Sweet Surprise:
It was one of those occasions that Einhart didn't quite comprehend, yet it was familiar to Vivio's mothers as well as Hayate since it was known on Unadministered Planet # 84, Earth. Classes had already finished and Vivio had told her that she had an errand to run with Nanoha and also stop by her aunt Hayate's place for something. Despite being given a brief explanation by Vivio, Einhart seemed sure that she wanted to make something special for her at least but she wasn't sure who to ask for advice, except perhaps a certain Ace. The only problem was...Einhart wasn't sure whether that was actually true, at least according to Hayate. The last time that she even went to the former commander's place was during Christmas and even then, she noticed first hand as to the slight...mishaps that have occurred as a result of Shamal having difficulty of cooking, thereby leaving some of the work to both Rein and Agito, Hayate and Signum's unison devices.
As if that wasn't enough to make her slightly uncomfortable...it wasn't Hayate's comment regarding her personality comparison between her and Fate when it came to trying to take the initiative that bothered her, but the slight details that she made before being cut off by both Aces. Surprisingly, Einhart was a little shocked when she saw her friend Vivio become curious to the details, while both her "mothers" tried their best to steer her away from the conversation. To her relief, both of them managed to help with the decorations.
Sighing for a brief moment after briefly, mentally going through memory lane...Einhart managed to reach her home and began to unpack her bags when she decides to send Nanoha a video message asking if she can come over and deliver something. She then headed down and was looking through the fridge when she heard the door open and Hayate came back with Rein and Agito.
"Oh...back already? What are you looking for Einhart?" asked Hayate.
"Just some things to help bake something," she replied.
"Oh don't tell me...it starts with a "c" doesn't it," inquired Agito.
"Come on Agito. There's no need to get all excited over treats," reprimanded Rein.
"Anything I can do to help?" asked Hayate.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" inquired Hayate
"On what occasions do you usually make cupcakes?" asked Einhart
Hayate tilted her head slightly and thought for a moment before asking, "Is this for someone special?"
"Sort of," she replied.
"Someone we happen to know?"
Einhart turned slightly red for a brief moment before nodding sheepishly.
At that point, Hayate smiled and patted Einhart on the head lightly. "Just as I thought...it's for Vivio...isn't it?"
"H-Hayate...how could..." began Einhart, slightly shocked and turning various shades of red.
The mischievous former commander and leader of the Wolkenritter chuckled slightly and said, "It's literally written all over your face. You definitely have it bad don't you?"
"Wha-...N-n-n-no...we're just good friends that's all," replied Einhart.
"Aww...there's no need to be modest about it. Just let her have one and then confess how you feel," replied Hayate.
"It's not that easy," she replied.
"Geez...I swear...you are definitely like Fate-chan. You sure you don't want any help?"
"Besides the cupcakes...nothing much," said Einhart.
"Have you tried asking Nanoha-san for help?" asked Rein. "Her baked goodies are pretty good."
"Now that you've mentioned...I did send her a video message not too long ago," replied Einhart.
Seconds after she mentioned it, Einhart then got a notification that her message had been promptly responded to.
"I'll be right back," she replied, heading to her room.
"Hmm...who do you think it's from?" asked Rein.
"I think I have a pretty good clue who the sender is," said Hayate, grinning slightly.
"Whenever you grin like that, it always means you have something up your sleeve...and I don't think I'm going to like it," said Agito.
"Oh...like what?" asked Hayate, as if she didn't know what Agito meant.
"You know what I mean," shot back Agito. "Your usual denial tends to get on my nerves."
By the time Einhart got back to her room, she then noticed that she had two messages instead of one. The first one was from Nanoha, while the second was from her friend Vivio. Deciding that Vivio's message could wait a bit, she then opened Nanoha's video message.
"Hi Einhart. I'm currently on duty at the moment but will be back shortly. Let me know if you need help with anything."
