"I shall announce the results," the masked man said as he pulled out his chair to take his seat. He calmly ignored the peacock running amuck and the various suited agents chasing the bird.

In the audience, three people watched intently. Well, to be fair, one sulked intently while the other two watched. The sulker had already lost the bet, as the participant he had bet on had been knocked out in the semi-finals. Nevertheless, they all seemed decidedly out of place. The sulker, scowling at the other two while simultaneously watching the proceedings, had short silver hair and was wearing a matching silver business suit. Next to him, standing with a confident smirk, was a woman in her early twenties with long green hair in what appeared to be a sailor fuku, holding a large silver staff with a garnet orb at the end. The last of the group was a small girl wearing a flowing white dress, noticeably barefoot and frowning in thought.

The masked man, obviously the judge of this competition, sat down. "Very well," the man began, "I shall now announce it." There was silence as the audience waited in anticipation, the strange trio included. "The champion of the 39th Pantasia newcomers' battle is..." He paused once again, milking the audience's anticipation. Raising a hand, he brought it down over the bread to his right. "...Azuma Kazuma."

As the audience let out a cheer, a noticeable whoop coming from one young man with an afro, the young girl bit off a curse. Birds began to fly about the room as if in celebration, but it didn't help her scowl.

"Looks like I win the bet," the green-haired lady commented. "Azuma Kazuma is the winner of the bread-baking tournament." Even as the pink-haired baker who got second place contested the ruling, she knew it wouldn't change.

"I still can't believe the sword-boy lost in the semi-finals..." the silver-haired man remarked, more to himself than anybody else.

"Get over yourself, Clay," the youngest said. "Suwabara doesn't have the drive needed to win a baking tournament of this caliber." She was silent a moment. "Though... I thought the pink-haired baker was a sure-win." She kicked the ground.

"Come, come," the fuku-clad woman said cheerfully, "cheer up!" She was silent for a moment. "Or not. All that really matters is that you both uphold your end of the bargain."

Clay looked around suspiciously, though he knew nobody else in the room could hear or see them. "Well, all right. What favors do you need, Pluto?"

Sailor Pluto, also known as Setsuna Meiou, grinned. "I'm glad you asked." She held up a finger. "I'm having a small problem. Some magician is causing trouble in an all-girl's school. I'll need you each to provide me with a girl to turn into a Sailor Senshi to uncover this magician and defeat him."

"Turn into a Senshi?" Clay asked. "You can do that?"

"Of course not!" Setsuna replied cheerfully. "That's what I have Mirus for!"

The young blue-haired girl frowned. "So from me you'll need a girl who can find this man and can defeat him, as well as the means to turn the mundane girls into Sailor Senshi?"

"Don't play the weak little girl act," Setsuna replied coolly. "I know it's well within your powers."

Mirus nodded. "All right, I suppose I can do that." She was silent. "Why not just have us take care of this threat ourselves?"

Setsuna considered whether or not to reveal that. She decided to hide it. Smiling, she replied, "I want Hotaru to get some experience in. I'll be sending her along with the two you provide for me. She can be spared for the effort, though none of the other Senshi can."

"I see," Mirus responded.

Sailor Pluto continued. "I'll meet you at my house tomorrow morning." She held up her staff. "Seven o'clock. Don't be late." With that, she disappeared.

"How troublesome," Clay said, scratching the back of his head. "I think I'll have to pull Eryn out for this."

"Indeed," Mirus agreed.

))o((

Lore

I. In Vinculis Etiam Audax

))o((

"Hey, dumbass!"

Eryn turned around as he exited the school gates, half wondering who had just called out for him, although he had a pretty good guess. As an arm grabbed him by the shoulder from the other direction, he knew. Looking up at Clay, he sighed. "Why are you bothering me?"

Clay slapped a hand against his chest in mock hurt. "Ah, how mean. And here I had come to help you."

Eryn's eyebrows arched in surprise. "What, you're going to finally send me home?"

Clay shook his head. "Nope. Good guess, though."

"So... as I said the first time, you're just here to bother me. So what is it?"

