Life & Love at Mahora
by: KiddyGrade8
FOREWORD
This is a redraft of my first FanFic story. Please R&R. I hope I didn't jack it up as badly as last time.
And a quick side-note: I skim over the reviews of my stories before I read them; and if I see only complaints without any kind of tips to help me improve, then I don't read the review. Obviously I have no problem with compliments, but constructive criticism is preferred. I seek your help in improving my writing, so only trashing my writing is unwelcomed. If you just want to bitch, then you are not welcome to comment. If you want to bitch and then offer some pointers, then you are fine. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's that simple. ONLY COMPLAIN IF YOU ARE WILLING TO OFFER POINTERS. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I may have seemed a bit harsh, but I'm pretty irritated with those aforementioned reviews.
CHAPTER 1
"Where the hell are they all coming from?" Kagurazaka Asuna brought her sword down and split another ogre in two. Why this always happened to her was a mystery. These beasts just kept coming at her from every angle, one after another. Asuna was a blur as she split monstrosity after monstrosity. Gore flew everywhere as she moved her sword in great arcing swings. "Keep moving or it's all over," Setsuna-sensei's voice resounded in her head – those kendo lessons were really starting to paying off. Time for something big. Throwing herself into the air, Asuna focused her chi into her blade and repeated the words that Setsuna had taught her. "Shinmei oni-ryu...Zanma Ken!" Asuna swung her blade with every ounce of strength within her, and decimated the remaining ogres. She thrust the tip of her sword into the ground and collapsed against it, panting heavily. Even with the aid of her Kankahō, that move still took a lot out of her. She toppled backwards and landed on her back, sword falling with her. "A…Abeat…" Her sword vanished in a brilliant flash of white, and a simple card floated gently to the ground near her hand. She laid there for what seemed like hours. Perhaps it was only minutes…A breeze gently rolled through the forest, ruffling her clothes. It kind of felt good. In the forest of the World Tree, Asuna passed silently into an exhausted slumber.
xXxXx
Hey…Do you think she's okay?
I dunno. She doesn't look too bad.
How long has she been like this?
She was brought in about an hour ago. Before that, I don't know…
A dream? No…Asuna didn't think so. The voices were familiar and sounded far too real.
OH! Look! She's stirring! Asuna-san!
She felt someone shoving her, rocking her. Her head felt like it was swimming through a fog. She had to shut her eyes as soon as she opened them, blinded by the light. She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, clutching her aching side. "Where…Where am I?" The surface she sat on was definitely not ground. It was soft and relatively smooth. It wasn't dirt and grass. A hand was placed on her shoulder. "Hold on, Asuna. I don't think you should be moving too much, yet. You were hurt pretty badly." Asuna would know that voice anywhere. It was Konoka. "Konoka…How did I get here? Did you bring me?"
"It was Kotarô-kun. He found you when he went to investigate a strange feeling he got earlier. He came back carrying you. You were bleeding pretty badly. We were worried about you. Are you okay?" Was she okay? Now that she thought about it, there was a stabbing pain in her left side and she couldn't feel her arm. Even so… "Yeah! I'm fine! C'mon, Konoka! You know how tough I am to break." She feigned a smiled and jokingly flexed her arm. "As soon as Shizuna-sensei lets me outta here, I'll come find you. 'Kay? Don't worry about me." She lay back down, wincing at the pain. "Wow. I was really beaten up, wasn't I?" Shizuna came up to her bedside with a couple of pills and a small glass of water. "You sure were." She bent down and gave Asuna the painkillers and the water. Asuna downed them and emptied the glass. "Just how bad was I?"
