AN: It's been awhile hasn't it? After the horror of losing my previous computer, I finally got a new one. Thanks to this I can get back to writing. I'm sure all of you are very happy to hear that. It does suck that I lost most of the new material I had typed up for my stories so these new chapters are definitely different from what I had intended. Well there is no helping it.
Now moving on to some reviewer responses:
Hyuuga-Sword: I haven't really decided if the dreams are going to be anything more than simple dreams of the past. For now they will be just that though.
Sammie-chan80: For both those reasons. I think they warrant enough shock for that. I know I'd have my mouth hanging open.
Tuchiyasa: Yuuno will probably appear in the story but I doubt I'll make his role be too big. Background character maybe, but that's it.
Yukiyuuki: Suzuka's at the school already. She'll get a dramatic introduction though just like everyone else.
I think that's it for now. Oh and before I forget, I know nothing about guns or knives or anything having to do with weapons. I've been to a shooting range once and I couldn't even tell you what kind of guns I shot. Still, I tried my best for this chapter. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Safe and Sound
A young blonde girl ran through a meadows with a bundle of flowers in her arms. It was a rare day that her mother was not at work and the older woman had brought her to do her favorite thing: pick flowers. With the current bundle in her tiny arms, she intended to make a crown for herself and her mother. Nothing made her happier than sharing simple moments such as this. A smile broke out on her face upon seeing the older woman sitting atop the hill overlooking the meadow she was in.
"Alicia, where have you been?"
"Picking flowers for Mama!"
Precia smiled. "Don't wander off too far. I wouldn't know what to if I ever lost you."
Alicia smiled up at her mother.
"Don't worry Mama, Alicia will never leave you!"
-SafeandSound-
Alicia was sitting at home by herself. She'd become accustomed to such things. She understood that her mother had a very important job to do, but that didn't mean she had to like it. It seemed like recently, she'd be left at home on her own more and more often. The little blonde girl moved from the living room to a big bay window located in their kitchen. She made herself comfortable on one of the many pillows that adorned the window. She looked out towards the direction of her mothers work. It was a building that was hard to miss; tall, white with imposing looking walls, keeping out any unwanted guests. Her mother had told her that today would be the last day she'd have to work on her current assignment. After that, they'd be free to take a long trip somewhere.
The blonde girl though didn't care about taking any sort of trip. As long as she was with her mother, she was happy. Her thoughts were interrupted when a sudden glow began to cover the city. Curiously, she pressed her hands to the window. The glow was coming from her mother's building. Was this what she'd been working on? If so, then the she'd done an amazing job making the city look pretty.
The glow began to get brighter. Suddenly everything was engulfed in a blinding white light.
-SafeandSound-
Fate woke up with a start. Her breathing was so shallow and rapid that she thought she might be having a panic attack. Then again, she'd never had one before so she couldn't be sure. Throwing the covers off her bed, the blonde walked to her bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, trying to sort out what she'd just experienced. Why had she been dreaming of her sister as a child? Furthermore, why was everything so different? Where was she? They were sisters yet she didn't see any evidence of her existing there. That inevitably led her to think about the woman that had been in her dream. Her mother. She'd seemed to be so kind, loving in the way Lindy was with them now. It was wrong though. The woman she knew was anything but kind or loving to them. For as long as they'd been alive, she'd never told them that she loved them or was proud in anyway shape or form. They were merely tools to be used for whatever purpose she had intended for them.
"Fate?"
Alicia snapped Fate out of her thoughts. Her older sister cautiously opened the bathroom door from her side of the bathroom. Lindy had renovated the home like this just for them. Their rooms were connected via the bathroom so that, if they ever wished, they had easy access to one another. When they first moved in, the two never left each other's side. They did everything together. The concept of doing things separately was so foreign to them that when Lindy first showed them their separate rooms, they only stared oddly at her before asking why they needed to be apart.
After asking, Lindy discovered that Alicia and Fate had never been separated when living with Precia. They had a room that they shared at all times and were with each other 24/7. Lindy theorized this was probably done so their mother could keep an eye on them. Precia had raised very deadly assassins. Individually they were lethal, but together they were nearly invincible even for Precia herself to handle. For this reason, she instilled in them the need to be together when at their base in order to protect not just themselves, but her as well. Of course she had not known this prior to the raid on their base, but she'd thanked her lucky stars for separating the girls from their mother during that time. Thanks to this, Precia was unable to issue any orders forcing the girls to go on the defensive.
