Takamachi
✭ ✭ ✭ Sunday, January 18th ✭ ✭ ✭
Takamachi Nanoha dropped the spoon in her hand. It clanged on the dining table. Sitting across her was her best friend and secret crush, Fate T. Harlaown, who was smiling at her in such a way that she didn't think the girl heard what her mother, seated at the head of the table herself, said.
"Come again, Lindy-san?" She picked up the spoon.
The question, having come out like lightning under a cloudless sky and little to do with the current topic of the conversation, surprised her so much she thought she misheard.
"Oh," said the retired Admiral of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, a smile bright on her lips, "I was asking if you're the type who'd change her family name when she marries."
Her daughter chuckled from across the able.
Nanoha had a feeling that Fate had heard this before.
"I'm… not sure because I never thought about it. Why?"
"There's a report out in Mid-Childa that says professional women are now less likely to take up their spouses' family name upon marriage."
"Ah."
"To be sure, I do understand why and I sorta agree with the trend," said Lindy.
"Sorta?" repeated Nanoha, who thought she saw a gleam in the woman's eyes as that word left her mouth.
"Because I'm really hoping that you'd take the Harlaown name when you marry into my family."
The spoonful of tomato soup, which Lindy made from scratch and was excellent, went down the wrong pipe and Nanoha started to cough violently. Tears stained her vision.
"Here's some water, Nanoha."
She wasn't sure how, but in the blink of an eye, Fate disappeared from her own side of the table and materialized atop the seat next to Nanoha's. In the other girl's right hand was Nanoha's glass of iced water and her left offered soothing strokes to Nanoha's back.
She took a few gulps and managed to suppress her coughs somewhat.
"Are you feeling better, Nanoha-chan?" asked Lindy, sounding concerned.
"I'm sorry, Lindy-san," Nanoha coughed, "for making you repeat yourself again, but I must have misheard you…"
The retired Admiral opened her mouth, but Fate jumped in first: "Chrono has a girlfriend, kaa-san. You're quite fond of her."
"I didn't mean him, silly."
The beautiful girl with knee-length golden hair rose to her feet, planted herself behind Nanoha's chair, and wrapped her arms around Nanoha's neck almost protectively. Fate's chin rested on her right shoulder and Fate's breaths, so warm and fragrant, filled her nostrils.
Her heart skipped a beat and blood seemed to boil beneath her cheeks.
"Nanoha's off limits to you, kaa-san," said the Enforcer. "She's mine."
There was laughter in her voice, so there was no doubt that the girl was humoring Lindy and not being serious at all. The knowledge, however, didn't stop Nanoha's heart to leap up her throat and filled her with a strange sense of happiness.
Oddly enough, Fate's action surprised Lindy herself. She wasn't deterred for long, though.
"Not if I can get to her first!" declared Lindy, who bounded to her feet, took a pose worthy of the former Captain of the spaceship Arthra, and swung a forefinger at her daughter.
Fate immediately sank to one knee at the side of Nanoha's chair, took Nanoha's left hand into her own, and said to Nanoha in a dramatic tone: "I'd rather die than to call you my mother-in-law, so will you marry me instead?"
Nanoha actually laughed.
"Yes." She threw her arms around Fate's neck and whispered with every ounce of honesty in her body: "Nothing makes me happier." When she pulled back, she noticed a hint of bewilderment on the other girl's face that lasted for all of one second.
Because Lindy had announced in a feigned outrage: "I refuse to acknowledge this!"
"What does it take for you to do so?" Fate demanded.
Lindy's face turned devilishly mischievous. "Seal your proposal with a kiss. On the lips."
Nanoha thought her own face had just been lit on fire. In her embarrassment, her arms fell back to her sides.
Fate was a little stunned herself. Eventually, she found her voice: "I'm not going to make out with Nanoha in front of my mother."
"Spoilsport," said Lindy, chuckling. "Well, I'll install a camera in your bedroom later."
"We won't give you any chance!"
Fate and Lindy continued to go back and forth as if it was a well-practiced comedy routine. As they moved on to other subjects at the speed of a machine gun and with less and less seriousness, Nanoha managed to grow comfortable again and join in the conversation.
The dinner ended on a high note.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
Lindy Harlaown chuckled as she sat down on one of the sofa in the living-room and picked up the phone. Then she dialed the Takamachi household. She knew Momoko and Shirou would be quite amused to hear what happened during dinner.
She wondered how many hoops she'd have to jump through to get the TSAB to approve the installation of holographic communication in a civilian house.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"So Lindy-san has a favorite nephew I never heard of?" said Takamachi Nanoha, most of whose body was immersed in the comfortably warm water of the spacious tub.
"She does," replied Fate, who was sitting on the floor of the outer bath chamber with her back leaning upon the sliding door made out of frosted glass. The girl had wanted to keep Nanoha company after she finished her own bath. "Even I don't know much about him because he's always away on some distant world. Exploration missions, apparently."
"And somehow Lindy-san believed that I'm a good match for this particular Harlaown?"
"That's my impression. She started mentioning him to me recently, though I'm not entirely sure why." Fate laughed. "I thought she was going to in front of you this time, so I decided to throw a monkey wrench into her plans. Thanks, by the way, for playing along earlier."
"You are… welcome," said Nanoha. A long pause. "And since we're on the topic, do you agree with your mom?"
"About?"
"About me being a good match for whoever this Harlaown cousin of yours is."
"I don't."
"How so?" Nanoha was curious.
"He sounds like he's an explorer geek who's more interested in some extinct civilization than having a family. You deserve better."
"What kind of person… do I deserve then?"
"Someone who's always around to make you laugh. You're cute, Nanoha, but you're much, much cuter when you laugh."
Takamachi Nanoha, for once, couldn't come up with a word in response.
When she left the bathtub fifteen minutes later and looked at herself in the mirror, her face was still very, very red.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"What are you reading, Arf?" inquired Lindy Harlaown, who had just come back from the bath.
