Disclaimer: I don't own Negima! Ken Akamatsu does. Now then, on to the show.
- - - - -
"You shouldn't be dating her, Negi."
The boy in question stopped adjusting his clothes for a moment to sigh and respond to Kotarou. This was difficult for him, too. The idea of dating someone whilst he was already taken didn't sit well with his gentlemanly instinct, but neither did dropping Nodoka like a hot potato. You can't share a first kiss with someone and then turn around and dump them the next day – it wasn't right.
"It's not like that Kotarou and you know it – I'm simply letting Nodoka-san down gently, there's no ulterior motive so you don't have to get so jealous," Negi explained for what felt like the millionth time.
"I'm not jealous," Kotarou grumbled. "I just don't like the idea of you dating someone else."
Negi sighed again; Kotarou was clearly unaware that he'd just admitted to jealousy at the same time as denying it. He spent a few moments fixing his clothes, whilst ignoring his boyfriend's whines, before turning and making for the door.
"I'll only be an hour or so, Kota, so don't fret. Nothing will happen – I'll let her down gently and then we don't have to worry about this again, okay?" Negi said.
The dog-boy pouted, in a manly way of course, "Yeah, fine. See ya."
After Negi left, silence reigned – or at least it did for Kotarou. For the other three occupants in the room it was rather noisy, as they carried out their own conversation and ate their breakfast.
"From the way they act, you'd think they were the only two people in the room," Asuna complained.
"I think it's cute," Konoka said. "They go well together. Don't you think so too, Set-chan?"
Setsuna nodded, trying not to let feelings of triumph bubble to the top. Her Ojou-sama had been so accepting of Negi and Kotarou's relationship, so surely that meant she would also be more open to such things, right? Once she felt she could trust her voice not to betray her, she voiced her opinion: "I think that Asuna's still just a little uncomfortable and surprised. It's a big change."
"Damned right it is!" Asuna shouted suddenly. "The brat teaches thirty girls that practically fawn over him twenty four seven – how the hell did he end up gay?!"
"Because he recognizes that dating girls isn't manly, nee-chan," Kotarou butted in with supreme confidence in his manliness.
"Say what?" Asuna deadpanned. "Dating guys isn't exactly considered manly – heck how does the whole 'dating guys' thing go down with you? You wouldn't date girls, so how did you end up making out with Negi?"
"What are you talking 'bout, nee-chan? 'Course it's manly. We're two strong men, we can take on anything you throw at us, so naturally if we date then it only makes us manlier. Simple logic!" Kotarou said proudly, that same confidence from before exuding from every pore of his body.
Asuna merely sat there agape, completely disbelieving what she'd just heard. This wasn't some ridiculous romantic comedy – people didn't think on these lines. Setsuna on the other hand, laid an arm and her friend's shoulder and comforted her, "Don't worry about it, he's not really this stupid. He's merely trying to rationalize his attraction to Negi in a way that won't break his perception of the world. He'll understand some day."
Although the redhead was comforted to know that Negi hadn't inadvertently turned his boyfriend's brain into goo, it still didn't stop her worrying about the future of a relationship that pinned itself on one side's skewed perception of manliness. Before she could voice her worries however, the door burst open and Haruna and Yue charged in. Actually, Asuna corrected, Haruna charged in with Yue over her shoulder. Something she felt really shouldn't be done to the poor girl. Once Yue was settled and Haruna suitably chastised by Asuna's harisen, the reason for their visit became clear.
"We've got to follow them," Haruna exclaimed, eyes gleaming with malevolence and ulterior motives. "Can't let a date like this go to waste, can we? Gotta shift things into a higher gear, eh?"
Yue was considerably more subdued, though whether that was due to Haruna manhandling her or something else was unknown, but she agreed all the same. "Negi-sensei's been dodging her lately, they haven't had a date or been together alone since the festival. We need to make sure that things don't fall apart."
