I do not own Nanoha unfortunately.

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Alone in a crowd

A day off?

Yuuno pov…

I woke up feeling the familiar scruffiness of my couch underneath my fingertips. I was…in my apartment? Hadn't I fallen asleep at the library? Slowly my incoherent brain began to join the pieces together. I closed my eyes.

Oh.

Hayate took me home.

Mentally I cursed myself. I didn't want her to see me like that; she would worry uselessly about me now.

The sound of rushing water reached my ears.

Eh?

Dishes clinked and someone was humming the first few lines of a song that sounded suspiciously as though it belonged in an anime.

A heavenly aroma wafted under my nose and I opened one eye. A plate of toast glared at me.

"Eh?!"

"Get up already! I know you're awake!" A familiar voice yelled.

Pushing myself up I studied my intruder with confusion.

"Hayate? What are you doing here?"

Dressed in casual clothes, the SS rank commander had shoved a plate of freshly cooked breakfast under my nose. She rolled her eyes.

"I took you home ferret boy!"

I sighed. Were they ever going to drop that? It not my fault I could shape shift into a ferret…

That smelt good…

Even my stomach, which had been conditioned to survive on soup and the bare minimum, was growling. Hayate's cooking was legendary after all. Still I hesitated.

"Er…Where did you get food from? My fridge is empty."

"I went grocery shopping."

My eyebrow rose. She had enough time to go out and shop? With a sense of dread I noticed the beams of sunlight streaming into my living room. I slowly got up.

"Hayate…what time is it?"

"Oh, around nine."

"NINE!" I yelped and dashed for my coat. I was so late! This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…

Hayate planted herself infront of the door. "No! You're not going anywhere near that library. You have a day off today."

I froze. A day off?!

"I didn't organize anything! I have a lot of work to do!" I panicked, trying to get my stubborn friend to move.

"All taken care of!" She grinned smugly.

I facepalmed. "…You organized this didn't you…"

Roll of the eyes.

"Of course I did! Now go get a bath you smell terrible."

"I do not!"

She wrinkled her nose "You're immune. Now go before I freeze your butt!"

"Yes mother." I tossed over my shoulder. Despite myself I could feel a grin spreading across my face.

I turned hot water up to full and steamed myself in a vicious torrent of water. Brown water flowed down the drain from the accumulated dust of the Library. I washed out my annoyingly long hair and pondered.

A day off.

To tell the truth, I haven't taken a day off in several months, perhaps years. Maybe I could finally cut my hair to a more manageable length. The ponytail was a bit too girlish for my liking. I chuckled. I knew somewhere along the line, I'd just get annoyed and just chop off the ponytail. It would look messy but I had stopped caring about appearance since I had stopped Archeology work.

I dried myself and dressed in 'casual clothes'. I never used these clothes as I was always in my work uniform so it was a bit odd for me. A Dark green T-shirt, long blue jeans and comfortable sneakers. It was a nice change, for once.

I toweled down my hair and tied it back up. After the bathroom was cleaned to a satisfactory extent, I headed for the kitchen.

"Eat." Hayate insisted.

I complied good-naturally. Food. Honest to goodness real food. I couldn't remember the last time I ate properly. I stuffed myself. Or at least, I tried. My stomach couldn't adapt to so much food after such a long time of starvation and cramped up somewhere along the way. I knew medicine well enough to know that when you were starved your stomach shrinks. I ate as much as I possibly could, which wasn't much really.

To me it seemed like heaven though Hayate gave me a worried glance.

"Thanks Hayate! But you know, you didn't have to do this…"

She gave me a sharp look. "What was I supposed to do? Leave you alone after seeing how much in a bad shape you are?"

I winced. "You don't have to worry about me…"

"And that's the problem! You don't even worry about yourself so I have to do it for you!"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times. Hayate waved a spoon, threateningly in front my nose.

"Promise me you'll look after yourself."

"Hayate…"

"Promise! I'm not losing you like I lost Reinforce…"

I started at my friend in something close to shock. Apparently I had hit a nerve by accident. I winced again; I was making her relieve the pain of her lost family member by my foolishness.

"I promise." I said solemnly. "I won't make you worry again."

Hayate smiled radiantly and plopped down on a seat. "Good!"

I chuckled at her rapid change of mood and attacked my food again trying to get some more down before I had to go back to my self inflicted hell. Hayate joined me suddenly, devouring her share of the feast. Minutes passed with the only sound being that of our chewing.