"Well…You were bleeding pretty badly from your left side. You were so pale; I'd thought you were already dead. Luckily, you really hadn't lost too much; so I only had to manage to staunch the bleeding. You'll be able to return to class in a couple of days." Kotarô tried to sound like he was worried; but in truth, the whole situation amused him. It was noticeable. "You're an ass, you mangy mutt. You know that? Get outta here!" Kotarô started to protest; but was promptly shooed from the room by Konoka, who insisted of hitting him on the nose with a newspaper whenever he resisted thinking it would be 'cute.' She then turned back into the room and told Asuna how she was going to be late for class, and proceeded to walk off down the hall. Asuna laid there in silence, trying to piece everything together. Where did those ogres come from that attacked her? What the hell was she even doing in the forest, anyways? Everything seemed blurry before the attack. She raised her hands and gently placed them over her face and sighed. "Shizuna-sensei? You're one of those teachers, right?"
Shizuna didn't turn around to answer her, as she was busy with all sorts of paperwork. "Whatever do you mean, Asuna-san?" The scritch-scritching of her pen seemed abnormally loud in the excessively quiet room. "I think you know what I mean. Like Negi Takahata-sensei?" She heard the pen click as Shizuna set it down. "Are you asking if I'm a witch, Asuna? I can't answer that."
"Oh? Being so secretive about it only tells me you are." She heard Shizuna's chair move as she stood. "Your logic is flawed, Asuna-san. Do I know about sorcery? Yes, I admit that I do. Am I supposed to talk about it? Technically, I've already said too much. You may be a Ministra Magi; but by wizarding standards, you're still just a civilian. Now please, get some sleep; or your wounds will never heal." She neatly picked up a couple from papers from her desk and tucked them under her arm. "I'm afraid I have to go speak with the headmaster for a bit. Please, don't try anything while I'm gone." The clacking of her heels on the floor followed her out of the room and down the hall. Asuna really didn't have much choice in doing anything. Hell…Just moving her arm earlier hurt so much that she had to fight for consciousness. If she tried moving, she'd end up falling to the floor and reopening her wounds. Then she full-well might just bleed out all over the floor before Shizuna-sensei even got back. She just laid there, staring at the white ceiling, the sound of the fluorescent lights the only noise in the room other than the occasional sound of class drifting down the hall. I wonder…What would Ayaka say if she saw me in this condition? She laughed.
Wait…What? That was an odd thought. Why the hell would she care what Ayaka would say? She never has before…Maybe she just hit her head harder than the thought. Yeah, that was it. Perhaps she aught to get more sleep. Not much else she could do. She closed her eyes and listened to the hum of the lights. It was…soothing; and it didn't take her long to drift into a dreamless slumber.
xXxXx
It was dark when she woke up. Rather, it was that limbo between dark and light. Was it dusk, or dawn? It was hard to tell for sure. She slowly and painfully turned her head, looking for a clock; but found none. Perfect. She was wide awake and in pain with no sense of time. She decided that she was going to ask Konoka to patch her up the next time she came to visit. This was bullshit, and she'd had enough. There was no way that she was spending a whole freaking day staring at the ceiling. She muscled herself into a sitting position, forcing herself to stay conscious as she did so. The problem now was just finding a way to pass the time. She tried several things. Counting odds and ends lying around the room; watching the animals outside (she now knew that it was daybreak); she eventually just settled on daydreaming, which led to reminiscing. She found herself recalling old memories from way back when. When she'd first met Negi, oh how she'd wanted to kill him. The Kyoto trip…A nightmare, but [perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. They'd made a skilled new ally (as much as she hated admitting that). Hmm…They'd had so many good times, and so many bad. In the end, it always turned out okay. It was almost a shame to think that it all might change when they graduated into the high school.
What would happen? Just how much would things change? Maybe they wouldn't be able to go with Negi on all of his escapades, but unable to protect him. The thought almost made her sad. The gang being broken up, all of their shared experiences fading into the dust of the past. No…That wouldn't happen…Would it? She sighed. For some reason, her thoughts drifted back to Ayaka once more. Would they still be the same? What? No! Asuna shook her head, disregarding the pain. She didn't give a damn if she ever saw Ayaka again. But…If that were true…Then why did she keep coming back to the redhead's thoughts? Did this have something to do with her near-death experience? She placed her heads in her hands, cringing, and groaned. Just what the hell happened to her yesterday? "Gah, whatever. It doesn't matter." It was only now that she noticed how it hurt less to moved than it had when she had woken up. There was a quiet knock on the door.
