Sorry to keep you all waiting. I know I updated International Magic last week, but I started a new job and that's taken up a big portion of my time. I know, first world problems.

I did my best in writing this fight scene. Truth be told, not everyone will enjoy it, but I did what I had to do.

Just remember: Everything is happening for a reason.

Nanoha breathed deeply as she was enveloped in the warm embrace of her Barrier Jacket. Raising Heart's device form fell into her hands; its familiar weight bringing with it a sense of power she hadn't felt in a few months. Looking across at her teacher, she noticed that Negi had not undergone any form of transformation.

"Sensei, is everything alright?" The red-haired boy smiled as he slipped a ring onto his right hand.

"Everything is just fine Nanoha-san. I just want to take a few steps to make sure I don't do too much damage." Holding his right hand out, Nanoha watched as her teacher began whispering a spell. She saw a magic circle form around Negi's feet as the air around him was whipped into a frenzy.

"Raising Heart, what's going on?"

"Unknown. Current enemy magic power downgraded to A-level."

"Downgraded?" Nanoha asked.

"Affirmative."

The glow of the circle faded as he cut the spell. "There. This isn't the kind of place where I want to go full out. I hope you don't mind."

Nanoha paused, trying to think of a reply. "If you say so sensei. Are you ready?" She saw her teacher smirk for a moment, before he vanished right in front of her eyes. Before Nanoha could even blink, Negi was right in front of her, arm cocked back in preparation for a punch.

"Oh yeah."

The wind was driven from Nanoha's lungs as Negi's palm plowed into her stomach. Acting on pure instinct, Nanoha bent her knees and jumped backward. "Flyer Fin." She felt the familiar tingle of her flying spell take hold and instantly shot toward the ceiling. She took the time to catch her breath, rubbing the place where he punched her. Her Barrier Jacket had absorbed most of the impact, but a punch was still a punch.

"Master, behind you." Nanoha took her device's warning at face value and shot forward, trying to get out of his range. The sound of a 'kiya' rang in her ears as she raced toward the wall in front of her. Something inside her screamed at her to keep going, even though logically, her teacher couldn't reach her up here.

As the wall came up to meet her, Nanoha slowed as Raising Heart began the calculations for an Axel Shot. Just as she was about to pancake onto the padded wall, she swung her feet out in front of her. Her knees bent deeply as she raised her head to prepare the shot. However, Negi's face was the only thing in her vision. Nanoha's heart skipped a beat as she gazed into her teacher's eyes. The sadness, loneliness, and longing were gone. What was there was an endless spring of energy, culminating in a small, solid smirk he wore predominantly on his face. For some reason, she couldn't shoot. Her mind was screaming to pull the proverbial trigger, but all she wanted to do was to lose herself in Negi's eyes.

However, Raising Heart had other ideas. "Flash Move". Instantly, Negi's face was gone, blurred by her fast movement spell. Nanoha took the moment to try and gather her thoughts. This was a fight. She couldn't worry about things like her teacher's eyes. Or how powerful he was. Or how powerful they could be together if they trained hard enough.

"Nanoha-san, are you alright?" It was downright surreal watching Negi fly past her. Somehow, his jumps off the walls seemed to be enough to carry him up to her height. "Your nose is bleeding." He asked on his next pass. "Did I hit you too hard?" Robotically, Nanoha brought her empty hand up to her face, wiping a small trickle of blood from her face. Indeed, she was bleeding from her nose.

Blood.

Nose…

Nanoha didn't exactly feel her face begin to twitch as she continued to stare at the red liquid on her fingertips. Her mind was far too busy firing off the most inappropriate suggestions. Of course she knew what it implied. She was Japanese for crying out loud. Stuff like this was only supposed to happen to boys! In retrospect, Nanoha possibly could have chosen a better method of venting her frustration. However, the picture Raising Heart took of Negi's face at that exact moment was something that kept the Ala Alba girls rolling with laughter for days to come.

"FLASH IMPACT!"

