A/N : Here's something I wrote on the spur of the moment. This certainly won't be of the same quality as any specials written by Theru, Xserac, Ambrant Arandel, Midnight or Dark Dragon Dave. Or Kafka or Ansem for that matter. Or Seraph. But screw it, this one's for the Train Station!

Operation: Valentine

This was a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if you've got a moment, it was a twelve-storey crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour porterage and an enormous sign on the roof, saying 'This Is a Large Crisis'. A large crisis which required a large plan. And luckily, a certain ten year old teacher had the right plan for this situation!

Negi tenatively stuck his head out the door of his dormitory, glanicng up and down the hallway. Nothing. No girls to ambush him as he made his way out. Ever cautious, he sent a soft pulse of magic out. This particular spell acted like a kind of sonar, bouncing back off any living thing it encountered in a fifteen metre radius. Nothing. This floor of the dormitory was deserter as far as he could tell. Negi Springfield sighed in relief and made his way to the stairs, cautiously looking from side to side in case his spell had missed noe of the more magically inclined girls. But then again, it was the mundane ones which posed the greater threat to him. Especially today, of all days.

It was Valentine's Day, which meant that 3A was out and about, each one of his students preparing a present for him, or even planning how to drag him on a date. Which would be bad as it would all too soon end up with him getting fired. So it would be in his best interest to avoid all the girls today. Well, maybe not Nodoka.

The ten year old shook his head clear as he tenderly made his way downstairs, his footfalls on the steps the only sound in the builing. It was almost worrying that he hadn't encountered anyone yet. Which meant they were planning something big to make sure he didn't get away this year. Fortunately, he knew just how to deal with this sort of situation! Pulling out his phone, Negi quickly selected the numbers he needed, and began the summons.

The phone rang, its shrill echoing cry cutting through his daze. Groaning, he pulled the covers over his head, wishing desperately for the sound to go away. Little help it did him. The infernal ringing continued despite his best efforts to ignore it. Eventually, he gave up and sat up.

"Alright! I'm coming, I'm coming," grolwed the youth angrily, standing up groggily. Damn, he'd fallen asleep in his coat again, he thought, pulling the hair out of his eyes and doing up his trademark bandanna. Still that ringing. Resigned to the fact that a much needed coffee would have to wait, Connor Gavet pulled out his battered old phone and answered.

Idly sipping his tea and cringing as he read the latest rweviews of the play the class had performed not so long ago, Clyde Metro nearly leapt out of his seat when the peaceful silence was disturbed most harshly by a buzzing phone. He looked around when no one answered, then shrugged and answered it himself.
"Bye-bye Miss American Pie..." he sang softly, totally unperturbed of the utter blackness surrounding him. His red eyes were closed as he continued to sing, idly wondering what that funny ringing was. Eventually, he reached the end of the song and was surprised to still hear the ringing. Slighlty curious, he opened the door and stepped out of the closet lazily, like a cat. Glancing about he saw that no one else was in the room, and on the breakfast table was a hastily scribbled note. Not paying it anyattention he continued to look around the room until his red eyes fell upon theonly telephone in the room. The albino walked up to it and answered.

"Hello, Howell J. Fitzwilliam speaking. Turnip girl – I mean, Yuna, isn't here right now, can I take a message?"

It was quiet. So quiet you could hear a mouse sneeze. That's how quiet it was. Not that Masayoshi had anything against that, of ocurse not. But he also knew that it was physically impossible, especially here. He shrugged and continued to read his book, which was propped up against a bottle of milk as he continued to eat his breakfast. That's when the door was flung open. He blinked t the portal dumbly, like a rabbit caught in headlights, before the figure framed by the door way stepped into the room and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and began to haul him away.

"Come on, Negi needs us," said Connor, annoyance visible on his face.

"This early? What for?" queried the bespectacled boy, managing to grab his book and quill as he was unceremoniously dragged outside his room by Connor.

"At 1 O'clock in the morning? I don't know, but it better be good."

"Connor, it's 1 O'clock in the afternoon."

The badass checked his watch, only to see that the statement was true. Then he groaned. "Last time I drink anything supplied by the Cheerleaders..."

Negi stood alone behind the dormitory building, glancing nervously at his watch. he was beggining to get edgy. Any moment now he could be set upon by a bunch of hormone-fuelled girls wanting nothing more than...

Well, it'd start out innocent enough, but as he knew full well, 3A sometimes didn't know when to stop.