Clay shook his head, attempting to ignore the boy's negative words. "Hmm... Now that I think about it, this might require a longer explanation than I expected."

Eryn once again sighed. "Really now?"

Scratching his chin, Clay pointed at a nearby car and said, "Come on, I don't have much time, so I'll explain on the way, okay?"

Eryn followed Clay, talking the passenger side seat.

As he drove, Clay began. "Anyway, let's see... Well, here are the basics. Every now and then, us higher being types will hang out with one another. I mean, when you have an infinite amount of time on your hands, you tend to get bored hanging out by yourself. So me and two others had decided to place wagers on a certain... well, let's call it a tournament. Anyway, to make a long story short, the wager from each was to grant whatever the winner requested."

Eryn nodded, not really understanding what the hell Clay betting had to do with him.

"Well, as fate would have it, I lost. And as such, I was put in the position of granting the request of the winner. And she just happened to request the use of one of my avatars, and guess who I picked?"

Eryn gulped. "And what new horror does that mean for my life?"

The boy was favored with a smile. "No horror, really. In fact, I'm going to be getting rid of Princess for you!"

He blinked, not believing it. "Really now? I thought you said that was impossible?"

Clay shrugged. "So sue me, I lied."

"You know... I don't know whether to jump for joy or strangle you."

Clay interrupted, a smirk on his face, "Only problem is, your soul's going to be transferred over to your cursed body."

"...I guess that answers my question." Eryn reached over and would've strangled the man, had his hands hadn't suddenly become limp and unresponsive.

Clay continued to smile. "Anywho, she wants you delivered within the next twenty four hours so she can fit a few more changes onto all her new prizes. So I have to get to work on you soon."

Eryn replied, caution and fear tainting his voice, "And what if I said no to all this?"

"Who said you had any choice in the matter?"

Eryn snorted angrily before responding, "I really hate you, you know that?"

Clay shrugged. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

Eryn leaned back in his seat. Consigning himself to fate, he asked, "So, who will my new tormenter be?"

"Well, she likes to go by the title Sailor Pluto."

"You really are an evil bastard," Eryn commented dryly.

Clay grinned as he nodded. "Yup. Ain't it great?"

Eryn sighed. "The universe despises me doesn't it?"

The boy's tormentor snorted before responding, his voice tinged with humor. "Well, I don't know the answer to that one, kid. But I can certainly say that I hate you."

Eryn massaged the bridge of his nose. "Bastard."

After a couple of quiet minutes had passed, the high school student asked, "So, what's going to happen to my life in the Nerima district?"

"Nothing much. I'll probably just reset things back to before you arrived and wait for the next gullible sap that'll sign one of our contracts."

Eryn nodded, accepting the fact oddly easily. "Oh, okay. So, who else is going to be in on this thing?"

Clay seemed to stop and think for a moment before responding. "Well, I suspect Mirus might use her little pawn, the Umikage girl. And Pluto might toss in some of her own pawns for whatever she has cooking. But other than that, I don't really know."

Interested, Eryn asked, "Who's Mirus?"

Clay gave Eryn a sidelong glance. "You really don't need to know that."

Eryn huffed. "Fine, whatever."

A few minutes later, the two pulled into a small garage that sat beside a decidedly out of place two story ranch style home.

The rest of the day for Eryn was pretty much one excruciatingly painful event after another. He thanked whatever gods might have been listening every time he blacked out.

))o((

Eryn stared balefully out of the car window. The trip to get to the meeting place was taking quite a long time. The teen was beginning to suspect they may have even jumped dimensions somewhere along their trip.

"Ah, we're here," Clay said suddenly, slamming on the brakes.

Eryn, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, flew forward. Thankfully, the windshield didn't break.

"Stop being such a baby," Clay said, shoving his project out of the car.

Eryn stumbled a moment before regaining equilibrium. They were at a large house, almost a mansion though not quite. There were three people waiting outside.

The first that Eryn noticed was, of course, the tall and somewhat voluptuous Sailor Pluto herself. She wasn't transformed, but Eryn could recognize the green-haired Senshi for what she was, even while wearing a business suit and glasses.

