[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by WarpObscura

... What (the F-) is this (S-) I don't even



You make me feel old (relatively speaking, anyway, as there are 2004-ers who are still active) and much less useful.

Have a WIP Reinno fic.

Spoiler for Nonexistent Future:

“Sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out if you had never met me.”

Yuuno looked across the table, a piece of chili crab halfway to his mouth, and blinked. “That’s… abrupt, Rein. Why do you say… phrase it as ‘you had never met me’? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Reinforce played with her fingers, offhandedly rubbing at her wedding ring. “I’m inconsequential.”

There was no trace of irony or sarcasm in her voice, something that made Yuuno stiffen and slowly put the piece of crab back on its plate. He involuntarily looked down at his own matching band, then back into his wife’s beautiful ruby eyes, sighing as he did so. “I thought we had this worked out with the counsellors by now, dear.”

“Centuries of self-loathing don’t disappear into thin air in just a few years.”

“T-that’s not a good attitude to have,” Yuuno uttered lamely. “Now, please eat.” He scooped up a spoonful of fresh scallop and eased it into Reinforce’s mouth. “We’re not here to mope about the past. We’re here…”

Reinforce stared at her husband, half expecting him to whip out a pair of sunglasses any second now. Any second…

“For our honeymoon.”

Reinforce broke down laughing.

“What?” Yuuno asked, confused. “What did I… What did… Aw hell naw.” He slapped an open hand to his forehead and could not help laughing in embarrassment either.

After she managed to calm down and stop laughing, Reinforce rubbed her tears of mirth dry and said, “Come on, let’s finish up and go. It would have been nice to find out how they make this, but getting the recipes can come later. I need to get you some shades.”

Yuuno chuckled again as he shook his head. Nanoha had suggested that, since she would be going back to visit her family soon, a whirlwind tour of the continent that terminated in Japan would dovetail nicely. She had also been of the opinion that it would be an eye-opener. Though it was an easy mistake to make for an outsider, or gaijin as Nanoha’s native tongue would have it, all the more so for an off-worlder like them, Japan was not the centre of the universe. It would be far too foolish to automatically assume that Japan was representative of the whole Earth. Thus far, the trip had proven to be most educational. As of the present moment, they were currently in Singapore, a city-state so tiny that it was barely locatable on a world map. This one had been… well, both of the newlyweds were hard-pressed to describe it adequately. What did stick out most clearly in their minds was this fruit with a green spiky exterior, tasty yellow flesh and a most pungent odour. It was… what was it called again? Oh yes, a durian.

It was on the bus on the way to the next location when Yuuno said, “Maybe I would have been the one to become inconsequential.”

Reinforce raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her husband. “Is this about my question just now?”

Yuuno nodded. “I know it’s not wise to listen to the grapevine, but sometimes it’s just hard to not overhear.” He rested his head against Reinforce’s upper arm. “To hear Ramuta speak, you’d think that the Scaglietti Incident would never have affected me.”

“… What?” Reinforce sounded mortified by the thought. “That’s… impossible.”

Yuuno laughed, although there was a bitter note in it. “It gets better. Supposedly in another two years’ time, I’d have become such a non-entity that I would be unessential to the Library, not even appearing when… when…”

“You’re supposed to be there?” Reinforce finished. She knew Yuuno wasn’t quite the person to insist on his own importance.

Yuuno nodded. “After being forgotten by everyone else, including Nanoha,” he continued despite a sharp, surprised intake of air on Reinforce’s end, “that would be when I would supposedly be disposable enough for… them to get rid of me like they had always been hankering to do but could not while I still had some significance.”

Reinforce rubbed her forehead as if trying to get rid of a headache. “Some of these people have too much free time to think up wild scenarios.” She paused and licked her lower lip slowly. “None of the Sissies are following us, are they?”

Yuuno shook his head and ran a hand through Reinforce’s locks reassuringly. “That NIRTScan bit system I adapted hasn’t picked up anything. If Ib or any of those… those…”

“Mike Foxtrots?” Reinforce volunteered, unable to keep a hint of amusement out of her tone at the pilfered Earthling military lingo and what it really stood for.

Yuuno sighed. “Yes, those; if they had tried to portal in we should have known, between the two of us at least.”

Reinforce put an arm around Yuuno’s shoulders and shook her head. “Don’t trouble yourself with an impossible, nonexistent future. I know it must be tr-” She looked up as the bus captain informed them of their stop. “-oubling that others think so lowly of you. Come on, let’s go. Two decades of self-lo-”

Yuuno broke into laughter, took Reinforce’s hand, and together Mr. and Mrs. Scrya got off the bus.

I'm working on an omake for it; I don't know if I want to integrate it into this chapter or keep it separate. Will keep y'all posted.

Also, would you say I'm suffering from cookie-cutter-ism?

That's an interesting fic... *nods* YuunoxReinforce? ...Do want?

Maybe? I'd be interested in knowing where you go with this.