Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima.

Slowly emanating from a dark cavern, a shriek of fear grew increasingly louder until it could pierce the sound barrier. Leaping out of the grotto into the light of the sun was a messy haired little boy dressed in Shinto cleric garments with the back of his priestly coat ablaze. Baited by his shadow, a large red fire breathing dragon snarled with a drawn out roar accompanied by earth shuddering footsteps.

"Ne-chan, help me!"

The little boy runs past a slightly taller girl, her hair braided off to one side wearing a black hakama and gi covered in scaled armor. She grips a sword strapped to her side, a lengthily scabbard running alongside of it. Taking it in hand, she swings it once to let the sheathing fly off the beautifully shone cutting edge. With a quick flick of her wrist, the dragon was hacked into fourths while it dropped to the ground while smearing its blood along the ground.

Still running with his coat on fire he scurries past his supposed sister, and she punches him in the forehead to bowl him over onto his bottom and pat out the fire. Holding his now sore brow, he rubs it gently to ease the pain.

"Get up." The female ronin chastises him, "You're fine."

Sakurazaki Setsuna, age fourteen

A wandering ronin who works as an exorcist alongside her little brother; she travels the country to help him as he goes about his pilgrimage. Very little is known about her past, but is easily recognized by her skill with her favorite Nodachi "Yuunagi". Many battles over the last few months have made her very cold and detached.

"Setsuna ne-chan," he whines "how can you be so cruel to your own brother?"

Sakurazaki Soma, age ten

Little brother to Setsuna, he became a priest at an early age. He took it upon himself to start a pilgrimage to the Ise shrine to pay his respects to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Alongside his older sister, they work as exorcists to raise money for their journey. Unlike his sister he is soft spoken, recessive in his methods, and would rather solve his conflicts with words rather than with swords.

"I'm not being cruel; you just lack a spine."

Chapter 1 – "The Ronin"

In front of a large house representing the owner of a town, the mayor himself held out a packet "Here is your payment. I appreciate what you have done for us."

Her little brother graciously accepts the envelope from the old man afterward bowing respectfully, "Thank you sir."

Setsuna orders her brother "Little brother, let's make our leave."

As they turn to walk back into town, they are stopped again by the mayor "Excuse me, milady ronin."

"What is it?"

"That sword you are carrying; what is its name?"

She shoots him a frigid glare making the man recoil back in fear. Before long the two were out of sight while he regains his breath and let his heartbeat return to normal.

What…those eyes…

The young priest held onto his sister's arm for comfort as they strolled down the open street watching the pedestrians pass them by on the sides while shopkeepers advertising their merchandise.

"Ne-chan, you can't keep scaring people like that! People won't want to hire us if you keep scaring all our clients!"

"There will always be others."

"I love you ne-chan, but you startle me sometimes."

She shrugs him off of her, "You're being ridiculous. The mayor was very generous with his wallet so we can treat ourselves tonight; remember we can't have too much money when we travel."

"Do you mean it?" he asks with hope glittering in his round innocent eyes "Thank you, ne-chan!"

"Yes, now stop trying to cut off the circulation in my arm."

They arrive in a soup restaurant with a waitress seating them at a booth surrounding a wood stove. Sitting across from one another they waited on their meal to be brought to them.

Dear Father,

Setsuna ne-chan and I are doing well. How have you and mother been doing? Has it really been three months since we started this pilgrimage? Things have been a little hard since ne-chan is a little picky about what jobs we take, and she almost seems to derive pleasure from frightening our clients.

"It looks delicious!" the boy readied a set of chopsticks.

"Eat up, don't waste anything."

I understand that she volunteered to come along with me, but I believe she only came with me because I am very frail and she pities me. For whatever reason, I am more than grateful that she is by my side.

One of the local inebriated adult patrons passes by in a drunken stupor to have a peek on their meal. He looks to Soma who was about to stab his sticks into a well cooked potato.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Outta the way, runt; leave some for the less fortunate!"

"Please sir, I ask that you leave us in peace."

"Shut the hell up!" in blind anger, he gives Soma a hook to the face and fell to the ground with blood coming from his lips.

Setsuna looked to her brother down on the floor, cringing painfully. Just as their impromptu guest was about to stick his hand in their pot, a jagged pain filled his left hand.

She had jammed her utensils through his hand and straight into the floor to effectively nail it down. Even drunk, he felt it very clearly as he flailed about wildly screaming. Grabbing the back of his head, she shoves it against the blistering hot wood of the stove to cook him like a dumpling.

"Do you like that?" Setsuna presses the embers harder against his cheek. "Answer me, you stupid fuck!" He couldn't say anything consisting of syllables and sentences while she twisted his other arm in sadistic resentment.

Although her violent methods aren't something I can really approve of. Ever since that day she lost her sensei in the civil uprising, she changed drastically; no longer a modest girl, but more along the lines of a crazed delinquent.

