Chapter 7: Childhood Friend??

Nanoha was rushing towards the closing gate. Somehow she had managed to sleep through all of her alarms. Zero had as always managed to stay unaffected and asleep on her shoulder through all of her running. It had always amazed her on how Zero had manage to do this stunt without the help of magic and super glue. It's just if Zero dropped on her shoulder and sleep, he would not be moved or awakened unless he's either in danger or he just want to in most cases Nanoha had found hitting him with a book a great help and so Zero would always end up complaining about his new bumps afterwards which Nanoha would just shrug and giggle at.

"Mou no fair Zero-kun. You're just sleeping and I have to run like mad just to get to school on time." As Nanoha passed the school gates she started to run faster towards her room. She had managed to enter before her teacher so technically she was saved by the bell this time.

Panting as she sat down on her chair after the greetings. She thought of what had happened yesterday and why she was up almost half of the night.

Flashback

Nanoha was not looking at where she was going as she was lost in her own thought. She failed to see a boy holding on to a pile of books and they collided. The books where scattered by the collision and Nanoha found herself a top the said person.

Recovering herself she immediately stood up. She fixed herself and offered her hand to the guy to help him stand up, sapphire met with emerald and a nostalgic feeling of familiarity sparked on their eyes.

"Nanoha-chan…."

"Yuuno-kun…."

Both nodded at the same time ending up in them laughing together, when the two had finally managed to calmed themselves down they started to gather the scattered forgotten books on the floor.

While they were doing this the two had chatted, asking the other on what the other had been doing for the past years. They however avoided talking about THAT incident which had drastically changed their lives.

"Nanoha-chan, how's Shiro-san and Momoko-san doing?" It was an innocent question but it had a devastating effect on Nanoha.

Nanoha had stopped walking abruptly and she felt like she wants to cry. It was so painful to even think of what truly happened to her parents and sibling that it had always left her crumbling in tears. But she managed to suppress it this time because of the thought that her friend would surely worry and so she opted to give Yuuno a very saddened smile.

Yuuno who had stop the moment he realized that Nanoha was not following him stop and turned around to face his long lost childhood friend. He saw and knew immediately that Nanoha is suffering with regards to her parents when he saw the saddened smile on her friends face. He knew then that he wasn't the only one who had lost a loved one on THAT day. So he lowered the books that he holding on the stairs step and he walked towards Nanoha and gave her a hug which Nanoha returned.They remained like that for a few moment seeking comfort in each others arms. The two then started chatting ones more about the thing they had been doing since THAT incident and the two then promised to meet once more at lunch the next day before they separate to go to their own destination.

End of Flashback

Nanoha was returned from her musing when Zero stirred on her shoulder.

"Nanoha where are we?" Zero said waking up from his slumber.

"Mou Zero-kun." Nanoha answered through their mental link.

"What it was you're fault? I told you to stop musing and sleep but you never listened. You gave me eye bags for staying awake with you half of the night and you expect me to be super active without sleep the next day. You just rip what you sowed." Zero annoyedly replied.

Nanoha pouted at this. It was true however that Zero refused to sleep without seeing her sleep so he ended up awake most of the night with the musing Nanoha.

Lunch Time

Nanoha told Suzuka and Arisa that she wouldn't be able to meet them for lunch because she had already made plan to meet another friend.

The two nodded and told her that they'll inform Hayate about her plan and left.

Nanoha went to the library where Yuuno told her to meet him. As she entered the library she saw Yuuno reading some more hard binded books. She then wondered where her friend got them from since the library don't store those types of books instead the library where stack with a holographic device that store multitude of information regarding a specific topic.

She approached Yuuno silently as she thought of surprising the blonde boy up but as soon as she neared the boy; the boy turned and looked at her with a smile.

"Nanoha seriously and I thought you'd had grown up from that childish pranking." Yuuno said with faux annoyance.

"Nyahaha I thought that you'd still end up falling for that trick. Guess not Nyahaha." Nanoha said while scratching her head.

"Really Nanoha you never change." Yuuno then smiled.

"Mou I so have grown up, you know jeez Yuuno-kun." Nanoha answered with a shy smile.