After finishing with Nanoha's video message, Einhart then opened Vivio's video message. Surprisingly, she was standing behind the oven in the kitchen when the video message was taken so it was clear to Einhart that she was busy making something. As for who it was…she wasn't quite sure.
"Hi Ein-chan. I've been busy making muffins with Nanoha-mama among other things. I told her to leave a batch especially for you," she said.
"Vivio…aren't you making things a bit too obvious by telling her what we're doing?" asked Nanoha, in the background.
"Oh…she's not supposed to know?" asked Vivio.
"Anything else and you're going to ruin it," replied Nanoha. "Want to help me with the icing?"
At that moment, Vivio's eyes lit up with excitement before she turned back and regarded Einhart.
"I'll make sure to make your batch extra special Ein-chan. See you later," said Vivio.
Einhart was slightly surprised at first and turned slightly red from the endearment when Vivio called her name and couldn't help but wonder what kind of muffins Vivio was making. Still, whatever it was she was definitely looking forward to it. After closing the video message, Asteion suddenly began tapping Einhart on the shoulder and something smelled funny for a brief moment before a slight scream was heard in the house and the fire alarm went off, causing Einhart to rush downstairs to see what the problem was.
"Shamal…how could you not remember what the setting was?" asked Hayate, fanning the smoke out to the outside after turning off the oven.
"I'm sorry," replied Shamal.
"Was that the first batch?" asked Einhart.
"I tried to remind her but she suddenly forgot despite Hayate telling her," said Rein, trying to cool off the muffin tray.
"Does this always happen?" asked Einhart.
"If you think that was bad, she even had a harder time despite Hayate's tutelage back on her home planet," said Vita.
"Mou…Vita-chan…" whined Shamal, pouting slightly.
"At least she's trying," said Signum, earning a slight smile from Shamal.
'While you were answering your messages, I caught Hayate trying to add something to the first batch. I'm not sure what it is but I can tell you she was up to her usual tricks again,' said Agito, telepathically to Einhart.
'What was she trying to do?' asked Einhart.
'She was claiming to be adding something to give it more flavor but it caused Shamal to go out like a light,' said Agito.
'It was that bad?' asked Einhart.
'She's always up to something when our backs are turned,' replied Agito.
"Um…perhaps I could help?" piped Einhart.
"Oh…of course Einhart. You want to make something special for Vivio, right?" asked Hayate.
"Do you have to be so obvious?" asked Vita.
As Rein and Shamal began helping Einhart work on the second batch while Einhart herself was working on the third, Agito began looking around for whatever Hayate had tried to place and eventually spotted the evidence…a bottle of sake.
"Hayate…I can't believe you would do such a thing," said Agito.
"Hm…what do you mean?" asked Hayate.
"Don't 'what do you mean' me! You trying to get someone drunk or something?" asked Agito, holding up the bottle of sake.
"What? Oh that…I wouldn't put that into a batter for muffins. I was going to use it later for making dinner," replied Hayate.
"In that case…leave me out of it," said Agito, taking the bottle. But before she could make a move, Hayate grabbed her by the wings and plucked the bottle out of her hands.
"Fine…but no dessert later," replied Hayate.
Agito was about to protest and glared at Hayate for a brief moment before sighing and muttered something under her breath.
By the time Einhart and the others had finished the second and third batch, Rein then programmed the oven again as Einhart and Shamal were cleaning up the tools and utensils. Unbeknownst to them…Hayate had slipped behind them and popped open the bottle and put a small bit of the sake in one of the batches as well as something else before putting away the bottle in the pantry. As Einhart and Shamal began pouring the batches into the muffin trays, the oven's timer began to beep signaling that it was ready to go.
Surprisingly, Einhart didn't detect the batch that was spiked with sake as she placed the two muffin trays into the oven. While she was waiting, Einhart then decided to go start on some of her homework. Hayate however, tried her best to hide her Cheshire cat like grin to the fact that the chances were now split in half as to guessing which ones were normal and which were spiked with whatever she put in. Even Agito couldn't figure out which was which because she presumed they look normal once they came out. Despite having her suspicions…she then went to Rein and asked if she wanted to do a taste test once they were out of the oven.
