Disclaimer: I don't own MGLN. If I did you can rest assured every episode of Strikers would have been 'unfit' for pubic screening and probably rated NC-17

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

High School Hijinks

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Chapter 1

A New Beginning...Sort Of

At nine years old Takamachi Nanoha stumbled upon a ferret changeling who transformed her whole perspective on how the world worked. Apparently magic wasn't a thing of imagination.

At barely ten years she fought against an unstable program that threatened the fate of her home world and won.

At eleven and twelve she lived in peace with her family and friends, growing up in an ideal environment any other kid would envy.

At thirteen she started growing up, taking on responsibilities no person that that age should.

At fourteen she hit puberty and her outlook on a certain someone started to change for good.

And finally at fifteen she was starting high school. Yes, Takamachi Nanoha was on the cusp of adulthood. Everything seemed so new and confusing…the world suddenly seemed so much larger.

She had been told it was a time to start thinking about the future, to think of careers and life changing decisions. It was the one last adventure of adolescence before crossing the irreversible threshold into adulthood; the world of jobs and responsibly. It was one last chance to be childish with her friends, to have a great time.

But…if all of that was indeed true about high school, then why was she sitting at her desk during the second week of classes brooding and completely unenthusiastic about wasting time in this new place that was supposed to be so wonderful? With arms crossed, a frown in place of her usual smile and a rigid posture that was completely uncharacteristic of the normally exuberant girl, Nanoha looked like a fish out of water. Brooding was simply not something Takamachi Nanoha did, not ever. And what could possibly cause such a drastic change in her demeanor?

Slate blue eyes darted to the front of the classroom where a mass of people were congregated around someone seemingly of great importance. Every once in a while Nanoha would catch glimpses of the person in the center of all the fangirls and boys. Gorgeous long blonde hair, a perfectly cut figure and a curiously foreign accent; a shy and kind demeanor coupled with an overall ability to perform with absolute excellence in all manners of life caused Fate Testarossa to become a curiosity as well as object of intense admiration and love in just under one week at this new school.

Damn them all! Stupid fucking…ugh!

Nanoha's eyes narrowed ever so slightly watching as they touched and talked with her friend. Short nails dug into the soft flesh of her arms as she slumped further down into her seat. Oh how she hated the way the fawned over Fate.

Was she resentful? No, not toward Fate, never toward the girl with beautiful burgundy eyes.

Was she jealous? Yes…but not in the way most people would think. She almost wished to be one of them…to have Fate's rapt attention.

Was she angry? Hell yes, they were taking what was rightfully hers! If it weren't for the laws put into place by the TSAB she might think to pull out Raising Heart and-

Suddenly, the bell rang causing the mass to disperse at the front of the room and Nanoha's thoughts of killing fellow classmates to fade into the recesses of her mind. The white mage seethed in her seat silently watching as the other students tossed her Fate-chan longing gazes and hopeful glances.

Seriously, what gave them the right! What gave them the right to look at Fate in such a way! Like hell the blonde would ever choose-

"Gah! Arisa-chan!" Nanoha turned her startled blue eyes to stare at the girl sitting behind her. "Arisa-chan, why'd you have to go and do that! It hurt…" The brunette grumbled rubbing the back of her sore neck.

The feisty blonde grinned evilly pulling back her pencil. "You were doing it again Nanoha-chan…"

The brunette's brows knit in confusion, "Doing what Ari-?"

A gentle hand carefully touched Nanoha's shoulder, "Nanoha?" The sound of that concerned voice made the brunette's pale cheeks heat up considerably. All thoughts of evil fans and Arisa poking her melted into the background as slate blue eyes turned to meet deep burgundy.

"Ah…that is…" Nanoha squeaked meekly, her voice a higher pitch than usual. After clearing her throat she continued, smiling a smile reserved only for Fate. "I'm fine Fate-chan."

Fate smiled back at her best friend. "I'm glad…" Before anything else could be said between the two their homeroom teacher burst into the room causing the blonde to settle back into her own desk.

"Ah! So sorry for being late!" He was a short balding man in his late thirties. His clothes looked to be drenched from the knee down and his glasses seemed to be askew across the bridge of his nose. "I ran into a bit of trouble this morning."

Nanoha glared at the professor mumbling little incoherent curses under her breath for coming in and breaking up her moment with Fate.

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The blonde girl sitting behind Nanoha rolled her green eyes and huffed. Those two, seriously…they needed to fuck and get it over with already, especially her hazel-haired friend. That girl had more sexual frustration than she could handle after realizing just how much she wanted her best friend.