"Umm…Shizuna-sensei? Are you there?" She wasn't, so Asuna had to respond. She knew who it was, anyways. "No, she's not here yet. Come on it, Setsuna-sempai." The door slid open with a clack and Setsuna walked in, with Nodoka and Haruna not far behind. "I'm sorry, Asuna; but they insisted on coming with. I saw no reason to say no." Asuna waved her hand dismissively. "You know I don't care, Setsuna-sempai, I-" Setsuna cut her off. "I asked you to stop calling me that, Asuna. It makes me feel…I dunno…old, I guess. Just stop." Asuna shrugged. "Whatever. As I was saying: I hope you know something about what happened yesterday. Those ogres came out of nowhere." Setsuna shook her head. "I don't actually know anything about the ogres, but I speculate that they might be related to some other weird occurrences that have been cropping up, starting about an hour ago."
"Like what?"
"Well…These occurrences aren't anything big; and it appears that people with little to no magical power don't even acknowledge these changes, as if the changes were the norm. For example: some of the girls at this school are now lesbians, some lesbians are now straight. There are people who were never here before, and some people have just up and vanished. But the strangest thing is that these people are noticed to be either missing or present, so it doesn't appear that the past itself has been changed. It's almost as if…there were a tear in the temporal fabric that's completely changing our world…" Her gaze glanced up towards Asuna, who she could tell was confused. "The temporal fabric is the layer of existence that is comprised of space and time. Like the cells in your body, sort of. If the cells in your body are changed, you would be changed." Haruna and Nodoka stood silently nearby as they tried to follow the conversation. "Look, Asuna…All these weird occurrences and the fact that you were attacked yesterday all point to one thing, and I pray that I'm wrong." Asuna could see the fear in Setsuna's eyes, a fear that she had never seen before. The fact that Setsuna was scared scared Asuna. "What is it, Setsuna? What's happening?"
"Something…is coming. Something powerful enough to tear its way into our world. Something powerful enough to change existence with nothing more than its very presence. Knowing our luck, Asuna…It's coming here, and I'm not sure if we can handle it. Asuna…I fear that the apocalypse draws near…" These last words were whispered so that Nodoka and Haruna couldn't overhear, but they could guess that the news was grave as they watched what little color was present drain from her face. "Setsuna…Where's Konoka? If what you say is true, and even if it's hopeless, we have to fight it; and I need to be in top physical condition if I'm gonna help." Setsuna pulled a chair close and sat down. "Asuna, I think this is out of our hands. I don't think that we of Ala Alba can handle this. I'm not even sure if Ala Rubra could handle something this big."
"So you intend to just sit here and do nothing while the world crumbles around us? That's not like you, Setsuna! When did you become such a coward? If we don't even try, then the world is guaranteed to end; and then everybody will die. Even Konoka. I've never known you to stand by while Konoka was in danger, now where is she? I need her to heal what she can, and then we need to figure out what to do. I assume you've already told Negi?" Setsuna nodded. "Yeah, I've told him; and when I left Konoka-ojōsama, she was still asleep." Haruna perked up at this. "Ohh…So you and Konoka spent the night in the same room, huh? It's about time!"
"Haruna, no…That's none of our business." Nodoka tried interrupting Haruna, but to no avail. Setsuna turned bright red at the confrontation and subconsciously tugged on her skirt as if a gust of wind had caught it. "No, wait…It's not what you…I mean to say that that came out wrong…I…" Asuna laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, calm down Setsuna. There's nothing to be ashamed about. We could all tell that you two were in love with each other. You had us betting, to be honest. You should hold your head high and be proud. I'm not saying to go around broadcasting that you slept with another girl, mind you; but you don't need to be ashamed. Nobody is more deserving of Konoka's love. Congrats." Thought I do think that that's taking it a little too fast… She kept that thought to herself as she smiled at Setsuna, whose blushing faded but did not subside. "Umm…Thanks, Asuna. I'll bring her by later." Setsuna leapt out of the chair and scurried out of the room. As soon as she was around the corner, Asuna grabbed Haruna by the collar of her jacket and pulled her close. "Alright, you, listen up. NOBODY hears about this, got it?"