Standing next to the Sailor Senshi was a young... girl? Eryn couldn't be sure, but thought it was a girl. Nevertheless, she was quite short and had her arms crossed over her chest. She had short blue hair which only added to the appearance of masculinity. She was scowling and didn't look very happy.

The last was yet another girl, this one with loose red hair falling past her shoulders. If it weren't for the casual slacks, buttoned shirt, and different hairstyle, Eryn might have almost mistaken this girl for Ranma's female half. She was leaning casually against the doorframe of the open front door while watching the scene casually.

Clay was suddenly beside Eryn, pushing his charge forward. "Go on," he urged, "introduce yourself!"

"Who's this girl?" the blue-haired kid asked, revealing she was indeed a girl with her voice. "The last one?"

Eryn was, indeed, a girl. Just as Clay had promised, he had taken away the alternate personality that came with his Jusenkyo curse, Princess. Then he had locked Eryn in the body she had resided in. She was shorter than before, but still had the same long silver hair she had in her original body and gray eyes. She possessed a noticeably larger chest, as well. "Um, yeah." Eryn fumbled for words for a moment. "Ah, I'm Eryn Belmont. Nice to meet you all... I think."

"You think?" the redhead in the back asked with a smirk. "That's funny. Well, I'm Joey... call me Jo when I'm like this, though. According to the green-haired lady with a superiority complex, I'll be going by that the majority of the time."

The youngest girl went next. "My name's Kari. Kari Umikage. I'd say it's a pleasure, but it's really not." She looked off to the side. "I just want to get this whole mess over with."

Setsuna clapped her hands together. "Good, now you all know each other. Come on over, gather around."

The false cheerfulness unnerved Eryn and Jo somewhat as the two walked over to the Senshi of time. Kari, who was already next to the woman, simply looked over, not amused. None of them really noticed when Clay waved and drove off.

"So, what do you need from us?" Eryn asked somewhat fearfully.

"First things first," Setsuna said. She pulled out what appeared to be a henshin stick. Before anybody could ask any questions, she pulled back her arm and then shoved the wand into Eryn's forehead.

"What the hell?" the boy-turned-girl cried, stepping back. She had seen the wand sink into her own head. While she knew she could survive it, the lack of pain was somewhat odd. She didn't see, however, a strange symbol glowing on her forehead.

"Relax," Pluto's guardian remarked, "I was just synching the wand with your soul. Unlike normal Senshi, whose sticks are bonded to the soul from birth, these ones have nobody bonded to them. This is needed so you can become Senshi."

"Wait a minute," Eryn said, "back up. You mean we're all becoming Sailor Scouts?"

"Sailor Senshi," the woman corrected, "and yes."

"This ain't funny," the silver-tressed youth remarked.

Kari snorted. "Mirus left out that little detail." She paused for a moment. "Oh, well, I guess I can deal."

"Well, I guess it's not that important. Whatever helps us get the job done, right?" Jo shrugged, then added, a bit of flippancy and sarcasm evident in her voice, "I get to be a real magical girl now!"

Eryn looked over at the two. "I'm so glad you guys can accept it so quickly."

Setsuna repeated the process for Jo and Kari before stepping back. "Now pull out your henshin sticks and say the words that come to your mind."

"From where?" Jo asked sarcastically.

Kari scowled at the girl before pulling out her wand with a flourish. "I guess I'll go first, since you all seem too cowardly." Raising the wand into the air, she called out, "Bellona Crystal Power, Make Up!"

The transformation was as flashy as can be expected. A deep red sword, easily taller than the girl transforming, rose from the ground in front of her. The sword stayed there for a few moments before shattering into a myriad of red crystal shards. The shards spun around the girl once, shredding her clothing, before spinning around one more time. The second time around, the shards stuck to her skin and formed into a regular Senshi fuku with deep maroons as the color theme. A red choker with a garnet stone adorned the young girl's neck and knee-high white and maroon boots adorned her legs.