Resting her cheek against her fist, Arisa looked from Fate sitting diagonally to the right of her and then back to the backside of Nanoha's head as the professor started droning on about what they were going to be learning in class today. Maybe it was time to get Hayate involved or something…this tension was just plain ridiculous. The fact that it had only increased ten-fold since last week didn't escape notice either.

Arisa closed her eyes thinking back to the first day of classes…

(Exactly one week ago)

It had been an excellent summer for Nanoha. With the exception of the occasional odd mission here or there she had been allowed to stay on earth with all her closest friends and family. There were many days spent shopping, going to the beach, helping with the cafe and all around just lazing around. It had almost been the perfect summer. Almost, because she still hadn't had the chance to admit her feelings to her most important person…

The brunette sighed, "Oh Fate-chan…" The one thing Nanoha hoped for this past summer had been to confess to her blonde friend, but no moment had been perfect enough, no time had felt right.

Two years.

For two years she held these feelings at bay, and Fate, well Fate was unreadable as ever. Nanoha was unsure how the other girl might respond to her feelings. Fate had never shown any inkling of liking anyone in a romantic sense, which made the situation easier and harder all at the same time. The brunette knew she might very well go insane if her best friend couldn't return her feelings of romantic love. Insane or fall into a deep pit of despair full of inky blackness and self loathing.

"Nanoha! Fate-chan is here!" Her father's distinct voice called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Nanoha quickly snapped out of her reverie and made her way to the front door after nimbly buckling up her brown leather satchel.

As Nanoha reached the bottom floor she absently put on her shoes before turning toward Fate. When she finally glanced over at her friend her jaw went slack and slate blue eyes gave her friend a once over. No one should look that good in a school uniform, ever. The plain pleated skirt rode high showing off Fate's trim, long, mile-high legs and the blouse-vest ensemble hugged a pair of very large round assets which had seemingly popped up over summer unawares as well as conforming to small waist. The brunette felt something liquidy trickle down her nose.

Shit.

Fate frowned and pulled a white handkerchief from her vest pocket. "Nanoha are you ok? Your nose is bleeding… "

"Nyahahaha…" Nanoha laughed out due to embracement as she felt her cheeks start heating up. She moved to wipe the blood with the back of her hand but Fate would have none of it.

The blonde stepped in close dabbing away at the offending red substance quicker than Nanoha's slate blue eyes could follow. "There…all better." Fate smiled warmly down at her best friend quickly wadding up the handkerchief and stuffing it back in her pocket.

"Ah…thank you Fate-chan…it's been really dry lately…so I've been having trouble with nosebleeds…" Nanoha felt her cheeks heat further at the lie. True it had been unusually dry this past year, but the nosebleeds definitely did not stem from that…

"Oh Nanoha…" The tall blonde giggled, "come on, we should get going. We can't be late on the first day." Fate took Nanoha's hand and led the brunette out the door.

Nanoha felt like she was in a daze. Fate tenderly tugged her forward as they dashed toward the bus stop. Damn if that girl didn't have a fine ass as well.

Ugh…stop thinking such perverting things Nanoha!

The brunette mentally berated herself. This was ridiculous, she was acting like some lecherous old man, but really…could anyone blame her?

They caught the bus just in the nick of time and settled down side by side near the back. Nanoha wiped the bit of perspiration at her forehead away. Fate looked no worse for wear.

"I'm sorry Nanoha…I didn't mean to run that fast…" The blonde offered her friend a sheepish smile.

"I-It's fine Fate-chan, I'm glad…I mean otherwise we'd be late, right?" Nanoha rubbed at the back of her neck.

Fate nodded in the affirmative before leaning back against the hard plastic seat of the bus, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. The two best friends fell into a companionable silence, neither really voicing their thoughts.

After a short while Nanoha decided to break the peace. "Ne, Fate-chan, do you think you'll do any activities this year?"

Fate opened one eye too look over at Nanoha's inquisitive gaze before closing it again. "Hmn…I don't know." She sighed. "Sometimes it's hard when we get called away…I feel like I'm letting my organizations down…it makes me want to do less with extra-curricular activities this time around. What about you Nanoha?"

Completely ignoring the blonde's question Nanoha pressed on, "Why not Fate-chan? I know you did a lot in junior high…probably even more than Hayate-chan did, but you're seriously not going to give up on everything right? I think the track team especially wouldn't be the same without you…"

The blonde girl blushed, "Ah…Nanoha…I'm really not that good."

Well that was the understatement of the century. The brunette girl frowned. It was baffling as to why her friend would want to quit the activities she rigorously maintained during junior high. "I can't imagine Fate-chan not being the captain of the track team…or student council vice-president or any of those things…"

"R-really?" Fate turned to look at Nanoha, the blush across her cheeks deepened.

"Really." Nanoha grinned putting a reassuring hand on Fate's shoulder.

"A-alight…I'll think it over before I decide then…"

The bus came to a halt in front of one of the school's side courtyards before Nanoha could say anything else to Fate. The blonde girl seemed somewhat flustered as she stood up quickly to get off the bus.

"Come on Nanoha, I see Hayate is already waiting for us already!"

"Oh, right." Nanoha slung her satchel across her shoulder and followed Fate off the bus. The brunette was slightly puzzled by the blonde's actions. Fate was getting rather skittish as of late. "I hope I didn't say anything wrong…" Nanoha mumbled as she walked over to where Fate and Hayate were standing.

"Nanoha-chan! I already got us our class lists." The enthusiastic short-haired girl waved a few pieces of typed paper at the white mage.

"Ah! Thanks Hayate-chan, but…how did you get those? I mean I didn't think they would hand out other student's lists to someone else..." Nanoha took one of the proffered sheets that had her name typed across the header.

"I got here pretty early and was able to persuade one of the admissions staff to hand them over. We should get going though. Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan are waiting by the gates."

Hayate handed Fate her schedule and together the three future aces of the TSAB made their way to the gates of their new school.

"Nanoha-chan! Fate-chan!" Suzuka waved at the rapidly approaching trio enthusiastically while Arisa simply stood by her side tapping her foot impatiently.

"About time you got here, I thought maybe you two idiots got pulled into some sort of dimensional rift or something." Arisa frowned at both Fate and Nanoha who at least had the decency to look embraced.

"Sorry Arisa-chan, I guess I woke up a little on the late side this morning…Nyahahaha…" Nanoha rubbed the back of her head.

"Some things never change with you, I swear." The green eyed girl turned and walked through the gates with all the other students, Suzuka at her side.

Hayate grinned and locked arms with Fate to one side and Nanoha to the other before following after Arisa. "Aw, Arisa-chan, you know that's why we love her! She wouldn't be Nanoha without the oversleeping, overeating and all around clumsiness!"

"Mou! Hayate-chan!" Nanoha's eyes widened in shock staring at the shorter girl with a bewildered look, "that was a low blow!"

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Class had been rather uneventful at first. Nanoha found that she, Arisa and Fate all had the same homeroom while Hayate and Suzuka were in another.

It's no wonder Arisa was so perturbed this morning…

Nanoha glanced over her shoulder at the green-eyed girl who seemed rather depressed to be without Suzuka for the first time in well, forever. Perhaps it was the concern for her bossy friend that caused the brunette to miss those first signs of the hell that was to come.

Over the course of the first few classes many students stared at Fate, whispering to one another about the beautiful foreign looking girl. She answered every question a teacher asked correctly and with a strange foreign lilt no one could place. Girls and boys seemed to swoon over her every word. They speculated where such a bomb-shell came from. During gym, her impressive performance only fueled rumors.

And Nanoha was completely and utterly oblivious. All of her attention seemed to be focused on the slightly depressed and rather miffed Arisa. Thoughts on how to cheer the blonde girl up flooded her mind and took it over completely.

At lunch, all five friends were able to meet up again for a somewhat peaceful meal out in the courtyard under a large sprawling maple.

Arisa looked dejectedly over at Suzuka, "I can't believe we're not in the same classes Suzuka-chan."

The purple-haired beauty smiled prettily at her blonde counterpart. "It'll be ok Risa. We may not have many classes together, but we do have the same biology and French classes later on today."

The blonde seemed to perk up at her friend's words. "Ah, you're right."

Hayate opened her bento box and took out a fried shrimp with her chopsticks. "You should consider yourselves all lucky! I don't think I have any afternoon classes with anyone!" She popped the shrimp into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I'm taking government, speech and German…and I'll probably be joining the debate team as well."

"Will you be running for student council this year Hayate-chan?" Suzuka opened a bottle of black tea.

"Maybe, if I can find someone to run with me. I'm not sure though, I have to get a lay of the land before making any concrete decisions." Hayate gave a Fate a pointed look.

Fate pretended not to notice Hayate's intense gaze and continued to eat bits of steamed rice and yakitori out of her own bento.

