A/N: And we're back! Following the (doubtful) success of Operation: Valentine, the TS is back with another collection of pairings! This time with more humour, investigations, and mecha action! And I am NEVER writing something this long again.
Thanks to Midnight Sleeper for contributing the Clyde and Clair sections, and DDD for contributing the Reina section.
All characters are property of their respective owners. And seeing as you're reading this, you probably know who one the TS owns who.
Operation: Summer Break
Negi finished his end of semester speech, congratulating his students on their successes and providing a run down of what was going to happen next semester. As usual, the Baka Rangers received praise for somehow managing to pass the finals again, though rumours of magic being involved were entirely unfounded. All that was left now was for the final bell to ring, signifying the beginning of what many of his students saw as the best part of the year. The entire class was silent for once, all the girls staring at the clock as it counted down.
Three…two…one…zero.
"Summer break is HERE!" cried the girls in victory, the cheerleaders and twins being amongst the loudest as 3A exploded outside. Negi thanked his foresight in packing his things early as he was carried away in the tide of soft female bodies and borne down the corridor and out the main entrance of the Academy.
"What are we doing this year then?" asked Sakurako, bouncing around in pure joy, hugging the other cheerleaders, Madoka and Misa. "Maybe go to America for a shopping spree? Or an around the world cruise?"
"When have we ever done anything like that?" queried Madoka, raising a good natured eyebrow at her friend. Next to her, Misa smiled as she nodded in agreement, deflating Sakurako slightly, but the gambling girl brightened up almost immediately.
"I know! Hit the beach!" suggested Fuka Narutaki before the taller girl could speak. "Beaches are always fun! There's ice cream, and ponies…"
"And boys," grinned Kazumii, joining in on the conversation. Then again it was one of those conversations the entire class was partaking in, though not in one group of course. "You should consider it, Madoka, Sakurako. You're among the few girls left without boyfriends you know…"
The two cheerleaders flushed at the veiled insult, but managed to retain their good humour enough to shoot a barb back. "And when was your last date with our PE teacher then?!" they both demanded at the same time, making the reporter turn as red as her hair. Vengeance successful, the cheerleaders turned back to each other.
"So…beach?" asked Sakurako. Her two friends nodded. "Right, leave it to me!"
Glaring at the cards, Connor Gavet cursed his luck before throwing them onto the table in disgust. "I fold. Lady Luck spits in my face once more," he said, sipping his drink as he leaned back in his chair.
Across the table from him, Peten Falson tilted his head in a gesture of respect. "Knowing a futile situation is a strength," said the music teacher, his eyes flickering to the cards in his hand. "But I'm in. Let's see what you got."
The third teacher in the game, the ill fated Masayoshi, laughed sheepishly as he revealed his cards. Two sixes and three kings. "Not a bad hand eh?" said the chemistry teacher, rubbing the back of his head. Peten stared at the cards before placing his down on the table as well. Four queens.
"My victory though," said the Scotsman, patting the younger man on the shoulder. "Care for another round?"
The trio were sitting around a small table with a small mountain of chips in the middle. They'd been playing most of the afternoon, as usual just to pass the time. The fact this was the last day of the semester for the girls was not lost on any of them, and they were trying to enjoy the only male company they were going to have for a while.
"Nah, I think it's time for us to be going," said Masayoshi, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. "School's probably ended by now and I have some reports left to do."
"Same here," grumbled Connor, standing up and putting on his coat.
Peten looked at the other two educators in surprise. "The end of year reports? But those were due a month ago!"
"What can I say, we're slackers," said Connor off-headedly, walking out the door. Peten raised his eyebrows and turned to Masayoshi, who just shrugged and also stood up, pausing only to gather his book and quill before also departing.
The music teacher sighed as he shuffled the cards and slid them back into the box, idly humming a tune he used to play when he was still a child.
"You guys done yet?" groaned a voice from the sofa. Peten looked over and nodded, making the chips and pack of cards vanish with a wave of his hand as Clyde Metro's head appeared. "You know, you should really find a better venue for your little get-togethers with the staff," he said before dropping down from sight again.
Peten sighed. "Well, the last place kicked us out after that brawl business…"
"With all respect sir, why can't you use one of your rooms for this? I don't see why I have to put up with this," groaned Clyde, nursing the latest in a long line of bruises bestowed upon him by Ayaka.
"Don't worry Observer, we won't be bothering you for a while, it's the summer holidays after all."
The blonde turned his head to look at the teacher. "Oh, going somewhere? Congratulations. I'm stuck here for the coming month."
Peten shook his head. "Nothing's been planned, but you know how it is. The dean will get some call and send me off to Kyoto, or Russia or somewhere."
"Well, at least you get paid for that," grumbled the younger governmental operative as Peten left.
Sakurako, as we all know, had a gift. Not only had she an uncanny sixth sense when it came to bets, she also knew where to find the unlikeliest of things. Namely, a pack of thirty two tickets for a full holiday package on the sunny beaches of Hawaii for sale. One for each of the girls of 3A, and one for her cute little teacher. The class had, by popular vote, decided to hit the beach this summer after spending five minutes thinking about it after class. Seeing as Sakurako had already left to organise a holiday for her friends, they decided to call her and let her know that a slightly larger number of people would be tagging along.
Sakurako didn't mind, the more the merrier! Though funding such a venture was entirely beyond her. If all her classmates chipped in then perhaps…then again, there were alternatives, she found herself thinking as she saw a familiar face in the travel bureau, flicking with disinterest through a travel brochure…
A couple of days later…
"Sakurako, you really are amazing!" congratulated Misa, patting her friend on the back. "You organised this whole trip for the entire class!"