"Hey Yuuno, have you seen Nanoha and Fate recently?" She grinned, intending to joke about the two.

I stiffened and lowered my head. Her teasing grin changed to one of worry.

"Yuuno?"

"I saw them not too long ago." I lied.

Hayate's eyes narrowed. "You're a bad liar, as always."

I twitched. "Fine, you want to know?" I sighed, this was going to end badly.

"I haven't seen anyone other than you since the JS incident."

I counted to five, waiting for the explosion.

"WHAT?! That was five months ago!" Hayate was on her feet with her eyes blazing.

"Calm down Hayate. They're busy people."

"But…but…"

"Its fine." I stated firmly, ending the conversation.

She shook her head and picked up the dishes. I stood up and walked towards the sink.

"I'll wash the dishes."

"No you don't! You are not doing anything today!"

"What do I do then?" I asked mildly.

"Uh, go take a walk or something. Ah, I know! You can go and get milk!"

I sweatdropped. "I thought I wasn't supposed to-"

"Come on, get going now!" She ordered with a wide grin.

"If you insist." I sighed, reversing my direction. "A walk might a nice change of pace."

"Take your time," She smiled. "Don't over strain yourself."

I shrugged and grabbed my coat. "Its just a walk."

I paused for a moment. "Did you wash this?" I asked, my shocked gaze never leaving the unmistakably clean greatcoat.

She looked up from scrubbing briefly. "Huh? Oh, yeah. It was a little...well..."

"Revolting?" I offered helpfully.

She glanced in my direction. "I suppose that might work. When was the last time you washed it anyway?"

"Um..." I rested my hand on the doorknob and thought about it. "I don't remember."

"Eh?!"

I strolled leisurely onto the street. People were on the wide avenue, shopping, rushing late for work or just enjoying themselves. It was a cheerful bright morning. I couldn't help but smile. Everyone was bustling about, calling greetings and news.

It was nice to see the people whose lives I help to save. These were the people I risked my health for.

A group of close-knit housewives shuffled along gossiping merrily. Three young girls pointed at me and giggled as I passed. I shuffled uncomfortably as one of them squealed.

"He's hot!"

A quick glance around the street revealed no good looking teenage boy or any other male under forty except for...

Me?

And I realized the three of them were staring at me. Blushing furiously, I pretended I hadn't heard them and continued with a slightly quicker pace.

How awkward...

An energetic child bounced along happily at his mother's heels. I smiled at such pure childhood innocence.

His mother let go of his hand to observe something in a shop window and he looked around curiously. Spotting something shiny on the road, he toddled into the asphalt death trap.

My blood froze.

I went automatic. I rushed towards the oblivious child as the mother screamed. A car was speeding closer, the driver frantically mashing breaks. With a quick flick of the wrist, layers of pale green circles materialized before the car, slowing it down enough for me to snatch the child out of harm's way.

I handed the child back to his hysterical mother.

"Thank you!" She wailed "Thank you so much!"

"Its okay." I smiled, relieved to have avoided a tragedy. "Anyone else would have done the same."

"That was amazing!" A man commented. "Are you a combat mage?"

I chuckled softly at the irony. "Far from it. My combat days are long over."

Surprise showed on the man's face. To hear such a veteran statement from a person barely over twenty was highly unusual.

"What spell was that?" The awestruck boy I saved asked.

"Eh, It was only a movement slowing barrier…" I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed by the attention. "Its nothing big…"

"That was so cool!"

"Er, excuse me please." I excused myself. "I have to be going."

I slipped into the crowd, away from the concentration. I wasn't fond of people exalting my abilities. It made me uncomfortable. I wasn't THAT good…

I walked among them, but I was always alone. I may not have been so lonely if I applied for a Device of my own but I didn't want one. Something like a Device was wasted on a Librarian. Besides after a while I had a kind of fierce pride about being able to fight on my own terms. It was all MY power and MY skill, not some computer's. And Yet, somehow, my casting was on level with a Device's.

Still…

It felt so peaceful to walk, even alone, as I was, in a crowd of so many cheerful people. I was content.

A quick stop by the grocery got me Hayate's demanded milk. Feeling guilty I bought a bar of chocolate to repay Hayate for her help. I strolled along, whistling a hyper tune.

It was a nice day.

Then the air was rendered with the shrill screams.

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Oohh! Cliffhanger! I'm so evil!