Smoke and Misgivings
Chapter 2
Nanoha rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. There was an annoying little song playing somewhere drumming its beat into her skull in a rhythm that felt exactly like an headache.
Nanoha's head shot up and she threw the blankets off of herself.
"Crap!" She rolled out bed and stared at her alarm clock. 7:45! I forgot to set my alarm clock! Arg! She grabbed her cellphone and turned off the alarm. No breakfast for me.
"Sorry, I should have awakened you." Fate was sitting across her apartment at the kitchen table sipping tea and doing her best not to look awkward. "Would you like me to make you some tea?"
Nanoha stared at the woman, her thoughts slowly fitting into place of why there was a stranger in her apartment. "No time. I'll get coffee at work." Nanoha tore open her closet and threw some clothes on the bed. I wish I had time for a shower. She pulled off her nightgown, then folded it and laid it atop her dresser. She opened the top drawer of her dresser and took out the first set of underwear she found and put them on, then back to the bed to put on her tracksuit. She turned to the mirror on her wall and brushed her hair. Oh yeah! I can shower in my office. That's one perk of being a gym teacher!
Fate's mug popping out of her hands and landing in the sink with a loud clatter. "I...I'll be going now."
"Okay."
Hmm. Why's her face all red...and she nearly broke my mug. Nanoha tapped her lip and watched Fate walk stiffly to the door.
Oh right...cause I just stripped naked in front of her! Nanoha groaned and felt her own face heat up. Just great! She's going to think I'm some kind of weirdo!
"Sorry for the impromptu striptease...I'm used to living alone...I don't think I'm completely awake yet."
Fate smiled weakly and nodded, blushing harder now. "I'll be going." She swiftly walked out the door and closed it behind her. "Bye."
"Bye." Nanoha grabbed a banana from her fruit bowl, picked up her bag, and walked to the door. If she didn't get going she'd be late. She opened the door...
"Hey." Yuuno smiled. He was standing there with two coffee and a paper bag from the doughnut shop down the street. "Who is that?" Yuuno indicated Fate at the other end of the hall.
Nanoha scowled and crossed her arms causing Yuuno to shrink back and cringe.
"Wha...what?"
"You came to check up on me."
Yuuno took another step back. "I...I did not. I just thought it'd be nice to get breakfast for you since I missed our date last night."
"No, you came to check up on me...I'm usually gone by now anyway. What were you going to do? Bring me this at school." Nanoha closed her eyes and clenched her fists. "That would just be embarrassing."
"You...you're usually a little late...Who was that that came out of your room? Did you...and with a woman?"
"It's none of your business who she is. Go away." Nanoha stepped out of her apartment and locked her door.
"I'm your boyfriend so I WOULD like to know about..."
"We're dating. You ARE NOT my boyfriend." Nanoha jogged down the hall. I need to get going.
Yuuno did his best to keep up. "Who was that? God dammit Nanoha!" He ran alongside her doing trying to keep the coffee at an angle that kept it from spilling through the lids.
"Why are you so concerned about a girl in my apartment?"
"...because you're gay...and you have a hickey on your neck!"
"What?" Nanoha rubbed her neck. "Don't yell that out...and I am not! I didn't sleep with her and you're imagining things! I do not have a hickey on my neck and besides, if I'm gay, why are we dating?" How the heck can I have a hickey on my neck when we didn't do anything!
Nanoha took the stairs down to the ground floor two at a time and jogged across the parking lot ignoring Yuuno's panting close behind her. Wow, he's out of shape. She picked up her pace and Yuuno was soon far behind her. The school was only a short distance away and she enjoyed walking it each morning; a brisk jog wasn't too bad either even if her bag made it a little awkward.
I definitely need a shower now. Nanoha ran up to the front entrance and walked swiftly down the hall. She unlocked the gym, turned on the lights, walked into her office. She threw her bag into the corner and pulled the mirror out of her top drawer.
Hickey? How the hell did I get a hickey. I don't think I've ever had one before in my...
She touched the little red mark just above her collar bone and sighed. Did Fate give me that? But it was only a... "Who cares it only looks like a bruise!"
Nanoha grabbed her whistle and clipboard than placed them back on her desk. Looks like I have more time than I thought I did. I have a prep period first class. Nanoha disrobed and stepped into her her grimy private shower.
I should go to the staff room for coffee. She touched the bruise on her neck. My collar mostly covers it anyway...no one will notice.
She readjusted her collar and walked into the hall. The halls were packed with students and she had to do her best to push her way through.
"Look at Nanoha-chan's neck..." She heard a voice through the crowd.
