I have been receiving requests or rather 'hints' as to which pairings to include in this frolic through the lily fields. So I thought it might be time to list all the pairings that you can expect at some time or another, from each show… This should also act as a forewarning to anyone who does not agree with a certain ship, although hopefully we're all on the same page... even if we're not, try to enjoy what ships you do agree with. Anyway...
Brace yourselves cause it's a doozie.
From Lyrical Nanoha: Nanoha/Fate, (Obviously) Tia/Subaru, Vivio/Einhart, Corona/Lio, Seig/Victor, Arisa/Suzuka, Signum/Shamal, Hayate/Carim, Caro/Erio, and Chrono/Amy.
From Mai-HiME: Shizuru/Natsuki, (To me ShizNat is practically mandatory) Haruka/Yukino, Chie/Aoi, Midori/Youko, and since I'm not a huge fan of Tate, maybe Mai/Mikoto I haven't decided yet. (Although with Mikoto, you'll always be getting implied Mai/Mikoto no matter what.)
From Madoka Magica: Kyouko/Sayaka, Madoka/Homura, (Both are mandatory.)
From Strike Witches: Eila/Sanya, (Also a must) Minna/Mio, Yoshika/Lynnette, and Erica/Trude.
From My Imagination: Kiseki/female OC
(I'd be willing to listen to any suggestions for the remaining 'unshipped' characters, or even someone to put Kiseki with. Please let me know in your reviews!)
I would also like to take this opportunity to defend Strike Witches. As a female, I found that the amount of fanservice bordered on gross, but I ended up watching the show because the characters are awesome, and the overall story is actually very good. I understand that many people would have objections to the show, but I myself am a fan, and I hope it comes across in this fic.
Now with that out of the way, on to Chapter 4!
...
Chapter 4
HiME, Puella Magi, and Strike Witches! Oh My!
Or
A Hat Trick Of Magical Girls
(I'm sorry about the title(s), but it had to be done.)
*Is Shot*
By the time the Starlight Breaker died down; the moon had a new crack/crater in it, and Nanoha and I had escaped relatively unharmed. I say relatively, because as soon as the blast let up, I stood up, taking Nanoha with me, and she lightly thumped me on the head for giving her life more value than my own.
Her strike was light, but her aim was lacking.
I highly doubt that she was aiming for it, but she managed to bop me on the sore spot that the book had given me. The sore spot that I had just managed to forget about.
I managed to keep my footing this time, but my headache came back full force. It was beginning to feel like someone was trying to drive a ten inch spike into my head... and succeeding.
"Ooooww!" I whined, clutching my head in my hands. "Nanoha! Couldn't you have hit me anywhere else?" Panic yet again flashed across Nanoha's face.
"Oh, my gosh! I am so sorry Fate-chan!" She cried, gently cradling my head, and softly trying to rub the pain away. I gritted my teeth in an effort to keep silent, and let her try to help.
Instead I let out a noise that was similar to a wounded puppy.
"I didn't mean to hit you there!" She continued, noticing the pain on my face. "Here, let me kiss it better!"
I had about a fraction of a second to register her words before Nanoha grabbed my shoulders to help her keep her balance. She stood on her tiptoes, and soon I could feel her breath ruffling my hair.
"Pain, pain fly away." she whispered into my hair.
Then I felt the gentle pressure of her lips on the crown of my head.
I noticed that the pain immediately disappeared.
Then I ceased to notice anything else.
In fact I didn't even noticed that I had passed out until I woke up with my head on Nanoha's lap five minutes later.
"So beautiful." I muttered dreamily, reaching a hand up to stoke her cheek.
And even then I didn't notice right away.
Nanoha's face flared bright red.
"F-Fate-chan!" She stammered nervously, her eyes darting to something off to my left, then back to me.
"Do you two always flirt like there's no one watching?" an amused voice inquired, bringing me back to reality like a bucket of cold water to the face.
I sat bolt upright, narrowly avoiding a collision with Nanoha's nose. I heard several barely suppressed giggles, and I turned towards the source of the voices.
Fortunately I had enough self control left to concentrate my blush into my ears as twenty four people smirked back at me.
On the bright side it looked like everyone made it back OK.
Once her lap was free, Nanoha; without even bothering to get up, turned away clutching her hands to her chest.
Kiseki; who was looking far better off than she had a few minutes ago, her dark brown hair blowing in the breeze, was regarding me with the same expression that a cat might regard its prey.
