Remember what we used to say?"
Alisa looked at her questioningly for a few seconds before laughing when she realized where she had heard that line.
Placing their backs against each other…
"Jackpot."
"This should be far enough…"
"…"
After recovering from a five storey drop, Zafira had used every ounce of strength left in his body to drag the orange furball away from the school compound. A few blocks down the road, they found a parking lot outside a shopping complex that's completely devoid of any humans in sight.
"Are you alright?" Zafira asked with a soft tone.
Arf nodded silently.
Realizing that whatever's bothering him wouldn't go away by itself, Zafira decides that now would be the right time and place to confront Arf about what's been on his mind. Not only would he get her to feel better, he would also be able to use this time to regain the energy he had lost.
Zafira walked up in front of Arf.
"Talk to me," He said quietly, "What is it?"
For well over a minute, the two of them stood there in silence, with neither one of them breaking eye contact.
"Fate-chan is none of those things that she said."
"I never believed otherwise."
"Nobody had worked as hard as her to pick up her life again! I won't let ANYONE talk bad about her like that!!" Arf screamed.
Zafira nodded as head understandingly, but he also sensed that other than that, there's something else bothering her…
"But with that strength…." Arf mumbled.
"Huh?"
"I have known it for a long time now…" Arf sighed, "Fate-chan's a very strong girl. I know that sooner or later she would be able to take care of herself… And that she'll live her life the way she wants to. "
Zafira nodded.
"D-Don't get me wrong! I'm very happy for her! I really am!" Arf hastily added, before returning back to using her soft voice. "But it's just that…"
"That…?"
Arf took in a deep breath and looked as if she was about to plunge into cold water.
"Now that she's working with the Bureau, have all these great friends and family members, I can't help but feel like my role in her life has been complete. That I'm… No longer as important as I used to be."
"Arf, you…?"
"For quite some time now, there's this emptiness deep down inside…" Turning her face away from him, Arf smiled sorrowfully to herself.
"I… Really don't like this feeling…"
Zafira was completely caught off guard by her confession.
Never did the thought occur to him, that perhaps Arf have been lonely ever since her master started working at the TSAB. Never once had he considered what it like for someone else other than himself. Even as his family began doing their individual work, Zafira never did felt the pain of having nobody around.
He was too used to it. His character as a lonely wolf had conditioned him to be immune to such pain. Even when working with the other knights, he never did get rid of that trait of his.
Every time the tome reincarnates itself, Zafira would receive a new master. Having done this over and over again, he had already gotten used to it… It's only recently when he met Hayate had he began to feel attached to the young maiden. Arf on the other hand, had been with her master for as long as she had known. Fate was everything to her.
Even though she was happy that Fate was finally able to live her own life, it's unavoidable that she would also feel the lonely about it.
And she had done a damn good job hiding it till now.
"I really glad to have gone out with you today though…" Arf spoke with a genuine smile on her face. "It's been awhile since I had such a good t-"
"Where to?" Zafira sighed.
"-Huh?"
"There's still one more place you wanted to go, right?" Zafira turned so his back is facing her. "Where is it?"
"It really okay… I know you don't want to-"
"I made a promise on my honor to company you today," He wisely chose not to bring up the fact that he was forced into it. "I have no intention to go back on my words…"
"You mean you'll…!" Arf looked astonished. "Zafira…"
"Hurry up," Zafira still refuses to turn around. "I don't have all day you know…"
Once Arf manages to fully comprehend his words, there's an immediate and distinctive change in her facial and bodily expression and her
"YAY!" Arf grinned
Poom! As soon as she said that, Zafira felt a sudden increase in weight on top of him.
"…What are you doing?" He asked politely.
"I'm tired from all that running!" Arf smiled as she stretched on his back. "I need to relax…"
"… But WHY are you on top of me?" Zafira asked, though he probably could guess the answer.
"Because YOU'RE the 'knight'," Arf said as-matter-of-factly "Now quit complaining…"
Zafira wanted so badly to protest about his job description, but experiences had taught him it's better to just reserve his strength for the trip.
"Now, MASH!" She pointed to the horizon.
"Yes, YOUR HIGHNESS…"
"That better not be sarcasm!" Arf threatened.