"Aww, c'mon Asuna! You said it yourself; she doesn't have anything to be ashamed of!" Haruna had a mischievous look in her eye. "Alright, Haruna…I'll cut you a deal. Setsuna's got a reputation and an image to keep up. If those get buried because of you telling people, then I'll bury you in return. Comprendé?" Asuna got her message through very clear and Haruna sighed. "Fine, whatever. Not that many people would care anyways, mind you. Asakura might, if only for her database on our class; but not for much else." She glanced at the clock and, noticing how late it was, said a hurried goodbye to Asuna and rushed off to class with Nodoka at her heels. Was it really so late? Then, shouldn't Shizuna-sensei have come in, yet? Now that she noticed it, something felt…off…about the campus now. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could definitely feel it. Perhaps that's why Shizuna-sensei was late. Maybe the sorcerers at the school were having a meeting. Asuna could only hope for so much.
Either way, Asuna couldn't just sit around and do nothing. "Y'know what? It's time for class, and I'll be damned if I ditch today." Asuna smirked to herself and she tossed the covers from herself and practically jumped from the bed. She stumbled in pain once, and then regained her composure. She nonchalantly brushed a strand of hair from her shoulder, checked to make sure that she still had her pactio card, and then departed the room for class still wrapped in bandages and blood.
xXxXx
The class was in its usual uproar when Asuna walked in. Nothing looked different, but that feeling of discomfort still lingered. The further into the classroom she walked, the quieter everybody became. She came up behind Setsuna and Konoka, who were still talking, and bit them good morning. "Asuna! What are you doing out of the infirmary?" Clearly, Setsuna had not thought Asuna stubborn enough to come to class in her condition. "Forget that," This time it was Ayaka who was speaking. "What the rest of us want to know is what you did to end up in bloody bandages in the infirmary in the first place!" Asuna sneered and walked past her to her seat. "I got into a little fight. Got a problem with that?" Ayaka forcibly placed her hands onto the desk in front of Asuna. "YES, I have a problem with that! We can't have hooligans like you going around and tarnishing the name of class 3-A, do you understand me?" Asuna's gaze met her green eyes and she felt her heart pulse. Asuna ignored this as she knocked the blonde's hands from the desk. "Oh please, Ayaka. Like you care about that crap. You're just trying to save face in front of Negi." She smirked snidely towards her. "Too bad that there wasn't anything worth saving to begin with."
"How dare you! You wanna go? I'll bust those wounds open again!" Asuna stood up again and stared her down. "You're welcome to try your luck, Blondie!" She proudly patted one of her wounds and winced as she realized that it hadn't completely closed, yet. "It took a lot more than you can dish out to put these here in the first place!" The class could feel the tension in the air rise, also per the usual morning routine, and the two hot-headed young women started their fight.
"It's good to see that Asuna's feeling better, isn't it Set-chan?" Konoka wrapped her arms around Setsuna's right arm and hugged herself against it, head on her shoulder. "You know, Set-chan," she whispered, "I never had the chance to thank you for last night." Setsuna started absentmindedly stroking Konoka's hair. "I'm sorry I had to leave before you woke, ojōsama; but something important came up. I'll make it up to you." Konoka nuzzled herself even closer to her lover and sighed contentedly. "You mean tonight? Whatever came up must be big. You're always so bashful when it comes to me. I'm glad that you're finally opening up."
