[???? POV]

The clouds covered the moon of the night sky. A blonde female child stood alone on the rooftops of one of the buildings of Uminari City. Her outfit would make one think that she's a cosplayer wearing a fantasy costume, complimenting the costume set was a magical staff in her hand. Some might even mistake her for a princess or a witch from a fantasy tv show. Her twin tails fluttered with the wind along with the cloak on her back. If one looked closely, they'd notice that the magical staff was similar to the Raising Heart staff that our hero Nanoha normally wielded, only the color saturation differed from Nanoha's quite a bit. 

"I see. So, the Lost Logia are in this area?" The blonde girl commented out loud. From the distance, a unique breed of dog approached the girl and stood next to her as the blonde girl surveyed the unfamiliar territory, she now finds herself in. If one looked closely enough at the dog, a professional dog breeder would not be able to recognize its breed.

"The form is a blue gem. Normally called a Jewel Seed." The girl said making her analysis from what appears to be her mission objective. The girl let out a sigh as she turned towards the moon, quickly turning away as she faced Uminari City. "Right. I'll have them in my hands in no time." The girl declared to herself with a certainty of one hundred percent confidence. 

The dog by the girl's side let out a loud howl into the night. 

~~~

[Kuro's POV]

In the living room of the Takamachi household, I sat on the couch along with Miyuki while Yuuno ran up towards Miyuki. Miyuki picked up the ferret, pulling it closer to her face while he proceeded to lick her like a normal pet animal would. "Yoshi, yoshi. You're so smart." Miyuki said with a giggle as she played with the pet ferret, also known as Yuuno. That was when the door to the living room opened and Kyoya stepped inside. "Nanoha, are you ready yet?" Kyoya called out. "Gomen! Just a little bit longer!" Nanoha responds from upstairs as she was still in her bedroom. 

That's right, today we would be heading over to Suzuka's house for a tea party. A tea party, huh? Although mama was somewhat wealthy despite our stereotypical middle-class home and Luvia-san had the most money out of all of us, tea parties weren't something we would have done very often. At most, whenever there was a festive occasion, we would head to Luvia-san's house for a barbeque, but tea parties were something you would see girls our age doing in commercials, cartoons, anime, or tv shows but not something that happened often in reality. It's a lot like seeing British people on television speaking with Posh Accents and making the international audience assume that all of them speak in Posh Accents. 

"Huh? Are you guys going out somewhere today?" Miyuki asks as she turns to Kyoya and I. "Yeah, we're heading to the Tsukimura's house. Kyo-nii's going on a date with nee-san." I reply to Miyuki's question as I relaxed on the couch with my arms spread and one of my legs were crossed over the other. A typical pose that Counter Guardian EMIYA would sit in when he wants to look cool and make people impressed with him.

Why is it not working when I do it? Isn't imitating EMIYA supposed to make me look more mature in front of other people? Kyoya shot me a glare before he proceeded to add "Apparently, Nanoha and Kuro got an invite from Suzuka. And yes Kuro-chan, I'm an adult so I'm allowed to date people." Kyoya said with a tone of snark, my lips curling into a smirk at that comment. "I see, so you really are going to see Shinobu." Miyuki adds to my teasing of Kyoya. "I'm also there to chaperone Nanoha and Kuro." Kyoya said, finally relenting from the combined efforts of teasing from Miyuki and I. 

The sound of knocking on the living room door brought the attention of the three of us as we turned to the newcomer. Nanoha was dressed in her casual clothing and a backpack on her back. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Nanoha declared to us with a cheerful smile. "I see, we're barely going to catch the bus as it is." Kyoya said giving a wry smile to Nanoha. "Okay.... Yuuno, over here!" Nanoha calls out to the ferret. Yuuno hops down from Miyuki's hands and rushes over to Nanoha, climbing up her before sitting on her shoulder. 

"Itterashai!"  Miyuki waves to the three of us before we exit the house. "Ittekimasu!" Nanoha calls out in reply, both of us waving to her before we follow Kyoya out of the Takamachi household. Kyoya led Nanoha and I to the bus stop, the three of us waited for a bit until a bus arrived to pick us up. As we sat down on our seats, Nanoha began to look out towards the window. I also decided to view the scenery which happened to be an ocean view. 