The journey from the school to the restaurant was surprisingly pleasant and uneventful. Neither one of them spoke a word to each other since they had set off. Arf, still on top of Zafira, was staring at the scenery as they passed by and enjoying the feel of the wind brushing her face as they cruise by the neighborhood.
Zafira, on the other hand was busy dodging traffic and random objects flying towards him, all while trying to balance the load on his shoulder. But now he already used to doing life threatening jobs for this girl.
Once in while, he sneaked a look at her while she was distracted by another ice-cream shop. And each time he does that, he ends up replaying the day's events in his head over and over again, asking himself the same thing each time, as well as complaining how bad the day has been for -
"What?"
"Huh?" Zafira blinked as he stopped.
"You were looking at me." Arf answered.
"Now why would I do that?" He replied calmly, avoiding eye contact.
"I don't know…" Arf admitted softly, as she continues to look away.
After that, the two of them remain rather silence throughout the remainder of this journey, except with the occasional exchange about the specific directions.
(1 hour later…)
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are w…?" rant Arf.
Zafira sighed. For some unknown reason, Arf was being extremely quiet and hard to communicate with for most of the journey. Normally Zafira would be beyond grateful for this change in behavior, however it so happens that in the absent of his mind, he had took several wrong turns and had ended up on the opposite side of the city, of which he had never been to before.
He tried asking Arf for help, but all he received were half-hearted responses of barely audible "Hmmm…" and "Ehh…" which quite frankly, didn't instill much assurance.
So, after passing the same ice-cream shop the fourth time, the ever calm and polite Zafira finally cracked and snapped Arf out of her daze with some… 'Colorfully' chosen words.
The good news is that he finally got her to provide some credible directions, the bad news is that now that she begin talking again, she revered backed to her old self.
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are w…?" Arf fires off rapidly and mercilessly.
"For the last time, I'm SORRY…"
"You have tainted the ears of a pure and innocent maiden," Arf smirked playfully "Don't think you'll be let off this easily!"
An ear for an ear.
"Arf, you can stop now, I've said we're here already."
"Oh sorry, it's a bit hard to stop once you've been going at it for awhile."
It's going to be a lot tricky this time around. Unlike the last two places, neither of them actually knew any of the people working here, nor could they see any familiar faces around. And to top it of, there are more people here than the previous two places add up together. The whole restaurant was flood with man, woman and children.
"I thought the lunch period was over?" Zafira asked.
"Beats me," Arf shrugged. "But what are we going to do?"
Normally, this is when Zafira takes the chance to convince her to throw in the towel and just go home, unfortunately he can't do that now that he has promised her he'll do it. And after that entire ordeal he put up with having her on his back, he doesn't want to leave empty handed.
And he's getting hungry too.
"Maybe we could try sneak in?" Arf suggested.
"No, it won't work here," Zafira shook his head. "There's too many eyes this time and the area is just too small for us to avoid all of them…"
Zafira scanned the surrounding area for any possible point of entry. The front entrance is a definite 'no-no', there don't seem to be any side doors and all the windows were sealed shut. The tables outside were completely occupied, that means they can't cross over easily.
That would leave just one more possibility…
"Come on," Zafira ran off.
"Huh? Hey! Wait up!"
The two of them ran around the block to come up behind the building. As Zafira expected, there is a back door, which the restaurant personnel use to bring in the goods. From where they're standing, the blue wolf could make out the trolleys where they put the food on were located. Another thing he noticed was that 'security' was less tight there.
But still, anybody would notice two d- erm, wolves, walking in.
"If there's just some way we get blend in…"
Then he saw it.
"I've got an idea."He declared.
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah, but before that," Zafira turned and faced her with a serious look, "I need you to do for me something…"
"W-What's with the scary look?" Arf laughed nervously.
"Just say you'll do it…"
"H-Hmm… Okay, I guess…"
"Good," Zafira walked up until his face was inches away from hers and whisper. "Now…"
"I can't believe I actually agreed…" Arf moaned.
"Do you want this or not?"
"Fine fine," Arf sighed, "Just let's get it over and done with then."
"Get ready, I'm going to speed up…"
"Hey! Not that fast!" Arf complained, "This is my first time doing this you know…"
"I thought you wanted to 'get it over and done with'?"
"B-But not like this!"
"Alright alright, I'll slow down," Zafira replied.