"Sorry, ojōsama; but I don't think tonight's a good night. Don't you feel it? There's a dreadful miasma that's falling over the campus. I'm sure Asuna feels it too. That's why she left the infirmary in her condition." She looked out the window and watched the leaves rustle on the trees outside while a breeze gently rolled through. It might have almost passed as an ordinary day if the air wasn't ripe with the stench of evil. Except, something was also different about the view outside. It took her a few seconds to figure out just what it was, but Asuna noticed it instantly as she glanced over Ayaka's shoulder and out the window. Above the World Tree was the figure of a man. He sat there motionless in the air as a king would sit upon a throne, but in place of the royal scepter appeared to be a medieval-era sword. It was hard to make out many details from such a distance, but he appeared to have very light blonde and unkempt hair and seemed to be clad in black. He also seemed to be watching them. The very sight of him paralyzed Setsuna with fear and she tensed up. Her absentminded stroking of Konoka's hair grew much rougher. "Ow! Set-chan, that hurts!" When she saw how Setsuna's gaze was transfixed out the window and the look of utter terror in her eyes, she also looked out the window; but saw nothing. The man had only been there for what seemed to be an instant, but it had seemed like much longer to Setsuna.
Asuna, on the other hand; was drawn to the man's eyes. They were a luminous red and could be seen with ease. As if the man were right in front of her, she seemed to be pulled into those eyes. She found herself staring into them, and they seemed to grow ever brighter until (when they at last faded out) she found herself encompassed in darkness. She looked around and saw nothing. She just drifted there with no sight and no sound; only visions of tragedies. She was plagued with visions of death. Her friends, the class, Headmaster Konoe, Takamichi, Negi, everybody. She saw their bloody, lifeless corpses strewn about and the academy in flames. No… Her thoughts seemed to echo in the darkness. What is this? Where am I? Why am I seeing these things? Make them stop. More visions came to her. She now saw a flood of demons, a castle rising from the earth, the world engulfed in a sea of flames, and then…nothing. Why? Why are you showing me these things?
"Because…" The voice that answered was not her own, though it came from her lips. It was a low tenor voice and slightly raspy. "I show you these because your fear and agony are pleasurable to me. You humans are all the same. I simply show you the end of your world and you fall to pieces. How I hate you…" The voice faded to silence and the visions of Armageddon were now replaced by vision of Asuna's own demise. Thousands of images flooded into her head at a blinding speed. She felt as though her head would split. She felt her heart grow heavy with sorrow as she watched herself die time and time again. Make it stop. Please…Make it stop! She felt tears welling up inside her. A strange sensation. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually cried. Stop it. Stop it, stop it, STOP IT! The last thoughts screamed through her head and she found herself back in the classroom on her knees with her head cradled in her hands and tears flowing down her face. The entire class was silent and all eyes were on her. She gathered that she had actually screamed out before collapsing.
Ayaka crouched down in front of her, giving Asuna a lovely view up her skirt (to which Asuna blushed and averted her eyes) and placed a hand on Asuna's shoulder. "Asuna-san…What's wrong?" Asuna wiped the cold sweat from her face and gently brushed her aside with a trembling hand. "…Nothing. You wouldn't understand, even if I told you." Asuna walked back to her seat and sat down without another word. A genuine look of concern flickered across Ayaka's face, but she curtly stood up and scoffed. "See, what did I tell you? Red's completely off her rocker." Asuna didn't bother to respond and remained silent through class, even though her fear still caused her to tremble the entire time. Negi didn't show up for class, but the substitute said that he would return the next day. Perfect. The one person she wanted to talk to wasn't there. Just freaking perfect. She sighed. "Oh, well. It's not like I won't see him back in the room. It'd probably be better to talk to him there, anyways."
The rest of the class period was uneventful. Even the feeling of unease was lifted. Naturally, Asuna and Setsuna met after their classes had ended. "Asuna. Do you want to tell me what really happened earlier?" Asuna wrapped her arms around herself and averted her eye. "You saw that man out the window, right? I looked into his eyes, and…it was terrible. He made me watch myself die over and over again. Not…Not even I could take such torture. Even now, I feel empty. It's like he sucked the life out of me." Setsuna could only try and imagine what watching herself die could feel like, and just trying made her feel empty as well. "I'm sorry, Asuna. I wish I could've helped you." Asuna turned and started to walk in the direction of the dorms. "Setsuna, you take care of things. I'm going to go to sleep. Maybe I'll feel better when I wake up."