Kari looked down at herself once the transformation had finished. "I take it I'm Sailor Bellona?" She noticed Pluto nod. "Couldn't I get a more decent outfit, though?" She tugged at the hem of her skirt. "These show off my legs!"

"All of the Senshi uniforms do that," Setsuna replied. "You'll get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it!" Kari whined pathetically. As much as she could seem all-business when she wanted to, some things still set her off.

Jo and Eryn looked from the newly-created Sailor Senshi to each other. After a bit, Jo sighed. "I'll go next," she said. "Might as well get this over with, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Setsuna said encouragingly.

Jo raised the henshin wand high. "Vulcan Crystal Power, Make Up!" Her transformation was much different than normal. The first thing that happened was that large metal objects fell from the sky, stopping as they floated in front of or behind the transforming girl. Her clothes slowly disappeared piece by piece and, as they did so, two pieces of metal would go forward from either side and form a piece of armor over Jo's skin where the clothing faded. After it was over and done with, Jo was left in a suit of armor looking exactly like a sailor fuku. Gradually the colors faded from silver to the white of the fuku body and the grays and black of the ribbons and skirt. Like the youngest of the group, Jo also now bore a choker, silver in color with a black star. Her shoes were typical low-top shoes, completely gray in color.

"That wasn't so bad," Jo said, looking herself over. "Outfit looks kind of dull, but since when did I care about fashion?" She smiled. "And I bet I get a ton of cool attacks now, too!"

All eyes turned expectantly to Eryn. The recently-turned girl looked nervous. "What? C'mon, I don't want to transform!"

"Get over yourself," Setsuna said harshly. "We need you to pull off this mission, so transform or I'll show you why my enemies tend to fear the wrath of Sailor Pluto."

Eryn sighed. "All right, all right. No need to resort to violence, I'll go." With a marked lack of enthusiasm, the girl held up her transformation catalyst, not even raising it above her head. "Klumu Crystal Power, Make Up."

Lacking eagerness or not, the transformation began. A large wedge of light, as tall as Eryn and shaped somewhat like a shield, appeared before her. The wedge suddenly transformed into a myriad of tendrils of light. In a flash, Eryn was unclothed, though the tendrils quickly wrapped around the girl's body, transforming into the clothing of a Senshi as they did. Once it was complete, the transformation left a bored-looking female Eryn, clad in a sailor fuku with a golden color scheme for the skirt and ribbons, a gold chain choker, and gold sandals.

"I look so dumb right now," the newly-dubbed Sailor Klumu sighed.

"Not any more than the rest of us," Jo put in happily, "except the sandals."

Eryn raised an eyebrow. "You know, that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Let us get a few things straight before we begin," Setsuna said, looking over at the new Senshi. "You're to keep your identities as Sailor Senshi completely private."

"Of course," was what Kari said, "we're not stupid."

Continuing as if she were uninterrupted, Setsuna said, "In addition, if you're ever to run into any of the other Senshi or anybody who knows of your identities, you MUST keep the method of your transformation secret. As far as any Senshi but myself is concerned, you're little-known Senshi that have been, until recently, in a different part of the country. We can't let it slip that you're not reincarnated Senshi, nor that you're all from different dimensions. The fact that you're actually guys is also to be kept secret. Is this clear?"

"Crystal," Eryn said as the other two nodded.

Pluto sighed. "Good." Looking at the three, she said sternly, "Now don't slip." She walked into the house. Turning behind her, she said, "Well, come on. Transform back to your civilian identities and follow me. We're picking up the last member of your group."

Kari and Jo nodded. Concentrating, their clothes shifted back to normal, a marked contrast to the sequences they transformed to.

"How'd you do that?" Eryn, or Sailor Klumu, asked.

Kari looked over at the girl. "Just concentrate, like you did when you pulled out the henshin wand."

Eryn, doing as instructed, turned back to normal. The three made their way into the house, following Setsuna. The woman led the way up a flight of stairs. It was still morning, so it didn't surprise anybody to hear snores as they passed one room. They continued down the hall, where Setsuna finally stopped. She rapped the door with the back of her hand. "Hotaru, dear?"

