Disclaimer: I don't own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha or its characters!
Author's Note: Hello everyone~! This is K. O. Nano from Team Gemini! I'm bringing you my first story here, so I hope it isn't all that bad. Who ever knew that a simple little chat could result in something like this? I didn't, that's for sure! Anyways, I don't want to bog down the readers out there with a lengthy author's note, so there'll be a longer one at the end of this chappie. (Side Note: The separate lines in italics are Nanoha's thoughts)
~Please Enjoy~
I'll just say this one last bit: Thank you Team Gemini for inspiring me and eggin' me on to do this; you guys are awesome. This one's for you!!!
Dreaming of You
Chapter One
Ice Cold
Wind gently whispered through the budding cherry blossoms as the sun steadily climbed higher in the sky. It was 7:55am on this beautiful morning in Uminari, and Nanoha Takamachi had less than five minutes left to reach her first History class of the spring semester. Out of all mornings the enormous battery of her alarm clock could've possibly chosen to die, it just had to pick today. The high school student thought back to her chaotic morning and grimaced as she ran through the streets of her hometown.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The alarm clock weakly rang once, twice, and not even a third time before the digital numbers it displayed disappeared, leaving nary a trace of having rung at all. Unfortunately, Nanoha was an extremely deep sleeper and slept through each ring. Her mother Momoko had to take some drastic, albeit effective, measures to awaken the girl. Knowing her daughter's avid aversion to cold water, the wise Momoko filled a large bucket with freezing ice water. She smiled mischievously as she quietly hauled the container upstairs to Nanoha's room.
The youngest Takamachi was still sound asleep when her mother entered the white and blue bedroom; incidentally, the room was painted to imitate the environment of the sky, but Momoko nevertheless thought it looked like a big blue ocean full of crashing waves. With a light giggle, Momoko counted to three and dumped the bucket's icy contents directly over Nanoha. A scream and an angry pout later, the poor high school girl found herself rushing to get ready for the day…
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Nanoha snapped back to reality when she realized that she almost missed the turn leading to her school. Unfortunately she did pass the turn.
"Crap!"
The girl had no choice now but to take a different route in order to avoid losing more time. Dashing through the park, the brunette paid no heed to the people she passed or even to those in front of her.
Somehow, just somehow, she managed to barely avoid any tragic crashes while plowing her way through town. Nanoha pushed on at full speed, knowing very well that the school gates were nearby. If she could keep on sprinting for a little while longer she'd be able to reach the classroom before that insensitive teacher of hers could appear. She might even have enough time to tie up her unruly hair into her favorite sideways ponytail. Just as she was about to cross the threshold to the high school courtyard, though, a long leg stepped out from behind the gates…
*CRASH*
"Owwww, my head…. oh shoot, now I'm going to be late for first period! Who the hell just walks around in front of the school like that right before class anyway?!" Nanoha complained bitterly as she rubbed her temples.
Soft rustling could be heard as the girl noticed another student on the dirt nearby—the one that was responsible for her unfortunate fall. Long, pants-clad legs were sprawled out across the ground; they were, by the looks of it, slim but well-defined by faint traces of firm muscle. Luscious blonde hair cascaded down in soft waves to the other student's trim waist, and as Nanoha slowly dragged her eyes upwards, she noted the toned arms and abdomen. None of the boys in her class would ever come close to matching this guy's impressive physique. They're all too underfed and scrawny, Nanoha dryly mused to herself.
Even the guy's chest was rather full and well endowed and…at that point, something clicked within the deep recesses of the brunette's mind. C-chest?!
The tall attractive student—the one, Nanoha suddenly realized with annoyance, that she was ogling at the moment—who had tripped her earlier was actually a girl?!
No way!!
She convinced herself that it couldn't be possible. How could she have possibly gotten a hold of a boy's uniform? Maybe it was just too early in the morning; that must have been it. The girl in front of Nanoha in that moment was just some sort of illusion, or better yet, Nanoha herself was still in bed sound asleep and having some bad dream. Maybe that meant she'd have to stop eating mint chocolate chip ice cream late at night…
"Nnnngh…!"
Startled out of her thoughts by the blonde's sudden exclamation, Nanoha whipped her head around so fast her neck cracked from the unexpectedly abrupt action.