There was a muffled curse and Negi spun, staff in hand, but lowered it when he saw it was only the Triad. Connor and Masayoshi, with Howell trailing behind.

"Thanks for coming," greeted Negi, overwhelmed with relief at the sight of the trio.

"Yo," waved Connor, as they approached him. "So what's up?"

"I'll tell you once the others get here."

"Others?!" asked Masayoshi in shock. "You've actually got a problem that can't be handled by us alone?"

"Sort of," ansered Negi, looking around expectantly. "Where are they? They should be here by now..."

"Watch out below!" someone cried.

The group sprang apart as something fell from above and crashed into a crumpled heap before being landed upon by Clyde, decked out in full Observer attire. He tilted his hat in acknowledgement of the others. "Hiya."

"Owwwwww," someone groaned from beneath him. Clyde smiled apologetically as he stepped of another blonde youth, who sat up shakily and offered a weak smile at the rest of the group. "Luke Mason, ready and willing," he managed to say before keeling over unconscious.

"Thank you all for coming," started Negi, smiling happily at the group he'd assembled. They were sitting in a rough semi-circle, facing him, paying some sort of attention, though now and again Luke would flick something at Clyde. "As you all know, today is Valentine's day and–" He stopped once he noticed the looks of horror, shock, and disinterest on their faces, not necessarily in that order. "Alright, I suppose you forgot then?"

"Never really cared for it," admitted Connor, idly polishing his twin pistols.

"I should've known there was a reason the twins got that cake," groaned Masayoshi next to him, pulling his knees upto his chin and closing his eyes.

"Valentine's already? Dear me, is it important?" asked Howell curiosly.

Next to him, Clyde facepalmed himself, muttering something about Chizuru.

Luke just nodded sagely, rubbing at the bruise on his forhead he'd recieved from his one way trip out of a second floor window. "So what?"

"Well, I was going to ask you to help me today," answered Negi, holding his hands together in a pleading motion. "Please?"

Connor nodded with sigh. He couldn't just let Negi deal with whatever this was alone. And he had a sinking suspicion he knew what it was too.

Howell just shrugged and said "Ok," quickly chorused by Masayoshi.

Clyde flipped Negi a thumbs up and flashed him a grin before slapping Luke on the back. "And he'll help too!" added the Observer, shooting the other blonde a glare. "Won't you?"

"Ahahaha, of course," stammered Luke, fighting the urge to throttle Clyde then and there.

"Road, clear," reported Clyde into the radio. There was a burst of static before Masayoshi replied.

"Clear here too. Guys?"

"Nobody here," answered Howell, humming to himself again.

"Connor?"

"No one here. Just a lot of pigeons. Shoo, shoo!" After moment of nothing but squawking. Masayoshi gave up and moved on.

"Luke?"

"Plaza abandoned. None of 3A in sight. Damn, where are they?!" .

The mage lowered the radio, wondering the same thing. Where were the girls? Normally they'd be all over Negi by now, showering the little kid with presents and kisses and hugs and trying to strip him down to his...ahem, never mind. "We're clear," he said to the younger mage next to him. Negi looked up and smiled.

"Good. Now let's go," replied the son of the Thousand Master, standing up and running across the plaza like a target at a trukey shoot, Masayoshiy a step behind. The rest of his team was covering any possible means of approach to the safehouse, or as the students knew it, the gym. Then the radio buzzed.

"What is it?" queried the Chemistry teacher, motioning Negi to keep running.

"You have GOT to see this!" came Luke's sniggered reply.

"What, what is it?"

"Miss Yukihiro has a date."

"I'm sorry about earlier," apologized the man once more. Ayaka shook her head and smiled at him.

"Don't be. You were trying to do what was right. I can't fault you for that," she said, squeezing his hand slightly, and her smiled widened when the pressure was returned. Her date reched up and brushed a stray strand of blonde hair from her face, his fingers brushing against her cheek, causing her to blush faintly. Hiro Sasuki smiiled as they gazed into each other's eyes and leant in, kissing her gently, their lips parting to allow each other access...

"Ok, that's enough," murmured Connor, covering up the blonde's eyes. Luke let out a minor grumble before slinking away with the badass, smiling slightly as he ticked off Miss Yukihiro's name off the list of potential troubles for Negi. If this was all he had to do, then heck, today was going to be a cakewalk!
"Alright, I don't think you'll need us anymore," said Masayoshi, rubbing his eyes. "Ayaka always was the one to cause most issue, adn now she has a date, i doon't think it'll be much of an issue."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Negi, feeling slightly foolish. "I guess I over reacted slightly..."