"Ne-chan…!" he sobs as he wrapped his feeble arms around her waist, "Don't hurt him any more!" the stoic girl exhales sharply, letting go of the now mutilated man who ran out of the shop still shrieking with a hole in one hand and a melted face. She combs a hand through his mess of hair and pats him on the back. Customers continued to stare in disbelief as she manages to maintain a blank expression.

"I'm sorry; I overreacted. Let's just enjoy our meal."

Regardless, she is still my big sister and I couldn't ask for anything more; God be praised that she still cares for me.

After filling up on hearty stew, they head out to a friendly inn. The owner happily hands them a set of towels and escorts them to the natural spring in the back.

Tonight we will be staying in Dokuro village in time for the moonlight festival. Maybe I can get ne-chan to put herself at ease; it has been so long since I have seen her crack a smile.

The siblings shared a hot spring as they let the grime of yesterday glide right off. As the swordswoman slid herself into the mineral rich water, she turns to her younger brother, his pasty white featherweight build reflecting his indifferent ideals. Soma got a rare glimpse of his sister without her armor; a lean, statuesque figure of a girl looking much more relaxed than she does hiding behind the scales and layers of her equipment.

"You're so pretty, ne-chan." Soma rests his head against her shoulder, "Mother said in a few years you could have any boy you want."

"A companion would only weigh me down. Why do you insist on being such a nuisance?"

"You never let me bathe with you!" he whines.

She turns away from him, "I don't wish to corrupt your mind with perverted ideas; you are a priest after all."

"I am your brother before I am a priest."

"And I am your sister before I am a ronin."

"Please, ne-chan! Can I at least take you to see the festival tonight?"

She places a hand on his cluttered hairstyle, "If it will stop your pestilence I will escort you. But remember, we must be back to the inn before it gets dark."

Soma planted a kiss on his sister's cheek, "Thank you, ne-chan!"

That night, we headed out for a wonderful afternoon to celebrate the first harvest of the New Year on the full moon. With any luck I could convince ne-chan to stay another night in this wonderful village. We've done nothing but float around constantly because she breaks something important, refuses to take any of the jobs, or kills something/someone. I had a feeling that this time would be different!

But it seemed that I was wrong about ne-chan relaxing. Her hand never left the hilt of her sword and her eyes swept like a condor looking for its next meal; I started to lose my optimism, looking to Amaterasu for hope that I could find a way. At that moment, she had answered my prayers in the form of a delicious smelling scent catching my attention.

"Ne-chan, let's have dinner. It's getting late!"

"It is not that late, stop worrying. Just enjoy your—" a loud gurgling catches Soma's attention. He presses his ear to the lower part of Setsuna's chest plate to hear and feel a small moan and strong rumbling.

"That settles it; we will have dinner this instant!"

"Do not disquiet yourself with such things; I am fine."

"You have not been eating right for the past week! You should not have been giving me your portions!"

"I said I am fine!"

Soma resorted to filling his eyes with tears, pouting his lips, and sniffling uncontrollably. Setsuna tries her best to look away from him but kept catching him in the corner of her eye. The chaser came when he rubs his cheek up against hers while hugging her tightly.

She sighs, "Alright, I'll eat. Just stop your squalling."

Without delay, he drags her over to a table and hails a waiter. He smiles at her from across the table as a large order of chicken yakitori arrives between them. Instead of taking a skewer, he pushes the entire plate towards his sister.

"Go right ahead!"

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"I am full of rice and salmon at the moment; any more and I will surely explode!" he holds a stick to her lips, "We need to fill that stomach of yours!"

"Why are you doing this? This is unusual for you."

"You keep skipping on your dinners! You barely ate a thing at the stew restaurant!"

"A full stomach may slow me down; and besides, you need all the nutrition you can get."

"Enough! Please ne-chan, I don't want you to starve on my account!"

"Hmph, if you insist." As she takes a nibble of the glazed poultry, something catches her attention behind Soma.

A man was being followed by a line of girls wearing rice powder makeup and red lipstick. They were dressed in colorful kimonos and overgenerous obi as they walked in perfect posture down the main street. One of them looks over to her, smiling warmly as she disappears behind a wall of a house.

When I saw that expression cross her face, I thought that I had done something right; but I immediately knew that it was not my doing. I had to know what gave her such joy.

"Ne-chan, are you alright?"

"Hmm, huh?" she snaps out of her hypnotic trance.

"You're becoming delusional! Please, hurry and have some of this delicious smelling yakitori!"

Setsuna recollects her thoughts, "…Yes; yes of course, Itadakimasu."

After she goes through ten skewers of chicken, she pays the bill regardless of protests from Soma. Walking back to the inn, he couldn't take his eyes off of Setsuna as he tries to watch for her amazed expression to expose itself again. Wandering past several houses, they come past what turned out to be a brothel.

Perverted men abound looking through the wooden bars that kept the maiko and geisha penned together like rats. Setsuna glowers at the sight of women being sold like dolls in a shop.

"How disgraceful."

"Some people are less fortunate than us. Please hold nothing against them."

"Less fortunate?" she sneers, "Women whoring themselves out for yen instead of working honestly. I have every right to hold that against them."

