I'm loosing my concentration. I had more problems than I should have writing this chapter, and in the end I didn't write all I wanted, mainly because I reached my set word-count for a chapter before I could write everything. So I ended up leaving a little cliffhanger, and I'll continue in the next chapter, although the more perceptive readers can probably guess where I'm heading.
Also, the (in)famous "connection-between-two-side-characters" mystery gets another subtle hint. Next chapter there will be a very big one, which will most likely give it away. Also, I've received a particularly helpful review that made me notice I needed to work a bit more with Nanoha's character. I tried to put something for that in this chapter, so let me know what you think.
Don't be afraid to be critic in your review, tell me if something isn't clear, what you like and what you don't, you'll help me write a better story.
-o-o-
-o-o-
Fate entered the room carrying a tray with a hot steaming cup of tea on it. She neared the bed and put it on on the nightstand before turning toward the bed itself. A weak groan came from the figure who rested there.
"How are you feeling Lindy?" Fate asked softly, concern evident in her voice.
"Horrible. I should have fled as soon as I knew it was a home-made meal," Lindy answered her daughter with a grimace on her face.
Friday night the woman had back from her dinner with her colleague looking pale, only to start throwing up since she woke up Saturday morning. Lindy had then proceeded to spend the whole weekend in bed with an excruciating stomach ache.
It was now Monday morning, and while the teal haired woman didn't feel like something was trying to turn her insides into ground meat, she was still really weak. She felt grateful that her little Fate had thought to bring her her tea before leaving for school.
Furthermore, the blonde girl had spent the whole weekend taking care of her, bringing her soup, fetching a blanket and an extra pillow, and simply keeping her company. Truly a caring daughter, so unlike that ungrateful son of her that was Chrono. He left her, his own mother, to go on a date with his new girlfriend Amy, who he hadn't even bother to introduce to her yet.
'But I'll get back at him. I just have to get the photos of his fist bath as a baby for when he'll bring Amy to introduce us.'
Her revenge already planned out, Lindy glanced at her little girl who was busying herself tidying up the room a bit.
"Fate?" the teal haired woman called.
"Yes, Lindy?"
"Could you do something to help me feel better sooner?" she requested with an hopeful smile.
"Anything." Determined red eyes looked back at her, and Lindy Harlaown knew that her girl would literally do anything she asked now. It was heartwarming in a way, but, knowing Fate's past, also very sad. She really hoped Fate would be less compliant sometimes.
This time, however, she'll take advantage of the situation.
"Can you call me that? Just once." Lindy didn't need to elaborate and waited silently for her daughter to find it in herself to comply with her selfish wish.
"... I have to go now, or I'll be late for the bus. Get well soon...mom."
Hearing that last word made Lindy contemplate the good points of getting food poisoning as a blissful smiled lightened her face.
On the other side of the bedroom door Fate took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She felt guilty for being so weak. She knew Lindy would love nothing more than to be called mom or mother on a regular basis, but the blonde just couldn't say those words unless she made a conscious effort. And even now, saying it made her feel like an electric shock run through her system.
Looking at her cellphone, Fate saw that she had to hurry if she didn't want to loose the bus.
Her trip was mostly uneventful since she had gotten used to the discreet glances the other students wearing her same uniform threw her way. She still didn't know what caused them and, to be honest, by now she didn't even think there was a specific reason.
Fate got off the bus and started walking toward the school, but today something was different after all. She felt anxious and eager like she never had been before. Her heart was pounding and her eyes scanned her surroundings again and again, unconsciously looking for the girl with the side ponytail and eyes that reflected the sky. Nanoha.
The blond had thought about her and what they talked about all weekend. Holding her soft and warm hand in her own when Nanoha had explained how to become friends and... They were friends now, weren't they? Fate thought they were, after all she did what the brunette had said was necessary.
Once she reached the school complex, Fate's eyes finally spotted her. Nanoha was standing there, strangely with only the blond boy, Yuuno, keeping her company, while the rest of her little group was nowhere in sight.
Wondering about where the others were, the blonde walked towards the two and joined them.
"Hello, Fate-chan," Nanoha greeted her with an happy smile that could lighten up anyone's day.
"Hi Fate," Yuuno said with considerable less enthusiasm.