Asuna and Setsuna looked at each other as they considered their response. The girls had the best of intentions and were only looking out for their friend, but their plans wouldn't exactly fit with Negi's. They need to waylay the girls long enough for Negi to follow through with what he had planned, or else things would get really complicated. Asuna didn't like complicated and, she had to admit, Negi was happy dating Kotarou. He didn't seem to suffer from that perennial nervousness that he did when dating Nodoka. Before she could do anything though, Kotarou burst onto the scene once more with his inane logic.
"That's a great idea! There's no better way than following them to make sure that nothing funny happens," Kotarou said.
Haruna cocked an eyebrow, "What's the dog-boy here for?"
"My name's Kotarou," the boy growled. "Now come on."
With that, he burst out into the hallway and ran off. The girls remained there, dumbfounded, though for different reasons. A good ten seconds later, he returned, panting and looking bashful.
"Do, uh, any of you know where they're going?" he asked sheepishly.
- - - - -
"Well, there they are," Asuna said. "Things seem to going pretty well."
"No," Haruna corrected, "things seem to be going pretty slow."
The six were crouched behind some rather large bushes opposite the couple, who were seated on a park bench and chatting amiably. Tracking the two down had been surprisingly hard and had taken them almost three-quarters of an hour. Naturally, Asuna and Setsuna had tried to stall for more but Haruna was a sharp observer and could pick out Negi and Nodoka's absence from an area within seconds. Negi had clearly moved fast, as he was in the area that he had told them that he was going to tell Nodoka the truth in. If only they could stall for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Nodoka chose this place to take things into her own hands.
"Hang on, we might not have to do anything at all," Yue said, her voice troubled for some unknown reason. "Nodoka's actually doing it."
"'Doing it?' Doing what?" Asuna asked.
"Asking Negi-kun to become her boyfriend, of course," Haruna explained. "We told her to do it and how, but we didn't actually think-"
Kotarou chose to interrupt the obvious conclusion by bursting out of cover whilst yelling at the top of his lungs: "Not if I can help it! Negi's mine!"
He then proceeded to sweep his boyfriend into his arms and charge off into the distance. Nodoka was left standing there, shell-shocked from the sudden change in circumstances.
"O-ho-ho-ho! We have a challenger!" Haruna said, eyes gleaming once more. "A newfound rival in love who seeks to keep Negi apart from Nodoka. Come on, we've got to keep on them. This is too good to be true!"
Haruna grabbed Yue's and Nodoka's hands before chasing after the fleeing couple. Asuna, Setsuna and Konoka snapped out of their shock in time to follow. The three separate groups made for comic watching as they ran across the Mahora campus and towards Library Island. Eventually, Asuna's group caught up to Haruna's.
"You know, Kotarou's not really 'newfound' – he's Negi's current boyfriend! They've been dating for two months now," Asuna explained between breaths as she kept pace with the overly energetic doujinka.
"Even better! Bisexual Negi – torn between the boy he loves and the girl he loves. You can't make up stuff like this! Kazumi'll pay a fortune for this scoop," Haruna laughed as she ran even harder than before, her eyes glowing with mischief.
"B-Bisexual," Yue muttered in disbelief, body wavering at the implications. Only Haruna's vice-like grip kept her running, though it was more like she was being dragged along like a doll.
- - - - -
"I don't really think coming here was a good idea, Kota," Negi said to his breathless partner. The two were standing between some shelves in the library. For some reason, Kotarou had felt that the lair of his foe was the best place to hide. Not for the first time, Negi questioned Kotarou's tactical abilities.
"It's a sprawl of shelves, Negi. A whole island to hide in! They can't possibly find us in here," Kotarou said, uttering the magic words.
"Aha! Found you, dog-boy," Haruna shouted as she made her entrance, golems lined up behind her. "Grab Negi-kun, Yue."
Distracted by the golems ahead, Kotarou realized too late that his boyfriend was being stolen right from under him. Before he could pursue though, Haruna's golems tackled him from behind.
Meanwhile, Yue pulled Negi off to an alcove. The plan meant for her to deliver Negi straight to Nodoka, but she was rattled and needed some answers. How Negi answered her questions could decide things once and for all.
