A/N: How did the subject of kissing come up, anyway? My take on a very cute quote from Negima manga. "Setsuna says kissing between girls isn't right." "Well, it's not that I mind, personally..."

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They sat on the beach, letting the waves reach up and lap at their feet, receding, rushing forward again. Konoka wiggled her toes in the damp sand, allowing the tide to bring more sand up until her feet were completely buried. Then she would break free, wiggle her toes again, and repeat the process. It was a cycle, like the waves and the moon. Setsuna sat with her knees up to her chest, her arms around her knees, a serene smile on her face as she watched the sun begin to sink. This was a whole new experience for the Mahora student, just... relaxing. There was no danger here, and she could once again allow herself the guilty pleasure of being closer to Konoka. Every day was a new adventure for them, be it bowling and karaoke or playing games at the arcade on their days off.

This was all her humble heart desired. She didn't dare ask for more. She didn't deserve to be close to Konoka, breaking her vow of watching silently from the shadows.

(But her mind tugged at her like waves tugging at her toes. She wanted something tangible, a proof that this couldn't be a dream. Sometimes she went on her PC where she had a few copies of the picture of them, that day at Cinema Theatre when she had been dressed as a man. Sometimes she wished she was male, so that these confusing feelings wouldn't also carry a dark weight.)

"Set-Chan?"

"Yes?"

Konoka leaned back, smiling, looking as though she was trying to bite back from telling Setsuna a secret.

"I... I think I want to study magic like Negi-kun, and Daddy, and Eva-chan." Konoka turned, smiling shyly at her, and again that dark happiness stirred in her. "But I don't want to have to suck blood like Eva-chan. Wouldn't that be just gross? Not that I'm saying Eva-chan is gross, but it would also be such a bother too, wouldn't it, being a vampire and having to feed all the time?"

"I'm sure," Setsuna said. She winced, mentally. Years spent training her body and soul had left her pitifully inept at normal high-school activities such as gossiping. And of enjoying company of the opposite sex. "Uh, well, what I mean Ojou-sama, is I'm sure you'd be a great wizard like Negi-sensei and your father." Setsuna blushed as Konoka took a while to answer. Had she fumbled her words again? Panic stirred inside her and she began to blush further, clamping tightly onto her legs and looking at the sand, waiting for Konoka to laugh at her.

Instead Konoka hugged her. A feeling of euphoria spread through her, quickly followed by the dark dread. She should not have these feelings, she told herself. She was imagining them, or she was confused after all of these physical displays of affection from Konoka. She rarely allowed anyone to touch her, so surely when Konoka began to lavish her with affections her befuddled mind accepted them eagerly.

"And you can be my partner, Se-chan!"

Setsuna's heart froze, daring to believe. Konoka squeezed her tightly, rubbing their cheeks together. "Yeah, we can do the pactio thing, like we have with Negi! Do you think I could have pacts with both of you at the same time?" She sat back, and Setsuna's tense muscles relaxed, her knotted stomach unclenching as she found that she could breath again. "Oh, but wait..." Konoka frowned. "Can two Wizards even have a pact? I mean is there like a rule or something? I have to ask Negi..."

"Uhm.." Setsuna hated talking, because she usually stuttered like this. In battle there was no room for doubt, but this was not battle. "O-ojou-sama, you do realize you have to kiss in order to seal the pact?"

"Yeah?" Konoka beamed, completely oblivious. "What's wrong with that?"

"...We're both girls." Setsuna hung her head, waiting for it to all click in Konoka's head and for her to apologize. Of course they couldn't be partners.

"That doesn't matter, I like you!"

Fwoom. Setsuna's face went aflame, her pale cheeks turning the color of ripe cherries. This seemed to amuse Konoka; she giggled and leaned over, pressing her lips against Setsuna's. "Pactio!" she said, loudly, when she had pulled away. No one in Setsuna's short life had ever been able to completely stun her like Konoka could. "There," she said. "We're partners now, right?"

Setsuna couldn't speak, her cheeks burning. To her surprise, she felt her eyes burn too. But why?

"Se-chan? Se-chan, we're partners now, right?"

Why wasn't she stuttering or yelling, quickly telling Konoka that she should never, ever do that again? She bowed her head, resting her forehead against her knees. "...You need a magic circle," she whispered. "Konoka, I can't be your partner."

