Prison Love
By: illgiveyouparadise
Hello guys! I've made this chapter longer (it's the longest so far), so take your time reading it!
Thanks for your reviews guys! My reply is the following:
Skryx: I'm not sure if I'm doing Fate's pov. I kinda want to keep her more to the mysterious side... and thanks for the review!
Emrriz Mei: So I took upon myself to write some love-love tease moments between them, and I hope you like them! I think I'll write more interactions between just the two of them in the following chapters, but then I don't really want to just focus on their romance. I'll add in some action and drama too, so I hope you don't mind.
Frosty Asian: Thanks for the comment and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too!
megamar: Once again, I'm glad that someone finds it interesting! Please enjoy this chapter too!
Aka Chibi-Chan: Haha. Thanks for your enthusiasm! And yes, you're right, when it comes to Fate, Nanoha's nine lives will be easily lost! Anyway, read on!
Lance58: I apologize for the short chapter! This chapter is like thrice (or more) the last chapter longer, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it!
Sappho Sensei: Yes, thank you for pointing that out for me! I have changed it now, but anyhow, thanks for the review!
StephyGrock3107: Hey, sorry I typed your username without all the capitals in the right place (cause I got kinda lazy)... The answer to your question will be replied soon (hopefully). Really, it depends on how fast I can work on the story, but since I will have a lot to do starting this week, I will try my best to work on the story so it will progress smoothly to reach the point where I can finally answer your question! Thanks for your review!
Guest(s): Thanks for your review(s)! Have fun reading this chapter and have a nice day!
On the other hand, I would like to thank all those silent readers out there that keep tabs on my story. Really, your fav/follow means a lot to me too. Please continue to support me, thanks!
I know it may sometimes be annoying that you see a whole bunch of things(my responses to some reviews) that doesn't really concern some of us at the beginning of the story, but please know that I'm very grateful to you for giving it a chance. That's all.
Disclamer: I do not own MGLN!
Chapter 4
Nanoha waited eagerly for a reply to her sudden question, and the blonde stopped in mid-step, his eyes clouding with an emotion that she couldn't quite decipher. Was it indecisiveness? Craving?
Her roommate turned his body towards her and tilted his head slightly to his right, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. As if learning a new word, he said, 'friends?'
Nanoha would have described Fate at that moment as cute. His expression made him look like a lost puppy, which was ironic since he was in no way small or fluffy. Though he would make a good golden retriever, she mused.
'Yes, friends,' she confirmed, and the blonde just continued to bore his intense gaze at her, causing her to fidget consciously from one foot to the other.
'I mean, it's okay if you don't want to be friends. I'm totally fine with that. It's not like it's a must. We don't even know each other that much, that's why I wanted to be your friend. But then if you don't want to, it's alright. I won't take any offense. It's just that you seemed lonely and-' seeing her roommate froze on the spot made her stop her embarrassing gibberish.
Realizing what she just said, she continued to babble, 'oh no, I didn't mean it like that. You don't seem lonely at all. Really, you don't. You're intriguing. I mean, interesting. I-wait, I'll just shut up.'
With that said, she clamped her lips together and stared at the ground, willing her eyes to shoot lasers to make a hole deep enough for her to crawl into. Her cheeks reddened at her outburst.
She tended to blubber nonsense when she was nervous or flustered, and this bad habit of hers was incurable. One of her childhood friend, Hayate Yagami, would have loved to tease her at this very moment.
Thinking about it, she had just displayed herself to be a blubbering fool in front of (most probably) the gorgeous guy on earth.
Who knows what will happen to her confidence in her charms and capability to appeal to the other sex? Possibilities popped up in her mind: She may never get married nor have kids. If she really wanted one, then she would have to adopt one. But otherwise, she would be forever alone, and she may just forever chew on a bone…like Hayate's dog Zafira.
However, a warm hand ruffling her hair that was cut short when she had to join the training camp pulled her out of her thoughts, causing her eyes to widen as they travelled upwards to meet Fate's.
Her roommate wasn't smiling or laughing, much less be amused. No, the blonde was simply gazing at her with a forlorn look in his dull burgundy eyes.
Before she could even register what happened, with a swift turn and a whoosh of air, she found that she was staring at a retreating back again, leaving her alone and shaken.
He didn't even smile, she whispered to herself.
She understood now.
She was being naïve, thinking that becoming his friend would be as easy as asking a mouse if it wants cheese. How silly of her.