There was a shuffling sound from inside the room. After a moment, the door opened and a young girl's head appeared, peeking around the doorframe. She had medium-length black hair, messy like she had just woken up, and violet eyes. "What is it, Setsuna-mama?" After a few moments of blinking the sleep from her eyes, she noticed the three girls behind Setsuna as well. "And who are they?"

"We'll be having a meeting downstairs soon," Setsuna said. "Go get ready, Hotaru dear, and come downstairs when you're ready. I'll explain everything then."

Hotaru was silent a moment before responding with a nod and a "Yeah." She disappeared back into her room, the door shutting as she did.

Setsuna quietly turned and walked back to the room where the snores had been coming from. After she knocked, a woman with a head of wavy green hair answered. The snoring, however, continued. "What is it, Setsuna?" It was Sunday, so even Michiru was used to sleeping in.

Setsuna's reply was direct and simple. "Downstairs, we're having a meeting."

"Do I get to be introduced to these three friends of yours?" the woman asked with a smile.

"At the meeting," Setsuna responded. "Wake Haruka and meet us downstairs when you're both ready."

"All right." And with that, Michiru went back into her room. As Setsuna and the three new Senshi walked downstairs, they could hear Haruka's complaints at being woken up.

Setsuna took the group to a large table, three seats on each side and one on each end, in what they assumed to be the dining room. She, of course, took the seat at the head of the table. They took seats nearby, both Kari and Eryn next to the woman and Jo next to Eryn.

After a few moments of tapping the table, Eryn turned to the Senshi of time. "So, what exactly are we-?"

Setsuna cut the girl off. "I'll explain everything in full detail when everybody else arrives." She paused a moment before continuing. "It'd do you all well to remain silent for the duration of the speech and agree with everything I say."

"All right," Kari replied.

"Sounds fishy," Eryn muttered.

About ten minutes of silence passed before Michiru and Haruka entered. The first looked bright and cheerful while the latter looked half-dead, her short blond hair still considered bed hair. Michiru took the seat next to Jo, who she smiled as reassuringly, while Haruka took the seat next to her partner, the end of the table opposite Setsuna.

"So, what's up?" Haruka asked, yawning afterwards.

Setsuna's response was typical. "Everything will be explained when everybody is here."

"I hate it when you pull that act," the Senshi of Uranus responded sardonically. Nonetheless, she didn't ask anything else until Hotaru had shown up, taking the seat next to Kari. The black-haired girl smiled sheepishly as she sat down while Kari flashed the girl a peace sign. Hotaru giggled.

Setsuna cleared her throat. "All right, I suppose we can begin now."

"About time," Eryn mumbled rather loudly. He pointedly ignored the glare that Setsuna shot him, though it got a chuckle from both Jo and Haruka.

The elder green-haired woman continued. "I suppose introductions are in order. The silver-haired girl is known as Erin Belmont. To her right is Josephine." She continued to speak over Jo's gag. "The other young girl is Kari. Both Josephine," another pointed gag from Jo, "and Kari don't have last names."

Kari knew perfectly well that she did have a last name, but remained silent, just as instructed.

"Why is that?" Hotaru asked, looking at the two girls.

"Erased from their family registries," Setsuna said, responding for the two.

"And so why are they here?" Haruka asked.

Setsuna cleared her throat. Here came the big lies. "It appears that these three are Sailor Senshi." She allowed the three other Outer Senshi to gasp before she continued. "There were planets in this Solar System that disappeared before or during the Silver Millenium. I had thought the Senshi of those planets gone forever, but apparently these three have been busy combating crime in..." She paused, trying to recall what Mirus had said Kari had been from. "...Sendai."

"So you recruited them to come here?" Michiru inquired. "To stick closer to the princess?"

"Close," Setsuna replied. "While I did recruit them to our cause, they're not going to stay here for very long." She looked over her three housemates. "It so happens that another enemy has come to my attention."

"I thought Galaxia was the final threat," Haruka muttered.

"She was the final threat for the Inner Scouts," Setsuna replied, "or at least the final major threat. However, we'll still be here to take out the minor threats." She turned her head to the trio of new Senshi, who were all sweating. "These three, along with Hotaru, will be taking care of this threat."