3A in its entirety was now at the airport, bags and all, with Negi and Peten in attendance as chaperones for the trip. The two teachers occasionally shot looks at each other, mostly involving an emotion known as worry, to the slight confusion of the girls. Had they known what had happened on the last full class trip (Kyoto) they probably would have understood.
And some of them did understand, but their quiet words of encouragement to Negi and nods of approval at Peten were lost amidst the excitement of the majority of the class. Soon they would be away to sunny Hawaii, for a holiday none of them expected to be going on! Sure Mahora had a lot of entertainment, but a change of scenery was always appreciated.
"So come on, spill it, how did you manage to pull this one off?" queried Madoka, smiling slyly at Sakurako. The other cheerleader smiled sweetly as she answered.
"I have my ways…"
…there were alternatives, she found herself thinking as she saw a familiar face in the travel bureau, flicking with disinterest through a travel brochure. "Hey Luke! Thinking of getting away as well?" called Sakurako, waving at him.
The blonde glanced up, saw her, and immediately spun around and tried to leap through the window. Alas, it was made from reinforced glass (being located on a campus, it only made sense, I mean, with vandalism and the like on the rise…) and so Luke Mason slammed into it and slid down onto the floor, his curses muffled by the glass.
"Hey!" she said crossly, walking over to the boy and kneeling down next to him. "What was that about?"
"I know that look," he replied, rubbing his face to regain a sense of feeling in his muscles. "The one that says you want something from me."
"Now that's mean!" pouted the cheerleader, before sticking her tongue out at the youth. "Maybe I just wanted to talk to you?"
"True," he answered sheepishly standing up. "Anything you want to talk about?"
"Can you lend me some money?" asked the girl, making the most innocent puppy eyes ever encountered by humanity. Luke fell. "It's not that much, I swear!"
"I knew it," grumbled the knight, face palming. "How much?" She told him, he stared at her. "And why should I lend you such a sum? I worked hard for that money you know. You should try that too sometime, might make you respect hard work a little m-OW!" yelped Luke as Sakurako crushed his foot with her heel. "OK, OK! Just no domestic violence!"
"Thank you!" smiled the cheerleader sweetly, hugging the boy and planting a kiss on his cheek, making him flush red.
"Alright, you keep your secrets then," said Madoka finally, shaking her head as she put her bag on the conveyor belt and retrieved her passport. Sakurako punched the air in victory as the trio of cheerleaders moved away from check-in and over to where the rest of the class was waiting for them.
"This is going to be so fun!" giggled Fuka to her twin sister. "There'll be ice cream, and nice weather, and Negi is coming along as well!" Fumika nodded eagerly, already looking forward to the trip. They weren't the only ones. A lot of girls had agreed to come after hearing that their little teacher was also participating in this vacation. Who knew how many of them just wanted to see him in swimming gear…
Clyde burst into the room, taking a moment to catch his breath before grinning from ear to ear as he looked at his roommate. Luke looked back at the Observer before grinning himself. They both knew.
"WOOHOO!" they cheered, a cry of exaltation that could be heard for miles around. No 3A for a week! It was like a dream come true! Fair enough, they'd miss some of the girls a bit, but the benefits of them being away…
Now, it should be noted that the duo were not cheating scumbags as you may like to believe. Rather, one should remember that when one associates with any member of 3A for more than ten minutes, things start happening and/or appearing. Namely bruises, cuts, demon attacks, magic spells going off and all the usual things one can link to personal injury.
The blondes were therefore jubilant that they could look forward to a week without anything like that which had been mentioned above. Of course, Fate would never let the two hapless blondes get away with something like that, so in good old fashion…
"Oh by the way, this came for you," said Luke suddenly, handing Clyde an envelope. "Looks like it's from America, could be important," he said, shrugging as he turned around and sat down on the sofa in relief. The other blonde had by this time torn the envelope open and unfolded the letter inside. As he scanned the pages, the colour in his face drained away. Luke saw this change come over his…well, not friend, shall we say acquaintance? and asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Oh no…oh god no…" whispered Clyde, reading the letter once more, sweat running down his brow. "She's….she's coming here….today?!" Terrified the blonde glanced at the clock on the wall. "Right!" he said, running over to the closet and yanking it open before throwing out his duffel bag (pre-packed in case of emergencies such as this) and putting on a coat. "Luke, I'll be going now, so eh, see you!" he said as farewell, making for the door.
Unfortunately he only made three steps towards it before grinding to a halt. Clyde glanced back, seeing Luke holding down the end of his coat with his foot, with arms crossed in front of his chest and an unimpressed look on his face. "Clyde, what's going on?"
"You gotta let me go! Please! Claire is coming!" explained the other blonde, trying to reach the door.
"Claire…? Oh, your sister! Well if all you say is true, good luck trying to run from her," said Luke, releasing his roommate and watching him vanish from sight like a roadrunner on speed. Shaking his head, he closed the door and walked into the kitchen, pouring himself a drink. Clyde had…serious family issues. Well, no worse than any brother who had an older sister who liked to tease him and so on. Then again, throw magic into the equation and well, things were highly unlikely to be normal. Luke raised his glass to a silent toast wishing Clyde luck. Knowing the Observer's connections, he'd be on the first outbound flight from Japan within the hour.
The blonde's thoughts were interrupted by a polite knocking from the door. Thinking it was Clyde, swiftly returned to pick up something he forgot (probably his pimp hat thought Luke with a chuckle) the youth went over and opened it. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, being hugged by a girl with her blonde hair done up in a ponytail.
"Clyde! How ya been?" she squealed, squeezing tightly. "Did you get my letter then?"
