Hayate’s house
Warm. There was something warm on top of Vivio. At first Vivio enjoyed the strange warmth on her chest that was until Vivio realized that the warmth didn’t belong there. As she sleepily opened her eyes she slowly noticed a strange little thing on her chest. As her eyes focused she noticed it was furry, with little furry paws and a little furry face.
“…” Vivio blinked. The little rodent was snoozing happily, unaware that he was in danger. “Ferret.”
[Can I crush it?] Falling Soul sounded like he was ready to make some ferret jerky.
“Mmm,” The ferret squirmed around, burying himself further into Vivio’s chest.
Vivio’s eye twitched. She grasped the little brown rodent by the tail and flung him off of her and the bed. It was lucky for him that he landed on Zafira’s puppy pillow. “Pervert!”
The ferret rose drowsily, waving his head this way and that, “hmm…” His little brow furrowed as he looked and Vivio, “Miss Takamachi? Why are you in my room?”
Vivio’s pure rage was replaced by confusion. “John?”
Ferret John looked down, confused by her confusion, a look of shock passed over himself when he saw his body. “I did it again,” he groaned and covered his face as best he could with his paws.
[And what is that? Sleep perving?]
“N-no,” John looked like he wanted to burrow into the pillow and stay there forever. “It’s like sleep walking except I perform magic, while I’m asleep.”
[Followed by the perving.]
“No I also sleep walk.” He looked so utterly ashamed that Vivio couldn’t help but believe he was telling the truth.
“So,” She moved on the bed so she was more comfortable, “you can also turn into a ferret?” The guy was quickly turning into her uncle’s clone.
The little ferret shook his head, “No no I’m just used a spell to look like this. Instant transformation like that is beyond me. I just happen to know a forced transformation spell and I suppose I used it on myself.”
[A likely story. I say we crush him Vi.]
[Could you be any louder?] The sound of a female AI caused the others to go silent. Her voice was cold and smooth like a melting ice cube. At the same time every word felt like she was shooting arrows into them. [I was in sleep mode but it seems I’m allowed to get any rest.]
“Sorry Slyph,” John jumped off of Zafira’s pillow and onto the bed where he ran up onto the bedside table where a small silver crescent shaped pin lay next to Falling Soul.
[If you’d be kind enough to quiet down sir perhaps I could rest.]
[Who’s the princess?] Falling Soul sounded more then a bit annoyed.
[And we’re so sorry your highness.]
[I am Slyph the Silver Bow.]
Vivio and ferret John could only watch as their devices duked it out.
[Well I’m Falling Sou—]
She cut him off.
[I don’t care.]
“She doesn’t mince words does she?” Vivio poked John’s side.
"No she doe-" He stiffened. “Please turn around Miss Takamachi.” He dove off of the table.
“Why? And don’t call me that.”
“Just do it pl—” John was cut off by a sudden popping noise followed by the sudden absence of ferret John, instead the regular John was back but he seemed to be lacking something important.
[I told you he was a pervert.]
---
Hayate’s kitchen table
“So there’s a timer?” Vivio looked like she was about to burst out laughing, though there was a blush on her cheeks.
“A magical one yes. I haven’t perfected the spell yet and I’ve been working on it a lot lately so I guess I just tried to fix it up in my sleep,” he chuckled nervously. He had put on casual clothes though Vivio didn’t know how he managed to keep his jeans and his button up shirt spotless.
“You work on spells?” Vivio tilted her head to the side.
John gave her a puzzled look. “Of course. What do you do?”
Vivio waved her hand in the air. “I just kind of picture the spell and Falling Soul helps me do the rest. Isn’t that how it always works?”
“Maybe it’s just support magic that works like this,” He offered with a small shrug.
“Yeah I guess,” She played with a napkin.
“So you must be pretty high ranked to be that accomplished with magic.”
Vivio’s face fell, “Oh…”
John looked concerned, “I’m sorry did I say something wrong?”
“No it’s just… I’m only ranked A,” she tapped her head on the table.
John didn’t know why she sounded depressed. “That’s two ranks right then me, I’m only a B.”
Vivio just groaned, “But you don’t come from a family where everyone was AAA when they were nine.”
“What unit are you part of?” John inquired. “Do you work with Aunt Hayate?”