It took a lot of getting use to for the twins to become comfortable sleeping in separate rooms. For the most part, they'd managed to become more independent, but every now and then they'd sneak into each other's rooms for comfort.
Fate quickly tried to regain her composure although she had a feeling Alicia might have already seen through her act.
"I'm fine."
The older twin stood next to her sister as Fate stared at her reflection.
"You know you've been saying that a lot lately. So much, it's led me to believe that not everything is as fine as you say."
Fate couldn't help but smirk at that. She'd been right. Alicia was as sharp as ever seeing through her weak façade, but she wasn't about to give up the act so easily. She really hated making her sister worry. The fact that they now worried about each other was odd in a sense as well. Precia may have made them dependent on each other, but that didn't mean the girls ever grasped the concept of caring for one another. In the field, they were merely soldiers. If one of them were to fall, the other would carry on as if nothing had happened. It was simple as that. It didn't seem so simple now though. Lindy helped them learn what it meant to care for family, for your own flesh and blood. Fate was sure that if Alicia were to ever be killed, she'd lose her herself to the darkness. Alicia would more than likely follow the same path were she to ever lose her twin. All these new feelings made everything more complicated.
"What makes you think that?"
"Perhaps it's because we're twins?"
"I thought you didn't believe in such things." Fate chuckled.
Alicia took Fate's hands into her own. The younger blonde looked curiously at her sister.
"I thought I didn't either, but it seems life has been trying to prove my reasoning wrong at every turn."
Fate cocked her head in confusion.
"I don't understand."
"Your dream… was it of a child that looked like me?"
Fate's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
"Because I've just experienced the same dream as you."
"That can't be possible."
"But it was my dear sister. It's as Yagami-san predicted, the dreams are beginning."
Fate tightened her hold on her sister's hands. What was going on? That feeling of fear was returning to her. She'd been feeling that far too often for her liking. She didn't like to think she'd somehow begun going soft but she had. Lindy called it progress but Fate sometimes felt like she was making herself more vulnerable, weaker, by allowing these feelings to take hold.
"What do you know that I don't?"
"I was told not to tell you so soon, but since you've had the dream as well, I think you deserve to know."
Fate waited with baited breath at what her sister was about to tell her.
"These dreams have something to do with Takamachi-san."
"What?"
"I know, odd isn't it? I didn't want to believe it either but it seems like it's true. Yagami-san told me that Takamachi-san called out your name on the first day of school, that's what had you scared right?"
The younger blonde could do nothing but nod, recalling that memory wasn't very pleasant. It'd been the first time anyone had made her feel that way and the girl hadn't even threatened her life. Fate had a feeling she was better prepared to deal with someone trying to kill her than interacting with Takamachi Nanoha.
"Yagami-san revealed that it was through these dreams that she knew who you were. She'd known of you sine she was nine."
Alicia stopped and allowed Fate to absorb this information. It was a lot to take in really. A complete stranger having dreams about you? It was more than a little creepy and Nanoha's stalker status seemed to be more appropriate than ever.
"What does this mean? " Fate whispered, lost as to what to do next.
"That I do not know, but perhaps we'll find out if we ask Takamachi-san. She seems to be at the heart of everything after all."
Fate didn't look convinced but nodded in agreement. It's not like they had much to go on anyway. Still, she hoped she was freaking out for nothing. Takamachi Nanoha may have become her trial friend, but she was still skeptical about letting the girl into her life. These odd occurrences were not helping her case either.
"Good, then let's get some rest while we can. We still have school tomorrow." Alicia coaxed Fate to move towards her room before turning to walk to her own.
"Umm, Alicia?"
The older blonde halted and turned back to look at her sister. It was rare for Fate to look so vulnerable. Moments like these though were reserved for when they were in each other's presence only. No one had seen them in such a state, not even Lindy. It wasn't that they didn't trust the woman, she'd done so much for them, but they weren't ready to show anyone else their weaknesses. They still needed to be wary around everyone they came into contact with. They may have been taken out of the life of assassins, but that didn't mean the Assassin's Guild lost track of them. They were constantly being watched. The assassin's never lost track of one of their own. It was the only way to make sure that ex assassins and current ones didn't break any rules set up by the guild. Not to mention the branch of RF6 was keeping them in constant surveillance as well. It was big brother working at its finest.