The dog familiar, who had been assuming the form of a child, was lying on her stomach on the carpeted floor of the master bedroom with a big book spread in front of her. Usually Arf slept in Fate's bed––her tiny didn't take up much space––but whenever Nanoha came over, she would go to Lindy's room on her own volition and spend the night here instead.
Arf lifted the book to show Lindy the cover. It read: "A Thousand and One Family-Friendly Jokes."
"Where did you get it?"
"Fate's bookshelf." Arf flashed her an almost feral grin.
"I see," answered Lindy, not seeing at all. "And by the way, why did you bring that with you? You know I have several." Lindy grinned. "Could it be that you can't sleep without it?"
"Not mine either." Another feral grin. "I'm not the one who can't sleep without it."
"Oh!" Lindy laughed.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"No, you first," insisted Takamachi Nanoha.
"It's okay, you can climb on first," said Fate, her hand gesturing at the full-sized bed next to the wall and under the humongous window of her room.
"I don't want you to fall off the bed because of me later, Fate-chan."
The other girl, whose slender but curvaceous form was clad in a pair of black pajamas, studied Nanoha with a small, slightly exasperated smile on her lips for a brief moment. She then stepped forward, put one arm around Nanoha's shoulders, slipped the other under her calves, and gently lifted her up. Before Nanoha had a chance to react or enjoy the sensation of being carried in her friend's arms, she had been laid onto her back on the bed and next to the wall.
In the instant that followed, Fate lay down on one side on the bed and smiled at Nanoha.
"I don't like being manhandled like that." She pouted.
"I'd rather take your displeasure than see you end up on the floor. You do roll a bit, you know." As if able to tell what Nanoha was about to say, Fate continued: "Besides, I do this for my own reason too."
"What may it be?"
"If you're next to the wall, the only direction you can roll will lead you into my arms."
Nanoha blushed. I'm not sure if she's an airhead or someone really good at smooth-talking.
"And why's that a good thing?"
"Someone stole my body pillow. I like holding on to that when I sleep."
"So I'm just a substitution?" Nanoha faked a pout.
"Definitely not." Fate smiled. "I imagine you'll be much softer and warmer."
She's not flirting with me, is she? thought Nanoha, embarrassed and embarrassingly happy.
"Hayate-chan's rubbing off on you."
"Speaking of which," Fate tapped her lips with a finger, "she did try to touch my breasts several times lately." She burst into laughter at whatever she saw on Nanoha's face. "I'm kidding! Don't blast her with Raising Heart tomorrow, okay?"
"The thought never crossed my mind," Nanoha lied. And why would I wait until tomorrow?
"Anyway, mission unaccomplished." Fate shook her head in dejection. "You didn't even smile at the joke."
"Silly Fate-chan."
They spent the next five minutes or so just gazing into each other's eyes and smiling. Nanoha had no idea as to what Fate was thinking in her pretty head, but for her part, she was satisfied with being able to lie this close to the person she loved and admired every noble feature of her face.
Fate suddenly chuckled aloud.
"What's so funny?"
"I was thinking what would happen if you decided to marry my cousin."
"I'm not, but do go on."
"Think about it, you'll be Nanoha T. Harlaown. Another person may mistake you for my wife."
The silly idea amused Nanoha so much she couldn't help laughing. The smile on Fate's lovely lips broadened and turned almost too bright to look at. Nanoha's heart pounded madly in her chest.
"Say, Fate-chan…"
"Hm?"
"If you were a boy, do you think your mom would have tried to get me engaged to you instead?" Noting the surprise on her friend's face and hearing what she just said for the first time, she gave a start. "I'm sorry! I'm not sure what came over me. I shouldn't have…"
"You're asking me if my mom would try to get me engaged to the cutest, prettiest, and nicest girl in my class?" Fate smiled. "Don't say anything about Hayate. She's an old man in a girl's body."
Nanoha blushed. What came next wasn't what she expected: "Probably not." Fate laughed softly. "For one, she wouldn't have had to do anything. You wouldn't have remained single until now, because I'd have fallen in love with you and proposed to you long ago."
Although Nanoha was overjoyed to hear those words, sadness eventually dominated all else.
Would have fallen in love with me, huh? she thought. Does that mean you never did, Fate-chan? She looked up at the beautiful visage of her best friend and felt her determination grow firm. I guess I'll have to try harder until you do.
"That's sweet of you." Nanoha smiled and rolled forward until a side of her head rested on Fate's arm and her own face was an inch away from kissing Fate's lips. "To show you my gratitude, I'll be your body pillow tonight, okay?"
Fate's other arm immediately slipped around Nanoha's waist and pulled her in even closer.
"I'm happy," whispered the other girl. "I'm also glad that I was right. You're so soft and warm."
Nanoha chuckled and eased her burning face into the hollow of Fate's neck. She smells so good, too.
"Nanoha?"
"Yes?"
"You're not sleeping on the floor again." Fate pulled up the blanket to cover both of them.
"I guess not."
Fate waved a hand and the fluorescent light on the ceiling went out. The room was immediately flooded with the silver luminescence of the moon beyond the glass windows above the bed.
Takamachi Nanoha closed her eyes and relished the happiness welling inside her.
✭ ✭ ✭ Monday, January 19th ✭ ✭ ✭
"What may you be doing, Fate?"
When Lindy Harlaown decided to stop by her daughter's room to make sure she and her friend weren't going to oversleep, she didn't expect to find Fate sitting on the floor with a side of her face on the bed and her right hand being held tightly by a still slumbering Takamachi Nanoha.
"I'm not sure," answered Fate.
"Start with how you ended up in that posture." Lindy was amused.
"I woke up first and found myself very thirsty, so I decided to go for a cup of water. When I got off the bed, Nanoha took my hand, told me not to go, and promptly drifted back to sleep." She laughed softly. "I don't think she knew what she was doing."