The resulting explosion shot Negi back against the far wall of the training room, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust that obscured him from her sight. At this point, Nanoha wasn't thinking about such trivial things like bodily injuries, magic shields or concussions. No. There was a point to prove. And she was about to unleash two months of helplessness, pre-pubescent sexual frustration, and the shame of having her reputation ruined all over Negi.

()()()

Somewhere in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Fate Averruncus looked up from his cup of the best coffee he ever had.

"Is something wrong?" His white-haired companion asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No Joshua, I simply feel a strange desire to give a girl a handshake for some reason."

The boy giggled. "Perhaps this is jealousy?"

"Or perhaps it is pride in her work," he placed the cup down on its saucer. "Now tell me more about this 'game'."

()()()

Nanoha spun Raising Heart around and brought it level with Negi. Even consumed by her current maelstrom of emotion, she was still able to complete the equations needed for her next spell. "Axel Shot." Eight bolts of pink energy erupted from her device's head; each one plotting its own course towards her teacher. The smoke from the first impact hadn't even cleared before the blots of magic hit their target.

Before Nanoha could even register the hit, a blur of motion caught her attention. Negi came flying out of the cloud of smoke that previously hid him.

"Nanoha-san, what is wrong?" He shouted as he went plummeting toward the floor. Her only reply was a concentrated barrage of shots aimed at her once beloved teacher.

Nanoha and Raising Heart were working overtime. Trajectory calculations, mana equations, and life span projections had become mixed together in a string of numbers that would make even the most hardened mathematician cry. However, Nanoha was still able to keep a tight focus; guiding each shot with as much accuracy as she could give. The slider on Raising Heart was beginning to overheat as it ejected cartridge after cartridge in an attempt to keep all of the magic bolts it had fired sustained. In terms of sheer volume of firing, Nanoha had out-shot any of her previous battles.

However, even with her rate of fire, her teacher seemed untouchable. Whatever technique he was using, he was skilled enough in it that he could dance out of the path of her shots with ease. No matter the volume of fire that was focused on him, nothing seemed to touch him. Nanoha narrowed her eyes as she mentally directed another barrage of pink light toward him. He seemed to be as fast as Fate was when she used her Zanber form. How could that even be possible?

"Incoming Master!" Nanoha looked up to see several streaks of white light coming right at her. With a quick flourish of Raising Heart, she quickly Flash Moved out of the way. The magical blots sailed harmlessly past her; dumb fire. The mana around Nanoha's feet began to buzz as she saw more of her teacher's magical strikes come toward her. She focused some of her shots to intercept the incoming projectiles, but flew out of their way. Sure enough, more made their way past the interception; flying out to where she just was.

A new cartridge slid into place as Nanoha fired off more shots. Soon, she too was flying around the room; spending as much mana dodging attacks as she did firing them. As she danced around another of Negi's attacks, she tried thinking of a way to corner her teacher. Most of the spells in her arsenal could easily take him out with their splash area. However, the time it'd take to charge them up would leave her vulnerable. She'd need to knock him off balance; just enough so that she could set up her attack.

One spell seemed like a good choice. "Area Search!" Nanoha had to cancel out a good number of her Axel Shots as information from the search was relayed back to Raising Heart. The search was able to filter out the ambient magic caused by the spells being cast; leaving two large magic signatures being highlighted in the room. The problem, however, was that Negi seemed to realize that she was vulnerable.

"You shouldn't let your guard down!" Negi shouted as he kicked off the wall once again. Nanoha readied herself; planning to stand her ground this time against her teacher's assault. However, rather than closing the distance between them, he punched the air in front of him. As his fist shot forward, Nanoha panicked. Dozens upon dozens of magic bolts flew from the ring on his finger; each one aimed directly at her. From what Lindy told her, most mages could only attack with about ten bolts at once; having her teacher cast so many at one time nearly made lose her cool. Nanoha quickly raised her shield just as the tide of energy passed over her.