"Yes?" Alicia asked, although she had a feeling she knew what her younger sister was going to ask.
"Can I sleep with you?"
Alicia smiled and took her younger sisters hand. Lindy always told her that as the oldest, she had to be strong for her younger sister. If she ever felt she needed support though, Lindy always made herself available for the two of them. The two made their way into Alicia's room. Fate had so many questions running through her mind as she climbed into bed. Why were these dreams occurring? There had to be an explanation. There was always a logical explanation for things in the universe, yet dreams didn't exactly fall into the realm of logic. Fate's tired mind eventually lulled her into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams replaying the scene with the little blonde girl looking out into the window filled with a bright explosion.
-SafeandSound-
"Alright everyone pair up!"
Their gym teacher, Yagami Zafira, blew his whistle in order to get everyone's attention. Today they were beginning the Bodyguard Examinations, something Alicia and Fate had been looking forward to since they saw it on the curriculum. During their gym session thus far, they'd been given easy things to do like jogging, various sports, and other miscellaneous activities. Today though, they'd be able to test out how they fared against other wannabe bodyguards. They were sure that their level of training would be unmatched since most of the kids who were enrolled to be bodyguards had only had the most basic training so far. It wasn't until they were tested that it would be decided where their training should begin. If they were lucky enough, they'd be mentored by one of the bigger corporations, like Shiro's bodyguard company.
Looking around the gym, she already spotted the man along with a few people she didn't recognize. Probably his associates there to help him spot some good talent. Lindy was also present for this event. It wasn't uncommon for government officials to come to the testing event. It was a good chance for them to find potential field agents for their different branches. Lindy caught sight of Fate looking in her direction and waved enthusiastically at her. Slightly embarrassed that she'd been caught staring, she waved back awkwardly. Lindy seemed happy enough with her response so she went back to concentrating on the task at hand.
Fate and Alicia immediately claimed each other as partners. Not like anyone else would want to be paired up with them anyway. Besides, there was no better team than them at the school. She almost felt sorry for whoever they would pit against them in the sparring matches.
"Fate-chan!" A rather enthusiastic auburn haired girl bound over to the blondes.
"Well, almost no one wants to be our partners." She thought exasperated. How could she have forgotten about Nanoha and Hayate, especially considering Nanoha use to be her stalker although it could be debated whether or not stalker was still a more appropriate thing to describe her as.
"W-would you like to be my partner?"
"Uh, I don't think we can be paired up."
"Eh? Is it because Hayate is always my partner? Alicia-san! You can have Hayate!"
As if to emphasize her point, she practically shoved Hayate into the unsuspecting girl's arms. Hayate didn't seem to mind though. In fact, she looked rather comfortable. The brunette tightened her hold around Alicia's waist in a hug.
"Nanoha is so cruel to me! Comfort me Alicia-chan!"
Knowing that her mother was watching, Alicia resisted the urge to rip the girl off her person. A blush suddenly covered her face when Hayate's grabby hands touched her butt. Not caring whether her mother would approve of her next move or not, she quickly launching Hayate towards the nearest wall.
"Where were you grabbing!" Alicia yelled at the brunette who, surprisingly, did not hit the wall like Alicia had intended. Instead, she gracefully twisted in the air and landed on her feet. It would have been a perfect landing if she hadn't suddenly lost her balance and landed on her butt. For a second there Alicia had actually been impressed with the brunette's show of skill.
"Oww, oww,oww!" Hayate whined as she slowly stood back up. "Mou, you didn't need to be so rough with me, I prefer a more gentle touch." Hayate made some suggestive eyebrow movements.
Then, to the shock of all their classmates, and their mother, Alicia flushed red. The blush was even more prominent thanks to her pale complexion. Even Hayate seemed speechless for a moment.
"Let's go Fate." Alicia growled as she walked away from her classmates. Fate looked between Alicia and Hayate before following after her unusually flustered sister. She figured it would be a good idea to try to calm down the clearly angry blonde. Nanoha watched helplessly as her crush walked further away from her in order to make sure her twin didn't suddenly change her mind about possibly keeping Hayate alive.