"Miss, Clyde isn't here, and yes, he did get your letter," said the boy beneath her. The girl blinked, and looked at who she was hugging. Then with a cry of "Pervert!" she slapped him and leapt up, preparing to cast a spell.
"What have you done with my brother?!" she demanded, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Having spent some time in Mahora, Luke knew exactly how to deal with such a misunderstanding. Slowly, calmly and steadily…RUN LIKE HELL! Of course, that wasn't an option in this scenario due to him being on the floor, and the female being ready to send him rocketing skywards at the slightest provocation. Well, then response two would have to be used.
Calmly, Luke answered without moving anything but his mouth. "Clyde has already left. If you hurry, you might catch him."
"DAMMIT!" swore the girl, stamping her foot angrily. "He got away again, the little beast…and who are you?" she asked, suddenly jumping back into battle mode.
"His roommate. Luke Mason, Student, 36215. Under the Geneva Convention you cannot expect me to tell you anything more," answered the youth, still on the floor.
"Oooh! Sorry!" apologised the girl, coming over to the boy and helping him up. "I tend to jump to conclusions sometimes…." She explained, smiling sheepishly.
Well, she's definitively related to Clyde then thought Luke, accepting her thanks with a wave of his hand. "Of course, it's ok," he said, picking up his dropped glass and carrying it back to the kitchen whilst Claire looked around the dormitory.
"So…where is my brother?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip.
"Hmm, from what I remember, his contingency plan for if you ever came by to visit him was to get out as soon as possible, so he's probably at the airport by no- GAH!" squawked Luke as Clyde's sister grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him outside. "W-what are you doing?!"
"I'm going to look for my traitorous little brother, and you are going to help me!" declared Claire Metro, as if they were setting off on an epic quest as she slammed the dorm door shut behind them.
"Right, and you need me why?"
"…I don't know where the airport is," she explained, deflating slightly in embarrassment.
Luke facepalmed. "How did you get here then?"
"Portal network!" she answered brightly. "So are you going to help me or not?"
Catching the veiled threat in the question, Luke's face fell as he nodded.
"Whee! Plane, plane, take us away, to a land far away!" sang the twins happily, watching as the clouds lazily rolled past beyond the cabin window. Separating them from the aisle, and the potential to cause a SERIOUS amount of havoc, was Kaede, who was either asleep or not.
Their excitement still spread like a virus through an underground research complex sealed from the outside world, and all the thirty two girls on the plane were feeling excited at the prospect of hitting the beach at an exotic location.
"I can't wait to show off my new swimsuit to Negi-kun!" giggled Sakurako, much to her friends' amusement. "He'll have no way to resist me!"
"He and any other boy there who catches your fancy I presume?" added Haruna form the seats behind the Cheerleaders. "Keep dreaming. Negi's going to be staring at Nodoka, and Nodoka only!"
"H-Haruna!" squealed Nodoka. "W-what do you mean?!"
The manga artist winked at her library associate as she whispered, "Don't worry, I replaced your boring school swimsuit with a two-piece that is to die for! As soon as Sensei sees you in it, he'll have such a nosebleed so as to dye the whole beach red!"
Nodoka blushed furiously at the thought of appearing in front of her cute little teacher in some scandalously revealing swim suit that Haruna had undoubtedly picked out for her. Her embarrassment reached such a level it simply overloaded her, and she slumped into her seat, burning crimson.
"Haruna, stop teasing Nodoka," interjected Yue in her monotone, which shut up the other member of the Library Trio pretty effectively, before whacking the overhead panel to access the oxygen mask, strapping it to Nodoka's face in an attempt to resuscitate her.
Near the front of the plane, Makie and Ako were in deep conversation over something or other (probably regarding the issue of their shyness when added to swimsuits in a public setting), whilst Negi, Kotaro and Reina sat at the front most seats. Negi's assistant chaperone, Peten, had been designated the back set of seats, and was actually rather enjoying himself, listening to the latest performance of the Warsaw Philharmonic over a pair of headphones.
Just in front of him, were the usual troublemakers, who, by either some cruel twist of fate, or because of someone's incompetence, were sat in the same row. Asuna, glaring out the window, waiting for this trip to end, and Ayaka, calmly ignoring her bad tempered classmate. In between them was Zazie, who, apart form wondering who had arranged the seating, simply sat there and juggled with some pencils that she had in her pocket.
Meanwhile, far behind them, in the tail end of the plane, approximately four feet below their feet, in the luggage compartment, sat Clyde, idly humming to himself as he brewed some potions to replenish his emergency reserves. Which of course was an idiotic thing to do, considering the unstable nature of the potions. But hey, he was feeling smug after slipping through Claire's grasp, and so in the end, what happened was inevitable.
"Look, there's Hawaii!" squealed Misa, punching the air before having a little dance with Sakurako to celebrate. Negi groaned as he buried his head in his hands, Peten patting him on the back reassuringly.
"Don't worry Negi. It was an accident, you can't be blamed for it. Everyone's ok too, so just put it behind you," reassured the older teacher, smiling.
"It seemed like an omen of things to come," groaned Negi, refusing to look up, the life jacket he wore a couple of sizes too big for him. The class was on the final approach to Hawaii, in a rescue boat.
It was either that or swim the rest of the way, their plane crashing into the sea after the luggage compartment mysteriously exploded. Luckily, they had come down not too far from the island, and help was swift in coming.
There had been numerous cries of panic and an extraordinary amount of pressing against him by his pupils as they sought reassurance. Setsuna of course had already gone beyond the plane whilst holding Konoka, using her wings to glide gently to the water's surface, whilst Chao and Hakase had bullied their way into the cockpit, and hardwired something or other, levelling out the plane and stopping it form nose diving into the sea.