"Good morning Nanoha, Yuuno," she answered them.
The blonde hesitated, not knowing if she should ask why there were only the two of them or if she should let it be. The matter was taken off her hands when Nanoha spoke up again.
"Let's go, the others are already inside. With a bit of luck Vita and Hayate should still be by the lockers."
"I wonder what that guy wanted to talk about with Hayate, though," Yuuno said, "it seemed suspicious, don't you think Nanoha? Like they were planning something."
"Hayate is always planning something, and whatever it is I fear we'll be caught up in it too." Nanoha grimaced at that though.
Just then they reached the lockers in time to hear said evil-plotter brunette sneeze. She was standing by her locker with Vita, undoubtedly waiting for Nanoha and Yuuno. The blond boy whispered something at Nanoha who rolled her eyes. Watching the byplay of the two Fate felt a bit like an outsider and an intruder.
Trying to ignore the feeling, the red eyed girl went to her locker. She had just opened it, when she found a white letter she had definitely never seen before on top of her things.
-o-o-
That morning Nanoha arrived early and settled in front of the school entrance. Just like she had done the previous week, she was waiting anxiously for Fate.
Arisa and Suzuka got there early too, almost at the same time as Nanoha actually.
"So, you're waiting Fate again, aren't we?" Arisa asked tapping her foot while staring at Nanoha.
"Be nice Arisa," Suzuka chided her, "Nanoha-chan just wants to meet her new friend. Oh, and probably make sure Harlaown-kun didn't do anything inappropriate last Friday."
The purple haired girl somehow kept smiling beatifically even under Nanoha's glare.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, we have to get in if we want to get those things before classes start. Sorry Nanoha, we can't stay here with you," Arisa apologized.
"She's right," Suzuka agreed, then let out a deep sigh, "I guess I'll have to ask Hayate about the juicy details she'll get out of Fate-chan. Oh, speaking of Hayate, be careful today Nanoha-chan."
"Huh?"
When the brunette turned to ask what that warning was about her two friends had already gone inside. Suzuka always knew what she was talking about. How she sometimes managed to have even more information than Hayate herself was a mystery, but a useful one. Nanoha made a mental note to keep her guard up.
They had just left when Yuuno arrived, and Hayate and Vita joined soon after him.
The four of them had barely greeted each other and just started chatting idly about nothing in particular when another boy called out to one of them.
"Hayate! Just the one I was looking for." The boy had brown hair and Nanoha knew she had seen him somewhere recently.
"Vice-kun, what might bring you to me?" Hayate asked with a mischievous smile patting a growling Vita's head.
"I have something you might be interested about," he answered playing with his camera, "what about making a deal?"
"Sure," Hayate grinned broadly at him, "sorry guys, I have to bargain. I'll see you in class."
"I'm coming with you," Vita interjected, "it's not save to be alone with that pervert, I don't trust him."
The two girls left without giving their friends time to reply.
"Well, that was unexpected. No wait, it wasn't. Hayate is always making weird deals with everyone on campus." Yuuno shook his head in a resigned manner, "I just hope she won't drag us into another absurd project."
"Nh."
The lack of an adequate response caught the blond boy's attention. He looked closer at his friend and noticed the slight frown marring her face and the worried glint in her eyes.
"Is something the matter Nanoha?" he asked concerned.
"No... Well..." She hesitated, "It's just, they all left."
Nanoha paused to gather her thoughts, then gave him a sad smile, "it's just something I was thinking about. In our group, if we were told to choose just one person as the one we considered our best friend, the one that knows us the most and that we share everything with, Suzuka and Arisa would choose each other and so would do Vita and Hayate.
"I mean, when something comes up they always end up backing each other like that, and I... I feel like I don't really belong sometimes. I must sound like a spoiled brat, I know that they're my friends, I trust them with my life, but... Ugh, this is so frustrating!"
"So, basically, you want someone who'd always put you first?" Yuuno asked tentatively, "is that why you're always running around making new friends, like with Fate?"
"I don't know," Nanoha answered biting her lower lip, "but I don't think that's the case with Fate-chan. You see, the first time I made eye contact with her I saw something in her eyes. It gave me a sense of deja vu and I felt like there was a connection. It's hard to explain, but I think we are, like, kindred spirits."