A small flock of seagulls were also flying along the sky as our bus quickly passed through and headed to the direction of more of the suburban neighborhoods. Finally, our bus stopped at its destination and Kyoya, Nanoha, and I stepped outside. Kyoya led the way as we headed towards a large mansion which seemingly belonged to Suzuka and her family. Nanoha stepped forward and pressed the electronic doorbell button. Opening the door was a maid with light purple hair. "Welcome Kyoya-sama, Nanoha Ojousama, Kuro botchan." 

"Yeah, thanks for the invitation." Kyoya replied with a levelheaded grin. "Konichiwa!" Nanoha adds. "Please excuse us." I say, adding to Kyoya and Nanoha's greeting as well. "This is Noel-san. She's the head maid of the Tsukimura family." Nanoha says, turning towards me to give an explanation. "She doesn't talk much but she's beautiful and super cool!" Nanoha adds with excitement. "Ara, why thank you for the compliment, Nanoha-ojousama." The maid replied before stepping aside to let the three of us in. "Please, this way." Noel-san said to us. 

As we stepped inside the mansion, Noel-san closed the door behind us. We arrived at one of the larger rooms of the mansion, the outside was filled with glass and the room had an elegant design to it, but the elegance wasn't suffocating, more like it was designed to let the inhabitants relax a bit more. In the room there were also a large amount of domestic pet cats relaxing and making themselves at home. On the table in the center, Arisa and Suzuka were already sitting, joined by an older woman that had similar features to Suzuka- most likely her older sister, Shinobu that I heard about earlier.

"Nanoha-chan, Kyoya-san, Kuro-chan!" Suzuka immediately stood up as the three of us arrived to give us an excited greeting. "Suzuka!" Nanoha replied. "Yo." I say, giving a wave, causing the people in the room to stare at me. "Kuhum- I meant to say gokigenyou, Suzuka Hime-sama." I say, giving a practiced curtsy. Arisa and Suzuka along with Nanoha and even Kyoya, Noel, the other maid, Falin, and Shinobu laughed at that gesture. In the end, I also join in and end up laughing too.  

"Kyoya! Irrashai." Shinobu says, approaching Nanoha's older brother, to which he gives her a smile. "Yeah, it's been a while." The sunlight that was in the room was seemingly focused on Kyoya and Shinobu at that moment. It was as if they were meant to be and even the fates willed it, though I wouldn't actually believe in something so exaggerated. The most likely answer is that it was a coincidence. "They were classmates since high school, and they get along nowadays." Nanoha explains a bit of information to me which I gave a nod in response. 

"Shall I go prepare some tea? What would you like?" Noel asks to the newcomers, meaning Kyoya, Nanoha, and I. "I'll leave it up to you." Kyoya replies simply. "And what about you two, Nanoha and Kuro?" Noel asks as she turned to us. "I'll leave it up to you too." Nanoha replies politely. "Same here." I add on. "As you wish, Falin?" Noel says, turning towards the Suzuka's personal maid. "Understood onee-sama, I'll be right back." Falin says with a salute before heading out of the room. They were sisters? The similarity in appearances certainly explains a lot. Not that I can talk since the maids at the Einzbern household were also sisters (technically).

Shinobu walks closer to Kyoya, grabbing onto the sleeve of his shirt. "Then Kyoya and I will be in my room." Shinobu announces to Noel. "Alright, then I'll bring it over there." Noel replies. A part of my facial muscles began to twitch after hearing that. I turned towards Nanoha, then Arisa, and Suzuka but they were oblivious, and their facial expressions remained the same. Did they think that this would only be a date or something? Am I the weird one for being the only one knowing what the implications of that sentence meant? Or maybe in my world, things are a bit different.

"Kyo-nii. One of the heroes of the cartoons I've watched always said that a hero should always wear protection before going into battle, otherwise your family will be affected." I say, turning to Kyoya, faking a bit of an airhead demeanor as I make that statement to him. Noel after hearing that sentence broke out of character and began laughing. "Well, I'm prepared to take responsibility for anything that might occur." Kyoya replied with confidence, causing Shinobu who was standing next to Kyoya to blush and grab his arm, pulling him out of the room. 