So far, this trip was turning out to be a nightmare. Yet 3A's spirits had still not been dampened, despite them being soaked through. Negi couldn't help but dread what would occur on the island itself.
"Welcome," greeted the man. "Your baggage has already been moved to your rooms. The twelfth floor has been designated for your use only," he continued, still smiling brightly. "Here are your keys," he added, holding out his hand towards Peten. "If there is anything we can help you with, don't hesitate to ask."
"Yes, of course, thank you," replied the music teacher, turning from the receptionist and walking back over to the gathering of girls, already making plans for the day ahead. Officially, this was a school trip, but in truth that was just a cover to let Negi go as well, as the girls refused to take no as an answer. So their entertainment was pretty much down to them. "Alright girls, get into your groups. I have the room keys here. Everyone is on the twelfth floor, so don't go off wandering without telling either me or Negi first, understand?" A chorus of affirmatives answered him as they females rushed him to get their keys and check out the rooms in which they would be staying for the next week.
"Professor, who will Negi be staying with?" asked Makie, voicing the question in most of the class' minds.
"Negi will be staying with me," answered Peten, raising his voice to be heard over the various sounds of disapproval and dejection. "This is his holiday as well, so he should have time to relax, not be stressed out because of you. He deals with you enough during the semesters, he deserves a rest."
With that, Peten nodded at the girls and turned around, walking off to his own room to collapse onto his bed and sleep off the jet lag. Only after that would he be willing to face this vacation proper.
The mid-afternoon sun cast it's reflection on the ocean, shimmering like thousands of diamonds. Perfect conditions for a swim. Perfect conditions at least for Akira Okochi anyways. Granted, she could go swimming any time she wanted to in Mahora, but the freedom of the ocean was a lot more appealing to the black haired beauty than a concrete pond, at least for now.
"Well it certainly is nice to be away from the rest of the class for now." Akira pondered to herself. "They're my friends and all, but it's nice to have some quiet time at least. Plenty of time to hang out with Yuna, Ako, and Makie later on…"
Akira couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the thought of the last girl, especially the response that the gymnast had to learning that Negi would be rooming up with Peten. A little more over the top than usual, to say the least. The girl put the memory to the side for the time being though as she stretched her arms out over her head to warm up for her little splash in the ocean. As she moved on to stretching out her legs, Akira noticed something strange in the water. Squinting her eyes to try to make something out on the sparkling water, Akira couldn't suppress a slight gasp as she sees what looks like a sea monster slowly trudging towards her. Warily taking a step or two back, Akira began to notice something odd about the sea monster: namely the fact that looked less and less like a monster and more like a human covered in seaweed. Finally the poor fellow was close enough where he was able to walk rather than swim. Hacking up a storm, the figure ripped some of the seaweed off of it's head to reveal blonde hair and blue eyes underneath it.
"…Clyde?" Akira asked puzzled. While an actual member of the class, the swimmer could have sworn that she didn't see him anywhere on the flight or in the rescue boats. "What are you doing…"
Akira didn't get a chance to finish her question though as Clyde dropped to his knees and continued hacking. In between hacks, the blonde got out some rather interesting words.
"Stupid cargo hold! Stupid backfiring potions!" Clyde was forced to take a break as his hacking resumed. Lungs clear, the fatigued blonde resumed his exhausted ranting. "Damn magic blowing up the damn plane! Plane burning my arm…nearly drowning…swimming for the last four hours…couldn't get worse…"
Hitting the ground in frustration and wearily looking up, Clyde ended up locking glances with a really confused looking Akira. Cursing to himself, the blonde finally collapsed out of sheer exhaustion, face first into the beach and the knee deep water that is currently there thanks to high tide…
"Though I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil…" murmured Hisao quietly.
"…for I'm 80,000 feet and climbing!" howled Corentin gleefully, twirling his craft as it raced along next to Hisao's Ebony. "Hey, Hisao-mon, how about a game of chicken?"
The teenage mech pilot sighed mentally. His…friend's games and antics could be so tiring at times. "Why bother? We do it all the time, and you always break first."
"Ah monsieur, but this time, it shall be us versus the ground!" declared the fly boy dramatically.
Hisao held back a groan. "You're an idiot."
"Non! We dive, yes? First to pull up loses!" explained Corentin eagerly, making his machine flit one way then another in the Ebony Knight's wake.
"A diving contest?" queried the other teen, pondering the idea. It was something new…"Very well, you're on." Having accepted the challenge, Hisao manipulated the Ebony to come to a dead stop, hovering above the Earth at an altitude of 80,000 feet. A slight juddering signalled Corentin taking position next to him in his Falchion.
"Ready?" asked the French teenager, his grin clearly visibly in Hisao's mind.
"Quite."
"Then let us go!" yelled his friend, and both machines nose dived at the surface of the planet.
"What the hell are those two doing?!" demanded the officer, slamming his palm down onto the desk surface as he watched the display.
"They appear to be diving sir," answered a flunkey politely.
"Damn brats, playing around as if those things were toys…" growled the man. "We haven't got time for their games!"
"But this does give us a good opportunity to see what speeds the Falchion class can endure and how much g force it can stand against when he pulls up," said a woman in the shadows, smiling. "There is a use for everything, remember that."
"Y-yes ma'am," replied the officer, sitting back down with as much dignity as he could muster.
Standing effortlessly upon one of the swaying palms, Kaede Nagase stared out over the resort 3A had come to. The sun was slowly beginning its long descent towards the horizon, but the afternoon was still young. She smiled her trademark smile as she leapt from the tree to land gracefully atop a traffic lamp giving a good view of the beach.