"And move over a bit!" Arf tried to squeeze out, "I still need to breathe!"
"I don't think that's an option,"
"Damnit…! Ouch!"
"Sorry."
"By the way, what possessed you to come up with this idea?"
"Suzuka," Zafira replied as he struggles to match his pace with Arf. "Hayate brought me over to her place one day, I saw them playing a game…"
"EH?! This was from a game?!"
"A good idea is a good idea." Zafira shrugged.
"Right… Wait, someone's coming!"
"Drop now."
The two of them froze up. From a distance, the two of them could hear the footsteps approaching towards them…
"Oh great, I thought I told them not to leave things like this lying around!" The man gave the large box in his way a swift kick to the side.
"Ouch! That son of a-!"
"Shh!"
Once the man was gone, the two puppies hiding inside an orange box continue to make their way to the kitchen.
"It's such a waste though…" Arf sighed.
"What is?" Zafira asked.
"Dropping all those tasty oranges…" Arf shook her head. "And couldn't you have find us a bigger box?"
"They're all the same size."
"Oh, right…"
Slowly but surely, the duos successfully dodged the waiters and waitresses to make their way to their intended target, the food trolleys. However the trays on the trolleys in which the food were placed have a cover over them so there's no way to tell what's inside them.
"Just grab any one of them," Zafira urged his partner-in-crime. "We don't have the time to-"
"Hey! This shouldn't be here!" yelled one of the chiefs.
"Crap! That one!" Arf yelled as she tosses the box away, and leap onto one of the covers "Help me out here!"
Zafira jumped after her, together they bit each of the handles on a tray, and ran off as fast as they could.
"I can't believe that actually worked!" Arf exclaimed.
"We should thank Suzuka the next time we see her…" Zafira said.
"Yeah" Arf bounced around excited. "I really want to see what this game that you mentioned was about!"
"I don't know," Zafira commented, "It's rather complicating… They seem to like crawling in the box a lot…"
"Who cares? Anyway, lets find out what we snatched from those suckers!" Arf laughed evilly.
"Remember the deal…" Zafira put his paw on the cover to stop her from opening it. "NOBODY must ever know about this…"
"It's all good, you're dirty little secret is safe with me, "Arf grinned.
"And who was it that I have to get dirty for?"
"Fine fine, I PROMISE I won't tell a soul about this…" Arf rolled her eyes.
Zafira still wasn't very convinced, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. He didn't really knew what possessed him to trust her at that exact moment, especially when she stood there grinning ear to ear with an insincere look. But then again, it's been one very weird day.
So the blue wolf removed his paw and helped his companion to lift the cover up.
What they saw hidden within had made Zafira groans in disbelieve and Arf jumped for joy.
"Sigh… Don't you get tired of that stuff…?"
"Why? It's still good…"
"Yeah, but normally most people wouldn't be eating it 3 courses a day…"
"Why not?"
"Because good things would lose their value if they happen often…"
Arf thought about it for a few seconds.
"Hmmm… You're right… Good things shouldn't happen all the time…"
"Yeah…"
After awhile, from the corner of his eyes, Zafira notices that Arf had been taking a long glance at him before breaking contact and giggling to herself softly.
"Nahh…"
"Huh?"
"Oh, it's n-nothing… H-Hehe…!"
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Zafira gave her a curious look.
"Heh!" Arf smiled, as if hiding a secret, "As if I'm going to tell you! Hurry up and finish this already!"
"Hmm…" Zafira helped himself to the other half of the plate.
Then suddenly, an unusual and awkward thought occurred to Zafira, but he quickly dismisses it as unlikely, even so far as to label it as 'impossible'. Not wanting to ponder about it, the guardian beast decided to change the subject.
"It's getting late," Said Zafira,
"Hmm? Yeah…" Arf looked up.
"We've achieved all you have wanted, yes?"
"Definitely!" She answered after a hard swallow.
"Okay then," Zafira continued to attack his side of the plate. "Once we're done here, lets head back to your place first…"
Arf choked and began coughing.
Zafira raised a brow.
" Cough! Cough! I'm sorry," apologized the familiar, "Did you just say 'lets' ?!"
"Yes, is there a problem?"
