Last one of this block! Hope y'all enjoy!
All I have to do is read this through to the end, make edits along the way, say something funny at the end and come up with a title for the chapter, then I can eat lots of warm yummy food from my college cafeteria. Ooh boy, I can taste that soup now...
After reading part of this, I want to apologize. I try to hold true to my ratings when I make them, but this episode sorta pushes those ratings... Heh heh...
Enjoy!
Veronica and Nagi sat on Nagi's bed chatting about everything. All walls were breached after the manga topic was broached, so Nagi spent most of her time pestering Veronica about details about herself, as if to add her into the manga.
"You see, because I've been traveling for so long, I never really got to sit down and make many friends."
"All alone, traveling the world?" Nagi asked with intent. She may as well have been taking notes. "Go on."
"I went to Europe when I was 12, I graduated from high school. My father was an exceptional teacher and had me learn calculus, physics, and chemistry before I was ten. This allowed me to finish high school very rapidly. I mainly took business and culinary classes in high school, being able to test out of all of the core classes before I took them. That's when I went to Europe for the Maid Academy."
"Maid Academy?"
"I'm not really allowed to talk about it." She stared elsewhere. "But there are a lot of cute boys in Europe. That is what I am allowed to talk about."
Nagi froze. This girl before her, though seeming a little younger than her, was actually a year or so older than her. Was she well versed with men? Maria claimed she was, but Nagi knew that she had never been with a boy before. Perhaps Veronica has had a boyfriend before? Maybe she had...
Nagi flustered.
"What do you mean by that?" Nagi began to ask. "I mean... uh..."
"Nagi... you don't mean to tell me that you've... never..."
"No! Ok? I've only been dating Hayate! And he doesn't really treat me as a girlfriend! So, it is... I don't even know..." Nagi fell on her back, still kneeling.
"Really?" Veronica asked, sounding surprised.
"I still don't know what it is like to,"
"Sleeping with a guy is a tricky business." Veronica tried to respond to her comment.
"W-WHAT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY!" Nagi panicked. "I've... never... kissed a boy before... Well... not on the lips."
"Oh I'm so sorry... Someone of your age and stature, it surprises me, frankly." Veronica explained.
Nagi rolled onto her side hugging a pillow. "He just doesn't treat me like a girlfriend. He only hugs me in extreme circumstances; he doesn't even ogle me like the other girls."
Veronica scowled. "Hmm. That is odd. Perhaps he swings that way?"
Nagi remembered the magazines under his bed, "B-B-But he asked me out."
"I will investigate this for you." Veronica stated after a few moments of thought.
"How?"
"I'm going to go see why he doesn't want to kiss you."
Nagi waved her hands in panic, "Don't say it so openly! Be a bit more discreet!"
"Of course. I would love to see my mistress happy." Veronica placed a hand on Nagi's cheek, "and what better way than to get her man to love her openly? How can he resist your cute face?"
Nagi blushed a little.
"Hey! You don't swing that way, do you?" Veronica demanded.
"NO! I am saving myself for Hayate!" She declared violently.
"I get ya, I get ya." Veronica backed away.
"I take it... you've... and boys?"
"Oh yeah." Veronica affirmed. "What boy can resist a cute girl in a maid outfit? It is a little different in Europe, especially where that maid academy was."
Nagi flustered. Veronica succeeded where her friends had failed.
"How many guys?"
"I had about fifty like me, but I only let about ten take me out on dates," Ten boyfriends! "But I only let a select few take me home."
Nagi's mouth crept open in shock.
"You've..."
"Yeah. I liked them, they were cute and all, really romantic, I thought each might be the one. But, nope. Didn't meet my overall expectations."
"Is it..."
"Yeah it's awesome. But it sucks the next day if they're not there with you."
Maria did not have such experience.
"Do you think you could help me?" Nagi asked.
"I am required to help you in anything you want, am I not?" Veronica coyly reminded her.
"Ahh, that's right." Nagi pondered the prospect of having a maid, a friend, knowledgeable in such fields. Best to not ask everything at once. Nagi concluded.
"I'll work on your love life, rest assured." Veronica smiled.
Nagi smiled back, and the two casually talked through the evening.
An hour or so later, Veronica lay in bed next to Nagi. She grit her teeth angrily.
"This is so stupid," she muttered inaudibly. "She wanted me to sleep next to her, the baby, afraid of the dark. This isn't working out the way I planned."
Nagi shifted in bed, and Veronica used this opportunity to roll out of it. Landing on the floor on all fours, Veronica froze, waiting for Nagi to get settled again.
She grumbled once more, "She even tried to get me into pajamas. I don't sleep in pajamas!" It was a harsh whisper. "I..." Veronica looked around, standing up. "I need to find that hottie."
She patted her skirt down and rolled out of the room swiftly.
Hayate relaxed in the Sanzenin Spa downstairs. It had been a long day. Since Veronica arrived, Hayate had been running after her. Then there was the whole getting-mauled-by-the-pet-tiger incident. After that, apparently Nagi and Veronica hit it off. Hayate was glad that Nagi accepted her, and he himself was willing to accept the new maid.
She was strong, fast, efficient, and seemed to care enough about the job and his mistress. Of course, it might only be a temporary fix, but until the issue with Maria was resolved, she would certainly do.