"Hayate, you make a terrible wingman."
"Don't you mean wingwoman?" Nanoha gave her a blank stare. Hayate chuckled nervously. "Haha, kidding. I was kidding."
"You and your perverted ways are going to get you in trouble one of these days. Now you've gone and made Alicia-chan angry. She'll never approve of Fate and me if I keep hanging around you." Nanoha glared menacingly at her soon to be ex-best friend. Hayate got the message right away. She never would have pegged Nanoha to be the scary intimidating type since she was usually a very happy go lucky person. The brunette however had come to discover a much darker side to the auburn haired girl. It was fitting considering who her father was. She wouldn't be surprised if all the Takamachi's had a more sinister side.
"I-I'm sorry, okay? I-It won't happen again."
"Good!" Nanoha's happy personality returned. "Make sure to apologize to her later okay?"
"O-okay." At this point, Hayate was just trying to keep herself from being targeted by Nanoha's other personality. At some point she'd like to give this other side of her a name since she felt like referring it to as "the other Nanoha" lacked any sort of imagination. She probably shouldn't so concerned as she was to finding a name for her friends other personality, but her mind was easily distracted.
"Anyway, you wouldn't have been able to pair up with Fate-chan even if Alicia-chan agreed to switch."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because this is the Bodyguard Exams." Nanoha continued to look at her confused. Sighing, Hayate continued. "It means that those in class 1-A through 1-C that are here to be bodyguards are the ones taking this exam. People like us, who are here to be protected, are going to sit on the sidelines and watch."
"Oh. I didn't know that was today."
"Well you would've known had you been paying attention to the teacher when he announced it at the beginning of class."
"Nyahaha, I guess I was distracted."
Hayate shook her head. Nanoha was always distracted when Fate was within viewing distance. Tugging the girl along, she and Nanoha took a seat reserved for the students that would not be participating in the exam. They were soon joined by the other students from class 1-A and 1-B.
"I see you continue to have no sense of self preservation, Hayate-chan."
The brunette turned to the source of the voice.
"Verossa-kun!"
Hayate jumped up and gave the green haired boy a hug.
"How have you been?"
Verossa chuckled. "I've been well although you really should stop putting yourself in so much danger."
"Who? Me? I'd never do such a thing."
"So you say, but why do you think that Graham-sama felt the need to surround you with your personal body guards in the school?"
"Wait, so our teachers are really related to you?" Nanoha asked surprised.
It had been something that everyone wondered about the Yagami's that were at the school. Their homeroom teacher, Signum, had yet to confirm any relation to the brunette and no one was going to press their stern teacher. Then there was their gym teacher, Yagami Zafira. Much like Signum, the students were too intimidated by him to bring themselves to ask. The easiest to approach was the nurse, Yagami Shamal, who had shocked everyone by revealing that she was actually married to Signum. Again, Signum did not confirm or deny her claim and no one was about to force one out of her. The final two Yagami's were Vita and Reinforce. The two girls were in class 1-D but with the two girl's rather fierce looks, it was hard to approach them for anything. It was a rather strange trait they all shared, with the exception of Shamal. The mystery of their actual relation would continue to elude the student body for now.
"Ah, and who is this Hayate-chan?" Verossa said noticing Nanoha for the first time.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I forgot my manners. This is my best friend, Takamachi Nanoha."
"Takamachi? You wouldn't happen to be related to Shiro-san would you?"
Nanoha nodded with a smile. "Yes, he is my father."
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Takamachi-san."
"Please just Nanoha. It's far too formal for a friend of Hayate's to call me that."
"Very well and please feel free to call me Verossa, Nanoha-chan."
The two shook hands before continuing on their topic of conversation. Fate watched the boy interact with Nanoha from afar. She felt it odd that she suddenly had the urge to stab him with one, two, or maybe all her knives. A whistle broke her out of her homicidal thoughts.
"Those of you taking the exam please proceed to the locker rooms and change into your uniforms."
Tearing her eyes away from the sight, Fate followed Alicia into the locker rooms. She suddenly couldn't wait to get to the sparring portion of the exam. She needed someone to punch.