"Kuro, what did you mean back there?" Nanoha asked me with curiosity as Kyoya, Shinobu, and both of the maids walked out of the room. "It's... well- Wow those cats are super adorable!" I exclaim in an attempt to change the topic; I approach one of the cats and begin to interact with it, causing it to purr to me in appreciation. Standing up, I head to the table along with Nanha. Nanoha gently removes one of the cats from the chair she's sitting in before sitting down herself, and I make my way to my own chair and join the group, taking my seat. "Ohayo." Arisa greets to Nanoha. "Yeah, ohayo!" Nanoha says returning the greeting. 

"Suzuka's sister and Nanoha's brother are as lovey dovey as ever!" Arisa comments with a chuckle. "Yeah, onee-chan seems very happy ever since she got to know Kyoya." Suzuka says in agreement to Arisa's statement. "I wonder if it's the same with my oni-chan?" Nanoha muses out loud. "But compared to the past, I think he's gotten a lot nicer." Nanoha adds in. 

Nicer? Does that mean he had a different attitude before I got to meet him? Or is Nanoha just saying that Kyo-nii has softened in general after meeting Shi-nee? "I think he laughs a lot more now." Nanoha says, adding more to her evaluation about her brother. "Oh yeah, thanks for inviting me today!" Nanoha changes the topic as she turns towards Suzuka. "Not at all, thanks for coming today!" Suzuka replies. "You seem to be cheerful enough today." Arisa states, causing Nanoha to give out a gasp of surprise. It seems this is what happens when you know Nanoha well enough, and Arisa has enough experience to read Nanoha like a book. "Hai, hai. I keep telling her she should smile more often; she's finally listening to me." I say with a confident grin, pretending to take credit as the reason for Nanoha's improved mood. 

"Don't think we're leaving you out of this, Kuro. Today, you also seem more relaxed too, and after today I've seen a bit of what you're like naturally without that cool girl act." Arisa comments, somehow metaphorical arrows began striking me in my heart with each word Arisa spoke. "Nanoha, you haven't been too cheerful lately. And you're probably skilled at acting tough but I know you weren't doing so well, Kuro." Suzuka reprimands the both of us. "If there's something that's worrying you two, you know you could tell us." Suzuka offers. "At least, that's what Arisa-chan and I were saying."

"Suzuka... Arisa..." Nanoha's eyes began to widen, and everything that she attempted to hold together soon begins to fall apart. Crossing my arms, I remained silent. "Nanoha's situation has been a bit delicate lately but thank you. Seriously." I give a genuine smile to Arisa and Suzuka at that and dropped my usual facade. 

"Kyuuuuuu!" A loud cry from Yuuno in his ferret form interrupted our serious moment, which I'm somewhat secretly grateful for. One of the cats in the room had focused their attention on Yuuno and started chasing him. "Ahh! Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha shouted, standing up from her chair. "Ein, stop that!" Suzuka also called out with worry. 

Falin had unfortunately returned at the worst timing possible. "Hai, sorry to keep you waiting!" She called out, stepping into the room while holding a tray filled with tea and an assortment of desserts. "Strawberry milk tea and cream cheese cookies!" She adds, causing me to turn towards her with anticipation. Yuuno was forced towards Falin's direction and began running around near her legs, Falin started losing her balance. "Falin, look out!" Suzuka shouted as she and Nanoha rushed to catch the maid, successfully doing so. 

"Oh no you don't!" I shout, also rushing towards their direction. I somehow manage to catch the various plates and prevent them from falling onto the floor. "Sugoi!" Arisa cheers, applauding at the efforts of Nanoha, Suzuka, and I. As I set the food on the table, Nanoha and Suzuka help Falin from her current state.

"Everyone, gomenasai!!!" Falin cried out, bowing her head as she apologized to the four of us. I could only respond by giving an awkward smile. "It's not your fault, Falin-san!" Nanoha said, trying to reassure her. "Yeah, we probably should have been more careful." Arisa admits. "Hai, it's definitely not your fault." Suzuka says, adding onto Nanoha and Arisa replies. 

"You know, sometimes I forget that you're actually a human." I joke to Yuuno via telepathy. "Instead of forgetting, why don't you help me!?" Yuuno cried out in reply.