"Hotaru?" Michiru inquired while Haruka shouted the same thing.

"Me?" Hotaru added quietly.

Setsuna nodded. "It happens this threat is on a large, somewhat secluded school campus. While I could send you two as well to the local high school, I felt it better fit our needs to transfer the Senshi into the same class. It's been arranged with the dean to have the four transferred into the same class a the campus all-girl's junior high school." She was silent a moment. "Besides, we are needed here to combat the threat of minor demons that might come forth."

"Why do you need Hotaru?" Haruka snapped.

Setsuna replied quickly. "One is the most we can spare. And I explained why I chose her over one of us." She calmly stared down the blonde Senshi. "Unless you lack faith in the skills of your daughter?"

Before Haruka could reply, Hotaru spoke up. "It's all right, Haruka-papa." She looked determined. "I'll do it."

Haruka couldn't respond to that.

"Now that we're clear," Setsuna began, "I can continue." She cleared her throat. "To enroll them into this school, I need last names for Kari and Josephine." Another gag from "Josephine" came, which Setsuna resolutely ignored. "I've taken the trouble of enrolling Kari under the guise of Kari Meiou, using my own last name. I was hoping I could do the same with Josephine using you last name, Haruka."

A few grumbles, but it was confirmed that Jo was to be known as Josephine Ten'ou.

"Their mission is simple to explain, though vastly more difficult to pull off." Setsuna sighed. "You four have to investigate the campus. There is somebody there, an evil force, that can disguise its presence superbly well. This force is likely masquerading as a student, though a staff member is also possible. You must find who it is and stop them."

"Easier said than done," Jo responded. "Especially if it can be anybody on campus."

"You'll have to carefully investigate," Setsuna replied. "You must find out who are hiding things, who have odd powers, or who act suspiciously. Then you must uncover what secrets they hide until you finally find the one you're searching for."

"That could take months," Eryn said with exasperation. "Or even a year!"

"It's quite possible," Setsuna replied. "I never said it'd be easy."

"Please," Kari remarked, "with me there it'll take two weeks, tops."

The rest of the time was spent going over necessary details and, eventually, breakfast was served as well.

Haruka and Michiru, eager to spend the day with their daughter, who would be leaving tomorrow, went out. The trio of new Senshi were dragged along, as Haruka and Michiru wanted to get to know the three they'd be sending their daughter off with. It was an exhausting day, and they gratefully took the offered guest rooms when they arrived back at the home of the Outer Senshi

The next morning would be the first of their mission. They'd need that sleep.

))o((

The next morning saw Setsuna and the four undercover Senshi at the Mahora campus. Setsuna walked with purpose, leading the four. Most of the gathering students avoided the group, while the other four tried not to gape at the vast European-style campus. The architecture and size of everything was beyond impressive.

Eventually they arrived at a place labeled as "Mahora Junior High" on the wall surrounding the school. Setsuna led them purposefully into the building, heading straight to where she needed to go. At a room labeled as the dean's office, she entered without so much as a knock.

An old, wizened figure sat behind the desk. Mostly bald, what little whitened hair he did have was extravagantly long and held back in a ponytail. His bear, too, was quite long. Despite his obvious age, he gave a youthful smile as Setsuna entered, the four girls trailing behind her. "Ah, Setsuna my dear," he said with a wide grin, "it's been so long. You really must stop by for a game of go every once in a while."

"Perhaps I'll play a game or two as I check these girls' progress in the future," Setsuna replied gracefully. "But, as for now, have all the preparations been made?"

The dean nodded. "Yes, yes. I've enrolled the four into Negi's class." He looked over the gathered four. "Now, I believe one is your adopted daughter... one is masquerading as your real daughter... one is masquerading as Haruka's sister... and the final has no relation, real or perceived."

"That's correct," Setsuna responded. With a motion to Hotaru, she said, "This is my adopted daughter. The blue-haired child shall pretend to be my true daughter. Josephine," the gag gave away who that was, "shall pretend to be our housemate and Haruka's sister. Erin, finally, is a friend of the family."