Vivio shook her head, “I haven’t got around to enlisting yet.”
“What!” John stood up.
“There’s no reason to be so surprised kid,” Vita entered the kitchen dressed in only a very large t-shirt that fit her like a dress. She had obviously just woken up because her hair was unbraided. She opened the fridge taking out a small bottle of milk and proceeded to down it in a single gulp. “Vivio’s mom is Nanoha.” She reached for another one. “Nanoha doesn’t want Vivio in the military,” she chugged this one down too. “But we’re working on her.”
“That’s not true,” Vivio protested, “I just haven’t gotten around to asking her.”
“Wait why?” John turned around in his chair, his arms hanging over the edge.
Vita rapped him over the head with her knuckles. “That’s not your business.”
He flinched, “Sorry.”
“Just don’t be nosy,” she fell into the empty chair next to him. “Morin’ Zaffy.” She nodded at the wolf as he walked into the room, turning into a human in time to sit next to Vivio.
“Good morning and don’t call me that.”
“Don’t be so grumpy Zaffy,” Vivio offered him an apple from the fruit basket on the table.
The wolf man took the apple and bit into it, almost eating a whole half of it in one bite. He looked thoughtful as he chewed, finally speaking as he swallowed. “I missed my pillow.” Vivio had taken the room Zafira shared with Vita so he and Vita had gone to sleep with Hayate. “How was the couch John?”
John turned a bizarre shade of red, “It was fine, a bit… lumpy but it was… good.” He couldn’t look Zafira in the eyes.
Vivio considered him lucky that Falling Soul was upstairs or John might have had to face the wrath of her self-appointed guardians.
“I see.” Zafira left it at that. If he didn’t believe John he didn’t let it show.
“I should get going,” Vivio stood up, stretching. “I can’t let Nanoha-mama keep Fate-mama all to herself.”
John opened his mouth to speak but Vita interrupted. “If you’re gonna make a perverted comment don’t.”
“Who do you think I am?”
“A teenage boy.”
---
The Infinite Library, two days later
The infinite library was a busy place. After all it was home to millions of unique books that weren’t located anywhere else. John was surprised to see it like that though, with its head librarian missing. It seemed to be running as efficiently as it normally did. John had gotten his books in a matter of minutes as usual and despite the crowd, he managed to find an empty table.
And so John got right to work. As Hayate’s new unit had yet to start functioning John had a good deal of free time, more then he cared to have. So he had started his own little project.
John idly flipped through the stack of newspapers most dating back to MC 75. Most of the information he already knew, what he really needed was all classified. “How’s the search coming Slyph?”
[I’ve found 326 entries in my database for ‘cradle’. None of them appear to be useful unless you’ve gone and impregnated someone sir.]
“Nothing like that,” he said absently to the pin. “Pull them up please.” The screen popped up in front of him, the four entries showing. Indeed almost every single one of them was on the buying, selling and proper use of baby cradles. However, hidden among them was what John was looking for, “The Saint’s Cradle,” he muttered to himself.
[Do you need more information?]
“Do you think you can find it?”
[I know I can.] It was nice to have someone so confident around sometimes.
Within a minute she returned from her trip through cyberspace. [
I found it. The Saint’s Cradle was an ancient Belkan Battleship.]
“That’s not possible if it was Belkan I would have heard of it,” John shook his head, Yuuno’s favorite subject was ancient Belka.
[No need to shoot the messenger I only give you information I don’t make it up.]
“Please continue,” His teacher probably just hadn’t had time to go over it with John, at least that was how John reassured himself.
[The Saint’s Cradle is several kilometers long and a truly powerful and advanced piece of technology. It is classified as a Lost Logia. In order to be operated it requires someone of the Saint’s Kaiser’s blood line. It was last activated in MC 75 during the Jail Scaglietti incident.]
“That can’t be right.”
[Again with the doubting me sir.]
“I’m sorry but if it happened in MC 75 it would be in these papers,” he motioned at the stacks.
[You’re too naïve sir.]
“Naïve?” John glanced down at the pin. “How so?”
[It’s a cover up.]
“That’s silly there’s no reason for it to be,” He shook his head. “There’s information on the event itself. If it was being covered up then we wouldn’t be taught about it in the academy.”