"Before you go, Asuna, I have a question. Do you think he's the cause of the recent events?" Asuna didn't stop walking, but answered nonetheless that she was certain of it. She waved at Setsuna over her shoulder and left the building.
"Don't worry about her, Set-chan." Setsuna jumped at the break in the silence. She turned and was greeted by a light peck on the cheek from Konoka. "She'll feel better in no time. I patched her up after first period and there's someone swinging by our room later to talk to her. She'll be fine!" Konoka started tugging on Setsuna's arm, lightly guiding her towards the door. "C'mon, Set-chan! Let's go do something!" Setsuna smiled and gave in, following Konoka out into the campus courtyard and anywhere else she felt like going.
xXxXx
In essence, Asuna felt as though she were dead on the inside; like she was nothing more than an animate corpse with a mysterious puppeteer pulling her strings from the shadows, just barely keeping her from death. She had never realized just how many times she had come just a hairsbreadth away from to dying. "Why is this affecting me so badly? I guess my body just wasn't healed enough to handle the shock…" Or maybe being so injured yesterday helped this put things in perspective, she wasn't sure. Her head rapped softly against the wood of her dorm's door as she let out a pained sigh. She fumbled with her room key as she tried to pull it from her bag and let herself in, shutting the door behind her. Once inside, she unceremoniously threw her bag onto the couch and tossed herself onto the floor. Climbing in to her bed seemed too much of a hassle at the time. She found small entertainment in watching the ceiling fan spin lazily.
It wasn't long before there was a soft rapping at the door. Asuna wasn't quite in the mood to talk, so she remained silent in hopes that they would leave. This hope grew dimmer as they knocked again, a little harder this time. "It's open," she called weakly. It felt like her throat had dried out. The door creaked open and Ayaka poked her head through. "Are you busy right now, Asuna?" Asuna lifted her head just enough to give her a look of idiocy then returned to her prone position. "What do you think?" In spite of her sarcastic and slightly hostile attitude, she was happy that her old friend had come to visit. "I'm not here to fight with you, Asuna. I just want to talk." Her voice was uncharacteristically tender, so Asuna decided to hear her out. "Fine. What brings you here?"
"I'm worried. I want you to tell me what happened in class today. It wasn't like you, and whatever it was is clearly still eating at you." Asuna crawler to her feet and looked her in the eye. "You must really be curious if you came over here to find out. Why are you so interested?" Asuna was ready for some smartass comment about coming all the way down the hall to check on her, but was completely taken aback by the response. "Well…We're friends, aren't we? Sure, you've been in bad shape before; but never like this." Asuna was quiet for a minute, almost like the depression had taken hold of her again. "Friends? I'd say that's pushing the word a bit, wouldn't you? Cheesy lines like that aren't you're style, Ayaka, so I know you're lying. If you want to know the truth, you could at least give me the truth in kind. Why are you so concerned about me now when you've never taken any interest before?" Ayaka's eyes dropped to the floor as she searched for the right words.
"I…I've always been concerned when you come to class beaten up and bandaged. I just never knew how to approach you about it, but I had to talk to you about this because whatever it is is making you suffer. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least try and help?" Asuna suppressed the urge to laugh, which took quite an amount of effort of her part. "Ayaka, I already told you that the 'we're friends' line isn't going to cut it, so…" Ayaka cut her off by grabbing her shoulders and pulling her in to a deep and passionate kiss, taking her completely by surprise; and Asuna' heart started pounding. Through Ayaka's lips, it was like Asuna could read all of the blonde's feelings. She could feel Ayaka's passion in it, and this was clearly not a feeling that sprang up overnight. This was something she had been bottling up for years. Asuna couldn't help but wonder what Ayaka was reading from her.