"I see, I see." The dean made some notes on some forms. Quickly he spread four papers on the desk. "I'll need a signature from all of you. Remember to sign in your fake last name, if you were given one."

"Well, I suppose somebody higher-up had to be in on this," Kari muttered. She and Hotaru quickly signed theirs, while Jo took a bit longer.

"Josephine," she muttered, "why Josephine?" Nonetheless, she signed as well.

Eryn was last. She had noticed something... off. "My name is spelled with a 'Y'," she stated, "not an 'I'."

"Get used to it," Setsuna said, shooting the girl a glare. "You have a girl's name, not a boy's name."

"It works for both," the newly-christened Erin muttered. Still, she signed her paper and handed it back to the dean.

He old man handed Hotaru a map. "Here, this is a map of campus." Hotaru began looking it over, Kari checking it out over the girl's shoulder. "You'll be staying the junior high girl's dormitory. Your room number is 510. A key can be provided at the front counter for any of you."

"We're all in one room?" Kari inquired.

The dean nodded. "Usually we try to keep it to two or three per room, but, while I am dean, I can't make any exceptions to the rules for you four. It's needed to be this way so you can work together at nights and, if necessary, sneak out together without alerting anybody else. If I gave you the privilege to do this at will, it would, of course, immediately arouse suspicion in whoever our evildoer is."

Setsuna glanced at the clock. "You'd best be on your way," she said. "It's nearing the beginning of class."

The old man nodded. "Indeed. Your class number is 2-A. Good luck."

))o((

Negi coughed to get the class's attention. However, no one seemed to hear him, and as such the class continued to talk amongst itself. The novelty of having a ten year-old teacher had begun to wear off and the young boy found that his class was paying him less mind than they once had.

Negi coughed again, this time louder. Once again, he seemed to either be not heard, or possibly ignored by a majority of the class. Even Ayaka, the class president, seemed to not hear him. He usually relied on her to calm the class down...

Sighing, Negi reached under his desk and pulled out his last resort for this type of situation.

BAWOOOOGAH!

The air horn got everyone's attention.

Pleased with the result, Negi began. "Well, it seems today we have a bit of a surprise. The principal has informed me that we have four new transfer students that should be arriving today."

As if on cue, the young boy with a short ponytail heard a knock at the classroom door.

Quickly making his way to the door, he walked out, shutting the door behind him. He immediately noticed the tall, busty woman with long light green hair and glasses. She was Shizuna Minamoto, who often helped him, especially back when he first began teaching. Looking up at her, he distinctly noticed what he assumed were the new transfer students behind her.

Shizuna smiled down at Negi. Handing him a small clipboard, she said, "Here's the information on the new students. The principal also told me to inform you that you should probably assign one of your other students to guide them around school and the dorms for the day."

Negi nodded as he adjusted his professor-style glasses. Turning towards the girls as Shizuna made her way back towards the dean's office, he gave them one of his cutest smiles. "Hello. I'm glad to hear that I'll have all of you in my class."

Two of the girls seemed to ignore him, apparently wrapped in there own thoughts, while the younger of the four both smiled back at him. They seemed taken aback at having a ten year-old introduce himself as their teacher, but they took it in stride.

Looking back towards the door, Negi said, "Well, I'm going to go prepare the class to meet you, I'll call for you when everything's ready, alright?"

Not waiting for an answer, Negi headed back inside the class, quickly reassuming his position behind his desk. Looking at the girls in his class, he began. "Well it appears they're here already. Anyway, I'd be happy if you gave them all a big Mahora Academy welcome and if you all tried your best to make them feel comfortable."

"Yeah, yeah," a girl with long orange hair in two ponytails muttered.

Turning towards the door, the young teacher called out, "Umm, you can come in now!"

Quickly, the four filed into the room. Now that he could see her better, Negi thought to himself, that if it weren't a girl's school he was teaching at, the shortest of the group could almost be mistaken for a boy.