"Erm, N-No…" Arf quickly looked away. "Nothing at all…"
What a hectic day it's been… Zafira thought to himself. This is why he doesn't like to accompany Arf, this whole day had been nothing but trouble after more trouble. She's too full of energy, and for some reason being around her just drains his energy away.
But at this very moment in time, as he watches her eat the same thing she's been having for all three meals with a smiling face, a small thought occurred to him.
That maybe… Perhaps… All this…
"Isn't so bad after all…"Unfortunately, or perhaps it should be 'fortunately', Zafira was so caught up with the little chitchat going on in his head… And Arf was too preoccupied with her food…
That neither of them realized that they were chewing on the same string… Until it's too late…
CHUU!
(Several hours later, at an undisclosed location…)
The room was pitching black.
Within it, one could make out several humanoid shapes moving around in the dark, whispering softly to each other. They seem to be searching for something; several were already beginning to sound frustrated with the task.
Suddenly, one of them sounded startled, and a flash of light followed soon after.
The damn candle was finally lighted the other members of this dark gathering cheered before settling into their respective seats, guided by the pathetically dim light of the candle.
"Now that we found the back-up candle…" One of the dark beings stood up and planted her hands on the desk in front of her, "We'll continue with the meeting…"
"I still don't see why we couldn't just turn on the lights…" whispered a member, the light revealed a small patch of her white uniform.
"Me either…" The girl next to her agreed.
"Hey! No talking newbies!" scolded the member standing next to the first one.
"Eh!? 'Newbies' ?"
"Y-Yes ma'am…"
"As I was saying, we're carrying on with the meeting." the first member, who is most likely their leader, repeated. "On to the little 'project' we've been planning for the last week…"
"I believe one of you have something to report?" the one beside her said.
A few seconds passed before a small yelp could be heard from the back.
"Ouch! What?!"
"That's your cue!"
"I know! It's hard to find the notes in the dark!"
"Just wing it!"
"Stop stepping on my foot then!"
A rustling sound of her pushing the chair back was heard.
"Eh-to… "She tried to find the right word. "Erm…"
Her friend slapped her own forehead and sighed.
"Ehehe… Well, long story short…" She scratched her head. "We managed to convince him to do it…"
"You did?!" exclaimed their leader, clearly surprised.
"Nice work!" said the member beside her.
"Of course!" another girl sitting opposite to the two who were whispering. "It was mine plan!" She declared proudly.
"Eheh… How did he take the news?" asked the one in the white uniform.
"Not very well…" Her friend beside her embarrassingly answered
"I have to say," A new voice could be heard coming from beside the master minder of the plan. "It was a very amusing to sight to behold…"
"HA! Yeah! I never seen him squirmed so much before!"
"Ehehe…"
"High five!" The mastermind offered across the candle, which another member gladly accepts.
"Yeah! You five did a great job!"
"Hey! I helped a little too!" pouted a tiny figure on the mastermind's shoulder.
"Yes, you did well… We didn't forget about you…" Her mistress patted her head gently.
"Yay!"
"I kinda feel bad for him though…"
"Don't forget who we're doing this for…"
"Yeah I guess… But still…"
"Hey, don't sweat it! It's that bonehead's own fault for dragging this!"
"Ano…"
"What?! It's true!"
"Alright… Alright… Calm down now ladies…" The second-in-command spoke.
"It's good that the plan is falling into place," Their leader spoke again. "But let's not get too carried away. We'll have the five of you keeping tabs on him once you get back later."
They nodded.
"So now it's time to brainstorm on some of ideas for the second phrase…"
"Wait, 'second phrase'?" the one in white interrupted, "You mean we have to follow up?"
"Of course!" The mastermind of 'phrase one' answered dreamily. "It's the three steps of romance!"
"First comes 'love'…!" Said the one who gave her the high five.
"… Then comes 'marriage'…!" The second-in-command followed.
"… Then comes the puppy in the baby carriage!" Finished the tiny figure.
The entire meeting broke into giggles.
"Ehehe… Isn't that's a little too… simplified?"
"Nonsense! It's perfect!"
The crowd cheered supportively.
"Okay okay, so any plans?" The leader brought them back on track.
"Hmm… I have one that might work…" said the tall woman at the back.
"Oh? Do share…"
"Well, first we…"
(Five minutes later…)
"Erm… Isn't that a little…" She searches for the most politically correct word to describe it. "Cruel?"