"And why is it you didn't pry your hand out of hers?"
"I tried, but I got a good look at her sleeping face, and I forgot about what I was going to do…"
"I see." Lindy had no idea how she managed to keep the hilarity out of her voice, but she did. "Just curious, how long have you been sitting there?"
"I didn't pay attention to the time," Fate replied casually, sounding as if she could care less. "Ten minutes, perhaps?"
Bardiche, Raising Heart? Lindy directed a telepathic thought toward the two Intelligent Devices resting atop the bedside table.
Twenty-three minutes and thirty-six point zero zero five seconds! they answered in unison.
"When did you two start sharing the bed anyway?"
"Last night, kaa-san. It was Hayate's suggestion."
The Yagami girl knows something, Lindy thought. I can't be sure whether she's just smart or my girl's dumb in this aspect, though. She gave an inward laugh at that.
"Did you enjoy the company?" she teased, having noticed that Fate hadn't lifted her head to look at her once.
"Sure. I got to hold her until I fell asleep, so I was happy."
Her tongue is unusually loose this morning, mused Lindy. Must be because her attention is elsewhere.
"I think I understand why you want Nanoha to marry into our family so much," said Fate. "She's adorable, isn't she?"
"If you do, hurry up and ask her out." Lindy shook her head. "You know I don't mind you having a girlfriend, especially if said girlfriend is Nanoha-chan."
Her daughter straightened up and looked at her in surprise. "I thought you meant her for your nephew." She blinked. "Wait, what was it that you just said, kaa-san?"
Lindy patiently repeated.
"We're not like that," declared Fate. "She doesn't like me that way."
Really? Have you seen the way she looked at you last night? Or every time she visited?
Lindy opened her mouth and closed it immediately. Well, it's not like she's going to believe me anyway.
"In any case, you should wake her up soon or both of you will be late to school. I'll get some coffee ready downstairs."
"Yes, kaa-san," Fate said in a half-hearted tone.
Lindy laughed quietly and left the room. Only after she had reached the ground floor did she realize what it was that her dear daughter actually said. She burst into laughter.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
Yagami Hayate thought she was going to be sick. Not only because the train car she was riding in was unusually crowded this morning. Not only because there wasn't a pretty girl in sight and the people standing so close to her were middle-aged men who seemed to look for an excuse to inch closer to her. It was chiefly because of what was happening to her immediate right, where her best friends stood and were lost in their own little world.
Normally, the three of them would be able to occupy the seats and talk among each other on the way to school. Today, they ended up being the last to get onto the train. Which was why Hayate found herself with her back to the doors instead. Fate was in the same situation as Hayate, only by choice because she didn't want Nanoha to stand anywhere near the sliding doors.
It followed Fate's behavior pattern quite well, actually. If the two were going along the sidewalk, Fate would be doing so on the side of the cars. In case of rain, Fate would be the one holding the umbrella and it would tilt toward Nanoha's side so not a drop of water would touch her clothes.
One couldn't blame the Takamachi daughter for falling in love with someone like that.
But Hayate digressed.
What bugged her right now was the fact that neither of her friends remembered that she existed. Nanoha, standing within breathing distance to Fate, couldn't keep her eyes off of Fate's countenance while the latter was too occupied with making Nanoha laugh––it was a great success, if Nanoha's frequent genuine laughter was any indication––she didn't pay attention to anyone else.
Hayate couldn't help noticing Fate's interlaced hands on Nanoha's lower back. It was noteworthy because they appeared there after the train rounded a corner roughly and pushed Nanoha into Fate's embrace. Though her arms did loosen afterwards, her hands never left Nanoha's body and both girls seemed content, consciously or not, to let them stay that way.
Note to self, thought Yagami Hayate, flee to a different car next time. Lovebirds provably dangerous to sanity. She sighed. Does it kill Signum to act the way Fate-chan did? Sure, I might have been too aggressive but it's no reason to treat me like the plague, is it?
She noticed that Nanoha was no longer laughing. The girl was rubbing at her eyes.
"You still look drowsy, Nanoha," said Fate.
"Yeah."
"It took me a bit of effort to wake you this morning, too. I didn't ask, but did you not sleep well?"
"I did! It was just that it took me a while to fall asleep last night." Nanoha blushed.
"Must've been because of me." Fate's voice was apologetic. "Did I hold onto you too tightly?"
Oh! thought Hayate. No wonder why they were so touchy-feely this morning. You lucky little rascal, Takamachi Nanoha!
Nanoha shook her head hurriedly. "Of course not! I…" her voice grew smaller as she lowered her head, "I enjoyed it a little too much, I think." The girl probably didn't intend to say that last part out loud.
"Ah." Fate smiled, apparently relieved. "In any case, it'll take us another fifteen minutes to arrive, so do you want to get some shut-eye?" She patted on her right shoulder with her left hand.
Nanoha blushed harder and nodded before she stepped forward and delivered herself into her friend's embrace. In little time, a side of her face was resting on Fate's shoulder and she, from the look of it, immediately sank into sleep.
Fate simply leaned against one of the two metal poles near the doors and closed her arms around Nanoha. A whiff of magic rose in the air, too tiny to detect unless in close proximity. Fate had bound her feet to the floor and her back to the pole. A rougher turn than the last wouldn't shift her a fraction of an inch from where she stood.
Fate T. Harlaown never looked happier. Or more oblivious to the curious eyes looking her way.
Hayate turned around and pressed her face against the glass window of a door. She wanted to slam her forehead on it. Multiple times.
Save me, Signum! Get me out of here! Watching them isn't fun at all!
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"There's no reason why you and Master Hayate should stay here, Nanoha," said Signum. "It will take quite a while until the club finishes." The air around her was suffused with the sound of shinai striking against shinai as the students she supervised tried their best to hone their skills in preparation for the national competition at the end of the following month. Signum herself was dressed in pure-white uwagi and hakama, as befit the official advisor of the kendo club.