Nothing in this world comes without a price. It would have to take a lot more than just asking if she wanted him to open up to her.
Time was what she needed. And of course, let luck be on her side, she wasn't going to give up on her roommate without a fight.
'Hey! You still haven't answered my question!' she shouted, chasing after him.
Maybe being here won't be half as bad as she had thought…
Catching up with Fate, she noticed that they had already gone all the way from the clinic to the canteen, and the place was buzzing with new and old trainees.
Sitting down next to the blonde who had settled himself on a bench, she decided to attempt once more.
'So what are you eating, Fate?' she said the first thing that came into her mind.
Her roommate spared her a glance, and resumed staring at random chatting trainees. 'Everyone's dinner is the same.'
Ouch. Nanoha slapped herself mentally. Stupid, she scolded herself. Why does she always lose her footing when she was around Fate?
'Oh. Then where are you from?' she asked, still adamant.
The blonde stayed silent for a while, and just when Nanoha thought that she wasn't going to get a reply, he spoke, 'Mid-Childa.'
She eyed him with suspicion.
He was lying, and she knew it.
For as long as she was born, she had lived in Mid-Childa, and she practically knew everyone in town.
Yes, she was quite sociable and out-going back home, and all the people liked her fairly well, (something that she was very proud of), so there wasn't a chance that she would have missed the attractive blonde.
Plus, if Fate really was from Mid-Childa, then he would have been the entire town's teenage girl's favorite topic. Hell, maybe even children's and bored housewives'.
There was no way that he would have gone unnoticed. Not with this look and this personality.
As to why he lied, Nanoha had no idea, but what she decided not to push it. She was going to find out the answer later. For now, she would let it go.
Nodding her head, she gave a disbelieving uh-huh.
The blonde ignored her, and she sighed, frustrated at how she could get his attention.
She felt like some high school girl trying to make her existence known to the school's most favorable jock, and most likely, her crush.
Not that Fate is her crush, she quickly added. He's just…different and eye-catching.
Out of vexation, she absent-mindedly punched the table, only to withdraw her hand when pain exploded through her knuckles and to her nerve veins.
Tingles shot up her arm and she cursed under her breath.
Cradling her poor hand into her stomach, she felt the painful throb evade her senses.
Miraculously, the sound of her hand coming in contact with the table had caught her roommate's attention.
That spark of concern appeared in his gaze again, and he reached out for her hand, halting a few centimeters from it before diminishing what he had wanted to do.
Awkwardly, he stood up. 'I'll go get your dinner. Be careful.'
With that, he hurried away, slipping past the crowd with ease.
That dimwit! He actually cares, but he himself doesn't even realize it!
Nanoha watched as he came back a few minutes later, each hand holding a tray of food.
White rice, chicken and a cup of green tea… 'Seems delicious,' she said, trying to lighten up the mood as Fate placed the tray in front of her.
His eyebrows had squeezed together again, making him seem like a child who was denied his candy instead of a worried guy.
Wordlessly, the blonde started to eat, and Nanoha realized that there was one mega problem. It may be trivial if this was any other normal day, like when she didn't hit her hand hard on a steel table. But today definitely did not have any signs of normality.
'Uh…how am I supposed to eat?' she squeaked.
Fate gulped down his food and glanced at her, then looking from her swelling hand to the pair of chopsticks lying innocently on the tray for a few times, he rested his utensils and pronounced every word carefully, as if he was doing something that he shouldn't be, 'then shall I feed you?'
Nanoha blushed at the courteous offer. Truthfully told, she had never been fed by another person since she had turned three years old; and she was nineteen right now, how embarrassing would that be!
Yet, the slight tingle from her hand reminded her that it was time to accept the truth.
She couldn't possibly hold the chopsticks in place with her injured hand, and it would be impossible to have her dinner without the chopsticks, so in conclusion, she needed his help, even though she won't admit that she wanted to be fed by Fate. After all, how many times in your life will you get the chance to get fed by a fetching guy?
'Y-yeah,' she stuttered out.
Having gotten his permission, Fate held up a slice of chicken and proceeded to put it into her mouth.
As the piece of food drew nearer and nearer, the temperature on her cheeks also rose along. She parted her lips.
I can do this…I can do this…
Suddenly shutting her eyes, she clamped her mouth on the whole piece of chicken and chewed on it, swallowing it down her throat before lifting her eyelids.
