A/N: This chapter lacked inspiration if I wanted to be truthful, but I made it through okay. We're getting pretty close to the halfway point, and I'm getting excited, especially since the good stuff is coming soon. This time around no one has any questions, so it makes things a little easier for me. However, I will drop a nice hint, Alisa, Natsume and Suzuka will have a much larger focus in the next story. I've also noticed with this story, it has some Umineko vibes, especially the beginning. I like Umineko though, its quite entertaining. Anyway, lets begin, shall we?

- Kode-Dekka

Fate came home after school like usual, unlocking and opening the door. The quiet inside greeted her, and she entered, alerting whoever was inside of her presence. Of course, like every day since moving into this home, like every day before that, for the past ten years, there was no one who would greet her. It was likely, as long as she lived in this home, that no one would come to greet her, for all eternity.

The cold chill of a familiar feeling crawled up her body, worming its way to her heart. She ran, blindly dashing up the stairs, toward her room. She slammed the door shut behind her, tossing her bag wildly, and jumping onto her bed.

With little energy to spare, Fate buried herself under her blanket. She closed her eyes, and curled herself into a ball. When she was surrounded by darkness, a set of blue orbs glowed in her minds eye. Beautiful, glittering, full of hope and kindness. The light in those eyes threatened to fill her heart so completely that it would burst. But she wouldn't let it, she would not let that light fill her heart again. She shut it out, and replaced the blue with two circles of blood red. The dark burgundy pierced through her, chilling her heart, making the advancement of the warmth stop in its tracks.

Fate finally opened her eyes, pulling the blanket away. She looked up at her desk, specifically at a picture that rested on the surface. Four characters filled the frame, two girls, identical in appearance, a woman with dark violet hair in the background, and a man with brown hair. Everyone was smiling, as if that were the happiest moment of their lives. For Fate, that was the truth, for that was the last time she saw such happy faces on those four figures.

Once more, a flash of blue clouded her mind, but she chased it away, she also chased away the words that accompanied the light, 'Fate-chan'. No, she would not give in to that deception again, and fall back into that hell which once captured her.

Clearing away the the threatening delusion, Fate took in a deep breath, and got out of bed. She walked out the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Her mother was due home in mere hours, so she would eat something quick, and then prepare dinner for her return. Even though it was all useless, since no one would eat her meals, for all eternity.

Lyrical Girls

IV

I was still thinking about Fate's rejection, even late into the night. It was hard, no, impossible to sleep. I don't know why I was so agitated, it was just the first attempt, and I did come on strong, it was natural that I would freak her out a little. I was just going to have to try again, using a softer, gentler approach next time. I was the type of person who didn't like losing, so I wouldn't quit, not until she became my friend, or at least told me the reason why she couldn't.

I relayed this to Natsume, who called me just moments ago, asking me in detail about the encounter. "That's no good, Nanoha-chan, you'll scare her away if you keep pushing like that."

"Well then, what do you suggest I do?" She giggled.

"Maybe you should hit her, it worked wonders on Alisa." I blushed, remembering the day that Alisa and I became friends, what an embarrassing memory. She was such a bully back then, especially to Suzuka, but I set her straight, and showed her that it wasn't right to hurt people's feelings. But...

"There's no way I can just hit Fate-chan." Natsume sighed, agreeing with me.

"Then its plan B. According to you, that girl has separated herself from people, and set up a dozen walls between her and them. If that's the case, the best course of action is to slowly break down each one, until you finally reach her heart."

"And how do I do that?" I had to get through Fate's defenses, I knew that much, but the trick was doing it.

"Its easy," Natsume said, I could almost feel a grin on her as she spoke. "All you need to do is randomly encounter her all the time, spark conversation, and trigger all the right flags." The last part made me grimace.

"Natsume-chan, you haven't been playing those games again, have you?" The girl on the other end laughed, answering my question.

"Don't worry about me, you're the one with the crush."

"I said it isn't like that!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Nanoha-chan." I was already starting to feel exhausted by this phone call. I should have just called Suzuka if I needed help, rather than indulge Natsume in her delusions. "Anyway, I gotta go, lots of homework to do, see ya tomorrow."

"Okay, bye." I hung up and was I left right back where I started. Suddenly getting the urge too, I looked down at my hand, the one which took hold of Fate's arm. I blushed, and then shook my head, chasing away the thought of how soft and warm it was.

The next day was excruciating, well, at least for me it was. Fate was there when I entered the class with Alisa and Suzuka. Our eyes met, and for a moment, her cheeks became a little red, so did mine. She looked away, decided to stare out the window instead. I took my seat, which gave me another perfect view of her back again.

I felt someone poking me from behind, I turned my head and someone handed me a folded note. It was from Suzuka. I opened it up:

"Alisa-chan and I will eat lunch by ourselves today, so you can have some time alone with her. Good luck, Nanoha-chan!"