Squinting slightly she could see the water sparkling invitingly, and smiled again. Perhaps she ought to go for a swim today. It might prove most relaxing after all the excitement of the flight and such.
The ninja let her eyes linger slightly on the coastline, before looking up at the clear blue sky. It was beautiful here, and far more calm than Mahora. Then her sharp eyes caught something. Falling from an impossible height, two black specks. Slight flaring around their tops betrayed the presence of engines. Her curiosity aroused, she focused her attention upon both.
Corentin Catherine-Verliane was not a coward. Far from it. How could one pilot a giant war machine at high speeds and not have nerves of steel? However, even he had to admit the sight of the ocean swelling up in front of him as his Falchion tore through the air towards it was unsettling to say the least.
Looking to his side, he could discern the blurred form of the Ebony, still falling alongside him. Hisao was always much better at these things than him. His machine was far superior after all. But this time, this time Corentin Catherine-Verliane would prove victorious! The French boy looked back to the ocean, sawing it grow alarming large alarmingly fast.
"Merde!" swore the pilot, pulling back hard on the controls. The machine groaned as the flaps battled against the momentum to level out the mech. For a fateful second he thought he wouldn't make it, but then his stomach slammed into his gut, filling his mouth with bile and nearly making him lose consciousness.
Hisao however, continued to fall. 3000 feet…2000 feet….1000 feet.
"Vanguard boosters, engage!"
Flipping the Ebony Knight to an upright position, he engaged the powerful new engines attached to his machine. With an explosive blast, the engaged at full power. Tonnes of water were hurled in all direction as the mechanoid knight stopped falling in an instant, its legs hovering a mere inch over the water's surface.
"Time for some hide and seek," smiled Hisao, engaging the Ebony's stealth field.
"What the…he's gone! Lost all contact with the Ebony!"
"Did it crash?!"
"Negative! Safe descent was confirmed by satellite feed."
"The hell is that brat playing at?!"
"He's probably tired of being watched all the time," interjected the woman.
"WHAT?!"
"Give him some time alone. He'll come back soon enough," she explained in a gentle manner. The officer seemed fit to burst with rage, but visibly restrained himself.
"You're his keeper. You deal with it then," he snapped before storming off.
"Very well then," she smiled, before turning to the radio man. "What operatives do we have on the island?"
"One ma'am. Part of the carrier crew. A Philip Markham."
"Have him keep an eye out for our prodigal son. And while he's at it, tell him to make sure the Ebony is not discovered or compromised, is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am, establishing link now…"
A comet falling into the sea? How fascinating, thought Kaede to herself, watching the plume of water collapse in on itself. The strange plane which had followed it down had vanished from sight, probably heading back to some American base somewhere to reassure everyone that it wasn't a missile.
Or that aircraft carrier hugging the horizon.
Crouching down, the kunoichi pondered her next move. With a crashed meteorite or whatever it was, there was a high chance that the beach would be closed whilst the emergency services cleaned up the place and salvaged what they could.
In that case she might as well follow the stealth vehicle that had flown overhead a moment ago, completely invisible, heading towards the thickly forested part of the island.
"Come on, Luke! Pick up the pace!"
All the aforementioned boy was able to do is mutter under his breath at the blonde's eager commands, not being helped out by the immense amount of luggage that he was towing. While he wasn't able to grab a lot before Clair yanked him out the door, the girl was a different case, as the three huge suitcases that are trying to rip his arms out of his sockets would attest to. Setting the cases down in the airport terminal, Luke let out a sigh of exhaustion before having his eyes nearly fly out of his skull as Clair knelt in front of him to give him a death glare.
"There isn't a problem, is there Luke?"
"N…No ma'am."
"Good!" Clair chirped happily, the angry look on her face a thing of the past. "Just remember. You let him get away, so the only one you have to blame is yourself! Now pick up the slack and let's get going! The hotel shouldn't be too far away…"
Clair trailed off in her spiel though as she noticed a man running right at them. Putting it off as someone running to a terminal to catch a plane, the blonde's eyebrow arched up as she noticed something peculiar about the man; namely the fact that he had a purse tucked under his arm. While not one to question a person's personal preferences, the girl couldn't help but wonder as she saw an angry looking woman chasing after the man. Seeing the scene also, Luke prepared to chase after the thief, only to be tripped by Clair's foot.
"Ms. Metro! He's going to get away!" Luke scowled at the girl, none too pleased over being stopped.
"I got this one."
Smirking, Clair opened one of the suitcases and pulled out a long chain with a fist sized metal ball linked to each end. Slinging one end over her shoulder, Clair gave pursuit to the thief, gaining on him rather quickly, slightly shocking due to the heavy chain the girl was carrying. Once she pulled within a few feet of the crook, she let fly with the end she held in her right hand, sending the chain on a low horizontal path towards his legs. Smirking as she felt the chain vibrate in her hand, Clair swiftly jerked the chain towards her, successfully snaring the thief's legs and causing him to crash on the tiled floor. Beaming, the blonde waved to the ensemble of newfound admirers before being tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, Clair found herself face to face with airport security, seemingly none too pleased with the girl having a weapon in the airport. Deciding that escaping is a better option than establishing a dialogue, Clair quickly gathered up her chain and made a break for it, the security guard tailing close behind and a luggage-lagged down Luke bringing up the rear.
"Come on, Clair! Think of something! For being such a fat dude, this security guard is right on my tail!"
