A/N: Surprise surprise, I'm back! Sorry about taking so long with this. I got caught up with school, and some of my interest in the project faded, but its back now. Anyway, I don't really have anything but this chapter to offer in apology, but I do push the relationships a little further and develop them more, particularly Nanoha's. I'm going to try to get to the main plot soon, and I also want to resolve some of Fate's sub-plots left over from the previous story. Admittedly, Natsume is a large focus of this story, and soon her time to shine will really come. Anyway, I'll leave you to the chapter now, its good to be back. On a side note, anyone else watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, that shit is crazy!

- Kode-Dekka

Lyrical Girls A's

III

"Are you sure its alright for you to leave?"

"Its fine, its fine, even the doctor was impressed at how fast I recovered."

Natsume, Alisa, Fate and I were leaving the hospital together. Since Natsume had been attacked and stabbed, a week had passed. The doctors were worried for a while, but it turned out that she was fine and the knife missed all the important parts. As for the people who attacked her, the police still haven't found them, and it seems like the my friend wasn't the only victim, there's been four more attacks since then, though no one was hurt.

Because of this, and the fact that it was all over the news now, we weren't allowed to stay out when it got dark, not that I'd want to considering there is a gang of muggers on the loose who attacked my friends, nearly killing one of them.

As I reflected on this, the four of us went out for ice cream to celebrate Natsume's release from the hospital. As usual, she and Alisa fought, this time over what flavor was the best; both were in a heated debate now, throwing insults at each other.

Fate and I just watched quietly, eating our snacks before they could melt. I glanced over at Fate, watching her eat, though not letting her know that I was watching, since I'm sure that would be embarrassing for both of us. An urge welled up in me, a desire to take some kind of action.

Without thinking about it, I leaned toward her, parting my lips slightly. Without a moment's hesitation, I took a chuck of her chocolate flavored ice cream, and gobbled it down quickly, causing my brain to explode in pain.

"N-Nanoha!" She squealed, which stopped the argument between Natsume and Alisa. As I held my hand on my head, wishing for the brain freeze to go away, I gave them a wry smile.

"Nyahaha, I want to try it all of a sudden." Fate sighed,

"You could have just asked me, here." She held it out to me, but I refused it, remembering the pain in my head.

"I think I've had enough." Alisa shook her head at me, keeping inside what she wanted to say. Natsume once again gave me her one of a kind grin. "W-What is it?"

"Nooooothing~. I was just thinking, it would be nice to have an indirect kiss with you too." Instantly, my face flushed scarlet red, Fate's did too when she realized what Natsume was talking about.

"N-N-N-N-Nanoha!" Fate frantically moved about, getting flustered. For once, Natsume and Alisa seemed to get along, and both laughed at her.

"Mou, stop laughing guys!" They only laughed more when they saw how embarrassed I was about the whole thing. Thinking back on it, I should realized what eating Fate's ice cream would mean. Indirect kiss... I tried saying in my head, playing around with the two words. Me, Fate-chan, kiss...

"My my, you're thinking about something indecent, aren't you Nanoha-chan~!" My face became completely red, and I'm sure my face was so hot that you could cook an egg on it.

"S-Shut up, I'm not thinking about anything like that!" Even though I was... I caught myself thinking.

This didn't make things better for Fate, who was still too flustered to speak, and could only mutter unintelligible things.

This moment was both embarrassing, and confusing as well. Just now, I shared an indirect kiss with Fate, and I even thought about kissing her for real. The feeling filling my chest as my friends laughed at me, as Fate looked at me with her cute red eyes, it was a maddening kind of confusing.

Do I... like Fate-chan...?

Its not like I didn't think about it before. When she first appeared, and we became friends, it was suggested that I had a crush on the girl. I dismissed it right away, but now, I couldn't get that question out of my head. I tried to think about it a little more.

If I did like Fate, did that make me a lesbian? Even if I was that way, Fate is the only person who provoked such feelings, so does that make her special to me? Finally, if I like Fate, what do I want to do about it? Do I want to go out with her? Kiss her? Become intimate with her...?

And what about Fate? Does she feel the same way. Even though the chances are so low that it could be considered impossible, is she experiencing this same strange feeling in her chest when she looks at me?