I swallowed hard.
"What happened?" I asked, hoping that my ears weren't as red as they felt.
"You passed out." Kiseki replied simply. There was an evil twinkle in her golden eyes that was making me very, very nervous. "And for the life of me, I can't imagine why. Have you been eating well?"
I tried to say something, but my tongue flat out refused to work. Instead I merely resorted to nodding furiously.
"Well then, that brings us back to my first question." Kiseki went on, not even bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. I could tell that she was enjoying herself, and judging by the expressions of her friends they were also enjoying this on some level or another.
I stared blankly at her. Kiseki gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Do you two always flirt like there's no one watching?" she repeated, her tone suggesting that she knew her question was very redundant at this point.
Once again my vocal chords lacked the courtesy to function properly, so I desperately turned to Nanoha for help.
Even from behind, I could tell that her face was bright red, although she was doing her best to hide it. She turned to face me, and the adorable expression she was wearing almost made me pass out again.
"D-does Fate-chan really think I'm beautiful?" came her hesitant reply, I could hear the uncertain tremble in her voice.
The blush contained in my ears instantly spread to the rest of my face, and her tone managed to free my tongue from its paralyzed state... but not necessarily in a way that was helpful to my communication skills...or lack there of.
"Erk?" was what came out of my mouth, followed by some other words that did not even remotely resemble human speech. Nanoha tilted her head questioningly at me, making her look very much like a confused puppy. Finally I could feel the muscle spasms in my tongue relax so I could finally get out some coherent words.
"Of course I think Nanoha is beautiful!" I blurted out with more force than was strictly necessary. "Nanoha is the most beautiful person I know!"
A moment's silence pervaded my outburst. Nanoha's face turned a darker shade of red with each passing second, and I suddenly wished that I hadn't said anything at all.
"...I think Fate-chan... is the beautiful one." she said softly.
I swear my heart stopped right then and there. After a few seconds, it eventually started up again, pounding so hard that I could feel it in every part of my body. I had been holding myself back for the better part of fifteen years. But with Nanoha's words, my self restraint almost completely disappeared. If she kept up this innocent, and adorable shyness, she literally had about thirty seconds before I jumped her. I took a step forward, this time nothing would stop m-
"Holy Crap!" Kiseki snorted loudly, her voice cutting through my lust hazed brain like a knife. "It's like a wall goes up, you can actually feel it in the air!"
Oh right... the recruits.
"A giant wall of ignorance." The sandy haired girl of the 'pants-less' group added. "It's like none of us are even here!"
"You mean like the giant wall that tends to form whenever you talk to Sanya?" Shirley teased, lightly elbowing her comrade in the ribs. "Well? Am I right Eila?"
Eila's only response was to turn bright red.
"Hey you two," Kiseki shouted at Nanoha and I, saving Eila from having to reply. "try to keep it under PG13 alright? There are children present!" Both Nanoha and I turned to face our audience.
"I certainly hope you're not referring to Lucchini." Trude injected sarcastically. "Her favourite hobby is doing what Harlaown-san looks ready to do now... except I doubt 'size appraisal' is what Harlaown-san has in mind. Anyway, Lucchini's innocence in that regard is far beyond repair. Not that I've ever known her to have any in the first place."
"I found Shirley's new competition!" Lucchini announced helpfully.
I looked down at my hands, and noticed that they were raised in prime 'boob groping' position. I whipped them behind my back before Nanoha saw them.
Nanoha's face turned a shade redder.
Damn it. Too late.
"You can't be referring to Mikoto either" the light orange haired member of Natsuki's group pointed out, as she ruffled the black hair of her shorter companion. "She's not really a child; naive maybe, but she's also no stranger to groping people... albeit only me, but still."
"That's because Mai's chest is mine!" Mikoto explained happily wrapping Mai in a hug, and burying her face in Mai's ample chest to demonstrate. "Just like the rest of her!"
"Yes, Yes." Mai sighed in amusement, Natsuki rolled her eyes, and Shizuru giggled.
"You guys are no fun." Kiseki pouted, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "Fine, I suppose we've been distracted long enough. Let's get down to business then, shall we?"
"An excellent idea!" Nanoha agreed way too quickly. "Can I ask everyone to line up in their respective magic types? We'll start with the introductions, then we can move on to a short demonstration of your abilities. I will be your instructor for the next little while. My name is Nanoha Takamachi. This is Fate-cha- uh, Fate Tesstarossa Harlaown...(wow that felt weird to say.) anyway, she's an enforcer with TSAB's Special Investigation Bureau, and my best friend."