"HA! You called that 'cruel'?" scoffed the other girl. "Listen to this!"
(Six minutes later…)
"Whoa…"
"That's… evil…" a girl shuddered.
"Heheh! You're good, but I'm better! This would definitely work!"
"Er, no need for you to-…"
(Seven minutes later…)
The room became silence.
"So, what do you think?" She asked cheerfully.
"Mistress… I don't know how to put it but…"
"Huh?"
"We still need him to be ALIVE, you know!!" the other members exploded.
"Hehehehe…"
"Sigh… As expected of the mistress…"
"Can't argue that…"
A sea of murmur agrees with her as well.
"Alright people, we'll take into account those suggestions," Their leader spoke.
"But for now, let's leave the kinky grown-up stuff for later, k?" winked her partner. "We still have some kids in the room…"
"Ehehe…"
"With that, we'll conclude this meeting at-"
Suddenly the sound of a door opening caught the attention of the entire group. Soon after, a bright light enveloped them, blinding their eyes.
"AHHH!!" The girls screamed
"What?" was the voice of a young teenage boy that replied their screams.
Several seconds had passed before the ten sets of eyes could make out who the intruder was…
"CHRONO-KUN?!"
"HARLAOWN?!"
"CHRO-SUKE?!"
"Yes?" blinked the young enforcer.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Lotte and Vita demanded.
Chrono raised a brow. "I should be asking you girls the same thing…"
Squeezed into this one small storage room, Chrono could see Nanoha in her uniform sitting right in-between her best friend Fate, as well as Amy who is currently shielding her eyes from the sudden light.
Across her was Hayate with little Rein hiding behind her shoulder, and Signum, who has her weapon half-drawn, was right beside her.
A little closer to where he is standing, Shamal was cowering from the bright lights behind an annoyed and jumpy Vita, who unlike Signum, already has her weapon out and was currently waving it around blindly and violently.
Directly behind them was the twin catgirls Aria and Lotte. The both of them were hiding behind a large wooden desk, but their ears were sticking out.
If it weren't for the fact that he's standing among some of the most dangerous representatives of the female population, Chrono would have wet himself laughing at this scene…
For his own sake, the enforcer mustered all his willpower to resist the temptation…
"I-It's none of your business!" replied Lotte.
"I certainly hope so," Chrono answered honestly. "I very much wish to be out of whatever schemes you two are cooking…"
"How rude!" scolded Aria.
"But I do have one request," said Chrono with a straight face. "Please do not corrupt my beloved pure-minded sister and her clueless friend?"
Fate blushed red with embarrassment while Nanoha looked cluelessly at him.
"No! W-Wait! This isn't…!" Fate stuttered.
"Huh?" Nanoha asked.
"I know I know… You're both young and maturing girls with so many curious questions about yourself," Chrono sighed with a face of sorrow "But you mustn't be swayed by the ways of their dark teachings…"
Fate's face glowed red hot as she dragged a confused Nanoha out of the room with her.
Chrono pointed at Amy, "You can have that one though, she's already a lost cause…"
"HEY!" Amy protested.
"WHAT are you HERE for again?" Aria demanded.
"Oh, right… I just need that box behind you…" Chrono pointed.
Lotte grabbed the item in question and tossed it at him roughly.
"It says 'fragile'…"
"JUST GO!" Half the room exploded.
"And a good day to you too…" Chrono replied politely.
When he had gone far enough, Chrono ducked behind a wall.
After making sure that nobody else is around, he opened the box in his arms.
"So how was it? What did you find out?"
"Believe me, Chrono…" said the dazed ferret lying in it, "You REALLY don't want to know…"
Author's notes: Wow... It's alot longer than I intended!
This story took up a better part of my life, so hopefully it was worth it. I'll be working on quite a number of crack pairings after this, which I've never done before (except Chrono/Hayate but I'm not sure if that one counts...), so wish me luck!
Oh yeah, the paradies...
Parodies (In order of appearances)
Mai Otome
Lord of the Ring
Kanon 2006
Heart da Roomate (Please, don't ask...)
Shakugan no Shana
Devil May Cry 3
Code Geass
Metal Gear Solid
The Lady and the Tramp
... I THINK that's all of them...