"Still, you've known her for just a week, maybe you shouldn't expect too much," Yuuno said gently, "and, well, in any case you'll still have me," he added almost as a second thought.
"You'll always be my best male friend, Yuuno-kun. But, since it turned out you're straight, there's no way I can make you double as my best girl friend too," Nanoha joked to get rid of the weird gloominess.
"I still can't believe you all just assumed I was gay," the blond boy huffed visibly irritated of being reminded of that particular mess.
"Well, it's just, you never ever showed the tiniest little bit of interest in any girl since we've known each other, and that was when we were ten," she defended a bit embarrassed by the argument. Really what kind of best friend just assumes things like that about their best friend?
"It's not that I had no interest in any girl," Yuuno murmured shuffling, "it's just that I..."
"Ah, look Yuuno-kun. Fate-chan arrived. Hello, Fate-chan," Nanoha greeted with her best smile.
"Hi Fate," Yuuno echoed trying not to sound as dejected as he felt.
"Good morning Nanoha, Yuuno." Fate hinted a bow with her head.
She was always so polite. Girls nowadays could get away with a 'yo' but she stuck to proper greetings. And the way her cheeks were coloring slightly as she visibly refrained herself from shuffling.
"Let's go, the others are already inside. With a bit of luck Vita and Hayate should still be by the lockers," Nanoha said turning.
If she hadn't done this she'd have ended up glomping the bundle of moe with gorgeous burgundy red eyes, and she knew Fate would have been embarrassed out of her mind. Nanoha didn't want to make the younger girl uncomfortable.
Walking toward the lockers she talked a bit with Yuuno, not trusting herself to control her own actions if she looked at Fate. When they reached their destination and noticed both hayate and Vita waiting there for them, the blond boy leaned down to whisper in Nanoha's ear.
"She sneezed, do you think her special powers alerted her we were cowering in fear while talking about her behind her back?"
The girl rolled her blue eyes at the lame joke and went to join her two old friends. Nanoha, however, also noticed out of the corner of her eye Fate going to her locker instead of following them. She hoped the blonde wasn't annoyed at her.
"Oh, Nanoha-chan." Hayate caught her attention, "You're free today, right? I need you to do a little something for me."
"A little something," she repeated remembering Suzuka's warning and feeling dread creep up her body, "what exactly would that be? Wait, don't tell me it has to do with whatever agreement you made with Vice-kun? No. Absolutely not."
"You don't understand Nanoha-chan." Hayate stopped her friend retreat by throwing an arm around her shoulders. She then leaned over and put her mouth near her ear and whispered, "if you do this for me I'll let you see the photos I bought from Vice."
"Photos you bought by promising him photos of me in weird get-ups, didn't you?" Nanoha felt a little annoyed, but she was so used to her friend's antics that by now her resistance was really more for show than anything else.
"Details, details," Hayate dismissed her argument with a wave of her hand, "the point here is that he gave me some pictures of something he saw in the weekend. Believe me, it's something you really would like to see too. It pertains your new blonde friend."
Nanoha followed Hayate's line of sight and caught Fate opening her locker.
"...ok, so what it is?" Nanoha acquiesced to her friend request.
"Ah, well..." Hayate seemed suddenly agitated, "if I tell you, do you promise me to keep your cool and not to do anything impulsi- Hey, what's that letter?"
Nanoha was sure she just got a real bad whiplash from the speed with which she turned to look at Fate-chan who was scrutinizing a letter in her hand.
"I don't know," she answered in her soft voice as red eyes turned toward them, "it was in my locker but it isn't mine."
"Oh my, my, my. That really looks an awful lot like a love letter," Hayate observed from her new spot, hovering over Fate's shoulder.
The blonde looked from the letter to the short haired brunette and back to the letter. She tilted her head and turned the white envelope in her hands, studying it.
"Really?"
"Well, you'd have to open and read it to be sure," Hayate conceded, "but it most likely is a love letter, what else could it be?"
Nanoha observed as Fate opened the envelope and started reading. Could it really be from someone who wanted to confess to the young blonde? It was hard to believe, not because she wasn't a bombshell, because let's face the facts, she may be fifteen but half the school would kill to have her body.