Hayate smirked having noticed Fate's killing aura towards Verossa. Perhaps Nanoha's crush wasn't as one sided as she thought. Then again, she doubted Fate knew what she was feeling towards the girl anyway. If her dreams were anything to go by, then it was only a matter of time when Fate would be able to return Nanoha's feelings. She closed her eyes momentarily and pictured her latest dream. She'd been walking towards a home. One she wasn't familiar with but in her dream, she knew she'd been there countless times. The door was opened by a much older version of Fate. Upon entering the home, she spotted Nanoha in the kitchen making dinner for her family. Then a little girl, possibly around the age of ten, came bounding down the stairs. They were the perfect family.
Opening her eyes, she looked back towards Fate as she disappeared into the locker room. An emotionally inept ex-assassin and a bipolar devil of a girl… they were made for one another.
-SafeandSound-
Alicia and Fate picked a locker and opened it up. In it contained the clothes they'd need for their exam. A standard issue black form fitting shirt, loose grey cargo pants to allow them more maneuverability, and black combat boots. The two quickly began to change.
"So, you two are the rumored assassins in the school."
The two girls tensed. They turned towards the girl standing behind them; they wiped away any emotions from their faces. They were not about to let this girl see how off guard she'd caught them.
"Hi, my name's Tsukimura Suzuka. I look forward to seeing what you guys can do."
Suzuka walked away before Alicia or Fate could form a response.
"She snuck up on us." Fate frowned.
"She erased any sense of her presence. Tsukimura… I think she's part of that ninja clan."
Fate slammed her locker shut. "A ninja? Well that should make things interesting."
Alicia smirked. "I agree. Ninja's are, after all, the original assassins."
The twins finished up their preparations and walked back out into the gym. Suzuka watched the two from her locker.
"Are you sure you want to fight them?" her partner questioned.
"You sound worried Carim-chan. Do you doubt my skills?"
Closing her locker, Carim smiled at Suzuka.
"I think you're underestimating theirs."
"I don't know about that. They tried to hide it, but they definitely were surprised that I managed to sneak up on them. I think they've lost their touch."
"Perhaps, but is it necessary to antagonize them?."
"Don't worry so much. Just get them riled up. If they try to do anything they will be stopped by the full force of the school guards. We've got nothing to fear."
-SafeandSound-
"Freshman, welcome to the annual Bodyguard Examinations." Zafira boomed. "We hold this exam every year to see where you should be placed for your training of your profession. Many of you aspire to work for the government as field agents or in the private sector as bodyguards. In our audience are highly influential members of these sectors so be sure to show us your best. The exam is divided into two sections, the first tests weapon proficiency. Here you will be tested on your knowledge of weapon use and accuracy. The second portion is combat. I think this part is self-explanatory but for the sake of our audience I will explain. Here we will test your skills in hand to hand combat and you're ability to work with another team member. For this reason you needed to choose a partner. No weapons will be allowed. Should the fights become life threatening we will step in and stop the match. Are we ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"Very well. Pick a station to begin in, for the weapons test. It matters not where you go."
Fate and Alicia looked around at each of the stations set up around the gym. Fate's eyes were immediately drawn to the stationed near the far end of the gym. It had a variety of throws stars and knifes. Meanwhile, Alicia was more interested in the table with all the variety of guns. The two nodded before heading separate ways to their areas of specialty. They were told to impress everyone with their skills and they certainly did not want to disappoint, especially with their mother in the audience.
"Good luck Fate-chan!"
"I'm rooting for you Alicia-chan!"
The two blondes froze in their steps and stiffly turned to look at Nanoha and Hayate. Suddenly all the attention was on them. It was hard to miss the looks they were being given by the less than happy people. Ignoring the looks they turned to go back towards their destinations. Now was not the time for them to be getting distracted by petty things. Clearing their minds of anything useless, the girls prepared to show everyone why they were the best of the best.
Lindy watched on in amusement as her daughters were thrown off kilter by their two trial friends.
"Ma'am?"
Lindy turned to Vice who'd been one of her agents to accompany her to the event.
"Yes?"
"Do you think what she said is true?"
Lindy frowned thinking about the latest meeting she'd had with Precia.
-SafeandSound-
Lindy walked down a familiar hall. Precia had requested to speak with her again. She wished she could feel enthusiastic, but if this talk was going to proceed like the last one, then there was little to be excited about. Perhaps she'd find out a little more about the girls past. For that alone she was enduring these odd meetings. She waited a few seconds in front of the door before she was given the all clear to enter. Precia was sitting at the table already, just like before. She quickly shut the door behind her and joined the other woman at the table.
