Once the shoji doors were closed, Nanoha was leaning over the woman, pain be damned. Calloused fingers felt for the woman's pulse in her neck. Elevated, and her skin felt clammy. She flipped the sides of the blankets over the woman to ward against the autumn chill, wishing she could do more. "Fate-san, please come back," she murmured softly, mindful of the guards outside. Stroking the angel's face, she willed those beautiful crimson eyes to open, "I didn't go through all that for you to faint like this. Quit scaring me."
' ...too kind.'
' ...kick me out of bed.'
' ...best friend I could have ever asked for.'
Disjointed images chased themselves around the blonde's dreams, the claws of her mind's hands grasping at each, desperately clinging to the incredible warmth each spoken line stirred up inside her. It was less a nightmare than a potpourri of sensations, of scents, touches and emotions. She wrapped herself protectively around each one she caught, jealously guarding them against the ebb and flow of the shimmering mindscape she found herself in.
'Feito-chan… I'm so sorry… Feito-chan?'
"...Fate-san?"
Eyes flying open, Fate drew in a swift, shuddering breath. Searching eyes studied the face looking down at her and she cupped the worried visage, "You are not bleeding…" The blonde mused blurrily.
Worry shifting into relief, Nanoha gave the woman a lopsided smile, "Sorry to disappoint." Fate could feel her own cheek in the executive's hand, the light scrape of the other woman's arm brace tickling her skin. Her hand lifted a little higher and tugged at Nanoha's earlobe, "No bleeding allowed." Her lower lip was poking out and the Japanese woman melted at the pout.
"Bossing the boss, huh?" The utter relief of having Fate back in the land of the conscious had Nanoha forgetting to keep her distance, and the blonde was drowning into those warm ocean depths.
"V-Vita would approve…" She whispered, the response drawn from some unknown source. Nanoha's face went slack in shock.
"Who's Vita?" Fate's brow was scrunched, the woman obviously searching the blanks of her mind for answers. "No, don't. Don't strain yourself." Nanoha brushed back the blonde's fringe, fingers tangling with the soft strands, "What happened?"
Fate closed her eyes, relaxing under the touch of those calloused fingers in her hair. "Something… felt like a memory. It hurt, in here," she covered Nanoha's hand with hers, indicating her head, "And everything went dark." Her eyes opened, crimson orbs troubled, "I think I saw you. I can't remember."
"It doesn't matter," Nanoha blew out a heavy breath, belatedly leaning back and slipping her hand out from under the blonde's. Fate frowned, she did not like hearing the auburn-haired woman say she did not matter. Misreading that frown, the executive shifted stiffly, the pain of her recent strains slamming down on her now that her worry for the blonde had receded. "Do you… still feel the pain?"
"No, there is no pain." Long limbs slipping under herself, Fate pushed up into a sitting position, realising she was in Nanoha's bed. The woman was wrapped in a kimono-looking thing, and the blonde blinked, "I think… you have worn that before."
"Yu-ka-ta." Nanoha pronounced slowly for the blonde's benefit, "And yes." A faint air of skittishness settled across Nanoha's shoulders though she still managed a tight smile, "Seems some impressions are coming back to you. We'll need to be careful it doesn't happen where you might fall and hurt yourself."
The executive was troubled. If something like this should occur out of anyone's presence… Well, good thing Ginga would be there. It grated on Nanoha that it had to be this way, but better Ginga than her. It just wasn't a good idea. Look at how she forgot herself at the drop of a hat. Or drop of a blonde.
The other worrisome thing was whether the return of more complete fragments would trigger the blonde to fall into another state of catatonia. "If only we could control this," she muttered aloud, absently rubbing at the aching throb around her shoulder wound.
"What am I doing?" Fate muttered. Nanoha frowned in puzzlement at the blonde, wondering what she meant by that. Then the blonde was swinging her legs around to get up. What was she doing in the poor woman's bed, Nanoha needed the rest, not her.
"Fate-san, you just regained consciousness."
"And I feel fine," Fate insisted, "Nanoha-san, I saw your…" The vision of the woman in her underwear stole the blonde's words momentarily, "Your injuries. Please, lie down. I feel bad enough as it is." Turning down the covers, she offered her hand to the executive.