The brunette thought it must be foreign genes, if Fate had them it would also explain -or give a n excuse she could accept- why she was taller and bustier than Nanoha herself.
All that was beside the point, though. The matter was that everyone in the school knew about her and Chrono, one had to be deaf, blind and stupid to miss all the rumors going around. What was the point of asking out a girl who already had a boyfriend?
Nanoha watched as blond eyebrows came together as a frown became evident the more she read.
"Fate-chan?" Curious, Nanoha couldn't help stepping closer in the hopes of peeking at the letter's content.
"It asks me to meet them behind the school at lunch, alone," Fate told them closing the letter once more, then looked at her little audience, "what should I do?"
"What a stupid question, you should go, meet them, hear them out, and then reject them politely if you're not interested," Hayate answered, following every instruction with a tap on Fate's forehead with her index finger.
The short haired girl was about to begin one of her rants/lectures when she crashed against Fate with a yelp.
"Move it, loser. First period is going to start," Quattro, who had just hit her with her shoulder and pushed her, sneered at her.
"That was uncalled for, apologize." Vita, who had planted herself in front of the bespectacled girl, was glaring up at her. It was quite obvious that she'd either make the girl apologize or beat her down.
"What are you going to do, Eisen? Stomp on my foot again? That's the highest place you can hit after all," Quattro mocked.
Vita didn't leave anyone time to react before she disproved her claim by kicking her shin. She was already ready to give the annoying girl before her another kick when Arisa and Nanoha dragged her inside the classroom, just as Scaglietti rounded the corner.
"Shiruba, what did you do to your leg?" he asked indifferently seeing her jumping on one leg while holding the other.
"Nothing professor." Quattro knew that accusing someone who wasn't there anymore would get her nowhere.
With Scaglietti you had to have indisputable proof or you'd be better off saying nothing at all.
"Well, get in you all, then. You wouldn't want to be late, right? And get off Testarossa, Yagammel, I'm sure she can do without your harassing."
Hayate did so, grumbling over how long she'd have to put up with that stupid nickname.
"My students," Scaglietti started once they were all inside, "keep in mind this: friends, love, sex, family and religion. These are the nonsenses that will prevent you from reaching your goals in life. If you want something you'll have to study and work hard for it. And now, let's study a new theorem."
His wild and delirious rants aside, Nanoha didn't pay as much attention as she'd usually do to her math teacher. She was aware of Vita's struggling when the man kept picking her for random questions, and she was even more attentive to Quattro's frequent irritated glances toward Fate-chan. It seemed the amber eyed girl really took personal offense when the blonde bested her.
Also, the young Takamachi couldn't get out of her mind the whole thing about the mysterious photos that came into Hayate's possession. She said they were taken in the weekend, they had to do with Fate-chan, and they'd probably make her angry. What could they show? A topless Fate, maybe?
Nanoha hurriedly ducked her head and pretended to take notes.
'Well, Vice took those pictures, and he does lurk near the changing rooms... But he'd have had to stalk Fate-chan, find where she lives and wait near her room for her to change. That's a bit too creepy as a weekend activity, even for him.'
Nanoha was still making wild guesses when lunch break finally came. She was going on autopilot, following Arisa and Suzuka, when she snapped out of it. Looking around, she noticed they had come to the nurse office.
"Are we eating lunch in the infirmary now?" she asked not really thrilled at the idea, "and where is Fate-chan?" she noticed the younger girl's absence.
"Well, Hayate-chan was just telling me about how Fate received a love letter this morning. I thought you were there, Nanoha-chan," Suzuka answered her.
"Oh. Right." How great, now Nanoha didn't feel hungry anymore.
"You know, this is really weird," Arisa commented.
"Yeah, who would send love letters to the known girlfriend of Mr. Perfect?" Yuuno wondered.
"No, not that. What I was talking about is these two -Arisa pointed with her chopsticks at Suzuka and Hayate- not stalking around and peeking behind the corner to see who had the balls to call out Fate."
Nanoha, Yuuno and Vita looked at the two notorious gossips.
"Now that you say that..." Yuuno started.
"...it really looks..." Nanoha continued.
"...suspicious." Vita concluded.
Hayate promptly glomped all three of them.