"Testarossa."
"Harlaown."
The two stared each other down. Precia turned away first looking around the room. Not that there was much to look at. It was just a dark room.
"This room could use some redecorating."
"I'm afraid we have more pressing things to deal with." Lindy answered.
"Of course you do. Tracking down the Assassin's Guild is no easy task."
Lindy said nothing. She didn't want to give away that that was indeed one of the purposes of her team.
"Come now, let's be honest with each other. That is how you found out about my girls right?"
"Why have you called me here today?"
Precia smiled. She knew Lindy was trying to divert the conversation. She'd allow it this time since she'd have another chance to talk to the woman later. There would be plenty of chances to get information out of her.
"Straight to business, I like that. You know I find the serious type rather attractive."
Lindy's eyebrow twitched in aggravation. The fact that someone was flirting with her had thrown her off a bit, but she wasn't use to a woman making passes at her. Sensing that Lindy wasn't going to respond to her shameless flirting, Precia decided to continue.
"Raising children is difficult is it not?"
The cyan haired agent wanted to tell Precia that her idea of raising children was not the same as a normal person, but it would be beneficial to her to just go along with her line of questioning.
"It is."
"I'm sure you agree it's even more difficult as a single parent correct?"
"Yes."
Precia smiled. "As you can imagine, raising my two girls was never a simple task. I knew I could not do it alone. It takes a village, but I didn't need a village just one person who I could trust. That is where the girl's second teacher comes into play."
A second person helped train the twins? There had never been any other evidence that anyone but Precia played a part in training the girls. Her mind raced as to why she was being told this. Assuming it was true, then that meant this other person was out there, roaming free, able to seek out the twins. Precia smirked as she saw the realization dawn on the agents face.
"That's right. She's out there, keeping an eye on them for me."
"Why hasn't she attempted to contact them this entire time? She probably knows you've been captured right?"
"Yes, she probably has known of my capture since the day it happened, but it's not the right time."
"The right time for what?"
"I guess you'll have to wait and see."
That infuriating smile was in place again. Seeing as Precia was saying no more, she gave the signal for the guards to remove the woman from the room.
-SafeandSound-
"I don't know, but we can't rule out any possibility. I would inform Zest-san of the possibility of a woman trying to infiltrate the school, but we have no description to go on. It would do little good to worry them over something we're still not sure of. All we can do is keep a closer eye on the school."
"Right."
"For now, let's not worry about it. We need to concentrate on the fine assortment of talent we have gathered here ne?"
Vice nodded. "I think other young hopefuls will find it hard to measure up to your girls."
Their attention was directed towards Fate and Alicia. They were each waiting their turn to show their skills in their areas of expertise.
Alicia was practically giddy to finally get her chance to shoot a gun. Much to her disappointment, Lindy hadn't given her permission to keep a gun with her. She'd felt it was rather unfair that Fate was allowed to keep her knives when she couldn't even keep a simple glock. She stepped up to the mini shooting range. Off to her side, there was a wall with a variety of shotguns, hand guns, revolvers, semi-automatics and many others. She was impressed with the type of artillery they were being allowed to handle.
"My, what a wonderful selection they gave us."
Alicia glanced from the corner of her eye. It was another blonde girl. She smiled towards Alicia.
"It seems we'll be shooting together. My name is Gracia Carim and you are?"
Alicia doubted that the girl didn't know who she was. The entire school knew her name; however, she was being cordial enough to ask for her name instead of just calling her names like her other classmates did.
"Harlaown Alicia."
The girl smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet another gun enthusiast."
With that, Carim grabbed a Heckler & Koch MP7 from the rack and proceeded to the shooting range along with some ammo. There were two ways to test your shooting skills. The first, and the easiest in Alicia's opinion, was the stationary targets. They were placed in various lengths away from the shooting point. The second was shooting clay disks that were launched from random point in the room. That would be the ones that Alicia would most enjoy and it was the hardest to do depending on which setting you chose. Carim walked calmly to the shooting station.
"Name?" the teacher at the station asked.
"Gracia Carim."
The teacher nodded.