Turning a corner, the blonde girl's hopes of escaping were answered rather strangely, but answered nonetheless as a hand emerged from a nearby doorway and pulled her in. Smirking as she sees the guard continue running down the corridor, Clair turned her attention to her savior. Not being able to make out much thanks to the light being out, the blonde felt alongside the wall, grinning in triumph as she flipped the switch up. The grin of triumph quickly faded from her face though, as she found herself having to look down to see his face. A grinning youth, who looked to be in his pre-teen years with a fair amount of black hair sticking out from under his stocking cap.
"Hey, thanks for the save, kid." Clair smiled as she patted the youth on the head, causing him to back up in response. "Hey, no need to be all defensive."
"Sorry. I just don't like people touching my head." The boy sheepishly replied, the slightest hint of a blush on his face from the girl making contact with him. "The name is Kotaro Inugami. Nice work with that chain, by the way. You sure made that jerk eat dirt!"
"Clair Metro. And it's a meteor hammer."
"Metro…." Kotaro scratched his chin briefly before asking a question. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be related to a guy named Clyde, would you?"
"Idiot of a brother." Clair haphazardly responded, sniffing the air as she does so. "He did say something about a hanyo causing him grief, though…"
And with that simple sentence, Clair ripped the stocking cap off of the boy's head, exposing his dog ears. Grinning and jumping up and down excitedly, Clair pointed at the embarrassed youth's head.
"I knew it! The nose never lies!" The blonde is able to stop her happy shouting, only to grab onto the unfortunate youth's ears and give them a playful tug. "Aw…they're sooooo cute!"
Gushing, Clair pulled the boy into her chest in a crushing embrace. While not as big of a cushion as Chizuru, there was still plenty there to cause slight suffocation for the youth. Prying himself loose for the time being, Kotaro backed up nervously, causing a mop to tip over.
"So cutie-Kota, what in the heck are you doing in a janitor closet anyways?"
"Yeah…well, about that…I kind of had to stow away on a flight to get out here. Thanks for taking their minds off of me, by the way."
"So you know where Clyde is?"
"I'm guessing the moron is with them."
"Goody! But that isn't to say that we can't have some fun before we go there."
"Hey…I don't like that look in your eyes. Let's just go to the hotel and…"
"Aw, the hotel will be there later!" Clair giggled, pulling the stocking cap back on the boy's head before putting him in a headlock. "Let's go do some sightseeing, shall we?"
"Hey! Wait a minute!"
"Heading out?" queried Peten, as he noticed Negi walking over to the door. The little teacher froze as if caught in the middle of performing an incriminating act, and slowly turned around, smiling sheepishly.
"Well, I am on holiday after all. And it's no fun sitting in here all night…"
The musician smiled slightly at the boy. "You don't have to justify yourself you know, I was merely asking."
"Oh," replied Negi, slightly embarrassed.
"Well, enjoy yourself out there, and make sure to come back before dark, ok?" said Peten, settling back down on the sofa.
"You're staying?" asked his co teacher, slightly surprised.
"I'm too old to shrug off jet lag," grinned the Scotsman, peeking at Negi from under an eyelid with an easy grin. "Now go off and do whatever it is you do in the afternoons when in an exotic locale," he waved off the kid.
Negi looked at his roommate for a moment longer before shaking his head and leaving him in peace. There was a moment of calm serenity.
Then Peten cracked an eye open. Seeing the child teacher had gone, he sat bolt upright and glanced around. Assured that the coast was totally clear, he leapt off the sofa and rushed to his bag. Unzipping it, he pulled out his violin and tucked it under one arm before heading over to the window.
Opening it, he reveled in the fresh air blowing against his body as he lifted his leg out. Casting one last look at the hotel room, the musician snapped his fingers together. The lights went out immediately and several pillows whooshed out of the bedroom onto the sofa, before being covered by a blanket. A childish trick, but hey, why mess with the classics?
Grinning mischievously, Peten leapt out the window. It was time for some fun. The kind of fun the headmaster would disapprove of if he knew.
"Going somewhere?"
The floating mage froze, and looked up. Hovering upside down above him was a certain Martian.
"No, I felt like having an evening fly around," he replied, as Chao Lingshen descended to his level and flipped over to face him properly, her jet pack humming quietly as it continued to keep her airborne.
With a weary sigh, Philip Markham shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the coast guard boat floating over the site of the Hisao kid's stunt. He could see them pulling on board a set of tubes, like the exhausts of an engine. A tremendously big engine for that matter.
Looked like things were being handled pretty well there. It'd probably be explained as a chunk of a satellite or something. Hardly anything he'd have to supervise. No, his problem was to make sure no one asked too many questions. Either that or stalk the Hisao kid. The former seemed a lot easier than the latter, so he'd probably stick with that.
"Heeeey!" cried a girl suddenly. The man spun, his hand instinctively reaching for his non-existent side arm. But it was just some teen, her red hair done in an elaborate style making it resemble a pineapple of all things. "Mister, did you see what happened here?" she asked in fairly decent English, though her accent clearly labeled her as Japanese.
"Not really," he shrugged. "Why do you ask?" queried the soldier in curiosity.
"Oh, I'm a reporter for the Mahoran newspaper," she replied with an easy grin.
Oh god no. Not a reporter.
"Huh, a foreign correspondent or something?" Markham ventured.
"Nah, I'm on vacation. Pretty exciting so far," she said, pulling a camera out of her bag and snapping a few shots of the coast guard ship and the wreckage on the deck. "Wow, that's some high tech stuff there," she said out loud, her camera clicking furiously. "I should get Saotomi-san to identify it for me late."
Ok, that did NOT sound good no matter what your interpretation was. And Markham's was that this reporter girl was going to send images of technology that was far in advance of the public knowledge, to be identified by a scientist. That spelled trouble alright.