Nanoha stopped. Did I just hear that right...or am I just paranoid? She scowled. "Nanoha-chan?" She'd have to nip that nickname in the bud. 5...10 push-ups for every time they said it...sounds about right.
Nanoha readjusted her collar once more and threw open the staff room door. "Good morning." Nanoha gave her happiest greeting. I wonder how many of them are looking at my neck?
"It's your turn for the lottery this week. Don't forget."
"I'm already on it. I'll have it by..."
Smack!
"Ow." There was a sudden sharp pain at the back of her head. Nanoha opened an eye to find Hayate with her arms folded and glaring at her.
"I was worried about you last night!"
"I'm sorry...I told you I had my phone off because I was at a movie," Nanoha pouted. "Why'd you have to hit me?"
"I bet your boy toy gets responses much quick than I do." Hayate sat in the chair adjacent Nanoha and continued to glare.
"Yuck. I hate that phrase...a lot happened last night okay." Nanoha saw an odd glimmer in Hayate's eyes and swore on herself for baiting her.
"Oh?" Hayate's smiled brightly. "I refuse to be your bridesmaid and...I will not plan your baby shower."
Nanoha tilted her head back and rubbed her face. "We're only dating!"
"So...you are pregnant?"
"Argg!"
Hayate leaned over and wrapped her arms around Nanoha and squeezed gently. "I'm sorry I hit you but you made me worry." She gave Nanoha a tight squeeze and then let go. "Now, what's the big thing that happened."
"I met someon..." That's not the way to put it. Hayate would have a field day. "I made a new friend last night and she's my neighbour too...and it was her apartment building that burned last night."
"Wow...did she lose everything?"
"Yeah. It was her first night in the apartment too. What kind of luck is that?"
"What is she going to do now?" Hayate looked deflated.
"I let her stay with me since I thought it be better than staying in a church basement with lots of other people."
Ring! Ring!
Crap!
The rest of the school day went by much quicker than expected for Nanoha. Most of the trouble makers were absent on Mondays and those that were there remained half asleep. Best of all no one mentioned her hicke...bruise.
3:00 pm finally came around and Nanoha collapsed into a chair at the staff room and exhaled. Doing laps with her senior high class was taking it a little too far especially after dodge ball the hour before. I can't wait to have a bath.
"So..." Hayate clasped Nanoha's shoulders from behind. "Nevermind." She walked over to the coffee machine and poured herself some in a paper cup.
"What? Come on now you have to tell me...I'll be thinking about it all evening!" Nanoha joined Hayate at the machine.
"How did you meet that woman?"
"Hmm...Yuuno stood me up and I already bought tickets so I gave one to her...why?"
Hayate sipped her coffee. "Something just seems off to me...some girl shows up with a sob story...you sure she wasn't looking to get picked up?"
Nanoha jumped. "She isn't a prostitute!" She covered her mouth and glanced timidly around. Only Teana was smirking and she could live with that.
"I meant an opportunist, a user, or something. Someone who goes around taking advantage of people. She saw a building on fire and thought to herself 'This is perfect!' It could have been anything but that fire made it easy and now she's going to milk it for all it's worth."
That doesn't make sense. I approached her not the other way around and why would she approach me anyway if I looked like I was waiting for someone, though, I have no idea how the mind of someone like that would work."I think you're full of poop. I don't understand what you think is strange about how we met."
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Hayate downed the last of her coffee and walked across the room to her locker. She sorted through a couple of books she used that day and put them back into their places.
Nanoha glowered. "Then why'd you say it?"
"Some people can be very convincing when they want to be. They're like bees to nectar and they thrive on sweet naive girls like you."
"I'm not naive." Blush crept into her cheeks. "And besides...I think most people would think I'm the predator in this situation...butter up a sweet naive girl, and then, when she's vulnerable, take her home and..."
"So it's the sweet vulnerable girls we actually have to worry about?" She snickered. "It would explain how you got that hickey."
Nanoha hand shot for her neck and reflexively covered it. "It's not a hickey! I just bumped my neck nyhaha."
"...against someone's lips."
"Hayate-chan?" Nanoha batted her eyelashes and grabbed Hayate's hands. "Please do me a favour!"
"Oh? The last favour was kinda fun."
"I don't think Vita would like that very much if we did that now...that's not what we're talking about! Please tell Yuuno that this bruise isn't a hickey if he asks?"
"So it IS a hickey and I'm covering for you?"
"It's not covering...it's more like...nothing happened and I don't want things to be weird between me and Yuuno." Or weirder. After this morning he probably already thinks I'm cheating on him...or seeing someone else at least. He's the one that didn't want to be exclusive!
"I'll do this favour you ask but there may come a time I may ask a favour of you."
