Dream a Dream of Negi
by Cyberchao X
Disclaimer: Negima and all related characters, I don't own. Dream and its characters, I do. And yes, I realize this is probably the only time you'll see someone doing a fanfiction of their own work. (If you haven't read Dream yet, click the link in my profile to go to my fictionpress page and check it out…and you can skip ahead to the second part, starts somewhere around Chapter 69 on the display, if you want to)
A/N: Don't know how the manga ends, so some of this may turn out to be unfaithful to that. Don't care right now. I also know just from those weird flashbacks that Asuna has some connection to the magical world of her own right, and they probably could go there…and probably will. For now, though, we're keeping it "real".
A few years had passed since Negi Springfield had first arrived in Japan. "Wow…can't believe you'll be graduating already. It seems like it's been such a short time…"
"It does not and you know it," countered Asuna Kagurazaka, "especially not with all of the days you spend in Evangeline's resort…and the days you repeated with the Cassiopeia…face it, you've aged more than any of us these past four years. If you keep this up, before long we'll be the same age."
"That wouldn't be the worst thing, now, would it?"
"Eh, I don't know…you're pretty cute just the way you are. Besides, I'm just teasing you. After this, we'll be done with this place, and you'll be done with your 'apprenticeship' under Evangeline."
"Uh, Asuna? My time here isn't done. I became an official teacher when your class started third year…and even though, as you noted, I've mucked about with time so frequently that I'm easily 15 years old already, it's only been four years in this world. I still have one more year at this teaching post, at the very least."
Asuna's face fell. "Another year…at least?"
"Yes, well, after the mandatory time is up…"
"After the time is up, you'll be joining me in the so-called 'real world'. No buts. A year…" Negi felt compelled to comfort her, taking her into his arms. "It'll go by in a flash. And we're never really separated as long as we have the Pactio cards."
"True. We can talk to each other any time we want, uninterrupted and secret to just about everything shy of Nodoka's artifact"—the artifacts granted by the probationary contracts were still accessible to their owners despite the fact that Negi had established the permanent contract with Asuna early in sixth year—"and if I really need you, all I have to do is ask and you'll summon me, right?"
"Of course. You know I wish I could be with you always…I shouldn't have even considered staying longer than I needed to. But still…I've taken such a liking to Mahora. And I'm bound to meet more troubled talents."
"You mean like in your first class?"
"…Yeah, something like that."
"Y'know, some of us are actually trying to eat breakfast here," cut in another voice. After the first year of Negi's tenure, he had been moved away from his female students' rooms, as had his new roommate, Kotaro Inugami, the owner of this voice.
"Just because you haven't found love doesn't mean you should put down those who have."
"I haven't 'found' it because I ain't lookin'," Kotaro sniped back.
"You sure seemed to like Chizuru quite a bit for awhile."
Kotaro blushed. "That was different…she's more like family, you know? She's more caring than any of my real family ever was."
"Oh, did you tease Kotaro about Chizuru again?" Setsuna Sakurazaki walked in the door, followed close behind by Konoka Konoe. "You shouldn't do that, Negi."
"Yeah, well, he was being insensitive. Again."
"Oh, right, the never-ending quest for true love," Konoka giggled. "Don't worry Kotaro—actually, Negi's the one who's been worried, so I'll tell him—Kotaro will find true love before he graduates." Konoka, the fortune-teller. Because when Kotaro arrived, they pretended he was Natsumi's younger brother, he had been enrolled as a first-year and was thus only completing year four as the other girls were graduating. (CCX: Yes, that means that Kotaro will be one of the few Negima characters to remain a regular. Teachers, of course, will be sticking around, and Evangeline's still under the curse and will be returning as a first-year, and of course that means Chachamaru and Chachazero as well, and we won't neglect good ol' Albert Chamomile, and Aisaka is still haunting seat #1, so she'll appear occasionally also. And, like I said, the others won't be totally gone.)
"So, you done with your romantic breakfast?" Setsuna asked, "We won't have much time to train if you don't hurry up."
"Yeah, I'm done." With no time for a full kiss, Negi and Asuna merely embraced and kissed each other on the cheek as she was leaving. "And aren't you going to give your sweetheart a kiss before you go?"
Setsuna blushed. "Ôjou…-chan…"
"Meh…close enough." Konoka grabbed her sworn protector and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "But you know that any sign of formality turns me off, so don't expect anything more if you can't get it right." She giggled, as did Asuna. "Same old, same old." Asuna and Setsuna left. Konoka sat down. "Mind if I stick around for a bit?"
"You'd probably make a better breakfast than we could," Negi said.
"Are you insulting my cooking?"
"Don't tell me Kotaro's never tried anything of yours," he asked Konoka, who shook her head. "Konoka's the second-best chef in 6-A—behind Satsuki, of course."
"How would you know? Have you tried something by every last one of the girls from your first class?"
"N-not all of them…but many of them made gifts for me." He blushed.
"Silly Negi…so, I heard you'll be staying here one more year after we go. Just a few more wrongs to set right…including what we talked about earlier."
Negi looked confused. "You know…" She shook her head in the direction of Kotaro. She whispered, keeping very close to Negi's ear so Kotaro wouldn't hear, "I said 'by graduation', but he's going to meet her in his fifth year." Negi looked very interested, nodding.
Konoka then went on. "Any idea what your new roster's going to look like?"
"Not completely. It's shaping up to be a small class; we're only up to 18 seats filled, and that's including Sayo's. Might be some late transfers, though. I just hope it's an easy group to work with…
CCX: Translation: At the point of writing Dream that I'm currently at, seventeen female characters—be they major or somewhat minor—have been dubbed to be "right" for this story. All ages, though different in Dream, will be homogenized to make them the new Class 3-A. And yeah, you know full well that things won't be easy…not with a few beastly natures going around. Anyway, until, at the very least, Dream posting has come close to catching up to Dream writing, content for this fanfiction will likely be limited…you want more of this story, you go read and review Dream! Warning, though: Some chapters of Dream may not be appropriate for younger children. Specifically, Chapter 140, and a long lost chapter that's in the part you can skip. I'll probably do a little more now, though, because I like the Negima characters enough to go through these types of scenes. Yes, I absolutely love AsuNegi and KonoSetsu.