"Aww, you're so cute, finishing each other sentences. Suzuka, don't we have really cute friends?"
"Indeed," the purple haired girl agreed.
"Hey, tone it down guys," Shamal, who had just emerged from behind a curtain, scolded them, "this is still the infirmary. You shouldn't even be here."
"But Shamal-sensei, they were being so cute. All suspicious and scared, I just had to hug them." Hayate was grinning broadly, not intimidated in the least by either the older woman's reprimand nor her friends' glares as they tried, unsuccessfully, to get her off them.
"Whatever. So, why don't my two favorite students update their lovely sensei on the school latest rumors? Aside from Signum putting the fear of a pantheon of angry Gods in that girl who caused little Fate's visit here last week, I haven't heard much lately."
Shamal Klarer wasn't only the nurse of the school, she was also someone who shared Hayate and Suzuka's hobby of 'information gathering'. Vita just called them "the unholy triad of meddling and gossip". The opinion was shared by their friends wholeheartedly.
"Ah, the incident with the flash. But did you know that it most likely wasn't an accident?" Hayate asked nonchalantly sitting on Shamal's desk.
The simple fact the blonde woman allowed her to get away with such a behavior was evidence enough of their relationship being much more friendly than what usually was born between a student and a school nurse.
"You're saying that that girl intentionally disrupted Signum and little Fate's duel even if she knew that Signum would get mad at her? Why?" It was something totally unexpected, as far as Shamal remembered no one ever provoked the pink haired girl. Not even when she was a first year.
"A defective self-preservation instinct, and she's a member of the Chrono fanclub," Suzuka answered.
"So?" Amethyst eyes looked confused.
"Wait, you didn't hear about it?" Hayate asked swallowing her food hastily and nearly choking herself, "You didn't hear that our student council president, his excellency Chrono Harlaown got a girlfriend? Even the walls know that by now!"
"I heard some rumors about that. But what does that have to do with Fate?" Shamal asked crossing her arms with an huff.
"Fate is his girlfriend, obviously," Hayate proclaimed rolling her eyes.
There was a silent pause following that declaration.
"Oh. I see. Would you excuse me for a second?" Shamal, who was putting obviously a lot of effort into maintaining a blank face, didn't wait for an answer and robotically stood up and walked out of her own office.
As soon as the door closed behind her, the six second-years could hear the sound of muffled laughter coming from outside.
Suzuka frowned at the door.
"That's a weird reaction," she stated the obvious.
"Yes, we'll add Klarer-sensei's display to the ever increasing list of weird happening of today," Arisa commented uncaringly, "now going back to why neither you nor Hayate are stalking Fate, will you tell us why?"
"Because Fate is so pure and innocent I can get the whole story out of her later," Hayate explained, "and I can take advantage of the fact she isn't here to show Nanoha what I got from Vice."
"I hope for you it's going to be worth it," said girl commented, recalling what exactly Hayate traded for those pictures from the brown haired boy.
"It is, believe me. Just remember Nanoha-chan, you promised not to do anything stupid, impulsive, or that will get you expelled or in jail," the sort haired brunette reminded her friend before taking out three pictures and laying them down for everyone to see.
Nanoha's chopsticks snapped under the pressure of her grip.
-o-o-
Fate looked around as she arrived in the spot behind the school the letter had said to go. It was a scheduled place, hidden from view. Hayate had explained that most people didn't want an audience when confessing, especially if they were asking out someone who already had a boyfriend.
The blonde had been confused by the wink and mischievous smile that followed that comment, but she chalked it up to Hayate being weird. Her other friends seemed to have accepted that weirdness as a fact, so fate herself didn't ask about it.
Taking out the letter she had found in her locker earlier that morning, Fate read it again.
We have to talk.
At the clering near the changing rooms behind the school at lunch brake.
Come alone.
Short, concise, to the point. Not really good for a love letter, Fate would give it a three out of ten. There were even two mistakes.
"Well, well, it seems the little blondie actually came."
Fate looked up and saw a group of five girls surrounding her. The one who spoke was a tall and had short brown hair, her face somewhat familiar. It took a couple of seconds for fate to remember where she had seen her before, in Chrono's class picture. So she was one of her classmates.