"Don't worry about us and pay attention to your students." Signum's young Queen gave a wave of her hand. "I won't be bored, and Nanoha-chan's happy where she is." She glanced sideways at the currently under-leave-of-absence Takamachi Nanoha, who's standing next to her.
The girl with the lustrous copper-red hair did look content where she stood, for there was a small smile on her face as her eyes followed the movements of the only other person who wore white kendo uniform in the dojo:Fate T. Harlaown. The young Enforcer was walking around to keep an eye on the practice matches and offer her expert guidance when she deemed necessary.
"See?" said Hayate.
"Well, I understand why she's here now," replied Signum. "But you…"
"That's discriminatory. Why can she come and watch the person she loves, but not me?" Hayate turned her pretty face and showed Signum a gently mocking smile.
Signum coughed, returned her attention to the dojo floor, and pretended she didn't hear anything. Her Master laughed. Deep down inside, Signum repeatedly cursed Tsukimiya-sensei for having abandoned her duties. The woman had rushed out of school as soon as the bell rang and without her supervision, the Cooking club was forced to cancel its meeting. As a result, these two members of the club had decided to come over here and bother Signum instead.
Well, she didn't really mind Nanoha, as she liked to stand quietly in a corner and observe. Hayate was a different story, for the girl never failed to distract Signum, and she took so much delight from the fact.
Signum sighed.
"Fate-chan's pretty much an instructor now, isn't she?" asked Hayate.
"Yes. I'm very grateful for her help even though she got a rotten deal out of this."
"What rotten deal?"
"She joined this club to improve herself, but she ended up helping me train these girls most of the times because as it turned out, I'm the only one who can match her."
"It's understandable that you feel guilty, I guess." Hayate laughed softly. "After all, you're the reason all of those girls joined the club, not kendo. You're too cool for your own good, Signum."
Signum sighed again. Her Master was right. When ninety-nine percent of her students attended club activities because they admired her and wanted to be near her, she couldn't expect them to become as good as Fate was at the shinai.
"Too bad Fate-chan isn't the type to give up midway. She's just wasting her time here."
"She is. At least one of us is always too busy to spar against one another." She shook her head in disappointment. "And my students were too cowardly to ask her for practice because they've seen how good she is and don't want to be humiliated."
"I'd like to help you out then, Signum-san," said Nanoha with a small smile on her lips.
Hayate blinked at her friend. Then she, like Signum, understood. "Oh," they said in unison.
"Do you have spare kendogi set my size?" inquired Nanoha.
"There are a few in the locker room," Signum answered. "That way." She gestured at the north-east corner of the dojo, where a door stood.
"I'll be right back." Nanoha picked up her bag on the floor and walked away.
"It's gonna be good." Hayate chuckled. "She's been itching to do this as much as Fate, I think."
"They haven't done any practice match at the Bureau since that incident, right?"
"Yup. Fate-chan didn't want to put any extra stress on Nanoha-chan's body when it's still healing. But this should be okay. In fact, Shamal herself said earlier that she'd approve of a good physical exercise for Nanoha-chan."
"You went to see Shamal?"
"Yup. I gave Schwertkreuz to her for periodic checkup this morning. Rein's going to bring it back to me when Shamal gives it to her."
It was then that Nanoha returned in a black uwagi and hakama. When she walked past the wooden rack near the locker room, she picked up a bokutō and a naginata and brought them with her to where Signum and Hayate stood. Not a single piece of armor was on Nanoha's body.
"No men or dō or kote?" inquired Signum's Master.
"It's not safe, Nanoha," added Signum. "I may not let you do this unless you put the armor on."
"Why should I?" Nanoha blinked at her, apparently genuinely confused. "Neither of us is going to hurt the other. And it's much easier for Fate-chan to move around without them."
"Let her." Hayate smiled and gave another wave of her hand. "They'll be fine."
"Thanks, Signum-san," replied Nanoha, her smile growing broader and brighter.
"Attention!" Signum bellowed at the same time she clapped her hands with a small bit of magic between them, allowing the sound to echo loudly to every corner of the dojo. The clacking sounds of shinai on shinai immediately ceased and all heads turned toward Signum.
"Clear the area around the ring!" she commanded. "Good! Harlaown! Do come to the center of the ring!"
Nanoha, one hand carrying the naginata and one the bokutō, advanced and stepped into the ring. The Enforcer, who was already within the painted rectangular border, looked worried. Nanoha smiled at her. As far as Signum could tell, the girl was sending her friend some telepathic messages and was very persuasive at it, for the concern and worry evaporated from Fate's visage and she nodded at her friend. Nanoha smiled again and tossed the wooden swordto Fate, who caught it in the air by the handle without even looking where her hand was moving. It drew a loud series of gasps from the awestruck girls standing a safe distance from the white ring.
The two girls stepped to the center of the ring, which was marked by a white X, and bowed.
"Watch closely!" Signum bellowed again. "Takamachi, Harlaown, you may start!"
Fate T. Harlaown transformed into a white streak that blazed toward her sparring partner with a speed that even Signum herself was incapable of. The girl in black simply stepped sideways and spun the naginata in her hands and swung its curved wooden blade at the fast-moving blur. A loud clack rang in the air as Fate defended herself from the surgically precise strike and was forced to alter her trajectory.
Fate was neither deterred nor compelled to slow down. Even as her momentum drove her toward the white border and threatened to push her out, she made an abrupt and sharp turn and blazed once more at Nanoha.
The girl with the long pony tail, who had spun on her heels to keep her eyes on Fate, stepped one tiny step to her left and maneuvered the wooden spear in her hands to deflect the upward arc of Fate's blade that was aimed directly at her left wrist. The butt of the naginata then took advantage of the force that the bokutō had applied on the wooden shaft to rotate and swing straight at Fate's face. The Enforcer evaded that easily by lowering her body and then countered with a swing of her sword, which struck the middle of the spear, before the two girls jumped apart.