After quickly glancing at the clipboard Shizuna had supplied him with, Negi began, pointing as he said each name. "Class, I'd like you to meet Erin Isis Belmont. She apparently hails from America, though has off and on lived in various parts of Europe. Most recently she stayed in Sendai before transferring here."

The young silver-tressed girl barely nodded in acknowledgement, her mind obviously elsewhere.

"The next girl is named Jose..."

The redhead interrupted, "That's Jo. Say anymore and you'll be in for a whopping."

Negi coughed, " Uhh... Jo it is then. Well, her name is Jo Rai Ten'ou, she hails from... well, this says all over Japan and various other countries."

Looking around, he continued after an awkward moment, "The third girl is named Kari Meiou. She hails from Sendai."

Kari stuck two of her fingers up in a peace gesture. "Yo."

Looking at the final girl, Negi finished, "And lastly we have Hotaru Tomoe, who hails from the Juuban district of Tokyo."

Hotaru gave a small curtsy.

Looking at the girls, he commented, "Well, if you'd like, I'm sure the class would be happy to hear a little more about each of you."

Neither Jo nor Erin seemed overly fond of divulging information about themselves.

Kari rolled her eyes at her two new companions before starting. "Fine, then I'll go. I'm Kari Meiou. I like swimming and playing go, and I'm fourteen."

Hotaru bit her lip, but after a moment followed Kari's example. "I'm Hotaru Tomoe, I... I want to be a doctor, and I'm fourteen."

Kari elbowed Jo, the closer of her two silent companions.

After about twelve more elbows, Jo finally gave in. "Fine then, I'll talk. I'm Jo Ten'ou, I practice an odd form of kendo, and I'm," she paused as she remembered the fake age she had been provided with, "fifteen."

"That isn't the chest of a fifteen year-old," another redhead, sitting near the front, muttered.

After Jo had finished, everyone seemed to be staring at Erin.

After about a handful of minutes had passed, she gave in as well. "I'm Erin Belmont, I prefer not to fight, and I'm fifteen."

Negi nodded. "Good, thank you all for those nice introductions." Scanning the class, the ten year-old teacher asked, "Ms. Ayase, after class, could you please show the new girls around the school and then to the dorms?"

Yue simply nodded.

"Well, anyway, the principal had a new table brought in, so three of you will have to share it. So... hmm... Erin, can you please go and take the seat beside Ms. McDowell? Evangeline, would you please raise your hand?"

Spotting the small hand, Erin walked towards the back while the other three took up the new table, finding themselves only slightly crowded.

With that, Negi began the day's lesson.

Evangeline looked up at Erin as she took her newly assigned seat, irritation apparent in the smaller girl's eyes.

Erin looked down at Evangeline. Just as short, underdeveloped, and young-looking as Kari was, though the long blond hair kept the appearance of being feminine. Erin sighed, mumbling to herself, "Damn, I still get stuck babysitting."

Evangeline gritted her teeth. "What was that?"

Erin sighed. "Nothing, little girl."

Evangeline's blue eyes grew large. Erin almost thought she saw flames floating around them. "What did you just call me?"

Erin gulped, though she honestly wasn't sure why. Choosing the better part of valor, she responded, "Umm, nothing, Ms. McDowell." Erin soon found her face imbedded in her new table, a oversized book resting on top of it.

Evangeline simply leaned back in her chair and grinned, examining the girl as she attempted to remove her head.

Over on the other side of the room, things were only going slightly better as Kari and Hotaru were finding it somewhat hard to listen to the lesson over Jo's snoring.

Negi turned around, spotting Erin and Jo. Both apparently sleeping, too. He sighed. "Somebody please wake up Ms. Belmont and Ms. Ten'ou and please tell them to go out into the halls."

Kari sighed. Glancing at the two the teacher had chastised, she briefly wondered how they could all blend in among ordinary girls like the ones in this class. Only time would tell.

))o((

I. Finis

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Two series feature prominent role in this work of fan-created fiction. Sailor Moon and Mahou Sensei Negima are both copyrighted to their respectful creators and distributors. The same applies for both other series mentioned, though neither were delved into; Yakitate! Japan and Ranma One-Half.