"Erm, actually, its just part of a satellite…" he interjected calmly, hoping the girl wouldn't notice his sudden unease.
She turned on him immediately. "Changing your story? You said you didn't know what happened here," she pointed out, grinning evilly. "You do know something don't you? Come on, spill it!" the girl said, a notebook and pen appearing as if by magic in her hand.
Mentally, Markham sighed. Maybe stalking Hisao would have been easier…
Ayaka Yukihiro gazed into the sky, lost amidst its azure clarity. She had been to Hawaii once before, with her family when they came to oversee the construction of the Yukihiro Foundation Hawaii building. But that had been a long time ago and she had little memory of it. Unlike this time. This time she would make memories, memories she'd never forget!
She turned around and left the balcony, determined to start from this very day! Purposely striding from her room, she glanced both ways along the hall to orient herself. She closed her eyes momentarily and conjured up the image of the floor she was on in her mind, and the layout of the rooms. Smiling in satisfaction she opened her eyes and set off towards her little teacher's room.
The blonde did not get far however, before one of the doors lining the hall burst open with a small scream. Natsumi fell out of her room and landed on the floor, paper white as she stared inside, trembling from shock.
"Natsumi! What happened?!" asked the startled class representative, kneeling down next to her, shaking her slightly to snap the mousy girl out of her trance. But the trembling schoolgirl merely raised her arm and pointed inside. Ayaka turned her head to look before sighing and facepalming.
In the middle of the room, smiling inside the unzipped bag, Howell Fitzwilliam petted his cat lovingly.
"AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!" screamed Masayoshi, clinging onto Connor for dear life as they hurtled out of the portal and slammed onto the asphalt of the road, screeching to a stop as Connor suddenly remembered his bike had brakes. The minute they came to a full stop, the bookish librarian struggled out of the seat and staggered off to one side, leaning against a palm tree and breathing heavily through his nose, trying not to vomit.
"Well, that was quite a ride, wasn't it?" called Connor with a grin. "Now where are we?"
"H-how am I s-supposed to know?!" snapped Masayoshi irritably, fighting to keep the contents of his stomach within his body.
"You set up the portal!" pointed out the swordsman accusingly.
"After that ride, we could have ended up anywhere," shot back Masayoshi, his stomach settling with a single horrifying lurch. He straightened up and looked accusingly at Connor. "You really suck at using a motorbike, you know that?"
"What?! My driving skills are fine thank you," snapped Connor in annoyance. "Now are you going to tell me where we wound up this time or not?"
Sighing heavily, the black clad bookworm pushed his glasses back up and closed his eyes momentarily, concentrating. He frowned before answering. "H-Hawaii. We're in Hawaii."
"What time?"
"About two hours have passed since we left Japan," answered Masayoshi, opening his eyes again.
"Hmm, not bad, you're getting better at this portal business," admitted Connor grudgingly, looking around and taking in their surroundings. They were on a small, deserted road overlooking a cove, and the vegetation encircling them was lush and vibrant. It moved gently with the wind, and there was a sweet fragrance in the air. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Me? I'm going to sit here, enjoy the view, and calm down after that nightmare," said the chemistry teacher, sitting down on a conveniently placed rock allowing him to look out over the cove.
Connor stared at him. "Ok, why are we even acquaintances again?" he asked, more to himself than the sitting man, and got back onto his bike. "I'm gonna hit the town. See you around," he said as he drove of with a screech of tires.
"Goit," sighed Masayoshi, looking out at the tranquil sight. He sat there for a while, just enjoying the calm, something of a rarity in Mahora, and just having a good with his thoughts before the inevitable return to the chaos that was the Academy.
"Professor?" asked a female voice all of a sudden.
Masayoshi groaned inwardly. His dreams of a peaceful break had just gone out the window. "Why hello Miss Naba, how are you doing this fine afternoon?"
The little money he had rapidly dwindling, Luke sat silently and glared into space. Having lugged the damn bags around for ten minutes looking for Miss Metro before giving up and leaving them in lost property, the youth was understandably irritated. He took a breath to calm himself, closing his eyes as he leaned back on the bench, trying to just enjoy the sunlight on his skin.
Hawaii was nice, but nothing spectacular as far as he could see. Sure the weather was nice and the vegetation was different, but apart from that, it was just like Mahora, full of people trying to live their lives. Just like him.
Shaking his head slightly, Luke forced his thoughts to the dark corner of his mind, paying them no mind as he made himself clam down and relax. He thought too much, he remembered Kaede complaining. That was before she'd kicked him out of her dorm permanently. Personally, Luke thought it was about time too. What with their constant break ups and get backs either he would have had to get a place of his own or installed a revolving door in Miss Nagase's room.
The blonde grinned slightly. It was good of her to move on. And he had a place of his own now. Though he did have to split the rent with Clyde to afford it, what with Sakurako continually leeching off him. Luke frowned as he mentally corrected himself. The cheerleader did not "leech"off him, but merely borrowed money without specifying exactly when she was going to pay it back.
He'd have to ask her about that next time he saw her, and ensure his chivalric attitude didn't get the better of him this time. Luke opened his eyes, happy with his resolution, and stood up, stretching his arms. No sense in letting this trip go to waste, seeing as he did pay for it after all.
Humming a merry tune, he set off in a random direction, keeping to the footpaths. After about five minutes a ball smashed him in the face.
"Sorry!" called a familiar voice, getting closer. "Madoka can't rebound the ball back properly and-hey, its you!" exclaimed Sakurako in surprise, lifting the volleyball off the youth's face, which was now red.
Still stinging from the startling hit, Luke managed to nod weakly. I didn't want to see her this soon...