The crowd went wild at the impressive performance, and went wilder still when Nanoha became the eye of the lightning storm Fate had transformed into. Every time Nanoha's counter move threw her off her path and hurled her at the white border, she seemed to bounce off an invisible wall the same way a beam of light would a mirror and hammered away at Nanoha again.
Fast, loud, and successive clacking sounds formed a loud staccato in the air while the bokutō spun around Nanoha so rapidly it seemed a hundred blades were aiming for her face, waist, and wrists. What they found, however, was nothing except the impenetrable defense raised by the naginata. Nanoha's slender form could have been a leaf surfing the sword waves woven by the bokutō as her own weapon parried, blocked, deflected, and neutralized every attack thrown away with smooth, uninterrupted, and graceful moves. Cheers eventually grew so loud they drowned out the sounds of wooden sword striking against spear.
Nanoha's in her Instructor mode, isn't she? said Hayate telepathically to Signum.
Indeed, she agreed. She's very effective at it.
Anyone with a brain would take notice of the perfection that was Nanoha's defense against Fate's most fearsome weapon: speed. Instead of trying to match it, which would have been foolish and in vain, the girl in black had chosen to minimize her movements and focused her energy not on offense, but on defense and manipulating Fate's movements themselves. A smarter person would realize that Fate had been expending far more energy trying to not leave the ring and controlling her own momentum. Fate could only lose.
But neither of the two was trying to win to begin with. Fate was enjoying her chance to go all out. Nanoha was teaching the girls surrounding the ring that there was a way to defend against Fate's overwhelming offensive power. Both of them knew what each other was doing and knew what move the other was going to pull, and so acted accordingly. It was a beautiful dance that was perfectly choreographed and improvisational at the same time.
They're enjoying themselves, observed Hayate. They look so happy.
Signum concurred. She could see very well the smiles were bright and wide on their faces.
They're lucky to have one another, she replied. For a warrior, there are very few things that can make you happier than to have an opponent who matches you in power. And when that person's the one you love, you've just found one of those very few, precious things.
Does it disappoint you that I'm not a person like that for you, Signum?
She turned to look at the lovely girl to whom she had pledged her eternal loyalty. Of course not, she replied. For me, you are an ever rarer joy. You are the Master I have waited my whole life to serve.
Yagami Hayate smiled and rose on her toes. The kiss that touched Signum's lips happened so fast and ended so equally abruptly that before she could react, her Master had pulled away.
"For the honest words you seldom told me," murmured Hayate.
"You shouldn't have done that," Signum insisted. She tried her best to squash the happiness that was blooming inside her, and she was ashamed that she could not. "Someone could have seen."
"None did, so it's fine. Besides, it's also fine if they see." The girl smiled. "I'm capable of jealousy too, you know. You're here every day, surrounded by cute girls who couldn't wait for a chance to jump you. It's high time that they know you belong to me… and only me."
Despite her words, Hayate's tone was lighthearted and chiming with mirth. But that didn't really make Signum feel any better.
Because at this very moment, the joy she drew from the kiss she secretly craved for day and night had died and the vision that tormented her so often in the form of horrific nightmares had come to her in broad daylight. When she looked at the eighteen-year-old girl, whose complexion was a beautiful pink and whose beauty normally would have consumed all of her attention, all she saw was a picture every stroke of which was drawn with fresh blood.
She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry her eyes out, but all she could do was clench her teeth and returned her attention to the ongoing match between Fate and Nanoha.
Signum knew that she was hurting Hayate, who loved her so unconditionally, but what else could she do when every fiber of her being was screaming at her and telling her that were she to submit to her true feelings, disaster would fall?
Sometimes, it didn't even feel like a premonition or a dark foreboding to Signum.
Sometimes, it felt like a promise.
✭ ✭ ✭ Tuesday, January 20th, 6:00 AM ✭ ✭ ✭
"Danger, Master!"
The Sealing Field rose around Takamachi Nanoha so abruptly and so quickly she didn't have a chance to get out of the way. By the time she fully activated Raising Heart, clad her body in her Aggressive Barrier Jacket, and summoned her staff into her hands, the scenery around her had turned deathly gray.
"Area scan!" commanded Nanoha as she raised her staff. The brilliant red jewel that was Raising Heart's core flared into life and began emitting waves of power that instantly reached every corner of the Sealing Field.
"Two Jewel Seeds, Serial Numbers unknown! Temporary designation XXII, XXIII!"
To say Nanoha was shocked was an understatement. As far as she knew, there was no other Jewel Seed aside from the twenty-one the TSAB had locked down in its secure vault.
But she didn't have time to remain shocked.
Above her head black clouds had emerged and gathered into an angry, roiling mass from which a scary amount of power could be sensed. Nanoha had a sinking feeling then that whatever came out of it could not be blocked by whatever Cartridge-powered shields Raising Heart could unveil.
So she unveiled the Axel Fins on her shoes and rushed away from where she stood.
It was a good idea, for lightning bolts, blindingly white and each thicker than a man's arm, struck the same spot. By the time the rocks had stopped falling from the sky and the dust had settled, a crater fifty feet wide and twenty feet deep had appeared where she used to stand. Had Nanoha been hit, her innate defense and her Barrier Jacket would have deflected most of the blast, but whatever that couldn't be deterred would've have paralyzed her long enough for the attacker to do to her whatever they wished.
For the first time since she was stabbed by that Gadget Drone, Takamachi Nanoha was afraid.
The black clouds overhead rumbled more menacingly than before.
"Raising Heart, disengage!" Her staff dissolved into the air and her Device reappeared as a small red jewel dangling from a cord around her neck. "Redirect all magical output to defense pattern delta one!"
