The Ice Will Melt Some Day
Chapter Eight "The Best Birthday Present"
Disclaimer: It's the last chapter (YES!) -coughs- Unfortunately... So if you don't remember this weird character; I probably made them up. But if you do remember a character from the original manga; then no joke, it's not mine! Plus there's more disclaimers, but if I said anything else, then it would give away the much awaited for ending ]= So I'll just tell you at the Typer's Note... (long disclaimer)
"D-Daichi...?" Nobara stuttered as she approached the two motionless figures. She knelt on the ground next to them; lifting the boy's head onto her lap. Her eyes began to tear up because she knew what was going to happen to him.
The boy managed a smile, "I'm... going... to d-"
"Shut up!" Nobara interrupted, "You're not going to di... Not now. You just can't. Honestly, I'm sure where this aching in my heart is coming from or why it's happening, but I know that. If you die, I can't..." The tears were flooding down her face. Everything that happened to her was always so devastating. Nothing really came good for her, and so far; that reality didn't change one bit yet. "You're going to be the second funeral this week! That just doesn't happen!" Her voice was screaming in disbelief. She had lost two people that she was close to; all too soon.
Daichi squeezed her hand, getting her attention. "I couldn't kill Persona after all..." The ice princess looked away. "He's too strong and..."
"And what?" This was going to be her last conversation with him, and dragged it out as long as she could. Nobara was absolutely against the idea of having the academy meddle into this case.
"He cares about you too Nobara," the boy admitted; although still a little reluctant in his weak state.
She glanced at the dark figure near them; still, but she knew he was alive. "I guess he does. Persona was never really bad; just always made out to be."
"Hey Nobara?" Nobara gave him her attention. "Just remember..." he started with his breath, "...the ice will melt someday." So he died in her arms, on her lap... where no one could see, or figure out what happened.
A few months passed by, and the school year was eventually over. The seniors from the high school division had graduated and left the academy for the outside world. Nobara didn't officially graduate from the first year because of all the sneakiness, but it didn't matter too much. It was almost Nobara's birthday, but she wasn't anticipating anything at all. Persona had to recover from the 'incident'; no one found out about what happened to Daichi though. Thus, Nobara was allowed to finish off that particular school year outside of the dangerous class.
"Nobara, Nobara!" a familiar voice cried out.
She turned to see a few people from her class, "Andou-senpai? Misaki-chan? Megane...?"
"Happy birthday!" Misaki exclaimed cheerfully.
Still a little suspicious, Nobara raised an eyebrow and said, "Thank you."
Tsubasa nudged her arm, "We know you feel down because of... you know who. But we have to fulfill his dying request; and that is... this!" He pulled out a fairly medium sized wrapped present from his shadowy sources. Megane and Misaki helped emphasize the gift by showcasing it; even including sound effects. "Open it," Tsubasa encouraged.
She tore the box open; a little excited, but also scared of what the gift contained. After not being in the dangerous class for so long, Nobara was getting a little more casual than before. "It's a... an alice stone!" She dangled the necklace before her eyes. The color was of a transparent metal steel hue. "So pretty..."
"Wow it is! Here, let me put it on you," Misaki suggested. The doppelganger come around and fastened the necklace around Nobara's neck. "It looks beautiful on you, Nobara-chan."
Absorbed by the glean of the rock, she glanced down at the box to notice a card. "This is... a note from Daichi." She read it out loud, "Happy Birthday Nobara. I think it might have been terrible for you to have known I died. So as a favor for your birthday, I just wanted to say... I truly do want you to forget. I'm not in your life anymore because that's how it was supposed to happen. Don't worry, in the near future, there will be a girl who can even calm the fire, so she can melt your ice one day. Sincerely, Daichi."
Before anyone could say anything about the letter. The alice stone around Nobara's neck illuminated and engulfed the whole school in light. Equivalent exchange; memories = existence.
It was time for the Christmas Ball again, and our heroine was definitely excited for it. Unfortunately, she had returned to working in the dangerous ability class, and hasn't had a decent getaway in months. So she decided to become a little rebellious; just this one time again. Instead of heading towards her classroom, Nobara took a little detour over to the Grand Hall.
She peeked in through the doors and decided to go for it! Her hair was in a state of a curly mess, but she never really bothered with the appearance since it is natural after all. The girl walked around and attempted to ask some classmates if they needed help, but none of them offered. Even though, it was very clear that they could use some more help. "Ah..." Nobara tried once more.
"You are Nobara Ibaragi, right? We don't have anything that you could help with... We have a lot to do already..." the student said, and she left.
A bit sad, the ice princess was left alone and then came a rushing boy, "What a nuisance," he said nonchalantly. Accidentally knocking down Nobara, who fell on the tile flooring.
"Ah!" she shouted when she fell. Feeling the nerves sending out pain signals, she tried to regain composure, "Kyaa..." Then Nobara met face to face with a little brown haired girl with pigtails. "Ah."
Miss Pigtails smiled brightly and helped Nobara up. "It's kind of funny. I kinda feel close to you. No one wanted my help either, but eventually, I found something even I could do! Want to help me?" she asked nicely.
Stunned by this young girl's kindness, Nobara couldn't help but have trouble taking it all in, "Let... Letting me help, is it really okay?"