"Why do you want me to do a taste test with you?" asked Rein.
"Because Hayate tried to spike one of the batches when Einhart and Shamal weren't looking," said Agito.
"Oh come on…can't you ever let a girl have some fun?" asked Rein.
"Her idea of fun is not what I had in mind. Also, do you not remember the time when you guys practically got me drunk on purpose with one of her shenanigans during Christmas?!" inquired Agito.
"Oh come on…admit it Agito, you did enjoy it a bit," replied Rein.
"I …was…drunk," reiterated Agito, trying to emphasize the fact. "Let's not forget you were too."
"I may have had a couple of cups of egg nog that time," said Rein.
"You practically coerced me into taking one and were all over me the next instant. Signum had to practically drag us out before Nanoha got to the scolding and try to almost blow up the place," said Agito.
"Still…it was fun…admit it," said Rein.
"That's it…the next time we have one of those get togethers I am stay as far away as possible from you and your mischief master," said Agito.
"Aw Agito…your such a liar and a party pooper. Couldn't you admit you enjoyed having me around?" asked Rein.
Agito rolled her eyes a bit in annoyance and muttered something under her breath.
"What was that? I can't hear you," said Rein.
"Maybe just a little," replied Agito.
A half hour later, Einhart was notified by Tio going "nya" and pointing behind her and Vita was standing near the door to her room.
"They're done already. You don't mind if I have one do you?" asked Vita.
"Of course you can have one Vita. Can you help me get the rest of it ready?" asked Einhart.
"Sure…and thanks," replied Vita.
As Einhart handed Vita a warm one, Agito carefully approached from behind and the smell of the cupcakes were driving her stomach crazy. Signum noticed her unison device looking at them and then handed her one. What caught her by surprise was the manner in which Agito was eating it.
"What's the matter? You usually like sweets," said Signum.
Agito wiped her mouth before explaining what Hayate was doing earlier behind Einhart and Shamal's back and how she tried to reprimand Hayate and toss out the bottle of sake but to no avail.
"I'll admit that is a bit annoying," said Signum.
"It's Einhart I'm a bit worried for. There's no telling if she did spike it or not…and if worse comes to worse, Nanoha is going to be ticked," said Agito.
"I'll be fine Agito. There's no need to worry," said Einhart, smiling as she finished doing the frosting on three of the cupcakes. Rein was having a ball with helping out on the frosting and surprisingly some of it got onto her face prompting a few laughs from Hayate, Vita, and Shamal. Einhart then took a small towel and wiped it off Rein's face before getting her stuff together. Hayate then handed Signum a small grocery list indicating what she needed to help get dinner ready later.
By the time Einhart was ready, Signum then took her over to visit Vivio with Agito following behind. However, by the time she was inside the car, Agito had a slight unnerving feeling that somehow the whole ordeal could go south real fast.
Rein looked as they drove off and said to Hayate, "Do you think Einhart knows that it's her birthday?"
"Probably no clue, like Fate-chan," said Hayate.
"So…what's with all of the arguing with Agito a while ago?" asked Rein.
"Hmm..oh nothing," replied Hayate, as she turned back and went inside to make dinner, causing Rein to tilt her head in curiosity and wondered, 'Did she have anything to do with today?'
Agito looked at the set of cupcakes that Einhart brought with her and was a bit surprised at the look of three of them.
"Hey…are those three supposed to resemble the devices of Nanoha, Fate, and Vivio?" asked Agito.
"How astute of you Agito. I tried my best. Do you think she'll like it?" asked Einhart.
"Coming from you, I'm sure she'll love it," said Signum. "You two are good friends after all."
"Th-thanks Signum," replied Einhart.
"Don't act so nervous. I swear…you are exactly like Testarossa," replied Signum.