"I guess physically but mentally not yet it seems." Yuuno said teasingly.

"Mou stop that already. By the way have you eaten why don't you come with me and let's eat lunch. I want to introduce you to my new friends."

Yuuno nodded and the two headed towards the normal meeting place for lunch. The two were so caught up in their chat that they failed to realize the stares and mumbling about them around them.

When they had exited the building the rumours started like wildfire across the Academy.

"No way Scrya-sama is talking with the transfer student like they were lovers? That can't be happening. No not Scrya-sama."

On another corner some other girls were talking.

"Have you heard about the transfer student? I heard that she's a bitch and that she had set her filthy eyes on Scrya-sama."

"No not our Prince!"

On the other side the unsuspecting Nanoha remained smiling as the two approach the meeting place. When they reach the meeting place, Hayate made a funny face that ended up making the others laugh at her.

"Yu-Yu-Yuuuno-kuun…" Hayate splattered out dropping the food she has on her chopsticks.

"Hello, Hayate-chan, Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan." Yuuno smiled.

"I see. Nanoha-chan, it seems you still have good eyes in making friends. By the way, you didn't go brutal on them did you when you 'Befriended' them now did you?"

Hayate, Suzuka and Arisa gave Yuuno a questioning look while Nanoha blush like a tomato.

"Wait! you know each other and NO! I so did not do anything like that."

"Ah! no fair. When you 'Befriended' me you hit me with a frying pan remember, that memory sometimes still give me nightmare you know?" Yuuno teasingly stated.

"Mou Yuuno-kun, it was so your fault you know."

"Oh my I just ask you to be my friend and you hit me with a fry pan as an answer. How is that my fault exactly?"

The two were so caught in their memories that they started to ignore the other three which only looked at them with a mix of curiosity, jealousy and…fear?

Hayate then took it to herself to remind the two of their existence by clearing her throat.

The two looked at them and apologized. The two then sit with the other three and started eating their lunches well mostly Nanoha opening her lunch and sharing it with Yuuno.

"So Yuuno-kun, who are you to Nanoha-chan?" Arisa curiously asked.

"Well you could say that I'm her long lost boyfriend."

"WHAT?!" Hayate suddenly shouted while standing up suddenly causing what remained of her food to spill out of her lunchbox.

The four looked at her questioningly which Hayate evaded saying that she saw a spider and then sitting back down. Her face though showed her embarrassment with a blush.

"Yuuno-kun stop joking already Mou. It's not like that. The truth is Yuuno-kun is my childhood friend. It was when I used to live here in Uminari." Nanoha visibly sadden at the admission of her past residency.

It did not pass the other three's keen eyes and they wondered as to what it is that is causing their friend such distress. Yuuno though it strange that Nanoha would be that affected with the past and he knew that maybe there was more to it than Nanoha is letting him know of.

An awkward silence permeated the air around the group but it did not last long as a certain familiar made his presence known. With no regard to the current situation Zero strolled.

"Nanoha, I'm Hungry." The group looked at the cat-like familiar for a second before they all ended up laughing.

"What?! Can't a guy announce his hunger? jezz You guys are crazy. Anyway enough with the chitchat and feed me because I'm hungry." Zero whined making Nanoha giggle and motion for him to come near.

"By the way Zero-kun, I want you to meet Yuuno-kun. Yuuno-kun this is Zero-kun my partner."

"Oh! Are you the kid who Nanoha hit with a frying pan?" Zero smirked.

"Yeah, I see she told you about that." Yuuno glared at Nanoha.

"Not at all, I just saw it in her memories. You know that think with familiar and master thing." Zero seemed to have shrugged at that.

"Oh I see."

The six then started eating as their break was nearing its end. The six manage to finish eating their lunch in time no thanks to Hayate's restlessness and the five started dashing towards the school. Zero just opt to nap at Nanoha's shoulder once more when he finished his meal.

The five went their separate ways for they each have different classes to attend to.

As Nanoha sit on her chair she realized that something was wrong. Her classmates were looking –scratch that- glaring at her. She found it strange for she did not know of any fault she might have done to warrant such glares so instead of questioning them she just opted to ignore them which turned out to be truly hard for half of the class was giving her death glares.

