Story Title:
Bound by Regret
Genres/'Tags':
Mystery / Supernatural / Romance / Yuri / Alternate Universe / Ghost
Summary:
Walking home from school, Takamachi Nanoha sees a mysterious blonde girl in the park. Entranced by the girl's mysterious air, Nanoha walks up to her and asks her who she is. The response she gets is not quite what she expected: "Y-you can... see me?" ::AU & Nanofate::
Disclaimer:
I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and all related trademarks are owned by Seven Arcs.
*~-[ Chapter #2: Haunted...? ]-~*
Nanoha POV:
I invited her to come home with me. I was intrigued; it's not like it was normal to see and speak with a real, bona-fide ghost. It took quite a bit of coaxing and convincing on my part before she'd come with me. I learned she was very shy and reserved. It took more than a few times of me telling her it wasn't a bother before we finally left for my home.
"Have you been a ghost for a long time Fate-chan?" was my first question.
"I don't think so, I only remember waking up in this form this morning... Nothing before that." She answered softly, she always spoke softly, but never too soft as it was always clearly audible.
"So I take it you don't have much experience as a ghost yet... besides the fact people don't seem to be aware of you and can't touch you."
"Pretty much. Sorry." She apologized.
"Mou, there's no need to say you're sorry Fate-chan; it's not like it's your fault. I can imagine it to be very scary, realizing you're... well, dead."
"I… really haven't given that much thought yet actually..."
"Oh, sorry…" Why did I bring that up? Stupid Nanoha! I mentally berated myself.
"It's okay..."
Silence fell, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. I took this opportunity to take a better look at the ghost that was now following me home.
She was wearing a plain black, short-sleeved shirt and white pants that reached just below her knees. Her feet were tucked away in black open-toed slippers with yellow trims along the strap that held them on her feet. Her long golden hair reached below her hips and was tied with a black ribbon at the end. It seemed the ghostly tail ghosts had in the stories were just in the stories. Upon closer inspection it became clear to me that she was slightly transparent. Not enough that I could see through her, but enough that it was apparent. Especially at the end of her hair, which seemed to fade away rather than end.
After a few minutes of walking in silence we reached my home. My parents owned a coffee shop called the Midori-ya and our house was directly attached to it.
*~-[ X ]-~*
Dinner that evening was a bit awkward. While Fate-chan insisted she didn't feel the need to eat I felt a bit bad that she had to watch us eat while being unable to do so herself.
But what was perhaps even more awkward was the fact my parents were flirting with each other the entire evening. My parents, despite being married for so long were still very much acting like newly-weds and while I always found it endearing, it was a bit awkward to have your parents act like that in front of a friend.
Of course, as far as my family knew, it was only our family that was present at dinner. My brother, Kyouya, and my sister, Miyuki, were talking about their most recent training sessions at our family's dojo. Between that and my parents' constant flirting I'd always been a bit of a fifth wheel, which could make me feel a bit lonely at times. But I knew they all loved me, and I loved them.
*~-[ X ]-~*
After dinner I told my family I was going to turn in early as the day had been pretty tiring for me. Which was true; meeting a ghost was not something someone could make light of.
After I'd changed into my pyjamas I laid down in bed with Fate-chan floating above me.
"Your family is very nice." She said to me.
A small smile crept on my lips. "They are, aren't they? I'm a very lucky girl."
I could see a small smile forming on her lips as well. "I'm glad you realize how lucky you are Nanoha, most people take having a nice family for granted." Her smile turned slightly melancholic at her own statement.
"Is something wrong Fate-chan?" worry coloured the tone of my voice.
"I'm not sure." Her answer was quite vague.
"You're not sure…?" I tried to get her to elaborate.
"Sorry, my memories aren't all there. I hardly remember anything from my life. All I have is my name. Well that, and sometimes thoughts like the one I spoke just now cross my mind. Nothing concrete though."
I wasn't quite sure what to say. She had amnesia from the looks of it. But what worried me more was what she'd said about me being lucky; I could think of a multitude of reasons she'd say such a thing.
I really didn't want to do that though.
"Hey, remember what we talked about earlier today? About you being unable to touch things?" I questioned.
I got a small nod in response.
"Well…" Sheesh, this is going to be embarrassing. I thought."Could I… try and touch you?"
"I see no harm in that." She said with a small smile. I loved it when she smiled like that; though small, it was a very genuine and honest smile.
She hovered to the side of the bed rather than above me. As she was floating there I carefully stretched my arm towards her face, unsure of what to expect.
I definitely didn't expect that though.
*~-[ X ]-~*
Fate POV:
It was, without a doubt, the most surprising thing that happened that day. I saw her arm coming towards me ever so slowly. I didn't have any expectations really. But then I felt it, her warm hand resting against my cheek. It surprised me so much I flinched. Nanoha seemed very surprised as well as she quickly pulled her hand back with a small 'Kyaa!'.
"Did I just…?" Nanoha asked with widened eyes and a slightly flushed face.
"I think you did…" I answered with equally wide-open eyes.
I brought myself to a cross-legged sitting position while Nanoha sat up straight in her bed and took a cross-legged position as well. Like that, we sat straight opposite each other. Nanoha on her bed, while I was floating in the air.
Carefully, we brought our hands up and reached out to each other. Inching ever closer and closer our hands were barely a few centimetres apart when loud knocking on Nanoha's bedroom door made the both of us jump.
"Nanoha, are you alright?! I heard a scream!" I heard the voice of Nanoha's father, Takamachi Shiro-san call from the other side of the door.