"Kid, if I got stripped like you on a daily basis at your age, I'd be wary of girls too," offered Connor helpfully, as Clyde nodded vigorously.

"Speaking of which, is it me, or is this the quietest Valentine's ever?" said Luke. He looked at Howell who was next to him and peering out the gym window.

The albino didn't answer for a moment. "Maybe," he said eventually.

"I must be getting paranoid. I was thinking they were biding their time until I went out alone to ambush me or something..." continued Negi shamefully. The others glanced at each other. That sounded like something the ten year old's class would do.

"But if Miss Yukihiro got a date, why not the others?" said Clyde looking at the others. There was a quiet moment before Negi brightened up as an idea struck him.

Connor immediately knew. "Oh no. No. NO. She still hasn't forgiven me over the kissing thing with Kazumi!"

Masayoshi caught on too. "That isn't such a bad idea actually..."

Clyde whimpered slightly as he too realized what they were talking about. "Keep me out of this. Last time I kissed one of the girls, I got zapped!"

Luke laughed openly at that. "Yeah, I remember that. What was your exscuse again? Oh yeah 'She was a live wire' or something like that..."

"Well at least I kiss them before I sleep with them!" shot back the irate Observer.

"What?!"

In repsonse Clyde pulled a photo out of his robes and waved it in front of the blonde boys face. "Remember this?"

Negi, Connor and Masayoshi were watching the exchange like a tennis match, attention swinging form one participant to the other. Howell of course had caught sight of a squirrel and was currenlty watching it nibble on an acorn. Eventually, Connor imposed himself between the bickering pair. "Enough," he snapped. "We all owe Negi a favour or two, so whether we like it or not, we're going to have to do this."

Everyone looked at him., before looking away and mumbling agreements.

"Alright, so Negi goes with Nodoka and we keep the others occupied," outlined Connor, pointing at various location around the campu map with his sword. "Howell, you're taking Yuna to the cafe here. Get her some ice cream or something. I don't care and I don't want to know. Masayoshi, twins are your trouble-"

"Great."

"-I'm sure you can handle them. Negi goes with Nodoka and they spend the day within this sector of the city. We can't let the others get there, so its up to us to keep the attention of the gossips on us." The black clad youth said the last part of the statement with apparent distaste.

"By 'keep their attention' you mean doing stuff that's bound to get rumours started, right?" asked Luke.

"Yes."

"Ok, just making sure."

"Right, Ayaka is taken care of. Clyde, you have to deal with Makie-"

"WHAT?!"

"And Luke..."

"Hah, no coupling for me!" crrowed the youth in triumph.

"...you're with Kaede. That should keep Haruna and the cheerleaders busy, what with us going all over the place," finished Connor, speaking slightly louder to make himself heard over Luke's protest that he was not affiliated in any relationship with the kunoichi.

"And you're taking Ku Fei," pointed out Negi.

Connor facepalmed. "Don't remind me. I still have no idea how to get this to work..."

"Well, at least Asakura will be following you around, so that takes care of her," chipped in Luke, recieving a backhand for his troubles.

"Watch your mouth," muttered Connor. "Ok, but remember, once we do this, our debts to Negi are over, so take this seriously!"

"Hah, like none of us won't indulge ourselves in this..." laughed Masayoshi.

Connor grinned wickedly at him. "What you do is down to you," he countered simply.

"I hate Valentines," groaned Makie, idly stirring her coke with her straw, staring blankly outside. Normally she'd be with the rest of the class, trying to win Negi's affection's, but today...

Today they lacked their leader. Ayaka had gone on a date with someone, much to everyone's shock. It also served as a stark example of moving on. If Ayaka could, the why couldn't they? Negi was just ten years old after all. Perhaps the Class Rep had the right idea. Their little teacher was cute and all, but perhaps it would be better to wait for him to grow up beofre dating. Also, it meant she could get some practice in for when she finally confessed her feelings for him. But where would she start?

Makie sighed and stared at the liquid in her class, seeking answers in its murky depths when a voice woke her from her reverie.

"Hi."

She looked up, and offered a weak smile. "Hello Clyde."

The normally bright boy frowned when he heard her tone of voice. "What's wrong?" he asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down opposite her.

