"So what did she do?"
"I swear, she turned red as a beet! She didn't know what to do, so she fidgeted a bit before she bolted! I had to apologize to him in her absence."
"Poor Fate-chan."
The aforementioned blonde only flushed and lowered her head further in shame, trying to avoid the expressions of her four friends as they walked among the throng of students departing from school. She knew they weren't teasing her or condemning her, but damn if she didn't feel utterly embarrassed by her reaction. How was she supposed to react to something like that!?
"Ahhh, that would've been so funny to see," Arisa remarked, linking her hands together behind her head. The fourteen-year-old was grinning at the thought, making Suzuka, Nanoha, and Hayate chuckle. She felt bad for the boy who confessed to Nanoha's best friend, though--but hey, that was Fate's fault, and she had to go back and give him an answer, didn't she?
"Ne, ne, Arisa-chan," Nanoha spoke, trotting forward to catch up with the American girl. "Have YOU been confessed to?"
Well, that was one way to derail her train of thought. Now the girls were looking at her, even Fate. Arisa sputtered.
"W-w-w-what kind of question is that!?" she demanded.
Nanoha never lost her smile. "I know why Fate-chan gets all her love letters; because she's a foreigner, but so are you! So I wondered if you had a special someone that you haven't told us about."
"We've caught you staring off into space like she was thinking about someone," Hayate teased, grinning like a cat.
Suzuka blinked as a huge blush spread across Arisa's cheeks, causing Nanoha to giggle as they hit the target. "Really, Arisa-chan?" she asked, surprised--the girl's nature made it difficult to express her real feelings at times. Arisa's movements stopped entirely at the question.
"Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked, looking a tiny bit concerned. Had they pushed her too far by accident?
Arisa turned around, looking so hard at Nanoha the girl took an unconscious step back. It was like something had clicked, and Nanoha knew that her short-tempered friend had made a decision.
Of course, it wasn't at all what Nanoha was expecting when the blonde flung herself at her, wrapping her arms around her tightly.
Each of the girls' eyes went wide at the sight. Even some of the others around them stopped to watch what was going on. Suzuka's hands were clasped tight in front of her chest, Hayate hid a knowing grin behind a hand. Fate's book-bag hit the ground.
"A-Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked again, understanding beginning to dawn on her.
Arisa only squeezed the girl tighter, her blushing countenance hidden from the other girls. She looked off to the side. "A girl can't have a friend like you and not fall for her."
The realization hit her like someone had turned her own Divine Buster on her. She'd never heard that kind of cute voice from Arisa! Her mind whirled at the sudden realization. Everyone was staring as Arisa buried her face against Nanoha's neck, and there was only thing the poor girl could do.
Her brain shut down entirely, and she fainted.
Arisa blinked, staring dumbly as Nanoha collapsed backwards, her face frozen in a stupefied expression. "Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting."