Disclaiming: It's a recession, I own nothing.

-

[Ch.3]

It had gotten pretty dark out by the time the two girls arrived at Nanoha's house.

"Well how was I supposed to know the bus would come six minutes early?" the brunette pouted

"It didn't. We were six minutes late." Fate handed her coat to the other girl.

Nanoha took the coat from Fate before hanging it in the closet, "well I had to go Fate-chan! They were a limited time offer!"

"Nanoha, they change monthly, of course they're 'limited time offers', not to mention they're completely useless," she eyed the package in Nanoha's hands, "and kinda childish."

"You take that back!" blue eyes widened and arms flew possessively around the package in question, "they're collectables! And," she proceeded to rip open said package, "they're so cute!"

Fate rolled her eyes, "please."

"No, come on Fate-chan. See, look at it! It's so adorable! How can you not take one home to hold and cherish with your friends, your family, or- or even your children!"

"Nanoha, they're for children."

"Yes, but they can be handed down from generation to generation!" and when Fate threw her a skeptical look, the brunette tried again, "One day they'll be priceless, and when that day comes, I'll storm to your house and do a victory dance in front of your apartment or house or…mansion… or shack or whatever!"

"I'll call the cops on you, I swear it."

"You wouldn't." Nanoha challenged

Fate raised an eyebrow, "Oh but I would," she used her hand to mimic a phone, "officer, there's a mad woman doing the macarena on my lawn, do I have legal jurisdiction to turn on my sprinklers?"

"Fate-chan is so mean."

"You made us miss the bus."

"But it was important!" Nanoha held up the precious possession in her hands, "Forgive us?"

oh darn it, she's using the puppy eyes! Fate cringed inwardly. And who can resist the puppy eyes? Apparently, not Fate, sighing, "Yes, yes, you're forgiven, happy?" Nanoha cheered.

She cleared her throat, "However," burgundy eyes landed on a second package next to her friend, "what about that?"

The brunette looked at the red and gold box and blinked, "what about it?"

"Aren't you going to finish it?"

"Why would I do that?"

The two starred at each other for a while before Fate sighed and her head sunk to her knees.

"Neh? Fate-chan! What's wrong?!"

Fate jolted upright and threw her hands in the air in exasperated defeat, "Nanoha, you can't buy a McDonalds happy meal just for the toy! You have to eat the food too!"

Nanoha smiled guiltily, "Nyahaha, I know, I tried telling the manager that and even offered to pay for just the beanie baby, but they never listen." the girl picked up the box and pulled out a sorry looking French-fry, "I always wondered how many teaspoons of oil one of these things hold."

Fate blinked, "Somehow, I think it's safer not knowing."

"You're probably right." the other girl agreed

"um, soo, about why I'm actually at your house?"

Blue eyes lit up, "ah, oh right, the cake!" clumsy feet sprinted to the kitchen

"It better be worth it!" Fate called from the living room, "it's 7:30, dark, and starting to snow, walking home's going to be some kind of rape scenario waiting to happen."

"I'm sure Fate-chan's self defense is more than enough to take care of any poor, sexually misled teen that threatens her."

"It's not me I'm worried about," the blonde scoffed, "it's the poor, sexually misled teen."

"if you're so worried about the trip home, I'm sure my mom would be fine if you stayed the night." Nanoha placed two pieces of cake on the coffee table, "you have all your books, right?"

Fate picked up her fork and shook her head, "I don't want to impose."

"You're not imposing, to tell you the truth, I think my mom likes you more than me," the brunette then proceeded to take a bite out of her cake, "hey, it's not bad…"

Fate opened her mouth to speak but a warm frosting-and-cake-covered fork invaded her mouth, sending the blonde to the floor in a gagging fit. She felt a hand patting her back frantically, "Fate-chan, are you alright? Why does this always happen?!"

The blonde attempted a laugh but it came out as more of a strained gasp for air.

"Fate, are you okay?" blue eyes starred at her in earnest

"wrong…-cough-…tube….-cough-…went down," Fate managed," fine…-cough-…I am."

"You're not fine! You're talking like Yoda!" the frantic girl redoubled her efforts in pounding Fate's back with her hand.

"No, Nanoha…" Fate's voice vibrated from the intense treatment to her spine, "my back feels like a rice cake, the way your hammering at it"

Immediately the violent assault ceased and Nanoha blushed, "oh, er- sorry."