Most of the energy that her Linker Core could produce flowed to her hands and enveloped each in a cherry blossom-colored halo and placed a spinning magic circle above each of her palm. At that exact moment, more lightning bolts arced down toward her as the air seemed to burn and be torn apart in the face of sheer, violent power.
"Trajectories confirmed!" Raising Heart's voice rose in her ears."Optimal movements calculated!"
Her hands were a blur and the energy around them flowed as she willed them to.
The lightning bolts curved around Nanoha's body on either side as though she was a rock standing firm at the heart of the raging stream and struck the ground a hundred feet behind her and once again blasting rocks into the air.
That worked! thought Nanoha, excited and relieved at the same time.
Although a terrible shock struck her body every time the energy protecting her hands came into contact with a lightning bolt, she had managed to safely divert them from their intended target.
She was also lucky that the lightning was woven from and driven by magic. As such, they crackled through the air much more slowly than naturally occurring blasts, which had the entire force of nature behind them, therefore allowing her to react in time.
It was as if whoever attacked her was surprised by what happened, for a full minute passed before the lightning came down again, this time in greater quantity and ferocity. It was as if the sky was collapsing above her head.
Nanoha dispensed all of her magical output in a single burst of power. Her hands flashed toward the spear tips of the arcs of white lightning. Each of them, as soon as they touched her energy-wreathed palms and slammed shockwaves after shockwaves upon her body, rushed away from her… and toward the perimeter of the Sealing Field itself.
In a deafening roar the Sealing Field shattered under the immense destructive power of the white blasts. Wasting not a fraction of a second, Nanoha shifted the Axel Fins into overdrive and hurled herself a thousand feet above the ground, where no Sealing Field could possibly ensnare her.
Nanoha brought her hands together. Power exploded from between her palms and thundered away in every possible direction. Within ten seconds, the waves would reach Fate and every other security personnel the TSAB placed inside Uminari City. It wasn't the conventional S.O.S. signal––it would take her much more time to make one––as specified in the TSAB field manuals, but it would serve the same purpose.
The Bureau would know Takamachi Nanoha was under attack and respond with all of its might.
A white silhouette materialized in front of her. The body of Nanoha's aggressor was completely covered in a white cloak, the hood of which cast an impenetrable shadow upon their face. What Nanoha could see, however, was a gleaming dagger protruding from a long sleeve.
The aggressor lunged forward and the point of the dagger rushed straight toward Nanoha's left shoulder. The staff form of Raising Heart flashed into existence in her left hand as its jewel core blazed with an incandescence that rivaled that of the morning sun on high.
Lightning arcs bearing the color of molten gold exploded out of nowhere and formed a deadly curtain between Nanoha and the aggressor, forcing the latter to pull back.
About fifty feet above Nanoha stood Fate T. Harlaown in her black Barrier Jacket and white cape. Her right hand was holding Bardiche in its great scythe form, her left hand raised above her chest and aglow with power. Her face had lost all of its usual warmth and kindness. All that beautiful visage radiated at the moment was anger, cold and tightly leashed, and the specter of death itself.
"FREEZE!" shouted more than a dozen TSAB mages as they rushed upward, each brandishing a Device that was fully loaded and ready to fire.
The person in the white cloak and hood raised a hand––which was small and slender like that of a woman––into the air and snapped her fingers. White lightning spun out of nothing and wove a big cocoon of brilliance around her. By the time the light had faded away, the aggressor was nowhere to be seen.
Nanoha finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Who could've thought running laps around the local park would come close to getting me killed? she thought.
"Nanoha!" cried her best friend as she lowered herself to Nanoha's elevation. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm not…"
For the first time, Nanoha saw the sorry state she was in. Her Barrier Jacket hadn't taken the attacks very well. Though she deflected all of the white lightning blasts, they still managed to char the Jacket along its long sleeves as they curved around her. Worse, her hands had begun to shake, not out of fear but due to the shocks that had slammed against her at each and every moment of impact. Now she had to clutch Raising Heart more tightly in order to not inadvertently let it go.
All thoughts fled her head the moment Fate vanished the scythe in her hands and threw her arms around Nanoha.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" cried the other teenager, whose slender frame shook in a rush of emotions.
"I'm glad, too, Fate-chan," she whispered to the girl she loved and hugged her tightly.
Peace calmed Nanoha's mind and shooed away her fear and unease. In the arms of her friend, she knew none in this world could touch a hair on her head. So she smiled and closed her eyes.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
With a final flap of her six black wings, Yagami Hayate landed softly on the ground. Around her lay a dozen craters, each at least fifty feet wide, the sight of which was a shock to her.
Lips pressed tightly together, she raised her Schwertkreuz in the air.
Rein, would you perform a spectroscopy on the magical residues in the area for me, please? she requested.
The golden cross at the tip of Hayate's staff began to glow. Crystalline chimes rang in the air.
Spectroscopy's done, Master, replied Reinforce Zwei, who was currently in Unison mode with Hayate. There's a lot of noise in the data due to the interference of the Sealing Field's residues, so we'll need to upload the data to the Infinity Library. I don't have the processing capacity to isolate the magical signatures from the noise.
Please go ahead and do so, thought Hayate. By the way, how much power did the attacker release?
The answer was a bombshell.
That much?! Nanoha's lucky to be unhurt!
While she was assessing the residual mana flux with her Linker Core, she suddenly realized something that raised goosebumps all over her skin. I have a very bad feeling about this, she thought.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Eschenbach could only come to one conclusion after he watched for the fifteenth time the memories the young ace of the Instructor Corps had provided his office in lieu of testimony. The attacker wasn't targeting some random victim in Uminari. That much was clear, for the sheer sophistication invested into the crafting of the Sealing Field and the massive amount of mana fueling the attacks suggested that the attacker had aimed for a high-level mage.
