Reaction Shots

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RE: Midnight Kisses

A Hayate the Combat Butler Fanfic

By

EvilFuzzy9

"Dare to dream, hope, believe, seek, feel, find, and love." – Another Fortune Cookie

A/N: Bleh, it took me a while to get any real work done on this, but to be fair my laptop had been pretty much running on a wing and a prayer for a while there (and it still crashes, occasionally) and I've also been somewhat busy with other fics (ID, most notably) and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, then Final Fantasy VII (got it on my PSP via PSN a couple weeks ago, and I have already clocked in over fifty hours playing for the first time, all told, and am still only part way through the second disc). But I've been on a roll, recently, with writing, so I decided to finish this up.

Content Warning: This chapter contains references to drunk minors as well as heavily incoherent, badly plotted drunk-talk from a certain maid (probably not who you're thinking, though).

Chapter the Second, Maria

(a.k.a., "Ohhh, That's Not Good...")

"... 'n' den 'e shaid to me, 'e shaid, 'What'choo talkin' 'bout, Shaki?'" slurred Miss Kijima herself as she recounted an anecdote to her friend and long-time colleague Maria. Her cheeks were flushed a vivid scarlet, and her eyelids were drooping further with every passing moment even as she chortled drunkenly at the memory, her earlier melancholy forgotten as she talked to (or rather, at) the other maid.

The moment the party had begun, her charge and master, Wataru Tachibana, had brushed her off to go visit with his crush-slash-acquaintance Isumi Saginomiya, and Saki had been standing by the punch bowl ever since, drinking like a fish for lack of anything better to do. Or at least, she HAD been. But then Maria had shown up escorting Nagi, and the verdette maid had quickly gravitated towards her friend, rather... eagerly... greeting her with a flying glomp and an intoxicated "Squee!".

Maria, for her part, had quickly recovered from Saki's overenthusiastic salutations, giving her a polite "Hello," and walking off to grab a glass of punch for herself before rejoining the other girl and proceeding to drift, seemingly aimlessly, through the room with her.

Ostensibly, she was socializing with the other maid. But in reality Maria was more concerned with keeping an eye on Nagi than listening to her friend rambling on about her totally-not-a-crush-because-he's-just-a-boy-and-my-employer-to-boot-so-that-would-be-both-unethical-and-sort-of-creepy. Riiiight.

Nodding absentmindedly, Maria replied with a vacant "Really? You don't say," as she continued to shadow her asocial mistress. She frowned slightly as she realized that Nagi was, herself, shadowing someone else. Namely, Hayate.

Her frown deepened when she noticed the young blonde's inexpertly concealed look of lovesickness. That was double plus ungood.

'Nagi... This infatuation of yours... I'd daresay it feels like it's becoming almost unhealthy...' the brunette mused melancholically. 'Nagi... He simply cannot return your affections. Not yet, at any rate. You're still young... Don't tie yourself to him so tightly, and so quickly, or else you may find the red string of fate to be at your neck like a hangman's noose...'

She sighed quietly, these thoughts awakening memories best forgotten of youthful heartbreak and disappointment. 'Don't grow up so fast, Nagi... Savor what freedom you still have while you still can.' She shook her head softly. "And things will only get harder for you from here..." she murmured morosely.

"... 'n' den, dere wash dat time I cot 'im tryin' on wunna my bras..." Saki babbled happily, the spirits clouding the normally rather keen powers of perception she possessed when it came to the mood of her adorable junior.

"Mmm," Maria hummed quietly, watching with interest as Nagi suddenly started walking towards Hayate. "That's nice..." she mumbled insincerely, almost imperceptibly furrowing her brow at the sight of Hinagiku and Ayumu crashing into the younger girl.

When she saw where they were headed, she sighed. She had a feeling she knew what was about to happen...

It was a blur, what came next. Hinagiku and Ayumu jumping Hayate, all but outright molesting him as the timer counted down to the new year.

Feeling a hint of bitterness rising in her bosom at the sight—not jealous not jealous I am not jealous—Maria averted her gaze, instead turning to see her mistress back on her feet.

"HAPPY NEW YEARS!" Saki cheered along with the crowd, oblivious to Maria's growing apprehension.

Maria herself scarcely heard the celebratory exclamations, too engrossed in the slow, gradual progression of her mistress's expression from shock to horror to anger. She felt her throat close up at the sight.

For a moment, it seemed to her like all was still, the tension thick in the air. All she saw was the frozen look of fury and betrayal on her lady's face. Then time began to move once more, and the tension boiled over in a spectacular way.

"HAYATE YOU DUMMY!" Nagi exploded at her soused manservant before turning and running.

And Maria, loyal, faithful Maria, followed after. She was flustered by the situation, and she felt sympathy for all participant parties, but her alliegiance was to Nagi Sanzen'in above all else. Rich or poor, ill or well, she would continue to serve her lady until kingdom come and beyond, through even Judgement Day and the end of all things.

It was just the kind of person she was.

She could only hope that this would all eventually be resolved peacefully, and that everything could return to status quo. But a part of her, a large part of her, knew that things were never so simple, especially not when Hayate "The God of Misfortune" Ayasaki was involved.

A/N: Another sorta melancholy-feeling reaction shot, but the coming ones should be more light-hearted. I've actually plotted out a lot of the reactions and roughly how they'll relate to others. Hell, I've even drawn up a chart in my sketchbook. That said, these first two chapters aren't as interconnected with the rest as certain others are, and as you have seen, not all of them will cover the same time frame. There'll be plenty of slightly-shippy antics in the later ones along with the reactions, though, so you can look forward to that.

Provided it doesn't take me another month to get the next one out. *Sweat-drop*

[This Reaction Shot uploaded, Tuesday, 3/13/2012]

TTFN and R&R!