It was truly hard and she wondered as to what it was that she had done once more. She felt that her enemies are increasing for reasons even she doesn't get anymore.

As she ponders this thought the class went on without many happenings. Then it was time for them to move on to their next room. Nanoha was still thinking things through when she exited the room. Sometime ago Zero had told her that he would be going somewhere else again and that she should just call him if something happened or if anything he would be searching for her.

She was walking through the corridors towards her last class when binds suddenly caught her. Soon she felt that she was being transferred through a teleportation spell. No one witness this event because for some strange reason she was the only one who had science and technology in their class that day.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in some sort of underground facility. It was something the old SciTech students used to use when they were trying their experiments. Nanoha tried to escape her bind but she realised that it was useless in her current rank. The bind was an AAA bind after all.

Nanoha was then thinking of a way to get out of it without releasing one of her seals.

"Oh look. It seems that our plaything is still trying to escape our bind. Hahahah"

"Please release me. I haven't done anything for this so please release me." Nanoha pleaded thinking that the other girls would understand and just leave her be.

"Ahh but that would be so boring and besides haven't Silvia-onee sama told you why we're doing this?" The girl from the left told her.

"She must be stupid. I think the rumours about her leading a team in tactics class to victory is nothing but a fat lie." Another girl from the right chimed.

"Okay, girl's enough talking and start playing. We wouldn't want to make our new toy wait now? Would we?"

"Yes, Fina-onee sama." The two chorused.

The two then summoned some magic circles and soon Nanoha felt pain running through her whole body while taking the attacks, Nanoha was thinking of how to escape her binds and run away from all this.

At the Magical Sakura tree

A certain silver haired boy stood looking at the Academy. The boy then stood alert when he receive unwanted information from one of his pawns.

"Damn it. Nanoha I take my eyes of you and you went missing like this on me again." He then used his mental link to alert all his pawn on the Academy to locate Nanoha's where about.

"Damn it. You better be safe or I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp myself." The silver haired boy then cursed some more as he headed toward the Academy to start his own search.

Unknown to the boy a blonde haired girl was following his movement from the shadows.

"Arf it seems that something had happened and the guy is now moving toward the Academy. I don't know what it is but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Is that so, don't rush into anything and wait for me Fate. We still don't know what that guys potential are so don't act rushed okay."

"Hmm..."

Neither the less Fate found that following from the shadows would be best for now so she kept to it.

The boy landed near the Academy's garden and he immediately started walking toward the abandoned warehouse. He stopped when one of his pawns announced that he was being followed. He thanked them for informing him and that they need not worry about his pursuer because he knew who it was. The boy had always known that he was being watch and that the person watching him wasn't one of the enemies. He had already known the person as Nanoha's saviour once so he had known that his pursuer is a friend in some sense. He then stopped on his track and he face toward where he thought his pursuer is.

"Can I help you?" The boy suddenly asked.

Back to the underground facility

Nanoha's tormentor kept up with their fun. Nanoha had manage to block some of the attacks but it had seemed to only inspire the girls to be more creative in their approach. Nanoha knew that she would need to end this soon before Zero caught wind of what was happening to her which she desperately prayed not to.

"Okay stop!." Fina suddenly stated.

"I think its just about time that we stop playing around and that we start what we really came here to do? Don't you think so too girls?"

"Yes, onee sama." The two chorused once more.

Nanoha was thinking of breaking one of her seals when the door suddenly opened. A blonde haired girl entered and the other girls suddenly paled which caused Nanoha to think that this girl was not supposed to be here.

"Oh my! I can't believe that someone had found my secret hideout and worse there seems to be something wrong going on here." The blonde stated almost maliciously making the other girl tremble in fear.

"Sh-Shu-Shunz onee sama. What are you doing here?" Fina said with a pale face.

"Oh! I thought I just said that this is 'My secret hideout'. I was just thinking of practicing my new spell here but it seems that you're doing something that's not allowed in here." The blonde stated while looking towards Nanoha's way.

She then pointed at Nanoha.

"That girl seems to be in pain and if what I'm thinking is right then…"

The three paled as they looked back and forth from Nanoha to Shunz.