Bed felt really tempting right now, to be honest. Conceding that she had really done a number on herself to keep the blonde from collapsing onto the tatami mats, Nanoha allowed herself to be helped in.
Fate tucked the covers around the Japanese woman, easing out her long hair from under her so that it wouldn't pull while she rested. The woman looked pale under her fading tan again. Worse than when they'd left St. Luke's, and that worried Fate.
"Nanoha-san, why do you look…" The blonde searched for a tactful way to ask her question, "You seem worse off than…"
She was slipping up if Fate could tell with her unpractised eye this easily, "Just moved wrong is all." The shoji doors slid back open, admitting Momoko who heard the last of their exchange through the thin paper of the doors, "Is because she throw Fate onto bed."
'Guess she's still pissed.' Nanoha winced internally whilst maintaining a calm exterior. "I thought everyone tattled to you." Strained alto drier than the Sahara Desert, she lolled one blue eye to peer up at her mother from where she lay, "How is it you're tattling to our honoured guest now?" Nanoha kept to using english out of deference to the blonde.
"Only answer question asked, ne?" Momoko had wanted to tuck Nanoha in, but saw that the blonde had already done a more than adequate job doing so. Fate was stood by the bed, an expression of horror on her face to think her boss had exerted herself enough to send her by no means petite self onto the bed. The ever-sharpening look Nanoha was sending Momoko was simple enough to decipher.
Patting Fate reassuringly on the arm, the clan matriarch directed the blonde to take the chair Nanoha had been occupying earlier. "Is my Na-chan's reflex. Hard to stop, hai? Anyway, I called Doctor Kobayashi. She say is not unusual, but always have someone around in case."
Nanoha nodded thoughtfully, hoping their downplay of the executive's actions would nudge Fate out of feeling guilty or something silly like that. "I figured." Pinning an earnest gaze onto the blonde, the woman continued, "Fate-san, please ensure Rein or Ginga are always with you wherever you go. I trust their reflexes to be quicker than mine. Especially in the baths and onsen." All that hard tile and stone truly worried the executive. Fate blushed and ducked her head with a nod.
"Hai, talking about bath, I was not done cleaning your stitches."
"Later please, Kaa-san… I'm kind of… beat." Momoko blinked, then nodded. Na-chan was keeping her promise, just not spelling it out in front of the pretty gaijin. Leaning over, she brushed the woman's bangs back to press a kiss to her forehead, "Okaerinasai, Na-cchi~" Welcome home.
"Tadaima~..." I'm home. Exhaling a long breath, Nanoha released her clawing hold on consciousness. Momoko's eyes were suspiciously bright when she rose to stand, but Fate opted not to notice. "This will be Na-chan's first meal at home in years. Let us make it grand, hai?" Fate smiled in assent and followed the matriarch back to the kitchens. Had it only been a mere three hours ago that Momoko had gotten a call from St. Luke's? Time moved so strangely since Fate had woken up in the hospital last week.
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That adage held true while life seemed to remain in suspension within the hallowed confines of the Takamachi compound. Aside from various modern conveniences, it felt as if one had stepped back in time while inside, and it was something Fate truly enjoyed. What the blonde did not enjoy was her very abbreviated chances to spend time with her boss.
Despite the fact that they were effectively housemates, Fate seldom caught sight of the woman outside of occasional meal times. Since Ginga was attached to the AVP as her primary guard, the same held true for the lavender-haired bodyguard, and both women were rather disgruntled about the whole thing.
All according to Nanoha's plans, unfortunately for them. 'Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll start dating each other.' Nanoha thought with some death gallows humour. Little did Fate know that Nanoha planned her days around the blonde's movements.
Waking at five in the morning, the auburn-haired woman took her morning walk outside, the distance and time spent slowly growing with each passing day. Returning around thirty minutes after, she would then wash and shower. With Rein's assistance, she was even able to get her back and hair washed without issue.
The woman was practical, pragmatic and professional. The three Ps Nanoha desperately needed in this time of emotional turmoil. Rein's cool distance helped the executive build hers up. Her personal shields had effectively been in tatters since the incident and the constant presence of the blonde was like picking at a never healing scab.