My face flushed, I pointed it down to my desk, crumpling the paper up. I hid the note and went back to staring at Fate's back, trying my best not to look embarrassed.

I caught Fate on her way to a very secluded part of the school. It was a place that people hardly went to since it was kind of creepy, but it was also the perfect place to have a talk.

"Fate-chan!" I called her name and she stopped, as if frozen in her tracks. By the time I caught up with her, hardly anyone was left around us. She twisted her face around at me, a shade of pink streaked across it.

"..." She didn't say anything to me, I took that to mean that she was waiting for me to make the first move.

I held up my bento at her. "Lets have lunch together!" She turned her face back forward.

"I'll... have to decline." And she started walking again. I puffed out my cheeks, taking this as a challenge, and started walking alongside her.

The two of us walked in silence, and continued that way for quite some time. Actually, by this point, I was feeling a little awkward about the whole thing. I didn't really know what to say, and just followed her, almost like some kind of stalker.

Eventually, when she saw that there was no more people, Fate-chan stopped and sat down. She opened up her bento, revealing a delicious looking lunch. I looked down at her as she attempted to eat, however her hand stopped and started shaking.

"D-Do you want something?" I scratched my head, holding out my bento again.

"I just wanted to have lunch with you, Fate-chan." All of a sudden I felt a little bad about this, since she looked very uncomfortable. I changed my mind. "I'm sorry, I'm probably bugging you, I'll go now." I was about to leave, when her eyes looked up at me. There was still that dark, chilling feeling in them, but they seemed a bit softer somehow.

"Do whatever you want..." She started eating quietly after that, and didn't open her mouth again. I smiled, and sat down beside her. The two of us ate a silent meal. I could feel it, I had reached a milestone, I triggered one of the "flags" as Natsume would say.

From time to time, Fate would look at me, when she thought that I didn't notice. That was okay, I was doing the same thing, playing this game of cat and mouse. It was kind of fun, I couldn't wait to do it again. The smile on my face grew, to hide my embarrassment, I started stuffing my face with rice. I probably imagined it, but when I did that, I could have sworn that I heard a soft, happy, but almost inaudible sigh.

I was on a roll today. During class, Fate looked at me at least twice, once when she was sitting down, and the other for no reason at all. I also passed her in the hall, and gave her a wave, to which she didn't respond. However, her cheeks reddened, and she looked down at her feet as I passed, it was a start.

And now here I am, after school. There was no track practice today, so I could actually go home on time. However, I was not meant to lead such a boring life. On the way out of the school, I saw Fate walking in the opposite direction that I would normally walk. I looked at my friends, Natsume and Alisa grinned at me, while Suzuka gave me a little 'shooing' gesture. I thanked them silently and ran after the blond.

"Fate-chan!"

Again she froze up, and turned my way, catching sight of me as I caught up with her. The air between us was a little tense, and I gulped before laughing nervously. "Nyahahaha, Fate-chan, want to walk together?"

"But..." Her eyes took a strange look, embarrassment. "Don't you live the other way?" This time it was my turn to freeze. How...how did she know that? I set that matter aside for now, and waved my hands in front of me.

"I don't mind, I want to, Fate-chan." She mulled it over quietly, eventually nodding her head.

"Okay..."

And so we walked, though it was in complete silence, but it was another step forward. It seemed like she was getting a bit more used to me, at least I hoped so. I didn't mind it that we didn't say anything, I was happy with taking things slowly. Thinking about it like that, I blushed and almost groaned as well. Damn, it does sound sound like I'm in love with her. But I'm not... am I? This was a serious question, one I didn't have an answer for. I never thought about it like that, at least not until Natsume pointed it out.

I forcefully pushed that line of thinking away, even knocked myself on the head. I didn't want to think about it, all I wanted right now was to walk with Fate. Speaking of which, she was looking at me again, but quickly looked away when I noticed. It was a little cute, how shy she was. Bad Nanoha, no more thinking about that. Once again, the quiet journey continued.

We came to a large, white, classic looking house. It was quite beautiful, I couldn't imagine what kind of people lived behind those doors. Fate stopped in front of it, looking at me, then looking away, repeating this a few times. I finally understood.

"R-Right, I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded, but didn't move, instead she gazed at me firmly, showing me her cold eyes again.

"Why are you so nice to someone like me...?" Without waiting for my answer, she ran away, unlocking her door and escaping inside, though not before giving me a final look.

I stood there, completely dumbfounded, not sure exactly what I should do. I wanted to answer her question, but it was too late now, it would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I turned around and started going back where I came from, beginning the long journey home. The answer I had in mind, I would definitely tell her tomorrow, even if I didn't quite understand the reasoning behind it.

Its because I want to see you smile, Fate-chan...