She wasn't looking, but she didn't need to look to know that Konoka's face had fallen. "Oh, but Se-chan! Why not?"

"Ojou-sama..." This is the time, you can use this now to tell her how you feel. But now she knew why her eyes were burning with unshed tears. Did Konoka even truly understand what she had just done? "You know how in Health class, they told us about... reproduction?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Most people think... because it takes a man and a woman to make a baby, that two women shouldn't ever... be together." Setsuna was quivering, with the shame of this, of realizing that this was all a game to Konoka. She looked up, hoping against hope that Konoka would be nodding wisely and agreeing with her. Yes, of course, it all makes sense to me. We should never try to be closer, Se-chan. I'm sorry for leading you on, I had no idea that you thought my actions had some deeper hint at a stronger relationship than just friends.

"But," Konoka said, "How could two women be closer if none of them has a- err... eheheheh!" she giggled nervously, blushing as she realized her almost-slip of tongue.

This was not the way this conversation was supposed to go. Her mind had a sudden, vivid fantasy: she would scoot closer to Konoka and show her exactly how things were done between two women, right there on the beach… Then her whole body went rigid with complete and utter horror. No! She was just confused, and she should definitely not be trying to take advantage of the daughter of the man whom she owed so much to!

"Uh, Se-chan?"

Setsuna shook her head vigorously. No, no, no, this is so, so wrong! "It's not right, Ojou-sama. It's not right for two girls to kiss, or do anything else."

And that settles it, she told herself. Let's just enjoy this day at the beach without further incident, please? Please, Konoka...

Konoka grabbed her hand, yanking her to her feet. "Come on!" she said, leading Setsuna away towards one of the bungalows where they could see Negi and some of the other girls talking. "Negi-kun!" Konoka yelled loudly, beginning to run. Looking over her shoulder at the taller girl, she smiled strangely at Setsuna.

If she didn't know any better, and if she hadn't always obsessively watched over Konoka from the shadows, she might have said it was-

"You're gonna be my partner, Se-chan," Konoka said. "We'll find a way, one where everyone can be happy." She turned again, putting her attention on their teacher. "Negi-kun! I've a question! Is kissing the only way for the pactio to-?" She would have finished, but her words seemed to have caused quite a commotion- especially with poor Yuetchi, who had collapsed onto the floor in shock. Setsuna blushed, reaching out, trying to stop Konoka. How? How could she just blurt something like that out, when Setsuna was hiding it to be a dark, secret obsession?

"Where'd that come from all of a sudden, Konoka-san?" the ten-year-old teacher asked her, looking a little stunned.

"Well, after thinking about it," Konoka turned and smiled again at Setsuna. Again, that odd smile. "I've decided maybe I will study to become a magic-user!"

"You will? Really?"

"Uh-huh!" Konoka did a little happy shuffle, turning around and latching onto Setsuna for another rib-cracking hug. "And I want Se-chan for my partner, but..." Konoka's back was turned to Negi for a moment, so only Setsuna could see, her uncharacteristically sly smile. Setsuna had always believed her a little too simple-minded to ever be capable of that expression- sly. Then she turned to Negi, her usual toothy grin all over her face. "Se-chan says kissing between girls isn't right, so..."

Setsuna's heart began to pace to a quicker beat. How? How could she be so open like this? Surely she saw the other girls looking, with confusion and maybe and little delighted shock? "N-no, I..." Setsuna swallowed thickly, feeling the stares. Ojou-sama, how, how, how? "It's not that I mind," she said, trying to maybe try some damage control. She didn't want to make it seem like she wasn't interested- but no! Of course she did! Because she could never be interested! "...Personally..."

She tried to stop herself. She really did. But the words kept coming. "But.."

But nothing. She was mindlessly blabbering now. "I-its just, one shouldn't be in such a rush to-"

The journalist girl, Kazumi, would certainly be writing about this incident for weeks. Why did she always have to mess up things by opening her big mouth? If I ever to get to have that beach fantasy become a reality, her mind told her, that dark part of her mind she so desperately tried to ignore, I'll make sure we do everything but talk.

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A/N: Ahhh Shoujo-ai. How I love thee. Review!