"Sure...whatever." Nanoha lunged at Hayate and hugged her tightly. "Thank you! I love you!"
"So...I'm assuming she's smoking hot?"
"Hmm...why?"
"I don't know. I just get that impression."
"Well...I gotta go! Bye!" Nanoha leaped from her chair and sprinted for the door. Hayate was calling something after her, and judged by the wide eyed looks her colleagues were giving her, it was a good thing school was out and no students were around.
Nanoha ran through the empty halls to the main entrance and then outside into the searing heat then pulled off her sports jacket and stuffed it into her bag. The air conditioning in the break rooms makes it seem so much hotter, she sighed than plodded on.
There was a buzz at Nanoha's side and she pulled out her phone.
From Yuuno: Sorry about this morning. Can we talk? How about dinner?
Nanoha sighed again, this time more heavily. What if I did cheat on you? How much drama would there be then? Her fingers hovered over the keyboard then she shoved it back to whence it came...back into her pocket. She'd deal with him later when she had a chance for a break; supervising thirty hyper young people for five hours a day took its toll.
I hope Fate managed to get some things figured out... if her boss is a uhm...not a nice person...she might not have had the chance. She glanced at her watch and picked up speed. I hope she's not waiting for me in this heat.
Up ahead, Fate's apartment building was roped off with police tape and barriers. There were several policemen milling around but there didn't seem to be much going on. Probably just a simple electrical fire. Nanoha shivered. It didn't make things seem much easier to comprehend that a "simple" electrical fire could take away all your material possessions and threaten your life on top of that.
To Nanoha's relief, Fate wasn't waiting in the scorching sun for her. She turned the key to her apartment, threw her bag across the room- where it hit something with a hard thud- and collapsed into the nearest chair.
Buzzzzz.
From Hayate: sooooo anything missing?
Ugh! Of course there's nothing missing! She isn't a criminal!
Nanoha jumped to her feet and surveyed her apartment. Her laptop was right where she left it and so too was her expensive camera. She walked across the room to her desk and the filing cabinet beneath it. With a tug, she confirmed it was firmly locked and the combination lock would be impossible to open without, you know, the combination which Nanoha hadn't written down anywhere.
There's not a heck of a lot you could have stolen anyway. My earrings and necklace are in the filling cabinet and my other jewellery is still at my parents' place. I don't keep much money around except my piggyback. She picked up the little plastic creature and shook it. If you're desperate enough to steal from Mr. Piggy you deserve it Fate-chan.
Nanoha jumped. A cold chill running down her back. She walked over to the cabinet besides her door. She used the piece of furniture to place things she didn't want to forget in the morning; letters that needed to be mailed, things she might need for work, and...the money for the lottery pool. Every week the people she worked with paid into a lottery pool and this week was her turn to buy the tickets.
There was no brown envelope.
Nanoha walked back to her desk and fumbled around in its only drawer than back across the room to her bag but there was still no envelope.
Nanoha sighed long and deep. $200 wasn't a lot of money. She could replace it easily enough and it could be in her office but she didn't remember seeing it. There was a prickly feeling in her fingertips and her whole body felt strange. A sense of pressure in her body and then a hollow feeling in her chest. It reminded her of that feeling of dawning realization like when you're on the train returning home for the day and you realize that you forgot to pass in that thirty percent paper for that history course.
Dawning realization of what...that I got robbe...I got taken in? Nanoha sat glumly on the floor tapping her fingers on its worn hardwood.
To Hayate: No. Nothing is gone.
I'll go to the bank later...maybe the money will turn up.
Nanoha got back to her feet with another long drawn out sigh and walked into the hallway of her apartment building. The windows were tinted and the air felt cooler than her apartment. She rested against the guard rail and starred out the window; at some point they had enclosed the walkway connecting all the apartments on her floor but hadn't gotten around to removing the guard rail.
On the street running parallel to the building, cars idled irritably waiting for their turn to pass whatever the obstruction...probably the police vehicles that are still there investigating the fire. Nanoha's turned her head in the direction of Fate's former apartment building...or did she even live there at all?
Nanoha's eyes shot to a vehicle parked at the far corner of the lot. There were two women standing there. One with purple hair that nearly matched the colour of the car they were standing by and the other with hair that shone like gold in the bright sunlight.
It had to be Fate. Nanoha vaguely knew her neighbours and none of them had long blonde hair like that. She watched the other woman grasp Fate's hand than slide her other arm behind Fate's back. Their bodies grew together for an instant and just as quickly parted with one woman getting back in the car and the other jogging toward the entrance.
babbler: It's been a crazy couple of months. Hopefully there'll I'll post more soon. Anyway, enjoy!
Quality feedback is always welcome.