“Why are you so distrustful? The military has been nothing but kind to me, and you as well. Besides there’s another flaw in your information.”
[If you’re going to be so rude sir I might not bother to help you.]
He ignored her comment, “The Saint Kaiser’s blood line ran out centuries ago, that I know. I can get out genealogy charts if I need too. So if the Saint’s Cradle did run ten years ago it would have had to be running without the Saint Kaiser, and that’s impossible.”
[I suppose I’ll have to check the network.]
“The network?”
[The device network. Please don’t be as vain as to think our masters are the only ones in charge of information.] She was quiet again, having disappeared into her network.
John flipped through the papers again, taking one particular from the pile. “What I don’t understand,” he folded open the paper, searching for an article, “is what Miss Takamachi’s role in this was?” There on the page next to a small article was a picture of five year old Vivio.
“Whatcha doing?”
John threw the paper’s into the air as he nearly jumped out of his seat. “Arf!” he turned to the woman who had surprised him. “Don’t do that!”
Arf giggled and hopped into the chair next to him. In Yuuno’s absence John supposed Arf had had an important role in the library’s well being. “Sorry,” even so it was hard to take her seriously when she looked like a child.
John sighed, he had missed her while he was in the desert though. “Just a bit of research.”
Arf looked through his papers, she seemed to start sweating as she did, “A-ah… and why are you looking up information on such a boring event?”
“Boring?” John didn’t buy her act for a second.
“Y-yeah you know nothing exciting happened there,” She tried to gather his papers into a pile.
John raised an eyebrow, it seemed that someone had instructed Arf to make sure no one researched this particular subject. He contemplated arguing but it didn’t seem the papers would help him anymore. He stood up, “Can I count on you to put those away then Arf?”
She lit up, “Of course,” her tail wagged. “I’m glad I could help.” With a happy song being hummed she whisked the papers away.
[I’ve found something you might be interested in sir.] Slyph didn’t speak until Arf had disappeared from view.
“Good I’m ready for you.”
---
“Pretzel! Hot dog!” The hot dog cart’s owner called out from his position at the sidewalk’s edge, just where it hit the road.
“I’ll take one,” John took a pretzel from the man after paying him. John had skipped breakfast and was quite hungry after his hours of studying. He nibbled on it, making sure none of the crumbs would fall on himself, as he walked down the busy street. Most of the people around were tourists; the Infinity Library was a favorite destination of theirs, he’d forgotten that while he was away. John wondered what other secrets the city had created while he was gone, then again he wasn’t from Cranagan so maybe the secrets weren’t his to find.
The pretzels were still good, he was happy to discover, the perfect balance of salt and dough. He took another bite.
Ring! Ah yes the sound of bicycles driving along the roads, John remembered that sound too. He also remembered the honks. Honk! Honk! Beep! There were an awful lot of horns blowing. He turned but couldn’t see the cause of the commotion.
“’Scuse me! Sorry! Sorry! Coming through!”
[You know walking has a tendency not to get you killed.]
“Look out!”
John didn’t realize what was happening until he was hit full force.
[Slow force] It was lucky that Slyph paid attention to what was going on or John would have had a very painful landing. With the magic though he slowed to an easy thud.
[Way to go, you crushed a civilian.]
The girl on top of John groaned. “Shut up Falling Soul.”
“Miss Takamachi?”
Vivio straightened and turned around with sudden, painful (for John) motion. “John?!?”
---
Vivio ducked her head over her ice coffee, sipping it rather loudly while John drank his tea. Her skateboard and helmet were now still and by her side. She looked at John as she sipped her blush steadily growing bigger.
“So skateboards?” John raised an eyebrow.
Her shoulders rose up and her bangs fell over her eyes. After a minute she exclaimed, “Please don’t tell my parents!”
“Hiding it?”
[Vi just doesn’t want anyone to see how much she sucks.] Falling Soul sounded like it was laughing.
[A good device ensures his master is always safe.] Slyph retorted from her post.
Falling Soul had no response.
“He’s right,” Vivio fiddled with her straw. “I don’t want anyone to know until I get good.”
John’s eyes were laughing, “Then I suspect outside the Infinity Library isn’t the best place to practice.”
[She started out all the way up town.]
Vivio looked away, silently confirming what Falling Soul was saying.
“So I guess you have a lot of free time then?”