Looking at the other girls, however, Fate couldn't identify any of them.
More importantly, though, was the fact that it seemed that Hayate was wrong, having an audience wasn't a problem for whoever had put the letter in her locker. Unless this was a kind of planned mass-confession in which those five had agreed to come together and make her choose?
Fate wished Nanoha had come with her, the older girl was really good at explaining this kind of thing, social interactions and how to relate with others.
First thing first, though, there was something that had been bugging the blonde since she first read the letter in the morning.
"Ah, before we talk about what you called me here for, can I ask who wrote the letter that was in my locker?"
The girls exchanged glances before a dark green haired girl on the right stepped forward, "That would be me, why?"
"Well... I don't mean to offend you, but you forgot an 'a' when writing 'clearing'. Also, it should be lunch break, not brake," Fate said, "I'm sorry, but it's important to use correct grammar if you want your message to come across clearly."
She thought that maybe she should have tried harder to word it more gently, because the other girl's face turned really red and her fists started to tremble. For a second Fate thought she was embarrassed, but as the blonde noticed her eyes narrowing she recognized the anger rolling off the green haired girl.
"You little-"
"Calm down Aoi," the girl who spoke first stopped her, then turned to Fate "and you, little bitch. Maybe you don't understand the situation you're in."
"You know, it's ironic that you used the word 'bitch'. You all remind me strongly of a pack dogs. You are the alpha being the one on the offensive, and the others surrounding us are ready in case you need support.
"Anyway, since you mentioned it, as a matter of fact I don't really understand," Fate admitted, "why exactly did you want to talk with me?"
The red eyed girl had no idea of why, but her words seemed only to further anger the five girls around her. It was their fault, though, they could have explained themselves better. Sure, Fate wasn't good with people, but she consoled herself knowing that Hayate definitely was, and even her had misunderstood what the letter was about.
"Ok, listen here little smartass: if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Harlaown-sama from now on." The tall girl leaned down invading Fate's personal space.
"Chrono?" Fate titled her head, not understanding what the other girl was trying to say.
She knew what was good for her, and becoming Lindy's daughter and Chrono's sister was really the best thing to ever happen in her life.
The five girls gritted their teeth in anger.
"Harlaown-sama! Stay away from him, got it fucking brat?" Aoi, as her friend called her before, jumped into the conversation.
Although Fate wouldn't really call this a conversation, in order to have one the members participating should have a minimum of manners and being able to expose their argument in a clear logic way. The cursing didn't exactly raise her opinion of her impromptu conversation partners.
"I don't think I can do that."
Aside from the fact that any of the five girls around her failed to give a reason whatsoever, let alone a good one, there was the fact they lived in the same house. Plus Lindy loved to see them doing things together, especially if it meant she could add pictures to her ever increasing 'family moments' collection album.
"Oh, is that so? Very well, we tried being civil about this, but-"
"Hey, Testarossa," a voice called from the side.
"Ritten-taicho. Is there anything I can do for you?" Fate asked, ignoring her current company in favor of the kendo captain.
"I wanted to know how's your arm. I'd like to continue our duel from last time later today, during the club meeting, but only if you can give it your all," Signum explained, then spared a glance at the five girls ganging up on Fate, "are you busy right now, or...?"
"Not at all," the blonde assured her.
As far as she was concerned, they really were. She had listened to their request and gave an answer. However, unlike them, Fate had some manners, so she took the time to ask for confirmation and take her leave properly.
"We said everything we wanted to, I think. Would you mind if I went with Ritten-taicho now?"
Four girls looked at their apparent leader, who incidentally had taken three steps back from Fate in the same instant she had heard Signum's voice. Both her and them exchanged glances and looked fearfully at the pink haired third year before turning and running away.
Fate and Signum looked at them, neither really understanding their behavior.
"You have strange friends, Testarossa. Why did they look so scared?"
"We're not really friends," the younger girl answered scratching her cheek, "and I have no idea. I don't think I've understood what they wanted either, they didn't make much sense."
"Well, let me take you to Klarer-sensei, she'll be able to tell me if your arm is completely healed."
Fate could have sworn she saw Signum's lip twitch upwards when saying the nurse's name, but the pink haired girl had turned and started to walk before she could say anything.