After about a minute, Ayaka finally pulled away and broke the kiss. "Then what if I told you that it's because I'm in love with you and I can't stand seeing you in so much pain?" Asuna felt light-headed, and she ended up stumbling backwards before tripping and collapsing on Konoka's bed. She sat there for a second trying to gather up the energy to stand; but found herself standing very quickly when she remembered what had happened last night, presumably in this bed. "I'm sorry, Asuna. I know that was sudden, and I…I didn't want to have to put it so bluntly, but you really weren't giving me any other options." Ayaka's voice trailed off and she started fidgeting with her hands. Asuna touched her fingers to her lips, not entirely sure if she was displeased with Ayaka's actions. "…When did this happen? I was under the impression that you had a thing for Negi…"
"I've felt this way for years. So long that I can even remember when these feelings started. I'm ashamed to admit that I was just using Negi-sensei in order to make you jealous." The two of them sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity while Asuna tried to put words to the myriad of feelings going through her at the moment. "Ayaka, I…I can't give you an answer right now. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, that I feel right now. When you…kissed me, my heart raced and I felt the happiest I have in a long time; but I'm more confused than anything right now. Truth be told, I think I only started coming to terms with what seems like feelings for you only last night after this," she indicated to her wounds, "happened. This might be the shock tricking me, or my body could be tricking me while it heals. I can't say for sure; so please wait a little longer, okay?" Ayaka said nothing, but appeared to be very upset as she turned to leave. Asuna felt a pang of regret at how that turned out, so she stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Ayaka turned, and Asuna returned her kiss. Ayaka's eyes seemed to light up with joy at this, but Asuna quickly broke it. "I hope that that's enough for now. Besides, that whole sweet and tender act really doesn't suit you."
A smile tugged at Ayaka's lips. "Oh, Asuna…Trying to pick a fight even now. I don't know what it is about you that I can't resist."
"Well, you know me. Always the troublemaker." She held a smile for a second before she became serious again. "When the time is right, Ayaka; I'll give you my response. And then I'll tell you everything…"
"Alright. I'll hold you to that, Asuna." She smiled and thanked her before she left the room. As soon as she was sure that Ayaka was gone, she started voicing her thoughts to herself. "My God, she has a beautiful smile. I wonder how I never noticed it before." She leapt up onto her bed and laid there. "Just how long has all of this been going on?" She thought about how in love she had been with Takamichi, but she didn't feel the pang that she had used to. "Is this how I truly feel? Or is it his doing, pulling strings from the shadows?" She lifted her hand from under her head and examined it. It looked like her hand, she still felt like herself. Maybe that man she saw wasn't pulling her strings. Maybe this was just her true feelings.
"Well, well, Asuna-san. I can honestly say that I never expected that from you. A total shocker in my book." Asuna sat up to see who was in her room and hit her head on the ceiling in the process. She rubbed her head as she raised her gaze and looked around, not finding anybody. "Huh? Who's there?"
"Yo. Down here." She caught a glimpse of motion below her and edged her head over the side of her bed and saw Kazumi sitting in the window, one leg dangling out, waving at her. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, Asakura-san?" She was wearing her signature malicious smirk, telling Asuna that things were going to go bad. "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to talk to you about these." She tossed her camera up to Asuna with a specific group of pictures running in a slideshow on the screen. Of course, they were pictures of Asuna and Ayaka kissing. "I never pegged you for being so foolish, Asakura-san. Even if I cared about these pictures getting out, what's to stop me from deleting these right now?"
"Oh, come on now Asuna-san. Of course I copied those to another card." She slipped a hand into her sock and pulled out another card for her camera. "Yeah, I was hanging outside the whole time and heard the whole story, but everybody else doesn't know it. All I have to do is print these photos in the paper and make up some BS story, and both those anti-homosexuality people AND the stalker pervs will be all over both of your asses. However, I have just a few questions to ask you and a possible favor as well, depending on your answers. Play along, and your tough girl rep is safe." Asuna tossed the camera back. "Whatever. Are you just gonna sit there? Get out of my window before I push you out. Call me crazy; but if you're willing to try and blackmail me into something, you're not too willing to talk about it openly." Kazumi gave her an informal two-finger salute and climbed in, closing the window shut firmly behind her while Asuna gracefully leapt from the bed. "All right, Asuna-san, let's cut right to the chase. I'm sure you're well aware of all these weird changes that have been happening today. I'm also sure that your breakdown today is related to that. I want you to tell me just what the hell is going on."
