Even though it disregards many things, the Carnival Moment is a moment where stories cross paths. As long as they share the multiverse, no matter how impossible it is, there will be tale of an impossible encounter under normal circumstances.
This is one such tale.
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The first thing she noticed when Hayate Yagami stepped into the cafe was the red eyed silverette sitting in the corner.
The small bipedal cats running the establishment did not even catch her attention. Neither did the red haired man with a talking sword.
It was understandable really. After all, it is usually impossible for one to encounter the dearly departed. For a while, Hayate stood frozen on the spot, unable to do anything but stares at the woman.
"...Rein... force?" Hayate choked out with great difficulty. Her trembling hand unconsciously reaches out, as if to grasp the illusion in front of her.
The silver haired woman looks up, and Hayate knew immediately that the woman sitting there was definitely Reinforce. Someone that she lost over a decade ago.
There and then, she did not care if this was an illusion or not. She tackled the woman, and was immensely relieved when Reinforce did not disappear.
"H-hey!"
"What the-!"
"M-mistress?"
Three voices called out in surprise, and Hayate recognizes Reinforce's soprano immediately. When she felt the woman struggling to get free, Hayate hugged the woman tighter, unwilling to let her go. Part of her was happy that the Reinforce was real, and that she was here. Another part of her wanted to cry at the latter's treatment. Why? Why did she act so surprised? Why didn't she contact Hayate all this time?
"She... didn't mean to do it." A voice spoke up. Apparently, Hayate had voiced her question out loud.
But the voice itself gave Hayate pause. It was eerily similar to her own... Slowly, the Commander turned around, and was shocked to find her own face staring back at her.
"W-what's going on?" Hayate asked. How ... how could there be another of her here?
"Well..." Hayate blinked. Since when did- no. This is not the Yuuno that she knew. That much she was sure. "This place ... Cafe Ahnenerbe serves as a hub of sort for the multiverse. It is convenient as a place where parallel worlds meet."
"Parallel worlds?" She remembered Yuuno talking about it once, during one of the few times he left the Library.
"This... could take a while..."
===1 long exposition by other Yuuno later===
"So... what're you saying is that this is not my Reinforce, but another who managed to miraculously survives the battle with the Defense Program, but needed a lot of time to recover. When she did, she ran through the TSAB database, accidentally corrupting a lot of data, including Yuuno's vacation record, thus leading to their meeting. Then he helped her gain a physical form, and you stumbled into it by complete accident. And now she's his Unison Device, even though she could do it with you both?"
Three nods answered her question.
"This... this is..."
"Hard to believe, I know." The other Hayate patted her on the back. "When I first saw her in Yuuno's computer, I actually fainted. After he explained things to me, I didn't know to punch him or kiss him silly for it."
After the initial shock, the other Hayate had let her sit next to Reinforce, while she sat down next to the alternate Yuuno. During the explanation, she never once let go of Reinforce's hand. Hayate was thankful that neither Reinforce nor the other Hayate minded much.
"By the way...How can you believe it so quickly? I mean, when that guy-" the other brunette pointed toward the red haired man "first explained things to us, we were really shocked. It wasn't until he called another Signum - when we were talking with her at the same time - that we believed him"
"It's because he doesn't have the same feel as my Yuuno." His eyes being the same was one. The others... well, she'd rather not think about that.
"Oh? My Yuuno?" The other Hayate smirked teasingly.
"Well, I'm trying." Hayate countered with a smirk of her own. "What about you? Looking quite cozy there. Something that I should know?"
Hayate smiled when she saw the two lit up. Reinforce leaned in - Hayate had to refrain herself from hugging the woman - and whispered a very incriminating fact.
"Oh my... You've been sleeping on his bed for quite some time now. Are you sure nothing happened?"
The other Hayate was saved from further embarrassment when the door opened rather violently. The four of them turned toward the entrance, finding another blond standing there.
"Ah. I apologizes." Yuuno - her Yuuno, from the way he glanced at his hands - grimaced.
"Yuuno! Over here!" Hayate waved her friend over.
The man walked over, only to froze at the sight in front of him. Hayate can't help but giggles at that. It was rare to see him looking like that these days.
"Come on. No one is going to eat you." The other Yuuno smiled. Looks like he learned a few things from the other Hayate.
That snapped Yuuno out of his trance. Warily, he sat down next to Hayate, glancing between the alternates.
"So... parallel worlds?" He finally asked the other Yuuno.
"Yes." The other blond nodded.
"Interesting..." Her friend whispered "Can you give me a short version? I want to compare notes."
"Sure."
And with that, the two blond were off in their own little world. Hayate, the other Hayate and Reinforce looked on in amusement the two debated, argued, and then somehow complimenting each other's theory.
"Pssh. Hey." The other Hayate whispered, causing Hayate to look away from the debate."
"Yes?"
"What... what happened to your Yuuno?"
"What do you mean?" Hayate knew what she was talking about, but she wasn't looking forward to it. Even though Yuuno didn't really care about it, Hayate was still extremely hesitant about the subject. She accidentally helped caused it after all.
"His right eye... It looked different compared to his left one. And why does he look like he can't control his strength?"
"It's..."
"The idiotic act of a worthless fool" It was Yuuno who answered. His tone was mocking, and it was filled bitterness.
"How many times have I told you?" Hayate turned toward the Librarian "You're not a fool, and you're not worthless, okay? Stop selling yourself so short"
"But I am. No matter how one look at it, I'm useless. Sure, I'm the Head Librarian, but anyone can fill that position, and some might even be better at it than me."
"No one can replace you Yuuno." Hayate firmly declared.
“Tell that to the higher ups” Yuuno blithely replied. “Anyway, the others were looking for you. The Christmas party is about to start.”
“… You’re not going?” Hayate asked when she saw Yuuno walking away. Ever since that day, he had changed. Even though he was still the same man everyone knew, only when there were two of them did the changes themselves. He was bitter, tired, and disgruntled with everything.
“Not sure if I’m welcomed there.” Yuuno shrugged. “It was nice meeting you three.”
He paused when he reached the door. “Hey, alternate me… Hold on to those two. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”
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