Hayate had worked on tidying a few things up after Nagi befriended Veronica, but there was much work to do. He had neglected the house to try to ward off Veronica, after all.
But, he took this opportunity to ruminate in the hot tub, relaxing himself for a nice warm bath.
Maybe the whole Veronica thing is a good deal? Hayate thought as he lowered his shoulders into the hot bath. She is sort of cute in a weird way. With her crimson dress, she really pulls off the cool look rather well. It is hard to think she is sixteen though. She hardly looks older than Mistress Nagi, and she doesn't look her age.
Hayate reaffirmed himself aloud. "She is really cute though."
The door slid open on the other side of the room.
Wrapped only in a white towel, her hat off, Veronica walked, not rolled, into the spa area. Her clothing could be seen just inside the small changing room from which she appeared, her roller skates too. Her skin was glimmering and smooth, even from across the way.
Her hair was a little strange without the hat. It fell, rather widely, from the top of her head, almost as if the hat had never been taken off. Most of her hair was clumped into a large ponytail which hung from the left side of her hair.
But her legs were stranger. As she walked, it looked grotesque and painful. Her legs, up until the lower half of her shin, were fine looking. But everything covered by the skates was bizarre and malformed. It looked like the skin was stretched taut across a really rigid frame. Her bones were pointy near her toes, nearly jutting out of the skin it seemed. Stranger yet, she could not walk on the sole of her foot, it didn't exist. It was just a mush of skin and bone. She only walked on the tips of her toes.
But that didn't stop her from walking into the pool in an otherwise delicate manner.
Hayate stared, but looked away as she removed the towel.
I am in a hot tub with a girl near my age that is naked. This is wonderful. But, this does not feel right.
"Ahh," she moaned, "This water feels so good. I'm glad to have chosen a good place." She loudly let out excitedly.
The moaning sounds were not helping Hayate's case. He had to make his presence known.
"Uh, M-Ms. Veronica, you are aware that I am here, right?"
"Why else was I moaning?" She said from across the way, in plain sight of Hayate.
"I- uh," Hayate gulped.
From the other side of the hot bath, Veronica's eyes transfixed themselves on Hayate. Her face was partially submerged.
"You know Hayate," she began slowly moving through the water towards Hayate, "Nagi is asleep. I doubt she would hear anything." There was a tint of mischief in her voice.
"I- uh," there weren't too many things to say to this.
"I always liked you, you know. I saw that you worked here when I applied. I sorta decided then."
"Mistress Nagi doesn't want me to do anything to the maids." Hayate reminded himself aloud.
"What's one night she won't know about going to do?" Veronica continued approaching.
Hayate could see her form coming into detail as she made her way towards him.
I feel that my life is in mortal danger. I feel that my life is in mortal danger. I am in peril. I should run away right now.
"Come on Hayate, I've seen the way you've been looking at me." I haven't been looking at her until just now! And I want to look away now because it isn't appropriate to look at girls like this!
"Hayate..." Veronica crooned as she came even closer. She couldn't have been more than ten feet away.
My life is in danger. My life is in danger. My life is in danger.
"Kiss me?" Veronica begged, closing the gap at 7 feet.
"No thank madam!" Hayate jumped from the water and landed on deck.
"I won't take no for an answer!" She cried out, lunging from within the water with the speed of a shark. She ended with her chest pushed up against the wall at the end of the pool, arms outstretched towards Hayate.
Her eyes seemed to be either heavily reflective or glowing.
Hayate stood, as naked as he was, staring back at her, scared and unsure of what to do next.
"Gosh Hayate, didn't think you'd present yourself to a girl you hardly know. You're so scandalous." Veronica teased.
"That's-That's because you tried to make a move on me!"
"Do you want me to come out of the water too? I'm sure you'd love to see-"
Hayate was already dried and changed before she could complete her sentence.
Veronica's flirty smile was replaced with something evil as it twisted upwards into a vile smirk.
Hayate went back into his bedroom and locked the door. He set the alarm and lie in his pajamas in bed.
"What was that all about? Sure she's cute, but... forward? So forward! I... Milady wouldn't like me to do anything without her permission. I'm going to try to avoid this new maid until we find Maria... Assuming... assuming she's coming back..."
Hayate's life may have just entered a new, dark chapter.
A bang on the door later caused his eyes to flash open, and then he feigned sleep as Veronica whispered through the door.
"Nighty night, Mr. Ayasaki." Laughter followed, and Hayate shivered.
Veronica was now fully dressed up and ready to go. It may have been somewhere around midnight but she was unfazed.
She began cleaning the floors with a Swiffer, deciding that the vacuum was too loud for the sleeping denizens of the mansion.
She smiled. Everything was going according to plan so far.
Do you think I pushed the rating? What do you think of Veronica, or more generally, the whole Belle family? They are new, so their personalities I am still checking.
I am eager to hear your opinions! I hope you enjoyed reading this block of Hoshi Shirushi Kara Futte Gotazoku, I think I may continue this block method. Unless anyone has a problem with it, that is.
More coming soon.
... And we get to play with a few other Hayate no Gotoku characters then!
Chapter added 18:08, 2/20/2012