Makie sighed as she continued to look at her drink. "Nothing," she answered.

"Aw come on. A cute girl like you alone on Valentines? Something's up," said Clyde, grinning rakishly at the gymnast. The girl blushed slightly and busied herself with her drink.

"N-nothings going on," she squeaked.

Not for the first time Clyde was struck by her cuteness. Forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he focused on the task at hand. Finding a way to brighten her up, and to get her as far from here as possible. Well, sometimes you just had to bite the bullet and go for it.

"Come on," he said, standing up, offering her his arm. She looked at him in surprise, still faintly red.

"Where?"

"Anywhere you want. It's a nice day outside and I won't let you sit here and be all depressed. Now come on, let's go!"

Makie looked at her drink then at the funny dressed boy offering his hand. Eventually she reached a decision. She smiled and took his hand.

"Sunshine, I can only say sorry so many times," continued Connor, spinning his body round to avoid another of Ku Fei's kicks.

"Still no enough for what you did," countered the chinese girl, following up with a punch which hit the taller youth in the stomach, sending him flying. He crashed against a tree and gasped out slightly.

"Alright, I may have deserved that, but I'm trying to set things right here!" He ducked as Ku Fei attacked again, her kick tearing through the tree trunk where his torso had been moments before. "Damn, ou've improved," he breathed when he glanced back at the carnage.

"Thanks, you improve too," smirked his supposed date as she leapt at him again. Connor sighed as he jumped up and watched her soar underneath him. Well, this might not exctly be what he had had in mind when coming out here, but it kept her busy all the time. And sooner or later she might also accept his apology.

Oh, and he could easily see a camera lens protruding from a clump of bushes on the edge of the clearing that Ku Fei used for private practice. Seemed that Asakura had come too. Well, that was his part done in the greater scheme of things.

"Yay! We can spend a whole day with wan-wan!" cheered the twins, hanging off Masayoshi's neck. He tried his best to look happy, but all he managed to do was look like a cat that fell into a barrel of milk. Not sure whether to lap it up or to swim for its life.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Fuka said suddenly. "Let's go to that new ice cream emporium! Wan-wan can treat us as its valentines day!"

"I thought girls were meant to get the boys presents on valentines?" asked Masayoshi, removing the girls off his neck before the world started turning dark.

"We'll be celebrating it like you do!" said Fumika happily, holding onto his left hand whilst Fuka held his right hand.

Kaede watched the happy trio with her trademark smile. "Try not to eat too much," she warned.

"You can make sure yourself if you want. Why not come with us?" queried Masayoshi, an idea springing to mind. (Damn, the things just keep popping up like daisies this day, don't they?)

For a moment, the kunoichi's smile vanished. "No,. it's alright de gozaru. i wouldn't like to impose on your date."

"You wouldn't if it was a double date," countered the bookish mage cunningly. Somehwere in the bushes there was a strangled cry.

Without even looking, Kaede drew one of her kunai's and threw it into the bush in one fluid motion as she answered. "Hmmm, perhaps de gozaru. You have a suggestion?"

Masayoshi just smiled as he stepped upto the bush and pulled out Luke, smiling sheepishly.

"Hi," he offered weakly.

"How about he treats you to ice cream as payment for spying on us?" suggested the mage with a knowing smirk. Luke glared at him as Kaede thought it over. Eventually she smiled and nodded, much to Luke's sudden discomfort.

"Very well then. Fuka, lead the way!" said Masayoshi, beaming. If he was going down, he was going to take Luke with him.

Later that evening...
"Thank you for tonight Professor," said Nodoka, blushing fiercly.

Negi smiled warmly at her. "Not at all Nodoka. I know how much this means to you."

She nodded, still burning red. "And, um, thank you for making sure no one would interrupt," she added.

"No trouble at all," replied the ten year old, thoguh in the back of his mind, he wasn't so sure. But hey, in the end, it was worth it. And he was sure the others would agree once they got back from their respective dates. After all, succesful dates are what he'd promised his class. Just not with him.

A/N: Damn, longest single piece I've ever written. Well, I only own Luke Mason from this Dirty Dozen of Ocs. Connor is the property of XSerac, Howell is Theru's, Clyde is Midnight's, Masayoshi is Master Masa Randoms, and Hiro Sasuki is Kafkas. As for what happened during the dates...well, I think I'll leave that to my fellow authors to come up with something suitable XD. Happy Valentines Everybody!