"Please onee sama, please don't tell on us." The three pleaded as Shunz looked at them with barely contained mischief in her exotic emerald eyes.

Shunz then made a thinking pose and started tapping her chin as if to contemplate what she would do with the three.

Nanoha could only watch the exchange as she still could not escape her binds. The three never stopped their pleading while Shunz once more looked towards Nanoha.

"I think I could turn a blind eye with this BUT you must promise me to never do anything like this again and don't tell anyone that I practice my spells here. If you don't follow what I said then prepare yourself but if you act like good little girls then consider what happened here to never had happened." Shunz then gave them a smile.

The three nodded vigorously and suddenly dash out of there. The instance the three disappeared the bind also disappear. Nanoha weakened by her escape attempt and blocking found it hard to land right so she found herself falling face first towards the floor. But then warm arms suddenly appeared stopping her from meeting the floor face first.

"Are you alright?" Shunz asked as she supported Nanoha.

"Y-yes thank you. I'll be fine. I just need to rest a little." Nanoha weakly stated.

"Oh okay. You're pretty lucky though. If I hadn't thought of practicing here then who would know what might had already happened to you?" Shunz stated as she help Nanoha toward the nearest chair.

"Thank you. I guess I am." Nanoha shyly admitted.

"Oh! I'm sorry for being rude. I almost forgot. My name is Shunz Regenford. Nice to meet you." The girl smiled as she extended her hands towards Nanoha.

Nanoha shock her hand and smiled weakly for she was still recovering from her current state of exhaustion.

"My name is Nanoha, Takamachi Nanoha."

"Well hello! Nanoha. By the way I don't mean to be rude or something but could you tell me what had just happened and why are you being bullied? I mean this rarely happens here in the Academy so I'm just sort of curious." Shunz asked while looking at Nanoha intently which caused Nanoha to blush. She had never seen such exotic looking eyes before but somehow even her eyes seems to hide a certain sort of mystery, was what Nanoha thought as she got caught by the girls exotic emerald eyes.

Meanwhile on the Academy Garden

"Can I help you?"

Fate was startled by the sudden question but she remained rooted on her spot.

"I know that you'd been following me care to tell me why?" The boy asked curiously.

Knowing that the guy knew where she was Fate knew that hiding was no longer needed. She walked out of the shadows calmly but on alert.

"Fate Testarossa…"

Fate found it amusing that the guy knew her but then again practically everyone in the Academy knew her so she wasn't really surprise the guy knew her name.

"Isn't it rude to know my name and not tell me your name as well?" Fate sarcastically asked.

"Yes it is but now isn't the right time for me to introduce myself. There would be a time when everything would be revealed but for now all I could say is I'm a friend." The boy then turned around and was about to walk away when an orange blur came crushing towards him. He was then engulfed by a bind. The orange blur then jump off him towards Fate's side.

"I told you to wait for me." Arf angrily stated while bearing her teeth toward the now binded silver haired boy.

"Arf!"

"This really isn't the best time to do this. I need to go." The silver haired boy was then engulfed by a white light. An enormous magic circle then appeared and before Fate and Arf could react the silver haired boy was gone.

"I can't believe he escaped." Arf grunted

"….."

"Fate is this alright. I could still track him if you want."

Fate shook her head.

"No, I didn't sense any sort of danger while he was talking to me and he seems to be sincere when he told me that he wasn't my enemy. I just felt that I've met him somewhere." Fate then stared toward the Academy building.

Meanwhile Nanoha and Shunz were getting along well. But then Nanoha had to excuse herself because it was almost time to go back to the dorms and she also need to find Zero-kun.

After Nanoha left, Shunz stood up and dusted her clothes.

"Well that was way too easy. So Ren have you crack the code yet."

Out of the shadows came a long haired boy.

"It is too hard to crack as expected of a SSS protection program."

"Oh! well I guess I just need to find the information the hard way." Shunz then shrug as she headed towards the door. The boy followed quietly behind her.

As the two walked side by side in silence Shunz couldn't help but think of why she was even doing these things.

"Soon, very soon. I'll finally be able to see you again. Shin." Shunz whispered solemnly.