Gosh, that was fas-… why did she do that?! She yelled in her mind for the second time on the same day.
She was supposed to take the food into her mouth elegantly, then nibble on it slowly, and lastly, swallow it down with ease like a proper lady.
But what did she do? She acted like an uncivilized person and gulfed the whole piece down without another thought. Way to go, Nanoha, she chided.
Well, it wasn't like she could do that anyway, she comforted herself. She was supposed to be Kyoya, which meant she was to act like a man. That was the right thing to do, she told herself. Yup, the right thing to-
'My, my, are you boys flirting with each other? Just so you know, I don't swing that way,' a teasing voice said.
Both of them snapped their heads to their right to see a sturdy blue-haired man and a coffee-brown haired man with a smirk on his lips.
Nanoha recognized the shorter male, the one with the blue hair, as the guy who raised his hand to question Jail this afternoon. Shaking her head at them, she said calmly, 'no, we're not flirting.' Although she wished they were.
She took out her hand for him to see the after effects of her careless action. 'See? I can't eat with this hand.'
'Of course,' the brown-haired man snorted, not even glancing at her hand. 'By the way, I'm Vice, and this is Chrono.' He gestured to his companion.
'Nice to meet you,' she said politely, and nodded her head at both to acknowledge them.
'Mind if we sit here? We like decent and weird friends,' Vice chuckled.
'Only you do, Vice,' the blue-haired male groaned.
Oh, now she's weird…and decent. She didn't know whether to be happy or angry at the comment.
'Sure,' she decided. It wasn't like Fate was going to talk any sooner.
They sat down with their own trays opposite to Nanoha, and Vice joked, 'well then, should I feed you a piece of chicken as a token of friendship?'
She choked on her drink.
Putting down her glass of green tea with her good hand, she sputtered, 'w-what?'
'I mean, as grown men, we should have some kind of ceremony to prove that our friendship is pure and irreplaceable,' his expression turned serious, 'you need an ally on the battle field, someone who you can trust to have your back, or else, you won't even be able to last for the first five minutes.'
Then he became playful again. 'So I figured that feeding…' He trailed off.
'Kyoya. My name is Kyoya Takamachi.'
'-Kyoya a piece of chicken would be a suitable ceremony. After all, males aren't supposed to feed another male. It should be reserved for our future lovely girlfriends,' Vice puffed out his chest and formed his hands into a fist in the air, 'but if we give our first time to each other, than that would surely bind our loyalty between us.'
Nanoha stared at the brown-haired man as if he was an alien. It seemed that he was the one who was weird, not her, or Fate.
'Now, let's start our ceremony of brotherhood! Forever loyalty is what makes us strong. Betrayal would mean death,' he picked up his chopsticks and got hold of a chicken, 'shall we?'
'There is no need for that,' an icy voice interjected.
All of them ogled at the blonde, who had stayed silent while observing them until just now. His burgundy eyes was piercing coldly at the brown-haired man, and Nanoha felt relieved that he didn't look at her like that.
'Then what do you suggest,' Vice asked.
The blonde hesitated before answering. 'Blood oath.'
The man paused for a second before throwing back his head and guffawing.
'I like that, I like that!' Then giving her roommate a quick once over, he said, 'aren't you an interesting one?'
Despite the amused male, Nanoha was astonished that Fate had proposed that.
A blood oath was a sacred ceremony that people nowadays tended to avoid.
Signing it would mean they must abide to their oath and death would always be the penalty for breaking it.
No one could escape the punishment. No one ever did.
There was like this unseen force that helped accomplish the downfall of the betrayer, whether the other people who made the promise together wanted him to die or not.
In fact, this ceremony had grown popular for a few hundred years, but too many people broke their promises, resulting in chaos all over the country. Most people hacked and sliced, while the object of their hatred died at the price of their unfaithfulness. Some though, although hurt and betrayed, mourned for the inevitable loss of their friends and loved ones.
Soon, people started to realize just how dangerous a blood oath was, and less and less swore or made promises using this ceremony.
A chill crept up her spine.
She had a bad feeling about this. They were taking risks, and-
'M-maybe we should just stick to plan A. J-just feed me a piece of chicken,' she said hopefully, but was soon crushed when she saw the faces of the two newcomers.
They were excited, to Nanoha's horror.
'Aw come on! Don't be a scaredy-cat! As long as we honor our loyalty to each other, than nothing bad will happen!' Vice chirped, and Chrono agreed along.