They had struck up a mutual friendship based on respect and their walks and showers were peppered with discussions about fitness regimes and various martial arts either had practised. The housekeeper, Kanae obaa-san, was invaluable to the Takamachi scion. Nanoha had known her since her earliest memories and the broad-faced, grey-haired woman was more than happy to help the executive prepare specific breakfasts to aid in regaining some of her lost mass.
Momoko knew what Nanoha was up to and kept her peace, knowing to push would only cause more harm than good. 'Absence makes the heart go fonder', as the saying went. Of course, it was a toss up to see who missed whom more. The schemer in Momoko simply did what made the most sense for now, grab Fate to teach her how to make all of Nanoha's favourite dishes.
Taking her breakfast in her room, Nanoha worked on her fine motor skills. Her left arm continued to be in a sling, so she practised eating with her right hand. Being somewhat ambidextrous, it was not too long before she was displaying adequate skills with chopsticks and writing. Around ten or so in the morning, either Kyoya or Miyuki would find time to drop by and help Nanoha through some exercises to get her damaged body back into working condition.
Of course, everyone was given the third degree about Fate. How she was doing, what she was doing, had anyone taken her out to sight-see. Even Agito had been harassed into taking Fate out shopping today.
After observing the older Takamachi siblings working with Nanoha, Rein found herself voluntold to help with more exercises one afternoon. It was the fifth day since Nanoha had returned to the clan compound and the afternoon that Agito had scooped the blonde up for some hardcore retail therapy. Nanoha hadn't realised the sort of pressure she had been under until after the blonde and Ginga had left with the redhead. That the compound felt gratingly empty was something she chose not to notice too much.
Leaving the shoji doors open, Nanoha felt a sense of relief at being able to air out the room while doing her exercises on a mat she'd rolled out in the middle of the room. The kotatsu had been set aside in favour of more floor space. "You can't keep this up for much longer, you know that?"
Helping the executive into her sports bra and workout shorts, Rein had also changed into similar garments to give the executive a hand. Both had their hair tied back and out of the way while the bodyguard applied a light amount of her own body weight to stretch out one of Nanoha's problem spots.
Switching sides, the bodyguard slowly stretched tight muscles. Nanoha had been judicious in which shortcuts she took, resulting in some but not a lot of problem areas that she needed help with after the fact. Familiar with sports and other injuries from her line of work, it was simple for Rein to run the executive through stretches to help limber up a body cooped up too long in a hospital bed.
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Blowing sweat-soaked bangs out of her eyes, Nanoha grunted, "Every day helps. Oh yea, right there. Ngh… wait." The end of her ponytail had been caught under herself so Nanoha took a second to tug it out. Her gross motor skills were still lacking with the braces still on her arms, and thus she used more strength than she had meant to. Her uncontrolled swing bumped the inside elbow of Rein's supporting arm, causing the bodyguard to lose her balance and drop the few inches she'd been above her client. "Oof!"
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Fate cracked open the box holding an elegant ballpoint pen in grey and gold. Seeing her boss in a shirt and tie had inspired the blonde to find a nice pen to go with, and Inoue-san's impromptu shopping trip had proven to be a great opportunity to do just that.
She had picked up a few other small gifts for the rest of the Takamachi family. For Momoko, a warm cashmere scarf in a style the redhead had insisted was 'in' this season. Observing Nanoha's father to have the occasional smoke with a pipe, Fate had found a selection of tobacco flavours for the man to try out. Kyoya and Miyuki would get matching fitness trackers since the ones Fate saw the siblings sporting appeared a few years older than the latest models she had found online.
It had been a rather eventful trip aside from all the running around Shinjuku that they had done. Apparently, both Inoue-san, or Agito as she had asked Fate to call her, and Ginga knew one another as well, and it was clear there was no love lost between the two. Most of the shopping trip had involved the women trading veiled barbs and the gentle blonde was at a loss about what to do with that, other than to get her shopping done so she could return to the compound sooner.