“Mmm I train most of the time but when I finish up with that I don’t have much else to do until Syn gets out of school.”
“Sin?” John raised an eyebrow.
“With a Y. She’s my,” Vivio searched for the right word.
[Girlfriend.]
Vivio glared at her device, “She is not. I bet you’d like that though, wouldn’t you.”
[I’m only a reflection of my—]
[You’re too noisy boy.] Slyph was not amused by their argument.
[And you’re too bossy.]
[I don’t care.]
The humans ignored their mechanical counterparts. “If you have so much time why haven’t you joined the TSAB yet? You seem like you want to,” the question had been on his mind ever since he learned Vivio hadn’t actually enlisted yet.
“I can’t decide what unit I want to joint. I could be an enforcer like Fate-mama, or I could go into the air force, or maybe even act as a ground unit if I wanted to. Why did you join the military?”
“Well you see there’s a debt I need to pay,” he rubbed the back of his head, “you see there’s someone I owe everything to and this is the only way I know to pay her back.”
Vivio smiled coyly. “You’re talking about Aunt Hayate aren’t you?”
John flinched, “Am I that easy to read?”
Vivio reached up and ruffled his hair, “Don’t worry it’s a nice trait to see when you’re around people who guard themselves all the time. So why did you work for Uncle Yuuno?”
John retied his hair, “After graduation he was the only one who would take me.”
If Vivio had questions she didn’t raise them. “So you’re going to work for Aunt Hayate?”
“It seems she needs forwards for something called Riot Force Six.”
“Riot Force Six!?!?” Vivio bolted up from the table. “Aunt Hayate’s making a new Riot Force Six!”
“That’s what she told Instructor Takamachi.”
“And mama’s joining up!” Vivio collapsed in her chair. “Why does no one tell me these things?”
“Maybe this is a sign,” John nodded wisely, “maybe you’re supposed to join up here and now.”
“I’m going to go talk to Aunt Hayate!” She started to run, “I’ll talk to you later!”
“Wait Miss Takamachi!”
“And don’t call me that! It’s Vivio!” And that was the last thing she said before she disappeared into the masses outside.
John left his seat, throwing down some money for their drinks as he did, “You forgot your skateboard.” He hit the edge of it with his foot, causing it to perfectly flip up and into his waiting hand. “I hope she joins, everything is so much more interesting with Miss Takamachi around.
---
“But why not!” Vivio leaned over Hayate’s desk looking at her aunt with pleading eyes. “I’m an established, registered civilian collaborator under TSAB law I’m allowed to enlist in any unit if the head officer approves!” No one could argue Vivio hadn’t done her homework.
“Vivio,” Hayate was utterly calm even though Vivio was raging, a talent she had acquired from years of needing it. “I don’t believe you’re prepared for this kind of job.”
She slammed her hands on the desk, “I’m ready! I’ve been ready! There just hasn’t been a job I’ve wanted!”
“I can’t take you on Vivio. You’re just too young.”
“John’s becoming one of your forwards,” Vivio protested.
“John’s a year older,” Hayate pointed out, “And he’s had more then a year of military training.”
“You didn’t.”
Hayate didn’t show anything but Vivio knew she had found a weak point.
“You and my parents were only nine when you joined,” Vivio crossed her arms, daring Hayate to tell her the situation was different, that Vivio’s years of training weren’t worth as much the things they had done.
Hayate sighed, “Alright. I’ll give you a chance,” she reached into her desk’s drawers and pulled out a stack of papers, “these are enlistment papers.” She was all business. Though with the speed she had given in with Vivio suspected this was what she had wanted all along.
Vivio snatched them up with the same speed she normally reserved for birthday presents. “I promise you won’t regret this!”
“Just remember,” business Hayate melted away and her playful Aunt returned, “I’m leaving telling Nanoha to you. Remember you’re underage still and need her permission to enlist.”
“Leave it to me!”
---
“No.”
Now it was in no way the first time Vivio had ever heard the word no. Her entire childhood had been filled with people, usually nuns, telling Vivio that no she wasn’t allowed solve her problems by punching, no she wasn’t allowed to skip class because she wanted to see the TSAB agents catch some bad guys and no she wasn’t allowed doodle barrier jacket designs when she was supposed to be taking history notes. This was however the first time Vivio had heard Nanoha growl the word with such ferocity it was as if Vivio had told Nanoha that she had just massacred a litter of kitties and eaten them with a nice white wine.