Nanoha smiled at Arisa and Suzuka not really noticing the small exchange between Hayate and Fate. "I'm so glad that you guys get to have at least two classes together. Maybe now Arisa-chan will stop being so grumpy in the morning!"

A low growl emitted from Arisa's throat as she glared over at her long time friend. "Watch it Nanoha-chan."

Ignoring the exchange between her aggressive counterpart and Nanoha, Suzuka turned her attentions to Fate. "What about you Fate-chan? Last year you were in the motor club, started the engineering club, as well as being co-captain of the kendo team, captain of the track team and on the student council as vice president…I think you also played baseball with the boys for a while too." The purple-haired beauty listed each activity on her fingers hoping none had been missed.

"Umn…I don't know yet." Fate felt her cheeks heat up for the umpteenth time that day. "I mean, high school is supposed to be harder than junior high. I won't have nearly as much free time…plus I'm sure there are far more qualified people than myself."

"Like hell you are!" Hayate pointed at Fate with her chopsticks playfully with mock anger.

Arisa smirked. "And didn't you do volunteer work tutoring the younger kids too?"

Fate looked down at the grass, finding the well-trimmed green blades awfully interesting.

"Fate-chan is more than qualified to do just about anything." Arisa leaned back on the palms of her hands staring at the other blonde. "I can't imagine you not being on the track team though, you carried those guys!"

"That's what I told her this morning." Nanoha stuffed a piece of sushi in her mouth.

The blonde haired, burgundy eyed girl sighed. "Look, I'm just unsure…it was a lot to handle last year."

"Well you know, clubs and sports teams may start vying for potential members after classes today, but there is a two to three week trial period." Arisa crossed her arms. She seemed to be well informed on the matter.

"Yeah, that, plus elections and campaigning for student council don't start till next semester." Hayate added.

Fate closed her bento and made a move to get up, "I just don't know…" Not looking at anyone, the tall blonde picked up her black leather messenger bag sticking the empty bento inside. She turned and left toward the school without another word or backwards glace.

Nanoha frowned. Did they do something wrong? She looked at her three other friends, "Do…do you think we pushed a little too hard?"

Hayate looked down blankly at her unfinished lunch. "Maybe…"

Arisa shrugged it off, "Honestly I think it's weird that she doesn't want to do anything. I mean this is high school, it's the last time we may get the chance to do some of this stuff!"

Suzuka packed her bento up. "Fate-chan may have her reasons, come on Arisa we have French in ten."

The blonde nodded, "Right."

Nanoha and Hayate both realizing that lunch was coming to an end started to get ready to go as well.

As everyone parted ways, Nanoha couldn't help but think about Fate's reaction. The brunette felt bad that she had pushed the blonde. Ultimately it was Fate's decision to join. It wasn't something she needed to push for. The brunette just happened to like the idea of them both being captains of their respective sports teams by graduation…

"Ugh…I don't even know what her last three classes of the day are…" Nanoha rubbed at her temples as she made her way to English class. Great, now she was worrying over Fate…why did she have to be so damn stupid at lunch? What if Fate didn't meet up with her after school?

With worried thoughts filling her turbulent mind, the next thing she knew Nanoha found herself in front of the English classroom door unsure of how she got there.

"God, Fate-chan…how is it you're able to mess me up this bad?" The brunette mumbled to herself as she opened the classroom door walking into the half filled room.

The white mage sat down next to the window and looked outside at the track field. Wonderful. Sighing dejectedly the brunette slumped forward in her seat. She didn't hear the professor walk in, nor did she pay much attention after her name was called.

I wonder what Fate-chan is doing…

Slate blue eyes gazed out at the track field once again. All during class Nanoha tried to establish a mental link with her blonde friend, but it seemed as if Fate would have none of it. It was aggravating to say the least.

After a completely uneventful hour, the bell rang signifying the end of fifth period and Nanoha picked up her empty notebook and bag before leaving to find her next class.

Biology and Home-ec, sixth and seventh periods respectively seemed to drag on forever. Nanoha was sure she was going to kill someone by the time the last bell of the day rang. Even though the classes were shorter today due to club signups and sports tryouts it still felt like a full day. And there was still no word from Fate.

Nanoha clenched her fists as she left her Home-ec class. Last night Fate had promised to meet her before after school activities, but with the blonde not answering her mental calls… The brunette pushed her thoughts aside and made her way out of the main school building and over to the sports fields in a hurry. Fate had said to meet over by the locker rooms.

