Wow, it's been so long since I've written something for Negima! My job takes up a vast majority of my time, so I really can't write all that much... Anyways, hope you all enjoy this story!! It's short, but good.
Halloweenies- Part One
It was that time of year, the one that everybody enjoyed. The leaves had just about finished changing their colors, from green to brilliant hues of red and orange; the air was beginning to cool down a bit, with a sharp biting wind flowing every once in awhile across the landscape; and, perhaps the most obvious of all... the decorations were beginning to be put out.
Even at Mahora Academy, the students loved to proclaim that they had just as much fun as the rest of the world, when it came to this time of year. There were the usual paper cut-out witches and ghosts, the sales on candy in the Mahora stores... and the pumpkins.
Especially the pumpkins.
The different classes always had the most fun with this tradition, trying valiantly to outdo the other classes in making the best jack-o-lanterns around. It was a competition that all involved tookdeadly serious. Already, carved pumpkins sat proudly atop tables, positioned outside each form teacher's door, so that all could see them as they wandered the hallways.
It was official- Halloween had almost arrived.
For now, though, everyone slept peacefully. The sun was still a faint glow in the distance, the moon and stars still bright, but fading fast.
Even in the child-teacher's room, peace had settled over the beds and tables, as Negi lay on his back, fast asleep-
"Wake up, Negi-kun!!"
A bright light filled the room and Negi, who had been enjoying a very good dream that involved himself and one of his current partners, threw his hand to his eyes to shield them from this unwelcome intrusion.
"Wha-?" he mumbled, still very much sleepy. "Whassgoinon?"
"Wake up!" the voice said again. "It's time to get up!"
Negi lazily rolled over, to check the clock.
"It's only 5:30..." he said, now a little bit annoyed. "Why the early wake-up call?"
Two small forms jumped up to Negi's up bunk, having been most of the way up his ladder already. "It's the day before the day before Halloween, silly!" one of them said shrilly, sounding way too peppy for that absurdly early hour.
Negi now fully opened his eyes, and was a bit surprised at who he saw sitting at the foot of his bed.
"Fuka-san?" he asked in amazement. "Fumika-san? Who let you in my room?"
Fuka smiled. "Asuna did," she replied, grinning and pointing over to the doorway. Negi glanced over at the door, and sure enough, Asuna was leaning against the doorframe, trying her hardest not to burst into laughter.
"Thanks for the wake-up call..." Negi said, groggily, flopping back down onto his back.
"Any time," was all that Asuna could say, before she couldn't hold it in any longer, and burst into uncontrollable giggles. After a few moments, the Narutaki twins left the room, Asuna following after them, tears now rolling down her face.
Negi, now staring up at the ceiling, sighed aloud; he knew that now, there was no possible way he could get back to sleep again, especially after the fright that the Narutaki twins had given him.
Resigning himself to staing awake for the rest of the day, Negi reached over to his nightstand table and found his absurdly small glasses, putting them on.
Negi smiled as he thought of what he had going on that day.
"They should enjoy it," he thought aloud, though not a soul was around to hear it. He climbed down his ladder and made his way to Asuna's desk, beside her bed; he started to hammer out some last-minute details in his plan, smiling the whole time.
--
Three hours later, after almost missing the first part of class due to dozing off at Asuna's desk, Negi found himself in his classroom, ready to start another day.
"All rise!" Nodoka said aloud as Negi approached his desk. As he positioned himself beside the desk, Nodoka continued the greeting: "Bow."
The entire class bowed, and Negi returned the gesture.
After the class was seated and Negi had taken the roll, he addressed the class with a smile. "Now, I assume you all know what holiday is coming up in a few days..."
A chorus of "Halloween's" echoed throughout the classroom.
"That's right," Negi said, his smile more pronounced than the class had seen the whole day. There wasn't much doubt as to why, either- in spite of the fact that Negi was a teacher at only ten years old, not to mention a very powerful wizard and budding Magister Magi... he was still a kid.
And what kid doesn't like Halloween?
"Not only that," he continued, "but this year, the school administrators are allowing each class to hold individual Halloween parties. Now, the teachers are suuposed to decide whether or not their classes are going to have parties
"But, I want to let you all decide on this one. So, if you want to have a Halloween party this year, quietly raise your hands."
Every girl in the class raised their hands, though a majority of the class either ignored or didn't hear Negi's exhortation to do it "quietly," because a raucous choruses of cheers accompanied the hand-raising, each cry of approval seeming wanting to drown out the rest.