"Not all of them are prostitutes! Geisha are people who provide entertainment to people!"

"Say what you will."

"Can we look inside? Some of them tend to be very pretty!"

"Just one look, then we will return to the inn. Understand?"

"Yes, ne-chan."

Walking past crowds of corrupted men, they manage to get up close to the holding cell. Very different than when they are fully dressed, lacking their caked on maquillage, dressed in only kimono with their hair tied neatly in buns. They were in recreation, doing things such as chatting and smoking.

"I've seen enough; can we go…?" she stops mid sentence.

"Ne-chan, is something wrong?"

Soma caught his sister staring; he looks to see the very same face she made not too long ago, her eyes fixated on a single article quivering in fascination like a child experiencing an emotion for the first time. The object he traced lead to a maiko sitting in the back next to a mirror, pulling an ivory pin from her bun to let her cinnamon hair cascade down her shoulders as she whisks it back with her hands. That maiko turns to the two onlookers to give an evocative smile at the little boy.

He blushes frantically while holding his cheeks, "Oh dear…!"

"…"

That maiko was one of the prettiest I had ever seen! For some reason, Setsuna ne-chan couldn't take her eyes off of her. I didn't know what the matter with her, but whatever it was it made her blush with such frivolousness that I just to know what went on in her mind.

From behind them a set of hands forcibly drag them back through the crowd to a reception desk. Getting a chance to turn around, they see an obese woman bowing respectfully.

"I see that you two have been eying my girls." She looks down at Soma, "I know it is unwarranted to do business with a priest, but everyone needs love in this day and age. Have you made a decision?"

"Oh no, we were just passing by! We will be out of your way!"

"If that is your decision, then I must ask that you be on your way now. I have guests I have to attend to!"

"Of course. We'll be off now!" Soma took his sister and made for the exit, looking warily at his sister as they walk away.

The old crone waves to them; turning to the holding chamber she enters it and approaches the charming girl with cocoa hair. As the girl turns to greet her, she is promptly hit across the face. She didn't resist as she kept to the ground to prevent showing signs of rebellion.

"Next time, make sure you get chosen!" she grips the front of her kimono, "You want me to throw you back on the street where I found you?"

"N…no…"

Back at the inn, the siblings prepared themselves for bed. Determined to find out what was the cause of what had made his sister act the way she did, he sparks conversation between them.

"Are you okay, Setsuna ne-chan?"

"I'm fine; why do you ask?"

"You have been acting strangely ever since we came to this village. Tell me, are you ill?"

"If it is the weather, I'll simply just take some of the medicine in the morning. Go to bed, you'll need your rest."

"What about that maiko back at that brothel we visited?"

"What about her?"

"You seemed so captivated by her. What was it about her that made you look that way?"

One year ago

In a fire ravaged house, a younger Setsuna sat beside a fatally wounded woman with a pool of blood ever expanding beneath her. The woman looks to the immature girl and smiled despite her pain.

"I am sorry; they caught me off guard…" the woman hacks up blood onto her gi.

"Motoko-sama, don't speak! Save your strength!"

Her charcoal hair laid spread across the floor soaking in blood that bled through a wound in her back. Setsuna cups the back of her sensei's head and held her close to her chest.

"Please…don't leave me all alone…"

"Setsuna-chan, don't cry. A samurai sheds blood before shedding tears…"

"But… I love you! I don't want to be alone…!"

She grins despite her pain, "If you love me, then live for the both of us."

Setsuna kisses her softly on the lips, savoring the moment until she was gone. Her body was still warm, but her heart ceased to flutter. Weeping noiselessly into Motoko's gi, she refused to let her go. Nearby was the shattering of a wooden door, soldiers filling the room in an immense clutter as they surrounded the grief-stricken warrior.

Their captain speaks "There's one more in here!"

Trembling faintly, the girl grasps the hilt of Yuunagi and with a powerful cry she tore the face off of the leader. After mercilessly disemboweling the squad, she stood over her sensei's body soaked in the blood of countless men. Taking her corpse into her arms, she exits the house while stepping over the corpses of soldiers freshly decapitated and/or torn through.

"Goodbye, sensei…!"

Turning away from him, she goes out of her way to avoid any more questions he might have had.

"Ne-chan?"

"Go to bed."

"But…"

"I said go to bed." She almost threatened him.

Nestling themselves between the sheets and shutting their eyes, Soma looks back at his sister who now started a slow and steady breathing as she finally shut her eyes and lazily fell into the arms of sweet lady slumber.

I needed to meet that beautiful maiko again. I had a feeling in the bottom of my heart that knew that maybe if she could confront that maiko, ne-chan would smile again.

Until I write again,

Soma

In the other futon, Soma opens his eyes and grabs his clothing before heading out the window.

"Anything to make you happy, ne-chan…"

A/N-

This story is loosely based on "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer.

No this story has nothing to do with Memoirs of a Geisha, or any geisha movie for that matter.

Please leave a review on your way out.