"Please be there…" Nanoha bit her lip as she turned the last corner and came into view of the smallish concrete building adjacent to the gymnasium and across from the track field.

Ah! There she was! Nanoha allowed herself a sigh of relief seeing the blonde object of her affections leaning against the side of the locker rooms, what the brunette failed to notice was the group of fans huddled a small distance away from the blonde staring and pointing.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha waved her arm wildly as she sprinted over toward her best friend.

Finally!

Fate looked toward Nanoha and smiled as the brunette ran up to her. "Hey Nanoha…"

"Fate-chan, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be so pushy earlier. It really is your decision, whatever you decide will make me happy as long as it makes you happy-" Nanoha started making frantic hand motions as she continued to babble out apologies and excuses.

The blonde girl chuckled, "Nanoha, Nanoha! It's ok, I over-reacted."

The brunette stopped and looked up at beautiful burgundy eyes, and all the kindness and warmth they contained. The white mage blushed and rubbed at her arm. "Nyahaha…sorry, I was babbling wasn't I?"

Fate offered up one of her heartwarming smiles. "It's ok Nanoha, I think it's cute."

"Yeah…" Nanoha fidgeted under her friend's amused gaze. "So…are you…will you be trying out then?"

"I'm going to try out…"

"Really?"

Slate blue met deep burgundy.

"Really."

Nanoha couldn't help but grin and throw her arms around the taller girl. "That's great Fate-chan! Hopefully we'll get the chance to be captains together again!"

"Hahaha…silly Nanoha." Fate lightly hugged Nanoha back. "Come on, we should change for tryouts."

The brunette nodded enthusiastically. "Right!"

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Tryouts went on without a hitch. Nanoha knew they would be accepted onto their respective teams, despite Fate's protests of 'not being good enough'. As a matter of fact the current track captain broke down into sobs after watching Fate's test, said he'd never seen something so beautiful in all his life or something like that. As long as he didn't try to get too close to Fate, Nanoha was fine with the boy. As for her own trial, it had gone just as smoothly as her counterpart's. The tennis coach was rather glad to have such a good newcomer on the lineup after watching one too many sad and pathetic attempts at the sport.

Nanoha looked over at Fate in the locker room; the blonde had just stripped off her athletic-wear and was starting to put her uniform back on. The white mage stopped buttoning up her white short-sleeved blouse and stared at her gorgeous friend.

Fuck…

A shaky hand quickly shot up to her nose to stop the bleeding. At that moment the brunette was unsure if track practice and tennis practice not coinciding was a blessing or a curse. Nanoha quickly walked over to the sinks to clean herself up.

Hopefully Fate did not just see that.

Deftly finishing up buttoning her shirt after cleaning up the bloody nose, Nanoha returned to her best friend to find that the blonde had just finished changing.

"Ready to head home Fate-chan?" Nanoha picked up her bag stuffing her brown vest inside instead of putting it on.

"Umn, actually…I kind of promised Hayate-chan we would discuss some things about the student council today." Fate gave her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you Nanoha…"

"Oh…I see." Nanoha scratched her cheek unsure of what to say. "Alright, but you'll still be coming over tomorrow night, right?"

"Definitely, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The two best friends walked out of the locker room together.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Goodnight Fate-chan." Nanoha gave her friend a quick hug.

"Night Nanoha-chan."

There was a soft smile on that beautiful face that caught the light just right in the afternoon sun, and for a moment Nanoha forgot the breath.

"Right, going now. ..Nyahahaha." With one last crooked smile the brunette parted ways with her blonde friend for the day.

Well the day seemed to end up ok.

Nanoha absently looked up at the fluffy white clouds in the bright blue sky a large grin on her face. It felt like the beginning of another good school year.

Chapter 1 End

A/N: Personally I think Nanoha and Fate belong together so completely that it hurts to even think of anything else. They are my favorite coupling ever… NANOFATE FORVER! Alright, now that that's out of the way…

I did promise a happy Nanoha fic after my very sad and sorta emotional last piece (the one that seemingly came out of no-where). Sooooo, here it is! This story will probably run several chapters long, actually I lie, I don't know how long it will be, it's your guess as good as mine… But fear not! I will be finishing it, and there is a plan and it's chock-full of HLS. I don't know how often I will be updating because I'm in college for architecture…and if anyone knows anything about that…my major should just be simply called hell, makes more sense that way. I'm feeling this A/N is kina all over the place…grah, well I got work in the morning so peace out! And review! Let me know what you think!