Disclaimer: I do not own Negima, by that name or any other. I do, however, have an undeniably geeky obsession with it.
Author's Note: This is a shoujo-ai story (big surprise!) so don't read it if that offends you. I'm a junkie for positive feedback, so even though this story's finished, I'd love to get your thoughts on it! It's set post-story and is utter fluff. Enjoy!
Ю
The sun just peeked out from over the trees, colouring the earth and the old-fashioned Japanese buildings a tawny golden. The buildings sprawled lazily over one acre of the large property that was both a great temple and Konoe Konoka's family home. The small outbuilding that had effectively become her private quarters, since her return to Kyoto after her graduation from Mahora Academy, stood on the edge of a cliff. The front porch faced out into the open sky, the very tips of the trees below still a good hundred feet below the edge. A few steps at the side of the porch opened onto a path that led up towards the temple main. It was down this path that Konoka came, reaching up to pull the tie out of her hair. The brown tresses, released, fell around her to her thighs. It got in the way, but when not in training, Konoka greatly preferred to keep her hair loose.
With a tired sigh, she crossed the porch and stepped inside, but only for a moment. When she came back out, she wore simple jeans and a comfortable halter. The formal temple dress lay in a heap on the small chair by the door; she would deal with them later, feeling herself disinclined to raise even the slightest effort. Stepping forward, she rested her elbows on the railing that kept her from the cliff-edge.
Konoka puffed up her bangs. She loved her training, becoming more powerful, feeling the energy that she'd known for a few years now was locked inside her be released. To be in control of that power was an intoxicating feeling. She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes – not that anyone was there to see if she smiled or not. That was the truth of it, after all, wasn't it? After years of at least moderate popularity at school, Konoka found herself entirely alone. She missed her classmates.
No, that wasn't really right either. Truth be told, she missed Asakura-san, and Yue-san, and Ku Fei-san, and Ayaka-san, and all the rest, and she especially missed Asuna-chan and Negi-kun… but there was only one classmate that she found herself thinking of regularly. Be honest, Konoka, at least with yourself. You think about Secchan all the time. It was even more frustrating, she found, because she knew that Setsuna was on the temple property, not so far away, she just didn't know where. Her father wouldn't tell her, convinced that it would distract her from her studies, and until a month and a half ago, she hadn't even known she was coming back here. She hadn't spoken to Secchan in two months, so she doubted that she even knew that Konoka was here.
She stepped back, leaning haphazardly against the wall of her home. Closing her eyes, she sought out her friend with her heart. Secchan, if you're anywhere nearby, please come see me… somehow. I miss you…She stood like that for some time, eyes squeezed tightly shut. She struggled to keep her breathing even, using the meditation techniques she'd been learning to force her mind into quietness and emptiness, except for her one wish. Secchan, I miss you… come find me.
"Come find me, Secchan." She whispered the words quietly to herself before she opened her eyes and looked half-hopefully up the empty path. She couldn't be terribly disappointed; after all, she hadn't really expected anything. "Oh well. I guess it didn't work." She shrugged and turned to go inside. She should hang her robe; if she left it too long, it would get wrinkled.
Ж
Exhausted, Sakurazaki Setsuna leant her sword, carefully encased in its sheath, in the corner, up against the wall. She was glad that she had the seniority to warrant a room of her own, small and Spartan though it was; she didn't like the idea of sleeping in the main room with the other, lower-ranking swordsmen and –women employed by the temple. She didn't trust them with her sword. Yuunagi had pulled her through more near scrapes and near misses than she could count, and not just anyone could be entrusted with his safekeeping. In memory, there were only three people she'd ever entrusted him to, and all in extreme circumstances.
She grumbled briefly, throwing herself down on the futon that was tucked into one corner of the room. She had almost achieved mastery of her school by the time she'd graduated Mahora Academy, and then she was called back here, and she didn't even know why. She trained exhaustively every day, both herself and anyone of a lower rank or level in the Shinmei school than she that would come to her; she kept herself in prime condition, as instructed, but she couldn't understand why she was even here. There were fifty other strong, good fighters already here, should there be any need. Even if she had near mastery of her art, what good would one more warrior do, if the situation were desperate enough to need a master anyway?
Her original intention, after graduating, had been to follow Konoka to whatever school she went to, but, then, the last time that the two of them had talked had been a little over two months ago, and she still hadn't heard back. She'd promised to call Setsuna when she heard, but she never had. Of course, they'd both been quite busy, and two weeks later she'd been hauled back to Kyoto. She didn't really have any contact with the outside world at all here, and hadn't spoken to any of her old classmates in the last month and a half.
She was a solitary creature by nature, and didn't really resent the separation, but there were a few of her fellow graduates she'd have liked to keep in touch with. She'd become quite close with Asuna-san over the last couple of years, and she'd always gotten along with Mana-chan and Kaede-san. She sighed. Oh give it up, Setsuna. You know the only one that you really miss is Kono-chan. Oh, you could do with seeing the others, for sure, but not seeing Konoka in two months… She sighed, closing her eyes. Kono-chan…I love you, Kono-chan… The need to see her was almost overwhelming, and Setsuna sunk her teeth into her lip to keep the tears she felt behind her eyes from welling up and spilling over. She would not allow herself to cry, under any circumstances. No weakness of that sort could be afforded.
She hauled herself up in one motion, stripping off her clothes and letting them fall where they would, uncaring. She would pick them up and toss them in the hamper later; in the meantime, it was her room, so who cared? She stepped into the tiny adjoining bathroom and cranked the water on her western-style shower. She stepped inside and braced her hands against the cool tile in front of her. Her head dropped; she was too tired and the weight of her loneliness made it too difficult to keep it up. After a moment, Setsuna straightened and began to wash the sweat and grime from her body, forcing thoughts of her lost friend out of her head. There was nothing she could do about it anyway, she had no idea where Konoka was.