"Right; off limits." Kiseki observed. "Got it!"
Nanoha shot her a warning look that would have made even the bravest grown men wet their pants. Kiseki suddenly stood very straight, giving a military salute.
"Ma'am!" she shouted, once again all business. Nanoha was famous for keeping even the rowdiest recruits in line... mostly by threatening them with Starlight Breakers, but hey, it worked!
I heaved a huge sigh of relief, as things finally seemed to be settling down.
"Who's got Instructor-Takamachi's device?" Kiseki asked, recovering quickly, and looking back at her group as they started to rearrange themselves.
"I thought Midori-chan had it." Mai piped up, regarding her darker orange friend.
"You mean that staff-like thing I tripped over on the way back here? The thing Instructor-Takamachi almost killed us all with?" Midori said in a very accusatory tone. Nanoha's face filled with guilt. "Yeah, it turned into a marble the moment I touched it, I've never seen anything like it!" she continued happily, her voice a complete contrast to what it was before. "But I think it fell out of my pocket or something, cause I can't find it!" Nanoha's face clouded with worry, but Natsuki eyed the woman suspiciously.
"So, you mean you don't intend to keep it for yourself to study later?" she inquired. Midori laughed nervously.
"Of course not!" She exclaimed hastily, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "Why on earth would I want to study such a marvelous piece of advanced technology?"
'Thank you.' came Raising Heart's voice from somewhere on Midori's person. Midori jumped.
"Holy Crap! It talks too!" she exclaimed excitedly, removing Raising Heart from her jacket pocket, just in time to see the English words fade from the surface of the red jewel. "It speaks English as well! I simply must examine this fur...ther." Midori trailed off as she caught sight of Natsuki's death glare.
"Cough it up." Natsuki ordered curtly, holding out her hand expectantly. Midori sighed regretfully.
"Busted." she lamented, as she dropped Raising Heart into Natsuki's hand. "Me and my big mouth."
As Midori continued to grumble incoherently under her breath, Natsuki returned Raising Heart to Nanoha before returning to her group. Nanoha gave her device a small peck.
"I'm sorry for tossing you away like that Raising Heart." Nanoha whispered apologetically.
'Don't mind, My Master.' Raising Heart replied. Nanoha smiled thankfully, before returning her attention to the recruits.
"Alright." Nanoha began, slipping into what I liked to call 'instructor mode'. "Let's start with the smallest group first... Which magic type are you?" A drill styled blond haired girl stepped up as a representative.
"We are the Puella Magi." she said, her voice formal. "Users of an ancient, and dangerous form of magic that bonds with our very lives. I am Mami Tomoe." Mami stepped back into her group, and Kyouko stepped up, yet another stick of Pocky in her mouth.
"Yo." Kyouko saluted, she was very much lacking in Mami's formality. "The name's Kyouko Sakura, nice to meet ya! I'm what you'd call a 'veteran' Puella Magi." Next up was the girl with light blue hair, who had been scolding Kyouko earlier.
"Try using some manners next time, you dummy."
Apparently scolding Kyouko was something she did often.
"My name is Sayaka Miki." she went on, ignoring the tongue Kyouko was currently sticking out at her. "Please forgive Kyouko. What she lacks in manners, she makes up for with her big heart."
Kyouko's face turned as red as her hair.
"M-moron." Kyouko said half halfheartedly, Sayaka merely giggled and ruffled Kyouko's hair affectionately.
I was beginning to wonder if there was a single straight girl in this bunch. I just wasn't used to suddenly being surrounded by my 'own kind.'
A girl with pink hair, and a certain almost divine aura about her was next.
"My name is Madoka Kaname." she said shyly, giving a short bow. "Please take good care of us."
As a direct contrast to Madoka's warm, comforting aura; the last member of the Puella Magi group, a girl with long silky black hair, just radiated a cold indifference that actually made me shiver. Her violet eyes held a deep pain within. The cold indifference was simply a mask, hiding her true personality.
"I am Homura Akemi." her voice was monotonous and cold. "Madoka will be in your care, and I will not forgive you if she comes to any harm."
So that's how it was.
I could certainly understand the feeling.
"Homura-chan!" Madoka scolded. "There's no need to say that!" Homura's eyes softened at her words, and she turned to face her friend.