And there was only one of them that would venture into the local park that early for her exercise routine.
Joachim sprang from his chair and hurried out of his office. He'd need to assign some escorts to keep Takamachi Nanoha alive.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
Takamachi Nanoha's heart was pounding, and it had been since she stepped out of the Occupational Medicine Office at the TSAB building in Downtown Uminari, for her friend Fate T. Harlaown had immediately taken her hand and refused to let go even as she offered her testimony to the officer in charge. Fate was still holding this very same hand now, as the two of them sat on the backseat of the car Lindy herself was driving, and Nanoha wished the drive would last forever.
"Hey, Nanoha?" said the other girl suddenly. She had been quiet since she accompanied Nanoha to Lieutenant Colonel Eschenbach's office. All along, Fate had had an expression laden with worries. It still remained.
"Yes?"
Fate lifted Nanoha's left hand up and held it tightly in both of hers. "Would you like to stay at my place for a while? At least until we find out who attacked you?"
Nanoha smiled at the person she loved. "Are you that worried about me?"
She was already thinking of leaving her house for a while, as she feared her staying would invite danger to her parents. And there was no other place in Uminari that was safer than Fate's home, which was on the fifteenth floor of a complex in a very good neighborhood, with the exception of the TSAB building in Downtown, because it was accorded the best protection that the Bureau itself could offer to one of its retired Admiral.
"Not worried." Fate shook her head. "Terrified." Her voice shook. "I'm terrified out of my wits. I saw everything in the memories you showed the Lieutenant Colonel. Hadn't you been brave and smart, you'd have…" She closed her mouth and pressed her lips together in a thin line. Even her hands trembled around Nanoha's.
Nanoha's heart was thundering madly in her chest. Though her friend's voice wavered, her beautiful crimson eyes were alight with determination and, if Nanoha could trust herself to be objective and not overly wishful, love. She dared not speak, for she knew from the moisture in her eyes that no word would have come and only incoherent sobs would.
"I'll always remember the first time I cried myself to exhaustion and collapse." Fate put Nanoha's hand on her lap and held Nanoha's face with both of her hands. Blood rushed to her cheeks. The girl's palms were soft and the warmth radiating from her skin soaked into every fiber of Nanoha's existence. And it threatened to melt her into a pool of tears atop the seat.
The girls in school always called Fate a cool beauty, and she was. Even to Nanoha, Fate tended to keep a certain distance. But there was a day when all of that broke down and the invincible Fate T. Harlaown showed a side of deep vulnerability. It was the day Nanoha woke up from her coma and saw Fate crying her eyes out by the side of her hospital's bed.
It was the day after the one in which a Gadget Drone stabbed her and came close to killing her.
On that day nearly a year ago, Nanoha was finally be able to measure how much she was loved.
"To tell you the truth," continued her friend, "there had been times when I asked myself what I would have done if you had died. I never came up with an answer. Because I can't see a future that can be bright and happy… without you in it."
Nanoha was moved when she looked into Fate's eyes earlier. She was moved even more now after she heard these words.
"I'm sorry I made you cry." The girl with the golden hair drew a handkerchief and dabbed at Nanoha's cheeks. Face's expression was apologetic. "But I meant what I said. You're more important to me than even you may think, Nanoha." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "So I hope you'll agree to my request. I'd like a chance to watch your back during this uncertain time… and keep you safe. Please, Nanoha, let me be there for you this time."
Nanoha nodded her assent and threw her arms around the person she loved the most.
"Thank you," whispered Fate as she hugged Nanoha back.
"No, thank you… for telling me how you felt…" she murmured into her friend's right shoulder.
Fate tightened her embrace around Nanoha and raised a hand to stroke the back of her head.
To Takamachi Nanoha, Fate T. Harlaown was a person of constant surprises. Every time she became certain that the happiness she could attain just by being next to Fate, the latter would elevate her to a higher peak of joy. Every time she grew certain that she couldn't fall more deeply in love with Fate, the girl proved her wrong.
Like she just did.
Nanoha was, for the thousandth time since she met the girl with the beautiful eyes, glad to have been born.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
Lindy Harlaown thought her face was burning.
Dear God! That sounded like a marriage proposal right there! Did she even realize that I am still here?
She was pleased by this new development, nevertheless. The attack on Nanoha had accomplished one very important thing for her daughter: it had opened her heart and allowed all of her emotions, suppressed so carefully after all this time, to spill forth and allowed her to tell Nanoha what she truly thought of her.
Of course, Fate didn't say what Lindy hoped she would… but if Lindy knew her daughter, and she believed she did, there was a way to push her to do exactly that.
✭ ✭ ✭ 8:51 PM ✭ ✭ ✭
Signum thought that if she continued to lie on her side atop the sofa with her back facing where her friend Shamal was sitting, the latter would eventually give up and go away. She was wrong. The second-in-command of the Wolkenritter was intent on staying.
"I'm sick of seeing you on this sofa, Signum," declared the Knight of the Lake.
"Then go back to your room," Signum muttered. Except herself, all other members of the Cloud Knights have their own room. Well, sure, Zafira shared a room with Vita, but he liked to stay in his wolf form whenever he was home, so it really didn't matter that he had a room to himself or not. Signum, on the other hand, was tasked with protecting their vulnerable Master in the beginning nine years ago, so she had spent every night since then in Hayate's bed.
Until that fateful night a month ago.
"Tell me what has been bothering you, and I will."
"There's nothing bothering me."
"And you went to that Bar & Grill because you enjoyed beating up drunk men who hit on you."
"Please go away. I need to sleep. There's an early class tomorrow."
Silence.
"You have said repeatedly that you weren't right for Hayate-chan because you were too old. Liar."
Signum clenched her teeth and said nothing in response.