"It is now proven," the blonde sighed "that none of the Takamachi children should touch pastry. It's a hazard to mankind as we know it."

"No, not 'others', just you," the brunette stuck out her tongue, "I should have just let you choke."

Fate gave a lopsided grin, "not like you were helping much, I think you bruised my back."

"I'm sorry," Nanoha pouted, "I just wanted to see if you'd like the cake."

"Well…in that case." Fate took up her fork purposely and scooped a large piece into her mouth

"Well…?" blue eyes inquired. But a finger promptly shushed her as Fate continued to chew

The blonde's eyes rolled to the left, then to the right, and a hand went to her chin, pondering the taste. She chewed slowly and other than the occasional 'hmm', the only thing escaping her lips was the fork to get more cake.

She set down her fork in a gesture of finality, "I proclaim this cake…" a dramatic pause, "….edible-"

"Edible?!" The brunette nearly face-planted before starring furiously at her critic, "I slave hours on this thing and you call it just edible?!"

"you never let me finish," Fate giggled, "it's edible and nearly the best thing I've ever tasted." She grabbed her fork again and stole a piece off of Nanoha's plate, "but it could use more chocolate…"

"Pfft, Fate-chan is never satisfied unless her sweets contain cavity-inducing amounts of sugar."

Fate licked her fork clean before smiling up at her friend, "Guilty."

"Hah! Fate-chan admits it!" Nanoha pointed accusingly at the blonde, "I wish I caught that on ta- oomph!" a mouthful of pillow, courtesy of Fate, interrupted the brunette. Grabbing the cushion, she pouted, "mou, Fate-chan always gets so physical."

"It's because Nanoha insists on poking fun at me all the time," Fate smiled

"Meh," the brunette shrugged, "if you didn't put up that silly front all the time, I wouldn't have to."

Burgundy eyes widened, but didn't say anything.

"Shoot, I have to put these dishes away before my parents find out I ate in the living room…again." Nanoha stood up and began picking up the plates. Then the lights went out. Nanoha squinted around at the black surrounding that was her living room.

"Aw come on!" a voice whined somewhere in the darkness, "how am I suppose to dispose of the evidence if I can't even see where I'm disposing it!?"

The sound of plates being not-so-gently dropped hinted Nanoha's annoyance, "wait here, I'll find a candle."

"Nanoha," a gentler voice responded, "it's just a black-out. And don't worr-" Fate blinked into the darkness as she felt her feet leave the ground

Nanoha brought her hands out in front her, hoping to break her fall. Something warm greeted her grasp. Something warm and soft…

Light flooded back into the dark room, blinding the brunette. After finally adjusting to the bright intrusion, she was greeted by a very not-so-happy looking Fate-chan.

"First," her friend started, "I had a flashlight."

"oh."

"Second," burgundy eyes flashed downward, to what Nanoha used to break her fall, "and you call me physical?!"

Blue eyes looked down to see where her hands were…"OH!" Nanoha tumbled back, "s-sorry. It was dark, and…yeah"

The glare softened and Fate smiled, "let's get these plates cleaned up, neh?"

"Mhm!" Nanoha laughed," we're so lucky Hayate wasn't here to see that."

"Please, let's not think about that."

Nanoha peered outside, "I guess this means you're staying over, huh Fate-chan?"

"…"

"Fate-chan?"

"Yeah. I guess it does."

Fate struggled to pull off her shoes in her hurry. Sleeping over Nanoha's house meant she had to wake up earlier to run home and grab assignments due today. Biology is the bane to my existence. She finally got her shoe off only to realize her left shoe was still on. And shoelaces. Yes, biology and shoelaces will ruin me. Just you wait and-Sweet Jesus, they're off!

Shoving aforementioned shoelaces into their respective places, the blonde thrust the sneakers into her shoe locker and grabbed her school shoes. An envelope flew out of her locker, landing on the floor.

"A-a letter?" she face-palmed, "a confession? I don't have time for this!" she grabbed her shoes and jammed the envelope in her skirt pocket, then flew to class.

-x-x-x-

"Detention. See you after school Testarossa-san."

"B-but, the bell hasn't rung yet." Fate stuttered.

"It has and you are not in your seat," the biology teacher looked down, "among…other things." Fate blushed as she realized she was still holding her shoes. "Next time, be prepared for class. On time and in shoes."