At that instant, Einhart immediately went bright scarlet at the mention of Fate's name and briefly looked at Signum. It was until Asteion hopped onto Einhart's left shoulder and began "nya" ing that caused Agito to look completely confused.
"What did he say?" asked Agito.
"Why did you have to mention that, Tio?" asked Einhart.
"What did he say?" repeated Signum.
"He just pointed out that I got a video message from Vivio showing her making muffins," replied Einhart, blushing even further and just stared down at her set of muffins.
"How sweet. At least you guys can exchange and compare," said Agito. "I'm sure theirs also taste good."
"Just try not to point out the obvious Agito when we get there," said Signum.
By the time they arrived, Einhart could feel her nerves getting the best of her and tried to swallow it down as she stepped out of the car. Once Signum rung the doorbell, Einhart could faintly hear Vivio's voice from the door.
"Ein-chan," squealed Vivio, happy to see her friend upon opening the door.
"Einhart-san…glad you could make it," said Nanoha.
"She just came to drop something off," said Signum.
"Oh…you made cupcakes? How nice," said Nanoha.
"Oh Einhart…hello," said Fate, appearing behind Nanoha. "Vivio told me you'd be coming over."
"Um…I had some help from Rein and the others making these. I hope you like them," replied Einhart quickly, with a slight blush forming on her cheeks.
"I'm sure they look yummy," said Nanoha. "Thanks Einhart."
When Signum noticed the way that Einhart was acting she couldn't help but show a slight grin on her face.
"She is exactly like you in almost many ways Testarossa," said Signum, slightly shaking her head.
"D-do you really have to point that out at a time like this?" asked Fate.
"I have to agree with her, Fate-chan. You two are almost like…mirrors of each other," said Nanoha.
"Y-you too? You're no different with Vivio when being straightforward," said Fate, slightly turning red from Nanoha's comment.
"Um…is it OK if I come in?" asked Einhart, timidly.
"Of course. We just finished with the muffins," said Nanoha. "Want one Agito?"
"Heck yes," said Agito, immediately heading inside.
As Nanoha placed Einhart's cupcakes on the counter, Fate then handed Agito a vanilla flavored muffin to which she happily began eating.
"Oh…Einhart-san…did you do these frosting designs?" asked Nanoha.
"Let me see, let me see," said Vivio eagerly, to which Nanoha then gently brought down to Vivio's eye level.
"I…I tried my best when doing them," said Einhart.
"There's no need to be so nervous Einhart. You did a good job on them," said Fate.
"Th-thank you very much," said einhart, bowing lightly.
"Those look like Nanoha-mama and Fate-mama's devices," said Vivio.
"Oh…so they do," said Nanoha. "And that looks a bit like your device, Kris…don't you think Vivio?"
"Thanks Ein-chan," said Vivio.
"Y-you're welcome, Vivio," replied Einhart.
Just when Nanoha was about to try one, Agito quickly placed hers on the countertop and quickly told Nanoha that Hayate was up to her usual tricks and it was hard to tell as to which ones looked normal.
"They look pretty normal to me," said Nanoha.
'That may be true but you know how Hayate is with her crazy fantasies and the like,' said Fate, telepathically.
"Want to try a muffin, Ein-chan?" asked Vivio, handing her one.
"Thanks," replied Einhart.
"Say 'ahhhh'" said Vivio.
"E-eh?" asked EInhart, slightly taken aback and a blush showing on her cheeks.
"Come on…say 'ahhh'…or I won't give it," said Vivio.
"I-in front of the others?" asked Einhart, yet this time Vivio didn't answer.
Looking down nervously at the floor for a brief moment before regarding her friend, Einhart tried to gather her wits and finally opened her mouth, enough for Vivio to put in a small piece.
Einhart blinked for a few seconds as she could taste a hint of the vanilla along with a bit of sweetness to it.
"How is it?" asked Vivio.
"It tastes good," replied Einhart. She then regarded Nanoha and Fate for a brief moment before asking, "What exactly is the occasion?"
"Oh…Vivio didn't tell you?" asked Nanoha.