It was too much for my young maiden heart to take, and I could now feel my heartbeat getting faster.

"Nanoha?" Alisa called out to me. It seems like everyone had stopped what they were doing. "You okay, you've been really quiet." I didn't respond, and she pondered it for another second. "Could it be... are you mad at us? It was just a joke, we didn't mean anything by it!" As Alisa apologized, I waved my hands frantically.

"Ah, no, that's not it, I was just thinking about something..." In order to relieve the tension, I knocked myself on the head lightly and looked at Fate. "Nyahahaha, sorry about embarrassing you, Fate-chan."

"N-No, I..." Her cheeks were really burning, and the feeling became stronger, as I found her blushing face profoundly cute.

Natsume looked at me then, giving me a look I didn't quite understand. If I had to say, I don't think it was a bad thing, but the look in her eyes was kind of sad. She turned her face away after a second, looking at Alisa. Her expression changed, becoming a little warmer. I didn't know what to make of it, but I wasn't too concerned, and just focused on calming Fate down.

In any case, I was glad that things were back to normal now. If Natsume had died, I don't think things would ever be the same. That's why I was glad that she was safe, and our happy days could continue.

"Tch, damn it." Natsume clicked her tongue while looking in the mirror, examining the small scar on her body left by the knife. She remembered that night clearly, everything about it, including the face of her attacker. "If I ever see her again, I swear I'll break her damn neck." She spat out before flopping down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Her heart wouldn't came down, the rage that had filled it now spread through her blood. She wanted to hurt that person, kill the woman who threatened Alisa. She didn't like this feeling, this blood lust, so she did the one thing that could calm her down.

Scattered all around her room, plastered on all the walls, were pictures of Alisa, which she had taken secretly. Her obsessive love for the girl, which bordered on insanity, had been painted all around her, a temple which showed her undying devoting to the blond.

Under the watchful eyes of all the Alisa, Natsume pleasured herself. Hiding under the cover of her blanket, she touched herself in various places, muttering the name of her crush. "Alisa... Alisa... Alisa... I love you so much Alisa..."

It was all over too fast, leaving her exhausted. She cursed herself, repeatedly chastising her action. "Stupid, stupid, sick, you're so sick, I'm so sick..."

While she didn't think anything of two girls liking one another, Natsume knew that her affection for Alisa was going too far, and that her feelings were too strong to be normal. She stalked her, carefully watching over her, making sure that no one would bring harm to her. Natsume even went as far as satisfying herself with the girls image.

The only person she's told about her love was Suzuka, who while a little freaked out by the level of her feelings, wholeheartedly accepted her. She even offered to help her in any way she could, and sometimes set up situations where she and Alisa could be alone together. During those times, they would fight, or just stay quiet, but that was fine, just being by her side was enough for Natsume.

This love, this obsessive love, born from a single moment, one instant of time. Natsume knew it was wrong, but she still took pleasure in her feelings, holding them close to her heart, aching for the person who made her body shake with excitement, and burn with warmth. Alisa...

"Nanoha-chan!~" Hayate waved at me as I approached with my friends. Vita, being her, just gave me a small breath, barely acknowledging my existence. We were once again outside, the breeze felt nice as we sat down. Unfortunately Natsume couldn't come because she had to go to the karate club. Even without her providing the usual entertainment, we managed to have a good time.

However there was a small moment, when Hayate was talking about her family. She mentioned someone called "Signum", and at that time Alisa's ears perked up, and some kind of emotion swam in her eyes. It only lasted a moment before she returned to normal and continued eating.

Near the end of the break, Hayate invited us to come over to her house tomorrow. Of course I agreed, wanting to spend some more time with my new friend. Oddly enough, Alisa declined, citing that she had to catch up on work. Naturally, Suzuka decided that it was a good time for her to study as well, and declined as well, leaving Fate and I, and maybe Natsume if she wanted to.

Once that was settled, we finished eating, and returned to class. I don't know why, but I had an odd feeling in my chest, similar to what I felt when I first found out about Fate's situation. This ill omen, I was thinking that maybe it had to do with Alisa, who seemed to not want to go to Hayate's house, and was just making a bad excuse. Whatever it was, I pushed it down, away for now, and continued to enjoy the time I spent with everyone in my growing circle of companions.