It had been a trying few days cooped up in the compound seeing hardly hide nor hair of her boss who had implemented a regime that had Fate missing the woman by minutes each time. The only time Fate knew where the executive was, was when she was in her room with her siblings or just with Rein. Occasionally she would hear them chatting and without an express invitation, it felt odd for Fate to barge in. The blonde missed spending time with the auburn-haired woman, though it was difficult to fathom why when they had effectively only just gotten to know one another.
With her gift in hand, however, Fate would have a good opportunity to visit with her boss for a bit. Spotting the shoji doors on the ground floor of the main house open for once, the blonde smiled and hurried over. Switching to her indoor slippers, she blinked to hear her boss' distinct alto.
"Oh yea, right there. Ngh… wait. Oof!" Rounding the corner with Ginga a pace behind, the blonde skidded to a stop to find the silver-haired bodyguard plastered chest to chest to Nanoha, their lips almost touching. Both women were covered in perspiration and neither were dressed in much. Was this what they had been doing when the doors were closed?
The box holding Nanoha's gift fell from nerveless fingers as Fate spun around swiftly and bounded up to her room on the second level. Ginga remained a second longer, glaring daggers at her boss, then at Fate's boss. "She got you a gift," she told Nanoha, cold eyes dropping to the box littering the tatami floor before turning to follow her client to her room.
Exchanging glances with Rein, Nanoha sighed and thumped the back of her head against the exercise mat they were on. Her entire torso ached from the silver-haired woman's fall on her, but that was the last thing on her mind. "Sorry about that, Rein. Control has been difficult." The bodyguard simply rolled off of her client, smoothly rising to pick up the box the blonde had dropped. Nanoha was still laid out on the mat, eyes shadowed. They flickered over to her bodyguard who silently handed her the box.
Cracking it open one handed, Nanoha admired the classy pen within, touched by the blonde's thoughtfulness. Studying the wistful smile she was sure the woman didn't even know she was wearing, Rein cleared her throat, "Would you like me to go clear things up?"
An immediate answer was not forthcoming, the executive appearing to weigh the pros and cons of having the blonde assuming things were not platonic between herself and the silver-haired guard. The way her heart had leapt at the mere sight of the blonde whom she'd not seen for days, was still a conundrum she had no idea how to resolve. "Leave it," she eventually muttered, scrubbing wearily at her face, "Unless Ginga starts something with you. Then, only with her."
Tucking the box into her sling, Nanoha grabbed her shinai and carefully worked her way up to her feet. It was the latest development towards recovery, being able to get up from the floor on her own. The small spurt of victory lasted for only so long, Nanoha shuffling to her bed to place the gift box carefully by her pillow. "I'll thank Feito… Fate-san later." She corrected herself firmly, "I'm just going to wash up," she informed Rein with a heavy heart, and made her slow way to the baths.
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Fate blinked hard, refusing to let any tears fall. What even was wrong with her? This was her boss, a colleague. What right did she have to feel like a jilted lover? Nothing made sense and that old feeling of loneliness pressed down on her harder than it'd ever had. The only thing keeping her here and not flying right back to a place she knew, such as Midchilda, was knowing that doing so would be playing right into her mother's hands. Hearing Ginga arriving a short moment after her, she busied herself with sorting through her purchases.
"I told her the gift was from you," Ginga murmured, feeling an odd sense of camaraderie with the blonde who obviously felt something for the auburn-haired beauty. Fate gave Ginga a watery smile that never quite reached her wine-shaded eyes, "Thank you. Y-You didn't have to."
Sighing, Ginga crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame of the half-open room. "It's always like this, you know." Her bodyguard had thus far been silent aside from the occasional need to communicate with regards to her duties, and so Fate had no idea what the woman meant. The puzzled glance she cast at the lavender-haired bodyguard said as much.
"Nanoha," Ginga elaborated. "It's like bees to honey. She never puts herself out there." She made no mention of the one time the woman had, which had resulted in their ill-fated and short-lived relationship. "The way she looks, as chivalrous as she is?" Ginga gave a disgusted snort that held no real feeling, "Women can't resist."