"I just got you back." she whispered softly, the amount of love in her voice was overwhelming, compared to the previously emotionless tone she had been using. "I will not loose you again."
I was now positive that the source of the pain in Homura's eyes was Madoka. I had no idea what had happened, but whatever it was, it must have been horribly traumatic for the both of them.
"Don't be silly Homura-chan." Madoka comforted, sweeping Homura into a loving hug. "I'm not going anywhere."
I almost half expected someone to take a crack at teasing the two of them, but thankfully everyone remained respectfully silent. Not even Nanoha made any attempt to break up the exchange.
"Her eyes look just like yours did back then." She murmured sadly. "Such pain, and loneliness."
"That would make Madoka just like you." I replied softly, Nanoha looked at me in confusion. "You saved me. You took the pain from my eyes, and my life. Just like Madoka is doing for Homura now." Nanoha smiled softly in agreement, as I went on. "The only difference here, is that I think Madoka is as much the cause of the pain as she is the cure. But just like Nanoha, Madoka will always be there for Homura, helping her through rough times, just like you always have for me."
"I promise." Both Nanoha and Madoka vowed at the same time. I looked towards the pinkette who was gently stroking Homura's long hair.
"You were listening?" I asked, she smiled mysteriously.
"I can be anywhere, and everywhere at once." she explained, which to me, explained absolutely nothing at all. "But it's only thanks to Homura and Kiseki that I can be here in both body and spirit." before Madoka could say anything more, Kiseki interrupted.
"Details on that later." she said smoothly, I noticed that her face was a little red. Was she trying to divert the attention away from herself? She struck me as someone who would enjoy being in the spotlight. "First off, are you feeling any better Homura?"
"Homu?" Homura replied dreamily, lifting her head from Madoka's chest.
Nope, not a straight one amongst them. Not that this was a bad thing.
Kiseki looked as if she had been expecting that kind of response.
"Are you feeling any better?" she repeated patiently.
"Yes." Homura sighed contentedly. "Much better."
"Good to hear." Mai said with a smile before turning to Nanoha and I. "Shall we introduce ourselves next?"
"Please do." Nanoha agreed.
"We." Mai began, indicating her group. "Are referred to as HiMEs. It stands for Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment. Our form of 'magic' refers to our ability to ionize photons into physical matter. This power is directly proportionate to our love for another. This emotional energy manifests itself as our guardian, or CHILD."
"CHILD?" I asked curiously. "What's a CHILD?"
"It's kinda hard to explain." Mai admitted, before turning to her fellow HiMEs for help. "...Would anyone like to demonstrate?"
"I would be honoured to demonstrate the strength of my love for Natsuki." Shizuru offered immediately, Natsuki turned red but didn't say anything.
I noticed that as soon as Shizuru volunteered, everyone in all three groups moved to give her a very wide berth. A very, very wide berth. Lucchini made a point of hiding behind Shirley's leg. For some reason; at the time, it did not occur to me that there was probably a reason for this.
Shizuru was the picture of calm, almost eerily so, when:
"Kyohime." The word was whispered so softly and with such ease, that I barely even saw her lips move.
Then the ground began to shake.
Mid-Childa did not get many earthquakes, but I had experienced more than enough minor earthquakes living in Japan, to know that when the ground shakes it was generally a bad thing.
However, no amount of school earthquake drills could have prepared me for this.
The ground surrounding Shizuru broke apart, as a massive six headed hydra slowly rose from it's depths, steam billowing up around it.
"HOLY SHI-"
By this point, the swearing was involuntary. Luckily, the sound of thousands of pounds of earth hitting the ground in chunks drowned me out.
But on the other hand, I now knew what Lucchini meant about the 'scary lady with the giant snake.'
The serpent was easily fifty feet tall, and each neck was about the size of a redwood tree trunk. One of it's giant heads let out a guttural hiss that I could feel in the air. I took a moment to consider what a commotion the appearance of this thing might cause within the base. Something like this was kind of hard to miss.
"So." Nanoha squeaked as she gaped up at the massive creature towering over us. "That is a CHILD?"
"Indeed." Shizuru concurred, her voice radiating with pride. Yet another head lowered itself towards ground level, so she should scratch it under the chin. "The stronger the affection for another, the stronger the child. Kyohime here, is the purest representation of my love for Natsuki."
I stared up at the giant hydra.
The only thing that came to my mind was:
"Wow."
Now, I know size isn't everything. But considering how love grows rather than shrinks, (and the massive crater the thing had created.) I had a feeling that Kyohime's gigantic size was also proportionate to the strength of Shizuru's feelings.