"Which would you like to perform?"
"Clay disks."
"Very well. When you are ready give us the signal."
Carim nodded. Before she gave the signal, she set the gun on a nearby table and quickly changed the mode of the gun. Alicia was impressed that the girl knew that particular gun had more than one setting. She obviously wasn't some newbie who chose it because it looked cool. Satisfied, Carim got into position.
"Pull 2!"
A clay disk came flying from the right side of the room and another launched from the left. Carim shot them down not even seconds after they were launched. It was impressive that she was able to line up her shots so quickly.
"Pull 3!"
Again, she shot them down with no problem. There was a little bit of lag time between shots but Alicia predicted that would happen when needing to line up more than 2 shots. What she wanted to see though, was if the girl was able to shoot down more than 3 without missing one.
"Pull 5!"
Alicia was not disappointed with the girl's performance. She shot down each and every clay disk before they hit the ground. Carim, smiled proudly at her work. She handed her gun over to the teacher before moving away from the station towards the other students who had finished. She cast one look back towards Alicia. No words were exchanged but Alicia understood the silent challenge. Smirking she turned back to the wall of weapons. She wasn't one to usually show off, but for this, she was going to show everyone exactly how to be a badass gun wielder. She set her eyes on a pair of Nickel M1911A1 pistols. Those would do nicely.
She grabbed the guns and the mags necessary for her little demonstration.
"I have 10 shots in each one. Hmm…"
Looking around the shooting range, she spotted the 20 machines stationed all around the area.
"I think I can pull this off."
She placed her 4 mags on the nearby table in a neat little row. The other two she inserted into her pistols. Taking her spot she looked towards the teacher.
"Name."
"Harlaown Alicia."
"Which would you like to perform?"
"Clay disks."
"Alright, give the signal when you're ready."
Alicia took a deep breath.
"Pull 20!"
The teacher halted; stunned at the request she was given.
"W-what?"
"Pull 20!" Alicia repeated.
The teacher still looked skeptical but launched the disks without further delay. Alicia wasted no time in emptying the mags. Much to the shock of every one she didn't miss a single one. The moment she ran out of bullets she ejected the empty mags.
"Pull 20!" she yelled again. She quickly slammed the gun over her remaining mags on the table and lined up her shots.
"Good, the delay time between setting the machines for the correct number of disks and their launch was as I predicted."
Again, she flawlessly took out every disk.
"Pull 20!" with her last round of shots, she was almost caught off guard with a few that rolled across the floor but she quickly took care of those before taking out the flying ones. The gym was deadly quiet. Alicia twirled the guns in her hand before handing them off to the stunned teacher. She was acutely aware of all the stares she was getting. She walked by Carim who seemed to be just as shocked as everyone else.
"That's how you shoot a gun." Alicia spoke before taking a seat away from the rest of the students.
It was so quiet a pin could be heard being dropped.
"WOW!" Hayate jumped up from her seat and began clapping wildly. "That was amazing Alicia-chan! You're amazing!"
It wasn't long before Nanoha and Carim joined in a more subdued clap. Suddenly, the rest of the gym clapped along with them. Alicia was surprised. She thought for sure she was too feared and hated for her skills to be appreciated. She glanced over at Lindy who looked proudly at her. Alicia was filled with an unexplained warmth seeing that look directed at her.
Fate smirked at her sister from the other side of the gym. Her sister was amazing as always. Turning to her station, she was determined not to be out done by her. Knifes may not be as loud and showy as guns but there was a deadly beauty to them. It took more than just aiming to accurately throw one. If you didn't know the proper balance of the knife you were throwing, you'd miss your target by a mile. She tested each knife set, trying to find one she deemed proper for throwing. She frowned as each knife set she tested felt unbalanced. At first she thought it was rather unprofessional of the school to provide them with such low quality knifes, but then she realized this was part of the test. If they couldn't properly check the knives for the correct balance then they obviously would need more training.
"A knife person huh? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised considering your upbringing."
Fate froze. The girl from the locker room had snuck up on her again. Silently cursing herself for letting her guard down, she turned to face the girl.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not particularly, after all, we were both trained in the art of killing right?"