Fate wondered if she was one of those faceless women. She was just barely getting to know the executive and still the magnetic pull she could feel coming from Nanoha was as real as gifts she was sifting through this very instant. "I think waking in a strange land surrounded by strangers has turned me around," Fate said stiltedly, "I'm sure things will fall into perspective once I regain my bearings."
Ginga appeared dubious but said nothing to refute the blonde, only adding, "For what it's worth, she checks in with me a few times a day to ask how you're doing. I think that episode in her room that first day still worries her."
Ginga cursed at her own honesty, but winning unfairly was as good as not winning at all, to her mind. She acknowledged that this blonde was a credible rival. Not only was the woman sweeter than the aforementioned honey, but possessing of an otherworldly beauty that came with no airs and she was humble to a fault.
That bit of information seemed to have mollified Fate, her lips curling just a bit at the corners to hear that the executive still cared. Maybe it was an accident, what they had seen. She would wait to ask. It was never wise to assume things.
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"You've grown a lot since we last saw you." A familiar voice approached from behind, speaking japanese.
Nanoha glanced around the bath's divider. Her sister had settled into the booth next to hers to wash up. Rein was behind the executive, helping the woman with her long hair, and Nanoha was once more firmly stifling her extreme hatred for having anyone mess with her head or hair. There honestly was no one she felt comfortable with doing what Rein was, other than Fate. Not that she would ever let that on to anyone.
So she suffered the necessity of the bodyguard's help while she focused on getting the rest of herself clean with one arm. Her shoulder wound still pulled painfully when she tried to do anything on her left side, and she knew better than to test her limits. Assuming this was what her sister was talking about, Nanoha quirked a humourless smile.
"I had to grow up sometime." Thinking back to when she was a teen, she was amazed her stupidity hadn't caused permanent disabilities. There was only so much luck she could claim in one lifetime, and she wasn't going to push it any further. "The sooner I can be independent, the better for everyone."
"For everyone, or for you?" Nanoha looked at her sister, then pointedly at the person being troubled with having to help her do something as simple as washing her hair. Noticing Nanoha's pointed look, Rein chuckled, "Well, I am getting paid."
"Hence why I am able to ask you," Nanoha revealed dryly. Blowing out a long breath, she began rinsing the suds from her body. "Look, if it wasn't for me, Fate-san would already be back in Singapore picking up life where she had left off. I need to get cleared to fly so she can get home."
"A home she does not remember, either," Miyuki quietly reminded her baby sister.
Handing the showerhead to Rein, Nanoha remained silent, jaw tensing while the bodyguard rinsed her hair. Her hands clenched and relaxed while she fought back the instinct to get away from the woman's foreign touch. "It's still her life to live, and I'm in the way of that."
"A life you saved," her sister argued, her own shower going along much quicker since her hair was shorter.
"Did I?" Bile threatened to rise up in Nanoha's throat at the memory of the state Fate was in when she finally broke down that cursed door. "She lost over two years of it." Her voice was bitter, the words spat out in utter disgust with herself and her failure. "Worse, I endangered the family on top of it."
Miyuki eyed the bodyguard and Rein easily read the woman's hesitation. "I signed a confidentiality agreement when entering into the contract with Miss Hayate," the silver-haired woman pronounced sedately whilst working conditioning lotion into her client's thick hair.
Nodding, the older sister continued, "We knew the risks. It's what we do."
"Not with fucking guns, Nee-san! If I could, I would have asked the rest of you to break off and retreat." Nanoha was grateful for the shower, it helped hide the tears of guilt.
"Hey… come on now," Miyuki gave Rein an apologetic look and cut in between the guard and her sister to pull Nanoha into a careful hug. "We got out fine. More than fine. BECAUSE you engaged multiple hostiles." Her sister's words made logical sense, sense Nanoha wished she could see. But the final outcome was still suboptimal, something Miyuki knew her sister couldn't accept. Not with this outsider being involved.
Nanoha submitted to her sister's hug, though the ability to return it was beyond her. "If any of you had been hurt too… I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"Na-chan… don't you think the same applied to us?" The executive wordlessly patted one of the arms around her with her right hand, her left laying on her lap to avoid straining her shoulder while out of her sling.