Each bolt of magic packed quite a punch; Raising Heart storing the data from the assault for later review. Nanoha's breath quickened as she gazed at the pink magic sphere that encompassed her. Even though her teacher was powerful, she had learned from Yunno how to evenly spread out her magic; keeping her shield from cracking and failing. Sweat began forming on her brow as she channeled more energy into the shield. The pink sphere of mana grew in size and intensity as Nanoha burned through another cartridge. She wasn't going to be beaten like this.

"WRAGH!" She shouted, throwing her arms in the air as her magic expenditure reached its climax. Her shield flew out in all directions; scattering Negi's magic shots and throwing her teacher against the far wall. Once her vision cleared, Nanoha took a deep breath as she leveled Raising Heart toward Negi. The red-haired mage seemed to be supporting himself against the wall. From what her Area Search told her, it seemed that he was nearing his limit. Likewise, Nanoha was beginning to feel the effects of prolonged use of the cartridge system. This fight was going to end soon, one way or another.

Negi made the next move, springing off from the wall with hardly a twitch. Nanoha calmly watched as he flickered in and out of view as he made his way toward her. Raising Heart focused all of the Area Search toward him, looking carefully for an opening. Nanoha narrowed her eyes as she saw Negi move across the air. It seemed that every time he re-appeared, he stood perfectly still. Then he would vanish, only to re-appear closer. It wasn't long until she realized that just before he disappeared, he seemed to fling himself slightly toward the ground.

Her eyes widened as Raising Heart provided the final clue: Every time he vanished, there was a trace of mana leading from his previous position, down to the floor, and back up into the air where he re-appeared. It took barley a second for Nanoha to process this, and another to formulate her final attack.

Without a word, she cast her Axel Shot. The eight bolts of magic sailed out toward Negi who began dodging around him. Nanoha loaded her last cartridge as she carefully watched her teacher dance between her shots. Raising Heart began the calculations as she leveled her device toward her teacher.

Negi vanished.

The shots streaked down.

*Twrap!*

Negi suddenly rematerialized, halfway between the floor and ceiling. For a moment, he hung in the air; a dazed look on his face. Nanoha smirked as she mentally re-directed her remaining seven shots at Negi. Slowly, as if he was a tin can, Negi's flailing body was brought back up to her level.

"I have fought demons, monsters, robots, and summons," Nanoha chanted as the familiar whine of her charging cycle began. "I have faced down the darkest depths and rescued my precious ones from its grasp. There is no obstacle I cannot surpass, no foe I that can outrun my shot." Raising Heart began to glow with the aura of her signature attack. "I am Takamachi Nanoha," Negi flew up into her sights. "AND I AM NOT A PERVERT!"

Nanoha braced herself for the Starlight Breaker. She didn't care for magical armor, reflexes, or splash damage. Something inside her was telling her to strike. So, she struck.

That is, she tried.

She heard the alarm klaxons go off, but didn't realize anything had happened until she felt Raising Heart vanish. One minute, her device was in her hands, preparing to fire; the next it was gone. Raising Heart, along with her Barrier Jacket had disappeared. Nanoha found herself suspended in mid-air momentarily before an aura of green light. She began to slowly float down to the ground. Across from her, Negi was rubbing his head as he likewise was floated down.

"Takamachi Nanoha, what were you thinking!" As soon as the two of them were back on solid ground, Lindy was marching straight toward them. "I burned through THREE safety protocols to keep that Breaker from hurting Negi-kun. What were you thinking? He has no armor, no shields, and was in no position to dodge!"

Nanoha looked up at Lindy; the admiral glaring at her with her hands on her hips. Truth be told, she didn't know what she was thinking either. All she could remember was Negi. Negi being close to her, being worried about her. Negi with his strong arms, quick movements, and gentle voice. Nanoha noticed that Lindy's stern gaze had changed to a mask of surprise and concern. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against Nanoha's nose.

"Is it anything you want to talk about?" She asked, whispering this time. Nanoha closed her eyes and felt like screaming. Nothing was making sense anymore.

"Not right now," she replied, taking the hankie from her. "Though I would like to talk to Miyuki onee-san soon."

That reason: Puberty