“Nanoha,” Fate’s voice was still it’s normal soft and gentle self but there was an underlying sternness Vivio didn’t quite recognize.
If Nanoha noticed she ignored it because she continued on. “Under no circumstances will you be joining.”
“But I’ve always planned to join! You’ve always known that! Why the hell—”
“Watch your language.”
“—would I go through that training if I wasn’t going to join?” Vivio stomped the ground not noticing she had started to cry.
Nanoha looked like she was trying to call me herself. “I wanted you to see that this isn’t something for a chil—”
“I’m not a child! I can do things for myself!” Vivio was reaching her boiling point fast. “You were nine!”
“I had no choice! You do!”
“This is my choice!” Vivio trembled.
“”I’m sorry but I won’t let you,” She wasn’t yelling, Nanoha didn’t need to yell, but she was stern.
Vivio quivered for a moment, opening and closing her mouth. She chose not to speak, only to run out the door and the house.
Nanoha started after her only to be caught around the waist by Fate.
“She needs to be alone right now,” Fate’s voice was reassuring but firm, she understood both of them needed to be apart.
“But she doesn’t understand,” Nanoha protested.
“Only because you refuse to tell her,” Fate stroked Nanoha’s hair in a calming manner, “don’t blame her for that and whether or not you approve she is going to join one day.”
“Then I’ll delay that day as long as possible.”
Fate sighed, “You only butt heads because you’re both so stubborn.”
---
Several Hours later
It was getting dark. Vivio should have headed home. But she couldn’t face Nanoha yet. So Vivio had retreated to her favorite place, the roof of one of the hightest buildings in the city. You could see everything from it, every alley, every building, she could even see the river that bordered the city’s side.
[I can’t believe you ran.]
Vivio didn’t answer her device. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and her eyes set ahead of her, looking through the chain link fence keeping her from the ground far below.
[You’re not a coward Vi. You should have held your ground and fought back!]
Vivio didn’t even look at him.
[Why won’t you answer? Come on you’re supposed to say something back and then I’ll outsmart you, like I always do! Come on Vi!]
“You don’t get it,” her voice was quiet and small.
[Come on you’ve made her angry before and you’ve never gotten like this!]
“But she wasn’t angry Falling Soul,” Vivio rubbed a tear away, “she was afraid.” She couldn’t rub them all away, “She was afraid. Was it me? Was she afraid of me or for me?”
Falling Soul was silent.
“You know that’s not how it is Vivio.”
Vivio turned her head.
Zafira stepped off of the roof’s fence and towards her. “She was only like that because she cares.”
“How’d you know I’d be here?” Vivio grumbled and tried to look sullen.
“Nanoha called Hayate and told us you hadn’t come back. We’ve all been looking for you.”
“That didn’t answer my question,” Vivio made a very teenageresc pout.
“Do you really think you have secrets I don’t know about?” Zafira raised an eyebrow.
“And now you’re going to make me go home aren’t you?” Vivio looked away from him.
“No.” He lowered himself onto the floor beside her. “I’m going sit here.”
Vivio looked at him strangely. “I-I don’t know what to do.”
“Is it that important for you to join us?” Zafira looked up at the cloudy sky with a contemplating expression. “The TSAB isn’t going away. It’ll be there in three years when you don’t need Nanoha’s permission to join.”
“But it won’t be the same!”
“Riot Force Six will wait for you Vivio.”
She shook her head, “It’s not the same as being there in the beginning.”
The giant man sighed and wrapped one of his arms around her in a sort of half hug. He didn’t say anything when she barreled into his chest and gripped him as if she wanted to split him in two. He also didn’t comment on the wetness that leaked through his shirt.
[I’m being crushed.]
Vivio looked up from Zafira’s chest and giggled, causing a low chuckle to come from her former babysitter.
“If you want you can stay with us for the night.”
“But doesn’t that mean John will be stuck on the couch again?”
“Couches build character,” Zafira grunted out.
“Then shouldn’t I sleep on the couch?”
[Vi you have enough character for all of us.]
2008-07-09, 10:10
Author
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Guess you set up home there huh