She had long resigned herself to an existence separate from the rest of her family. To assume she had any right whatsoever to pull them into danger, even willingly, was more than she would allow herself to think. Nanoha simply lacked the resources to press her case, however, especially so soon after being found in a compromising position with Rein by Fate. The intense need to clarify what the blonde had seen tore at her insides, and it was taking all of her meagre resources to fight that selfish desire back.
Slowly extricating herself, Nanoha nodded a stiff thanks to both guard and her sister and fished up her bathrobe that had been hanging from a wall hook. Usually, she would use a towel, but not while her left shoulder was injured. Tying a loose knot with the robe's sash, the best she could manage with her limited range of motion, the executive headed back to the shelf area to look for the sling and arm braces she'd left in one of the baskets.
Head bowed, eyes only seeing where her feet went, she didn't notice anyone else in the bath's outer area until she bumped into a tall, half-dressed form by the shelves. Blinking, Nanoha lifted her head to see Fate and Ginga preparing to head in.
Fate was in nothing but lacy underwear while she folded the dress she had worn for the shopping trip earlier and the auburn-haired woman was reminded how the blonde's legs went on forever and ever, Amen. Ginga was still folding her suit jacket after rolling up her tie and tucking it into a free basket.
Feeling her ears grow hot and glad for the cover of her long hair, Nanoha immediately averted her eyes and turned around, mumbling her apologies. After over a week of using the clan baths, Fate was used to the nudity women shared here. Even so, something about her boss seeing her in such a state still had the pale blonde blushing. 'I-It's all right," she stammered to Nanoha's robe-clad back.
The one quick look Fate had gotten was enough to turn her blush into a full body one, with the robe's v-neck open all the way to the woman's waist, revealing the lean line of the executive's torso from neck to past an adorable innie. She was glad to see the bruises beginning to fade on what parts of the woman's chest that she could see. It took a moment for the rest of Nanoha's words to register, and Fate wondered if she would ever stop feeling warm.
"Thank you… for the pen. I will use it for my daily exercises." Nanoha had plucked out one of her arm braces and was struggling with the straps one-handed.
"Here, let me." Gentle hands urged Nanoha to turn back around and graceful fingers replaced her own clumsy ones to fasten the velcro of her brace securely. The Japanese woman wanted to keep her eyes down, but the blonde's bounteous cleavage was right there.
Giving up, Nanoha mumbled more thanks, grabbed her other brace and sling, and made her best speed past Fate and Ginga to escape outside. She realised she had left her shinai behind but she had to cut her losses before she did or said anything she regretted. Fate watched the woman hurry away, heart squeezing at the knowledge that the woman couldn't seem to bear spending more than a minute in her presence.
Done with her own shower, Rein appeared in a towel in search of another for her dripping sheet of silver hair. Seeing Fate frozen to her spot, she had a good idea what may have occurred. Ginga looked to have fared not much better.
Digging out fresh clothes from her basket, the fit-looking bodyguard began to dress, her wet hair now wrapped in a spare towel. Dark slacks, a simple tee and three-quarter sleeve jacket and she was done. Snapping on her arm sheath and knife, she quirked one silvered brow at them, "Did you see where Nanoha-chan went? I was supposed to help dry her hair," she blithely asked, unable to resist tweaking both women.
Snapping out of her depressed contemplation of the woman in question, Fate couldn't help but frown and point to the exit. Smirking, Rein scooped up an extra towel and the forgotten shinai and with a dip of her head in thanks, she bid Fate and her subordinate farewell.
Turning to her guard, still frowning, Fate lifted one blonde brow, "Nanoha… -chan ?" She detested feeling like a jealous, possessive girlfriend, but this -chan business had to be beyond the pale. Ginga shrugged helplessly, "My boss has always been professional. I've never seen her like this before." Shucking the rest of her clothes, she sighed, voice glum, "I warned you though. It's always been like this with Nanoha. I wouldn't be surprised if Rein bent the rules to bed that body."
Appearing as if she had eaten something truly terrible, Fate proceeded inside, trying not to think of that scene from earlier with Rein and Nanoha on the floor together, dressed in barely anything.