I looked down at the scarlet-faced Natsuki, then back up at Kyohime.
"Wow." I said again.
"Kannin Na." Shizuru apologized suddenly, as she returned her attention to us. "I have not yet introduced myself properly, how rude of me. I am Shizuru Fujino, please teach me anything you can. I wish to learn how to better protect my Nat-su-ki." By now, Natsuki's face was only a few shades shy of matching Kyohime in colour.
"You're hopeless Shizuru." she sighed, before turning her emerald green eyes on us. "My name is Natsuki Kuga. I'll have you know that I won't listen to just any old teacher." Her tough girl attitude was falling waaay short of being effective, thanks to the current shade of her face, which was currently a very 'intimidating' maroon.
"I'll try to prove that I am worthy of your attention." Nanoha replied, just barely keeping the chuckle out of her voice. Natsuki smiled in satisfaction.
"Good!" she huffed in feigned arrogance. Mai rolled her eyes at Natsuki's behavour, as she stepped up for her introduction.
"My name is Mai Tokiha." She said bowing respectfully. "Please be patient with us...especially Natsuki."
"Hey!"
"The name's Nao Yuuki." The pinkish red haired girl drawled in a bored voice. "Just stay out of my way, and we'll get along just fine."
Nanoha's eyes narrowed, and I agreed with her silent assessment.
This one was going to need some work.
"Such a charmer as always." Midori commented sarcastically. "My name is Midori Sugiura, I'm seventeen!"
...
Seventeen wasn't a number I would assign to her chronological age, but saying otherwise would be very rude.
"Uh.." Nanoha began.
"Ookay?" I added. Midori opened her mouth to continue, but an excited Mikoto cut her off.
"I'm Mikoto Minagi" She exclaimed proudly. "I hope we can have lots of fun together!" Nanoha smiled.
"It won't be all fun, some of the training might be tough." she said honestly. "Would you be willing to stick with it?"
Mikoto seemed to ponder this seriously. Mai, however was one step ahead.
"Everyday you try your hardest, I'll make your favourite ramen." She offered. "How does that sound?"
"I'll work my hardest!" Mikoto proclaimed instantly.
Wow, that was fast.
The last member of the HiME, had remained silent ever since her group had joined us. She had messy light brown hair, numerous freckles, and cute olive eyes hidden behind wire-frame glasses. At the moment she seemed to be very depressed and lonely.
"My name is Yukino Kikukawa." Her voice was very soft and gentle, and I could tell that she wasn't a very outspoken individual. "I will try not to be any trouble." she heaved a sad sigh, Natsuki put a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"You can't keep moping over Suzushiro-san." she said sympathetically. "You're doing this to protect her."
"I know." Yukino agreed miserably. "but at least when she was at Fuuka-University, she was only a short walk away. Now we're not even on the same planet! We're not even in the same Galaxy!"
"Who is this Suzushiro-san?" Nanoha asked politely, clearly looking for a way to cheer Yukino up.
"She is Yukino-chan's childhood friend, Haruka Suzushiro." Mai explained. "They've been joined at the hip since Kindergarten. Even though Haruka-san is a year older and in university now, they are rarely ever apart for long. Haruka-san isn't a HiME, so she couldn't come with us. Haruka-san was less than pleased."
"She was against me coming here in the first place." Yukino sighed. "She was worried about not being able to protect me. But I had to come. I'm the one with the power, I should be the one to protect her."
"She sounds like a very good friend." I observed with a smile.
"I still wish she was here though." Yukino said sadly.
'Incoming call from Lady Signum Sir.' Bardiche interrupted just as we were about to move onto the next group.
Speaking of which, Signum, and Vita should have been here ages ago with Subaru, Tia, Caro and Erio.
"Patch her through." I said, excusing myself from Nanoha. A video monitor blinked to life in front of me, showing a very, irritated looking Signum.
"We've got a problem."
...
AN: So...Many...Characters... Wow, that chapter turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. I had to end it here though, as I have a few surprises in store for chapter 5, including more plot! But for now enjoy this linear progression of potentially amusing situations, (Along with enough Yuri fluff to make Yuri Goggles totally unnecessary) that when put together form some semblance of a story line. The Strike Witches will be introduced in the next chapter, along with a more in depth explanation of Kiseki and Al-Hazard. Keep the reviews coming, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all in chapter 5!