"I'm fine dad!" Nanoha called back.
"You sure?!" Shiro-san sounded like he was ready to bust down the door to defend Nanoha from whatever could bring her harm.
Nanoha sighed. "Yes dad, I am absolutely fine." She said, stressing the 'absolutely' in that sentence.
"Okay, if you say so. Good night Nanoha." Shiro-san still didn't sound convinced but at least he calmed down.
"Good night dad." Nanoha smiled.
*~-[ X ]-~*
Nanoha POV:
I let out a long sigh once it was clear my father had left.
"Nyahaha… He's so over-protective sometimes." I laughed apologetically at Fate.
"I think it's great, you truly are a lucky person Nanoha." I could see the sadness in Fate-chan's eyes.
"Something wrong Fate-chan?" She looked like she was remembering something. And whatever it was, it wasn't a happy memory.
"Still not sure…" the blonde ghost whispered softly.
We sat in silence for a moment before I carefully and quietly crawled out of bed. Fate-chan was staring out the window and seemed deep in thought. I wanted to comfort her. She was still hovering next to my bed and without thinking I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. I closed my eyes and placed my head on top of hers.
I felt her body tense for a moment before she allowed herself to relax in my arms.
"Seems like we really can make physical contact huh?" I spoke after a while.
I felt her nod in response.
"Don't worry Fate-chan. I'm sure we'll find out what happened to you." I whispered. "I'll help you every step of the way."
"R-really?" I heard her say with a crack in her voice. It was obvious she'd been crying while I held her.
"I promise." I stated firmly. "With the two of us, we'll have your memories back in no time."
She turned around in my arms and hugged me back.
"Thank you… Nanoha."
*~-[ X ]-~*
The next morning I woke up before my phone's alarm clock rang. It took me a moment to remember the events of the day before but as soon as I remembered I shot up and looked around my room. I was relieved to see Fate next to my bed, floating in mid-air while she was curled up into a ball like a sleeping kitten.
I quickly grabbed my phone and saw its alarm would have sounded in five more minutes. I quickly disabled the alarm and got out of bed. As quietly as I could I went to the bathroom to wash up and get dressed. As soon as that was done I went back to my bedroom to see Fate still sleeping.
After a bit of hesitation I carefully poked her cheek. Her sleeping face had looked so content I felt kind of bad for waking her. But I had to go to school and she probably wouldn't have been happy to wake up and find I wasn't there.
"Wakey-wakey little miss ghost." I cooed as her face contracted from the sudden touch. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, she looked at me for a moment before a small but honest smile was drawn on her face.
"How did you sleep?" I asked her.
I took a step back as she stretched her entire body and brought herself into an upright position.
"I slept great," she said, "though I did kind of miss the embrace of a warm blanket."
"Nyahaha! Maybe tonight we should sleep together." As soon as I'd said it I slapped my hand in front of my mouth and felt my cheeks flare up. Fate-chan's face flared up as well.
"I mean, not like that! Just… so I can… keep you warm…?" I felt like I was only digging a deeper grave for myself as my voice trailed off.
We stared each other in the eyes for a few seconds before we both burst into laughter. I noticed then how beautiful Fate-chan's laughter was; it was very soft, like her voice, but at the same time it was very melodic and reminded me of a singing angel.
I didn't understand why, but something about Fate-chan was different from my other friends.
And that wasn't just because she was a ghost.
*~-[ X ]-~*
Breakfast was almost just as embarrassing as dinner the night before as my parents were in an especially flirty mood that morning. I glanced at Fate-chan whom was hanging above the table, 'lying' on her stomach, head supported on her hands, looking at my parents. I couldn't see her face from where I sat so I had no idea what she was thinking.
Once breakfast was done Fate-chan and I made our way to school. On the way there, I decided to show that my promise from earlier that morning wasn't an empty one.
"Ne Fate-chan, our school library has a newspaper archive..."
"Okay...?" she wasn't quite sure where I was going with this.
"Well, I've been giving it some thought and maybe, if your death... sheesh, that's still such an unreal thing to say nyaha..." I laughed nervously. "Anyway, if 'it' isn't anything too recent we might be able to find something..." my voice trailed off slightly as I stared at the ground for a moment. Thinking about it, that idea is pretty horrible.
Looking back up at Fate-chan she smiled at me. Such a beautiful smile... Gah, focus Nanoha!
"Thank you Nanoha, that really means a lot to me." My cheeks reddened slightly at Fate-chan's gratitude. Why do I blush so much around her?
*~-[ X ]-~*
Fate POV:
When we arrived at Nanoha's school I recognized it as one of the buildings I had passed the day before. Once we got close to the front gate I saw two girls calling out her name.
"Ah! Arisa-chan, Suzuka-chan!" Nanoha waved back. I followed her closely as she ran up to her friends. The three of them started chatting happily. I didn't follow their conversation though; I could only stare at Nanoha as she was speaking so animatedly. I could just look at her happy face forever.
What was that feeling I had? That fluttery feeling in my stomach?
"Where is Hayate-chan by the way?" Nanoha's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"She said she'd be at the hospital today. Something about some check-ups." The blonde girl, whom I learned was named Arisa, answered.
Right then the school bell rang and the three girls ran inside. I carefully followed behind. I was pretty excited to see what Nanoha's school was like.
*~-[ End of Chapter ]-~*
Please leave me a review telling me what you think; I love getting feedback and I don't mind people being critical. In fact, I welcome it!
*~-[ May we meet again, fare thee well! ]-~*