"Yes, sensei," the blonde walked to her seat. Hayate mouthed a silent 'what's wrong' as she walked by and Fate shook her head mouthing back 'later'. Hayate gave her a concerned look and nodded. Fate took her seat and began putting her shoes on, ignoring the lecture the teacher had started. stupid biology… stupid shoelaces… a flash of white caught her eye. The envelope fell out of her pocket, sighing, she picked it up and ripped it open.

Dear Testarossa-san,

Please meet me after school near the track field. I'll wait as long as it takes.

-an admirer

The blonde refolded the note, put it back in her pocket, then took out her binder to start taking notes. She really didn't have time for this.

-x-x-x-

"LUNCH!" Hayate skipped ahead, "the most wonderful time of the day!" The girl sort of a weird jig then turned to Fate. "Sooo…you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"No," Fate followed Hayate to the courtyard, "it's nothing."

"Neh, Fate," the other girl gave her a hard look, "you never tell me anything anymore. If you keep everything bottled up inside…it's unhealthy."

"You and Nanoha both need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"You two always seem to know what I'm thinking before I do." Fate sighed, "But there's no way I'm gonna bother any of you with my antics."

"Ah. See? I knew it," Hayate giggled, "Fate has her eyes set on a little somebody."

"Mmm."

"You know, I may boast about knowing everything there is to know about relationships," the brunette smiled, "but I can't help you here Fate."

"I know…"

"Buuut I will give you this piece of advice," Hayate declared

Fate groaned, "Hayate…"

"Love is about taking risks, give it a shot. The only thing worse than rejection is regret."

Wow… Fate starred, "Hayate, that was actually every philosophical of you."

"No problem!" aqua-eyes sparkled, "Now as a service fee, what did you bring for lunch?"

"Of course…" always a catch with Hayate

"Oi," a voice shook her out of her revere, "where's Nanoha?"

Arisa glanced around as she walked toward the two friends by the tree.

"Arisa-chan!" Hayte glomped the girl, "I never see you anymore! It's like you've disappeared off the face of the earth."

The blonde eye-twitched, "Hayate, we have lunch together."

"But you never eat with us! Arisa's gotten so busy and forgotten about her friends." Hayate grabbed Fate and smushed the other blonde to her chest, "Don't worry Fate, I'll never leave you."

Fate looked around nervously to make sure no one was looking their way, "Hayate, I'm losing circulation-my arms!" The aqua-eyed girl laxed her death-grip but did not let her friend go.

"Oh Hayate," Arisa sighed, "hmm, so I guess Nanoha-chan isn't eating with us today huh?"

"It's okay," Hayate chimed, "you can replace her, just sit a little more to the left, and smile a lot. Oh and did you bring any pastries you can feed Fate?"

Fate groaned.

As her friends continued their…chatter, Fate looked around for her blue-eyed friend, strange, she would never miss lunch. It's her favorite time of the day…

"Ah! There she is! Ohh…no wonder she's late, look who's she with."

Across the courtyard, Nanoha stood talking to a blonde-haired figure. The two were immersed in conversation. The pair was out of earshot, but Nanoha's constant giggling made it clear the two were quite close. Fate blinked.

"You know, I don't get why Yuuno-kun doesn't just take the last step and ask the girl out already."

Fate smiled, "a rejection would be pretty harsh, maybe he's just biding his time..."

"well I hope he doesn't expect all the time in the world, she's not waiting around forever." Alisa stole squid off Fate's bento

"Fate-chan? You look spacey."

"Hey, um, I have to see a teacher after class today. So don't wait around for me okay?"

-x-x-x-

"Testarossa-san, I've admired you for a very long time. Please, give me a chance!" the boy bowed deeply.

"Okay."

"uh...how about a movie then! This...this Friday! with popcorn and soda and dinner after an-"

"Sure. Meet me at the main entrance after school this Friday."

A/N:: ahaha, haven't updated in ages. This was sort of sitting on my desktop for months starring at me. Half of this was unbeta'd so there will be mistakes. oops.

Anyhooo~ Thank you everyone for the reviews, I know-I don't really reply cause it requires me to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time- but I appreciate and enjoyed reading them all so thanks out for those who wrote and read! I promise to update as soon as I find time. So until next time...*woosh*

-Tofu