"Ah, Yue-san. It's good to see that you still retain your senses – we can just wait here for it all to blow over, right?" Negi said, glad to see his ever reliable student still acting normally. Nothing had been normal today, and a man could only take so much insanity.
"That's right, sensei. But before that, could I ask some questions?"
"Erm, sure. Ask away?"
"You're really, truly dating Kotarou-kun, Negi-sensei? This isn't some silly prank you're playing on Nodoka?" Yue's voice was harsh – if Negi could do something like this…
"Good Heavens, no! I'm a gentleman, Yue-san. I would never do something like that to Nodoka-san."
"Then why are you dating her and Kotarou at the same time? Isn't that ungentlemanly?"
"Yes, it is," Negi conceded. "But the plan was to let Nodoka down gently, take her out for a nice date and let her know the truth afterwards."
Yue was shocked, "That's… really stupid, sensei." Negi winced. "No, really – you take her out for a nice date and then tell her it's over? How is that gentle? How on earth did this get past Asuna?"
Negi was looking distinctly uncomfortable, "Um…"
Yue was paying no attention however, having struck upon a sudden realization: "Hold on, Negi-sensei, I think I have a solution to your predicament."
"You do? Really?"
Yue took a deep breath before continuing, a strange look in her eyes, "If you're already open to dating other guys, sensei, then why not be so open about having multiple sexual partners?"
Negi blinked in disbelief – this was Yue, right? "That's… really out of left-field. I fail to see how the two are related."
"Think about it: wanting to sleep with both men and women and wanting to sleep with both men and women at the same time isn't really that different. And think about, once you have Kotarou and Nodoka, you can add me!"
Negi's jaw hit the floor. He was operating quite firmly under the suspicion that Yue wasn't acting normally.
"Then all your problems are solved – just like that! Everybody lives happily ever after."
Yue was clearly quite rattled. Maybe he should just…
"What, you think you can horn in my Negi, too?!" Fortunately, Kotarou saved Negi from taking any drastic action by bursting in dramatically. Unfortunately, Haruna and her golems were right behind him. This really wasn't going to end well…
- - - - -
"There, all better," Konoka said, having finished applying bandages to Kotarou's wounds.
The great crash at the Library had ended with everybody out cold, but fortunately Konoka was soon on the scene and had used her artifact to fix everybody up. Well, except for Kotarou and Haruna – she had felt that troublemakers could live with a bit of pain.
"Well, thankfully that's all over," Kotarou let out a deep sigh of relief. Negi didn't have to date any girls anymore – he was all his.
"Er, not entirely," Negi said. "I never did formally break up with Nodoka-san, and I honestly have no idea where things are going to go from here."
"What! Oh come on, Negi, surely she's gotten the picture by now!"
Negi never got the chance to respond, as the door burst open, and a sea of estrogen poured in.
"Negi-kun, I just heard! You've gotta give me an interview – an exclusive: 'Child Teacher Falls For Best Friend!' It's gold."
"Oh, Negi-sensei! How has this brat been polluting your mind and body? Your deserve so much better."
"Hey, Negi-kun! Is it true? Did you really come out of the closet?"
Negi sighed, realizing that the insanity in his life was never going to leave.
- - - - -
A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaand, I'm back! I return after a long, long, long, long, long hiatus. My life's changed tack considerably, nowadays, and I have plenty of free time where there's nothing better to do than write. So I figured why not try my hand at continuing 'Shounen Ai' – personally I feel it's rather mediocre, with nothing terribly funny, but it was easy to write and it gets me back into writing. For those people waiting for an update for 'Lost His Way', it's not coming. Instead, I'm redoing the story from scratch – it'll be fundamentally the same but with major differences, hopefully for the better.
BTW, I'm open to all requests. Make a request and I'll fulfill it within a week - gotta keep my writing spirit up.
The first story was rather well received, so I hope this one gets the same response. Remember – reviews are a writer's breakfast, lunch and tea!