At that instant Einhart was practically confused, causing both Aces to chuckle a bit.
"Happy birthday Ein-chan," replied Vivio, giving her best friend a hug.
"Wh-what?" wondered Einhart bewildered.
"Don't tell me you don't even remember something as simple as that?" asked Agito.
"Give her a break Agito. It wasn't that common so to speak," said Signum, before she added telepathically 'Although that reaction was a bit priceless.'
"I'm a bit curious to try Einhart's cupcakes," said Nanoha.
'Just be careful you don't get the wrong one,' said Agito telepathically.
'You're such a worry wart Agito,' replied Nanoha, telepathically as she then took a bite of the cupcake.
"These really taste great," said Nanoha.
"Oh…then I guess I'll have one also," said Fate.
"Me too, me too," said Vivio, jumping up and down, causing her moms to chuckle slightly at the enthusiastic girl as she handed Vivio her cupcake.
"You don't mind if she stays here do you? We could come back and pick her up later," said Signum.
"Oh…errands to run, Signum?" asked Fate.
"Master Hayate gave me a list of groceries to buy for dinner later," said Signum, pulling out a small piece of paper. "Let's go, Agito."
"Alright. Thanks for the muffins," said Agito taking her still unfinished muffin and continued to eat as she followed Signum back into the care.
Einhart became a bit surprised when Vivio handed her the cupcake that she made for her but even more when her eyes were closed and she opened her mouth indicating that she wanted her to do the same of what happened earlier. Einhart slowly brought the cupcake forward to Vivio who then took a small bite.
Nanoha and Fate looked on from a distance with the Ace of Aces having a slight grin on her face.
'Remember that time when you handed me a cupcake during Valentine's Day back when we were teens?' asked Fate.
'Why are you bringing that up now?' inquired Nanoha.
'Just look at them…it's almost reminiscent of how we once were,' replied Fate.
'She's just a kid right now Fate-chan,' said Nanoha.
'We weren't so different back then,' replied Fate.
'True…but your reaction was so priceless,' said Nanoha.
Some of the frosting got onto Vivio's nose. Einhart then wiped it off her nose until Vivio then playfully licked it off her finger, causing her to blush again. Yet what happened a few seconds later was something Einhart didn't expect at all. Vivio then went up and gave her shy friend a quick peck on the lips, as she just stood there practically dumbfounded.
"Happy birthday Ein-chan," said Vivio, with a cute grin on her face.
Asteion then landed on Einhart's head and looked at the cupcakes. Vivio then noticed Einhart's device and decided to hand it one as well. Einhart smiled warmly back at her friend while thinking, 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.'
Fate then suddenly began feeling a bit lightheaded and leaned against the countertop causing Nanoha to catch her.
"You OK?" she asked.
"Yeah…just feeling a bit…tipsy," said Fate.
Nanoha didn't even have to guess as to who the real culprit was.
"You alright, Fate-san?" asked Einhart.
"I'll be fine Einhart. Just need to rest a bit. You two go ahead and eat the muffins," she replied.
"Just don't eat too much that there won't be enough room for dinner," said Nanoha.
As Nanoha brought Fate to their room upstairs and closed the door, unbeknownst to the two downstairs eating muffins that it was literally going to be a long night and that the White Devil herself would have to make a quick visit to Hayate to thank her "personally".
A/N: Hi guys. Yami Kero here. I had this idea for quite a bit but struggled like heck with trying to get traction on this fanfic. I always found the pair to be quite cute and I kept wondering to myself as to when I might be able to get this finished and then I thought to myself…why not just submit it on my birthday (which is the reason why it's on here). Of course I had to celebrate it early by watching the movie Elysium on Saturday and then go to a Japanese restaurant on Sunday while making orders online on Amazon for some books, a chibi-Fate keychain, and a used video game for the XBOX 360 along with getting some iTunes gift cards and the latest album of the Backstreet Boys.
Hope you guys liked it and leave a review below.