Fate didn't know whether to agree or not. It's true that ninjas and assassins were similar and even though all ninjas were considered assassins; not all assassins could be called ninjas. Fate believed this was probably due to the fact that assassins held no loyalties what so ever. Pay them enough and they would kill whoever they were asked of. Ninjas on the other hand did not do business in such a way. They were loyal to the lord they served and did not commit assassinations unless it was agreed upon by the clan.
"You know, I don't believe I caught your name in the locker room."
Fate paused before answering. "Harlaown Fate."
"Nice to meet you. Well I think I should get my exam over with."
Suzuka walked straight to the throwing stars. She tested each and every one before picking the set she wanted to use. She stepped up to the spot where the test would begin.
"Name."
"Tsukimura Suzuka."
"Begin when you're ready."
Unlike the shooting range, the moving targets they had were rigged to tracks and some were swinging from the ceiling. Their movements were predictable, but even that didn't guarantee you'd hit the targets. All it took was a slightly unbalanced knife to completely mess up your throw. Suzuka smiled serenely as she took her throwing stars and hit target after target. She didn't even bother with the stationary targets. Fate didn't miss the challenging look she was being given. She felt her blood boil, not from anger, but from excitement. She quickly picked the knife set with the best balance and joined Suzuka at the station. Fate didn't even wait for the teacher to ask for her name.
"Harlaown Fate."
She then grabbed her knives, placing them in between her fingers. Suzuka copied her and both of them quickly launched their choice of weapons at the poor unsuspecting targets. Their classmates watched in awe as the glints of metal zoomed across the throwing range faster than their eyes could see. Finally, both of the girls ran out of knifes. Suzuka smirked at her rival.
"You kept up with me. Not bad."
She began to walk away from the station but stopped when she realized Fate was not following her, she turned back around at the blonde. Fate smirked at her. She held up one last knife in her hand and then suddenly tossed it behind her as she walked away. The knife zoomed through the air until it hit solidly against a figure up high on one of the windows.
"You missed one." Fate said as she strolled casually past the purple haired ninja. Suzuka's eyes widened. She couldn't believe she missed the sniper-like figure at the farthest part of the throwing range. Maybe the blondes weren't as rusty as she believed they were.
"Fate-chan, you're so cool!" Nanoha yelled at the top of her lungs. Hayate joined in the cheering.
Fate did her best not to blush but she wasn't use to being praised. She looked at her mother who was smiling proudly. Fate let a small smile form before wiping it from her face. She hoped no one else caught it. She didn't know it but Lindy did catch the slight upturn in her lips. It was the first time she'd seen her openly smile. That made her prouder of her girls than their demonstrations. Lindy, however, wasn't the only one who caught the smile. Nanoha, who paid attention to everything Fate did, was in a daze. She'd never seen something so beautiful in her life.
"Fate-chan should smile more…"
The rest of the demonstrations were rather lack luster after the demonstration Alicia, Fate, Suzuka, and Carim had given. Finally Zafira stood in the middle of the gym where mats had been placed. This would be the spot they would hold the sparing matches.
"Alright, the teams have been randomly selected in the following matches. When you're names are called, step up to the mats. You'll begin when I blow my whistle."
Alicia and Fate kept an eye on Carim and Suzuka. They were hoping that they'd end up going against the two girls. They were the first to bring out any sense of competitiveness in them and they were glad the two girls had proven them wrong about everyone being inferior to them.
"Gracia Carim and Suzuka Tsukimura you'll be facing Harlaown Alicia and Fate."
The twins barely registered anything around them as the adrenaline began to pump through their veins. The two teams faced one another, measuring each other up.
"Don't go easy on them!" Arisa suddenly stood up and yelled. "Take them down Suzuka!"
Nanoha glared at her classmate. How dare she? Didn't she learn her lesson the first time? She was not about to let Fate fight without any support.
"You're much better than them Fate-chan!"
Arisa growled loud enough for Nanoha to hear but that didn't scare the auburn haired girl and she growled right back. Soon, the gym was filled with shouts of support, mainly for Suzuka and Carim.
"Well I think I better cheer for my new friends. Sorry, but I hope your sister loses." Hayate said to Verossa.
"I won't hold it against you." Verossa smiled.
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the whistle. No one wanted to miss a second of this match up.
AN: Phew, not bad for my return chapter. Alright, I trust you guys know the drill by now. Thank you for reading. Until next time!