"If you really want to know what's going on, then you should be asking Setsuna instead of me. All I can tell you is that there's some guy on campus dressed in black with light blonde hair and red eyes with a sword and the whole school feels like something's off. It's possible he's pulling strings and changing things for his own amusement, or it could be deeper than that. That's everything I know. Like I said, Setsuna's the one to talk to about that. Tatsumiya-san might know something as well, but I doubt it."
"Hm. Fine, I'll find Sakurazaki-san later. Next question. You're fairly close to Miyazaki-chan, right?" Kazumi's only briefly broke eye contact with Asuna as she asked this. "I am. What does that have to do with anything, Asakura-san?" She facepalmed as realization hit her. "Oh. I get it, I get it. Just friggin' perfect. I'd always thought that you were straight, Asakura-san." Kazumi blushed, but answered unfazed. "I am, or rather…I was until today. For some reason, she just really stood out to me today. At first, I paid it no mind, but by the end of class I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I even caught myself fantasizing. That's why I want to know what's happening here. I'm sure that whatever is going on at the school today is the cause. Do you at least know if this feeling will fade away?" Asuna shrugged. "Dammit. Then here comes the favor I mentioned. I want you to help me get Miyazaki-chan to agree to a single date with me."
"Are you serious, Asakura-san? How the hell would I do that? You do know that she's hopelessly in love with Negi, right?" Kazumi leaned back against the window and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I know she's in love with Negi-sensei; but here's how I see it: Right now, I'm betting everything on anomaly affecting her like it did me. There are two outcomes that I can foresee if this holds true, and two if it doesn't.
Outcome #1: It affects her like it does me and she agrees. The effects are only temporary and I use the time I get until you kick this guy's ass to do research for my class database.
Outcome #2: It affects her like it does me and she agrees. The effects are not temporary and we go about a normal relationship.
Outcome #3: It affects her like it does me and she refuses. Whatever, forget about it.
Outcome #4: It doesn't affect her and we forget this whole thing ever happened. So whaddaya say?"
Asuna groaned. Kazumi had definitely thought this out. "Why is this happening to me? What did I do this time?" Kazumi tried to pat her on the shoulder. "Relax, wouldja? It's not like I'm paying you for a hit or anything. And I'm doing this to you because you're the one who let yourself get photographed kissing your oldest friend and rival." Asuna vowed that the next time she saw that man from before, she'd kick his ass. "Alright, fine. We'll go and talk to Nodoka-chan. I had no idea that you were such a wuss, Asakura-san."
"Normally, I wouldn't be; but I don't know how to handle this sudden change. Coming on to guys is no problem for me. I have no experience in hitting on girls, and I really don't have any intention of needing to know how once this is all over." She walked over into the kitchen as she was talking and pulled open the fridge. Asuna found herself irritated at Kazumi's presumptuousness. Kazumi reached in and pulled out a fresh bottle of water and asked if she could have it. "Yeah, sure. Whatever. Can we just get this over with already? I dunno if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly in any shape to be out and about for too long. It still hurts just to stand." Kazumi lightly kicked the fridge shut as she left and quickly downed a swig of water. "And? You've never had any problem dealing with injuries before."
"It's not that I can't deal with it, I just want to avoid reopening my wounds if possible. I don't enjoy pain. Shocking, I know." She grabbed Kazumi by the shoulders and pushed her over to the door. "Alright, alright already. I'm not in any rush, fyi. Can't we just have a conversation?" Asuna opened the door and gestured for Kazumi to go first. "Maybe some other time, Asakura-san. Right now, I'm a little preoccupied." The door clicked shut behind them. Whether it was the door to opportunity or the gateway to Hell was soon to be seen.