"What you meant was that our staying forever young is going to be a problem," Shamal continued in an even, calm voice. "Hayate-chan will continue to age when you do not, and one day, you two will begin drifting apart. You want Hayate-chan to be with someone with whom she can grow old together, don't you?"
Signum bit on her underlip and squeezed her eyes shut.
The Guardians of the Book were magical constructs and, as such, existed solely because the artificial Linker Cores in their body continued to give them life. As long as their Master was alive and the Cores able to absorb the mana abundant in the environment and produce it from the food they consumed, the Wolkenritter would never have to face the threat of old age and mortality.
"But it wasn't only that, was it?" said the other woman. "That couldn't have lasted for too long, given the strong feelings you have for Hayate-chan." She took a deep breath. "I sawthe despair in your eyes sometimes when she came too close to you. I saw the terror that blanched your face. You've gotten much better at hiding it, but I know everything that haunts you is still there, inside your heart."
Signum's whole body shook on top of the sofa despite her efforts to stay still.
"Tell me, Signum, what frightens you so badly you continue to reject the person you love?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Signum bounded to her feet and roared: "I DON'T KNOW!" Her self-control had been weakened to the point that power burst from inside her and exploded into the air. The sliding glass pane that would open to the backyard instantly shattered into a million pieces. The cold January night invaded the living room.
Only afterwards did Signum manage to wrestle back the control over her power. Breathing hard, she sank to her knees atop the wood-paneled floor. She was only thankful that there was no one else in the house. Hayate, Vita, Rein, and Zafira had gone for their nightly walk in the local park. She wished Shamal had gone with them.
"You… aren't lying," said the other woman, whose eyes were wide.
"Please, leave me alone…" Signum pleaded. "I need time to think."
"Fine," Shamal acquiesced. "I'll leave once I finish fixing the glass." She sighed. "The last thing I'll say to you is this: you've been thinking by yourself for a month. I think it's time for you to start confiding in the rest of us."
Signum lay down on her front atop the sofa and did her best to ignore the sounds of Shamal using her magic to reassemble the glass pane Signum broke.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"I'm not that terrible a person, Shirou," declared Lindy Harlaown into the phone.
"Sure you are," replied the man in an amused voice. His wife, who was definitely sitting next to him and listening to Lindy from the speakerphone, could be heard laughing softly. "You know my daughter's smitten with yours, and you still try to make her life harder."
"If I don't, who knows when they're going to get a move on?" She sighed. "I'm sick of waiting."
"So do we," Takamachi Momoko announced, "but one would think that letting them stay in the same room would be more er… beneficial to our cause."
Lindy laughed. "You don't know my daughter. I assure you that doing so will get them nowhere."
"Guilt-tripping ours into staying in your guest room is rather excessive," said Shirou, "don't you think?" Lindy could tell from his voice that the man was smiling. "You could've asked."
"Oh please! You're well aware that if I hadn't, she would've spent the night in Fate's bed and my hospitality be hanged."
"No question, that." Shirou gave a hearty laugh. "I don't appreciate you pointing it out, though," he added. "You made it sound like our daughter's insistent on seducing yours."
"I wish she would! That would make everything so much easier."
"You're hopeless, Lindy," said Shirou, laughing.
Lindy Harlaown laughed with him.
✭ ✭ ✭ 10:20 PM ✭ ✭ ✭
Takamachi Nanoha sat on the bed with her right shoulder against the wall and her eyes on her knees, around which she wrapped her arms. Her heart was aflutter, as it tended to whenever she replayed in her mind the words she had heard Fate say in the car.
It did sound like a confession, she thought. And the way she looked at me…
Nanoha hugged her knees more tightly. A smile curved her lips.
Maybe she does have feelings for me. Maybe I won't need to hold myself back so much around her anymore. Maybe I have a better chance at this than I thought.
✭ ✭ ✭ 11:54 PM ✭ ✭ ✭
Fate T. Harlaown sat on her bed with her left shoulder against the wall and her eyes toward the sky, where the moon had been swallowed up by a sea of clouds.
She wouldn't sleep easily tonight.
She knew… because she tried. Because she failed.
Like she did the previous night.
She hugged her knees tightly and wondered when her body pillow, returned to her by a very non-repentant Arf who had recently insisted on sleeping in Lindy's room even though Nanoha wasn't staying in Fate's, had become so uncomfortable in the curves of her arms.
✭ ✭ ✭ Break ✭ ✭ ✭
"From what I have seen of Takamachi acting like a ditz, I have assumed it would be easy to neutralize her. I made a mistake."
"May as well give up, Adrienne," said her companion, seated in the same armchair she was in the last time. "Now that they're aware of the threat, you won't be able to get near her again."
"And what good does that do her? I only intended to enslave her mind for a brief amount of time once I captured her. Now I am forced to resort to plan B. Had the child not resisted so fiercely, she would have been spared a great deal of unnecessary pain."
"You… have a plan B?"
"Of course I do, Aria. I have not lived this long for nothing." Adrienne smiled and waved a hand. The holographic image of two Jewel Seeds appeared above her palm.
"What are you going to do with them? They're dangerous!"
"And useful, lest you forget. Since we do not need them on the way home, they are disposable."
"You can't possibly be using them for Harmonic Resonance!"
"Correct." Adrienne chuckled. "But worry not. The Resonance will take place far from here and inflict no damage upon this city. I would like to get this done without a making a mess. I do not need the Bureau like a monkey on my back, you understand." She leaned against the back of the armchair and began to relax. "The preparation for the Seeds will be done by the time the Restoration concludes."
"It's ironic that I lack the strength to stop you even though without my powers, you can't carry out your terrible scheme."
"Then you ought to help me out, for once everything is over, you will not suffer me again."
A long silence. Aria studied her with an unreadable expression on her youthful face.
"Adrienne, do you truly believe you can be happy again if you succeed in taking back everything the world owes you… by force?" she spoke up finally.
"Yes. But it is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when, my dear Aria."