"Relax, relax! This is a big help," the girl with pigtails assured. Nobara was happy to be able to finally help out! Until the brunette noticed something, "However, because we're dealing with food, we can't have hair loose like that. Tie it up and put it in a hat."
Now, Nobara realized that maybe messy hair does matter in some cases. "Ehh?"
"Hmm?" Miss Pigtails handed Nobara a hat to use while cooking. "Let me help you with your coat!" she insisted.
"Ah." Nobara then resolved to just do as the little girl said, removing her bangs in the process. Now she could see a lot better. "Thank you," Nobara thanked while noticing Miss Pigtail's strange reaction towards the bang removals. Then the ice princess thought inside of her head, "Putting all of my hair in the hat. Changing my image, maybe people won't recognize me then..."
The two started conversing for a bit. "Oh! First year in middle school? I-I really didn't know you were senpai!" the brown haired girl panicked.
"It... It's okay! You really don't need to call me senpai or use honorifics!" Nobara insisted.
Then they talked some more... "You're called Nobara Ibaragi. Your name is cute too! My name is Mikan Sakura," Miss Pigtails finally introduced.
Completely infatuated by her, Nobara couldn't help but compliment Mikan, "What... What a cute name..." And though at the same time, "Mikan-chan..." Absolutely loving her situation right now.
Mikan giggled and remembered, "Ah, our job is to turn these." Mikan pondered for a couple of seconds before bringing up another topic of conversation, "Right, oh yes, oh yes, what is Nobara-chan's alice?" she asked.
"Nobara-chan..." the ice princess blushed at the friend honorifics, but suddenly recalled the question. "Ah... I am... My alice is ice type."
"Ice alice! Cool!" Mikan exclaimed, "But I've only seen it once before."
"Mikan is so cute," Nobara thought again... Nobara really likes Mikan.
And then, Mikan's light bulb went off. "How about... Let me ask you something! Can you make the air cold quick?"
Not so sure why Mikan is asking, Nobara replies with a hesitant, "Ah... this... yes..."
"That means, you can make these sponge cakes cooler? I really want to put on the icing sooner," the peppy girl requested in her, not only puppy dog eyes, but also puppy dog tails and eyes form as well.
"Oh..." But since this is one of the only few times she has made such a good friend, she resolved it to be okay to use her alice; knowing how dangerous it can be. "I'll try..."
Replying with the unexpected, "REALLY!?" Nobara couldn't back down now.
"So... So rare that someone is so happy," Nobara blushed. "I have to try hard!" she focused on the cakes and let her alice flow from her hands. It turns out that Nobara had released a bit TOO much energy and frozen the entire surface.
Some students noticed some changes in the cakes and reacted to it, "What happened!? This... The sponge cakes are all frozen!?" they shouted. Another one panicked, "Ah--- What is this?"
Out of nowhere, fire engulfed the sponge cakes and they returned to normal state. All the cooking students were completely stunned by the melting cakes and the perfect state of previous-ness (if that's not a real word.) Knowing how, 'dense', these student's are, they figured that they were just imagining things and that the cakes weren't really frozen at all.
Fireboy arrived to the scene, plus he saved the cakes. "What, are you doing here?" he questioned the ice girl.
Mikan was a bit surprised to see him, "Na-"
But Nobara was even more surprised, as in the state of which she felt completely and utterly... basically, in trouble, "Natsume-kun," she trembled in horror. Miss Pigtails wasn't sure what was going on and continued to watch them.
"Get back to your cocoon," he threatened, and then left after saying so.
Nobara became a little distressed, and admitted to Mikan, "Sorry, Mikan... Actually... I still cannot control my alice very well..."
"I see!" Mikan said cheerfully. "Since it's like that, I wonder if we can do this?" The ice princess was once again amazed at Mikan's cheery powers, and optimism. "This idea may be worth a try! I am the nullification alice. If we use our alices at the same time, the power may merge and we can use the right temperature to cool the cakes!" She continued on with, "Anyone can fail once or twice. It's okay. So, want to try again?" Nobara agreed, and both of them tried out their new plan on one of the cakes first. Mikan held onto Nobara's back and both released their alices simultaneously. "We did it!" Mikan exclaimed happily; which of course, made Nobara very happy as well. "Wonderful! Wonderful! Our alices can be of use! Yay! I'm so happy! Let's continue working hard like this."
One of the students on the cooking team passed by and noticed the good progress. "It's time to spread the butter on... wanna help?"
"But-ter?" Mikan's eyes sparkled when she heard that word. So Nobara and Mikan happily went to work on spreading the butter. Hotaru even dropped by and teased Mikan a little bit before heading off again.
Nobara felt truly happy inside, and she finally knows why Natsume's eyes have softened. "Let me get some water." She felt so happy, and honestly felt like it was a good decision to have snuck out. She knows now that whomever told her that someone could calm the fire, was right. Because that girl could also melt the ice with her personality. In the midst of her joyous thoughts however, she bumped into someone.
But then again, you know the rest of the story.
Typer's Note -
Alright, that's the end.
As you may have noticed.
The third part's dialogue is straight from the manga translation!
So props to those translators, and hopefully you enjoyed the meaning of the story.
I can now rest easy because this story is at its close.
Write more Nobara FF's you guys! I love her ;D Until the next FF!!