Negi patiently waited to continue, until all the girls had quietly completely down.
"Alright," he said, when he once again had his class's full and undivided attention, "so it's pretty much official that we're having a Halloween party this year. Now, all we need to do is figure out who's doing what.
"So here's what we'll do- I want all of you to get together during class today and plan out who'll be doing what for the party in two days. Don't make too much noise; I need to catch up on some grading."
And so, as Negi settled into grading old tests, the class went to work on planning their Halloween party. And this time, they actually remembered to stay quiet.
The Next Day
The halls of the building were quiet and empty, save for a lone, mysterious figure that slunk along the walls, trying not to wake anyone as she went. A long shoulder-bag swung from her side, once filled with papers she had to deliver, but now... it was as bare as the hallways she now roamed.
Slwoly, she turned her doorknob, not even stopping to think whether her roommate had left the door unlocked for her- she always had, without fail, and she'd given no indication of ever doing otherwise. So, she kept on trusting her.
This time proved to be no exception, and the door easily slid open, allowing her access to her room. Quietly, she slid in, closing the door behind her as silently as she'd opened it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she made her way to the bottom bunk of her and her roommate's bed, flopping down on it with a contented sigh.
She heard a stirring from the uppermost level of the room, then a tiny, sleepy voice came down from above: "Asuna-san... is that you?"
"Yep," Asuna replied, snuggling down onto her pillow, "I'm back."
A few moments passed, in which Asuna heard nothing. Then, "Do you want some tea?"
Asuna had been about to finally doze off, but the oddity of Negi's question snapped her back to the awake world.
"Huh? Negi-bozu... it's only 6:30 in the morning... You're drinking tea, already?"
Negi laughed softly, so as not to wake Konoka up. "I'm British, Asuna-san, you know that..."
"I know," she replied, "but that doesn't explain why you're up so early... The Narutakis didn't wake you up early again this morning, did they?" Asuna couldn't help but smile as she reminded Negi of the events of the previous morning; it was still quite funny to her.
"No, thank God," Negi said, in a tone that plainly said that he didn't find the situation nearly as funny as Asuna had. "I was just making up the surprise test that I'm going to pop on the class today, first thing."
Hearing Asuna's muffled exclamation and sensing he'd just given her a large shock, he chuckled. "Just kidding, Asuna-san. Your next exam won't be until next Friday."
There was a moment of dead silence, then Negi felt something large and fluffy hit him in the back of his head- Asuna had gotten up and thrown her pillow at him.
"Don't ever scare me like that again..." Asuna muttered as she retrieved her pillow and sat back down on her bed.
"So, if you're not making a big test, then... what are you doing up so early?"
In response, Negi tossed down a rolled-up piece of parchment paper. "Take a look for yourself, Asuna-san; I just got finished putting the final touches on it."
Asuna unrolled the paper, and let out an involuntary gasp. "Wow- you drew this?"
"Took me most of the night, but yeah. Though, it was much easier than it could have been, 'cause the paper has a spell on it... I didn't have to spend any time erasing or anything. It's pretty cool."
Asuna smiled. "It's amazing! Are you going to show it to the class today?"
"Yeah, and hopefully some of the girls will help me with the decorating."
"I'm sure they will." Just then, Asuna got an idea. "Hey, you want to grab some breakfast somewhere?"
Negi peered over the edge of his bed, his face beginning to flush. "You mean... as in a date?"
Asuna sighed in mock exasperation. "Whatever you want to call it." She started to pull her clothes on. "I'll be ready in five minutes- and you'd better be, too."
--
At precisely 8:30, Negi and Asuna stepped into the classroom, in tandem. Their breakfast "date" had lasted a bit longer than either of them had expected, and thus they were both very close to being late for class.
They'd made it on time, though, and that was all that mattered.
Five minutes later, class officially began.
"Alright, ladies," Negi said, after he'd taken roll, "have you all finished discussing your roles for the Halloween party tomorrow?"
The classroom echoed with a chorus of "yes-es."
"Good." Negi moved out from behind his desk, facing the class. "Who's going to present your ideas to everyone?"
Haruna raised her hand. "I will."
Negi smiled, then beckoned Haruna to come up to the front of the class. She did so, papers in hand.
After she was situated, Haruna began: "Alright, Negi-kun, here's what we came up with..."
OMG CLIFFHANGER!! No, but seriously, this story will conclude in the next chapter, so I hope you all will come back and read part two!!