'I'm not one to say, since I'm a rule-loving person, I like to stay on safety shores. But I think that this is necessary to make sure that we will not betray anyone in this circle,' the blue-haired boy gave his consent.
Nanoha sighed. It was three against one, no point in arguing with them.
She knew that this was a good chance for her to make some comrades, and they seemed suitable to depend on too.
The next thing she knew, they were all nipping on their index finger, the coppery taste lingering on her tongue.
Chrono unfolded a tissue on the table.
Squeezing a drop of blood onto the snow white surface, he swore, 'I, Chrono Harloawn, swear that I will be loyal to my comrades forever until the last beat of my vitality. May death be upon me if I were to betray any one of them.'
Following him, Vice did the same thing.
When it was Nanoha's turn, she watched as her own blood mixed with the others, spreading across the tissue and simmering down the thin layers of the red-stained fabric.
The deal was done, and strangely, she felt calm and composed. She only hoped that things would be alright.
The last had been Fate, who appeared to have no surname. Yet, the blank expression he had on when he made the promise in a monotone voice added to Nanoha's curiosity.
Wasn't he the one who suggested the idea? He should be delighted that they went with his idea, not emotionless.
Well, another mystery to for her to solve, she thought.
When dinner was over, they went their separate ways to go back to their rooms.
Throughout their conversation in dinner, Fate had mostly stayed silent, only speaking up when someone asked him a question.
Anyhow, he always dodged the more personal questions, like 'where do you live in Mid-Childa?' or 'why don't you have any surname?'
All of them knew that he was holding secrets from them, and Chrono even got so worried to the point that when Fate had gone away to dump his leftovers, he had pestered her about her roommate.
'Are you sure we can trust Fate, Kyoya? He seems to be hiding something, and I'm not sure we'll like it when we find out what it is,' the blue-haired man said.
She pondered on what to reply.
Sure, the blonde had been somewhat withdrawn, but she wanted to believe in that spark of concern in his sad and lonely eyes every time she got into trouble.
He had offered help when she needed it most. He had saved her from being chewed out by Jail. He had never done anything that proved him to be untrustworthy, at least not yet.
So there was no reason to doubt in it. Doubt, eventually, had always turned out to be a double-edged sword.
'Yes, I think we can,' she said, meeting Chrono's eyes with an unwavering gaze.
The blue-haired man nodded. 'If you say so, you're his roommate after all,' and they changed the topic casually as soon as the subject of their topic came back.
Well, back to reality. She and Fate were alone again in their small room.
Switching on the lights, she was prepared to go straight to bed when a clear voice broke through the air, 'wait.'
She was in the middle of climbing up the short ladder to reach her bed, and when she paused to look at her roommate, she hanged in midair like a monkey.
'I'll help you bandage that swollen knuckle.'
It took Nanoha a few moments to process what the blonde just said.
There he go again, she thought as she jumped off the ladder and sat on the edge of Fate's bed, being all caring and stuff.
The blonde knelt in front of her, his hand carrying a small first-aid box. He set it down beside him, and flipping it open, he took out an elastic bandage.
A warm hand gripped hers gently, pulling it forwards, and Nanoha stared at Fate as he worked his magic.
He was so placid and tender, in her opinion, and she couldn't understand why he wanted to isolate himself, and the longer she peered into his deep burgundy eyes, the more butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
Soon enough, she felt her eyelids starting to droop, and she fought to keep them open.
Her hazy gaze moved to her hand, which was being bandaged neatly.
Ah, his hand is so gentle, just like his heart, I'm certain… her eyelids threatened to close.
In her fuzzy state, she saw Fate putting a safety pin through the bandage to keep it in place.
Oh curse her full stomach. She actually wanted to talk to the blonde, but… she was so, so sleepy now.
Her head dipped forward and she felt herself slipping out of consciousness. Her body slacked and the last thing she remembered before her eyes were completely shut was falling towards her roommate.
Something homely wrapped around her, and she snuggled closer to the source.
She sighed in content.
She couldn't help but think that it felt right.
So, is this just a crush, or is it something more?
Do you ever think
When you're all alone
All that we can be
Where this thing can go
Am I crazy or falling in love
Is it real or just another crush?
Do you catch a breathe
When I look at you
Are you holding back
Like the way I do
Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going away
Thanks for reading! And leave some reviews if you like it or have anything to say!