Okay, this is SO not a dream…
The mysterious blonde sluggishly rose to a sitting position and groggily stared at Nanoha. As her eyes re-adjusted and cleared, Nanoha couldn't help but notice the rather unique crimson shade of the other girl's gaze. Her eyes seemed to hide an unsettling feeling of something she couldn't quite place within those murky red depths. Could it have been sadness? No, that couldn't be right; the other girl wasn't exactly frowning nor did she look like she was about to cry. What was it, then, that troubled her so much? The now concerned brunette caved into her curiosity and decided to try and find out more about the lovely stranger in front of her.
"Er…h-hello there. What's your size…uh, I mean, name?" Nanoha awkwardly greeted, mentally slapping herself for the less-than-smooth greeting.
The blonde said nothing and merely continued to stare at Nanoha. Those puzzling eyes bore into her own as if they were staring straight into her very soul, deciphering the thoughts and emotions she was feeling. All of a sudden Nanoha felt exposed under this person's unwavering gaze; never before had she felt this sensation, being the strong and stubborn girl she was. And within less than a second, that feeling was gone—the moment was broken. The enigmatic blonde had lazily stood up, brushed off some nonexistent dirt from her trousers and simply walked off without so much as a glance at the girl she left behind.
…
…
(caw, caw!)
"What. The. Hell?!"
Nanoha was beyond pissed by now. First of all, she was given that lovely wake-up call from her mother—she could still practically feel the ice cubes running along her spine. After that she ran all the way to school only to be tripped by some cross-dressing girl with serious social issues. For once Nanoha tried to be friendly and polite, but it was all for nothing; she just had to be ignored and have all her efforts go to waste. And to top it all off, Nanoha was now officially late to the very first class of the very first school day of the spring semester.
Counting to ten, the exasperated brunette sighed and took a deep breath. She didn't exactly want her emotions to get the best of her, but at the same time this wasn't exactly a day in paradise for the teenage girl.
"Ah well," Nanoha said aloud to no one in particular. "Looks like I'll just have to B.S. my way through the day now."
Picking up her messenger bag, Nanoha leisurely strolled across the school's courtyard and into the main building. She already knew she was screwed anyway, so why not just go with the flow? The high school student took calming breaths as she approached the doors of her History classroom. Plastering the biggest, brightest smile she could possibly muster onto her face, Nanoha sighed internally one last time and slammed the doors open.
"Gooooooooood morning, everyone!" Nanoha chirped as she skipped into class. "How are you this fine, lovely day?"
"…"
An awkward silence hung over everyone's heads; absolutely nothing could be heard, save for a pencil clattering to the floor or the occasional cough. Nanoha smiled through it all, but deep down she figured her teacher was deeply annoyed by the tardy appearance.
"Well, Takamachi-san. I see you're in high spirits today. And guess what? I'm not, so wipe that smile off your face, find some empty desk and sit down!"
Immediately Nanoha's expression changed from a cheerful, happy student to that of an irritated and exhausted one. She shot her instructor a nasty glare and grumbled on the way to a random desk next to a window near the back of the room.
"Yeah, yeah, Leti-sensei. Take a chill pill, would ya?"
Taking a seat, the disgruntled high schooler propped her right elbow onto the desk and rested her head on her hand. Nanoha let her thoughts wander away from the current discussion on zaibatsu during the Meiji Era to the seemingly wayward blonde she met this morning. She was definitely one of the weirdest girls Nanoha had ever met.
Seriously though, what kind of person just walks away from a greeting like that?
Nanoha remembered the way the blonde looked at her and the way she casually shrugged off the encounter and left. And God, those eyes! There was just something about them that troubled Nanoha—she didn't know what, but she sure as hell was going to find out! Realizing what she just thought, Nanoha blushed. Why was she so curious about that girl, anyway? It's not like she got this worked up over other people like that before!
Maybe it's because she's tall, eye-catching, and mysterious.
Forgetting about her brief embarrassment, the brunette became determined to learn more about the blonde. And with that decision, Nanoha unknowingly changed her once normal life forever…
A/N: Whew! How was that for the 1st chap. of my first story? I really do hope you liked it.
I know there's not much verbal character interaction in this first chapter, but please understand that was intentional. I'm setting you guys up for the upcomin' plotline, so be patient with me. The next chap's should be at least a little more involved. : )
Feedback would be greatly appreciated; I'd love to see what you think of my story, especially since I'm new at this. Although, I do ask one thing in terms of reviews: if you are going to flame me or this story, please do it respectfully. There really is no need for hostility or anger now, is there?
Once again, a million thanks to my helpful friends from Team Gemini!
-K. O. Nano