Negi left the hotel without incident. Thankfully, most of the girls were out doing other things in this island paradise. This was the first time he had ever been in the United States. He was going to have to hit up New York when he got the chance, even if all he would come away with would be an "I (heart) NY" t-shirt.
It wasn't long before he started to get a little hungry. The plane ride over was extremely long and uninteresting, until the end, and the movie was Spy Kids 3-D, which was just unbearable. Heaven forbid they'd show a movie people wanted to see like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl or something. At least he got a neat pair of 3-D glasses out of it.
When he got to a small restaurant he was quickly flagged down by Reina Whitehall, who was sitting at an outside table.
"Hey! Negi" She waved at him energetically.
He went to sit down with her and share a quick bite to eat. "Reina, I see you had the same idea."
"Yeah. Got a little hungry on the flight and crash landing over."
A waitress came over and handed Negi a menu and made Reina tense up. After taking a moment to browse their selections, he ordered something local sounding. The two of them made small talk over dinner, most of it about school.
"You know," Reina mentioned when they were almost finished, "Kaminari has a division here. So this isn't my first trip to the U.S."
"Really? Would you be able to show me around?" Negi asked.
"Well… I don't know this place well enough to be able to do that. I can take us directly to our building here though. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to waste your vacation here in a place like that." Reina smiled at him. "Heck, even I don't."
When they were done, Reina picked up the tab. "Consider it my treat."
After they both stepped outside, Reina asked, "Um… Negi… would you like to… would you like to… do something?"
Negi flushed at the suggestion.
Bouncing the ball lazily, Yuna glanced about. She was alone in the small court, just behind the hotel. The ball in her hand made soft smacking noises as she made it rebound form the ground again and again. The sports star was slightly bored. All her friends had scattered immediately after leaving the hotel, all heading off in different directions to explore the island.
And so she had been left to practice her shooting and dribbling skills for the rest of the day. Again she threw the ball and watched it fall neatly through the hoop, before jogging up and retrieving the ball, dribbling as she made her way back to her shooting spot. The girl twirled and took the shot again without pausing to think. The ball once more fell through the hope effortlessly.
Yuna sighed in boredom as she headed to retrieve it again, before realizing someone was clapping. Looking around, she noticed immediately a tall figure smiling encouragingly as he clapped.
"Sir? You came on the trip as well?" asked Yuna, slightly surprised by the presence of her other English teacher, Alaric. The man shook his head.
"No. I merely came here on my own holiday. Its simple chance that we met. Or fate, whichever you prefer to believe in," he said, tilting his head to the side as he pondered the question. "Then again, the two are surely inseparable, are they not?"
"No way! Fate is all planned and stuff whilst chances just happen without anyone's interference!" pointed out Yuna, picking up her ball.
"Hmm, but Fate gives you the illusion of choice, doesn't she? And if you know no better, how do you know your choice isn't intended?"
"What?! Aw come on! That's just confusing!" moaned the girl as her teacher laughed.
"Alright, I apologise. You are of course on holiday. You should be enjoying yourself rather than discussing the nature of choice and fate with your teacher," smiled the man.
All too soon, evening approached. The hotel was in a secluded part of the island, part of a holiday complex, so the girls could go about freely within its confines. Rather unsurprisingly, Chisame Hasegawa found herself in an internet café, glad for the connection to let her continue work on her page in a private booth. Her fingers flew over the laptops controls, making minute adjustments to her page. Her latest photo set had garnered over a million hits. Good going, even if she said so herself. And here, there was a chance for some really good landscape shots which she'd be able to use as backgrounds in her next photo shoot.
"Here you go Miss," said a voice next to her, as the man set down her drink.
"Thanks," replied the net idol, before something struck her. The person had spoken to her in Japanese. She looked up, only to see a distinctly familiar face. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, snapping her laptop shut. No need for him to see what she did in her spare time.
"Employee transfer program," replied Hiro Sasuki with a shrug. "Part of the contract I had when working at Starbooks."
"Oh, right," sniffed the student, pushing up her glasses and sipping her drink. "Is there anything else?"
"Now that you mention it…" began the contract killer.
Sitting in a bar, nursing a beer, Connor Gavet sat and glared at anyone who dared approach. It had been to long since he had just gone to a bar, sat down and drunk his worries away. That's all he seemed to do these days, worry. It was refreshing and nice to have some time to himself for once, and he was not going to let anyone spoil it.
He needed time to think, and here, in Hawaii of all places; he could finally sit down and consider the grim prospect of the future and his part in it. But every time his mind wandered onto the topic proper, he'd get himself another beer and reminisce about life. Simply put, his past was better than his future.
There was a sudden commotion at the door, and the swordsman half-turned his head to see what it was. Someone had tried to touch a girl who obviously knew how to defend herself, and had paid the price, lying upside down against the far wall with his drink all over his face.
For some reason, the drunk Connor found it a hilarious sight and couldn't stop a snigger from escaping him.
"And what's so funny?" snapped the female, stomping up to him, seemingly ready to hit him too. Then she blinked in surprise. "Connor?"
"Oh." SHIT. "Hiya, bells," he greeted lazily, waving a hand drunkenly at Asuna. "What brings you here?"
The night. Her rightful place. Ghosting around the resort, Evangeline A.K. McDowell relished this change of scenery. It had been too long since she had been in a place with such a climate. She had adopted her adult form, loving the attention she was garnering. Men looked at her as she brushed past, leaving their senses tingling. Oh yes, it had been too long since she had used her seduction powers.
She strode through the streets towards the outskirts, illuminated by the dawning moon and stars. The vegetation was dark and threatening, just as she preferred. The coastal wind was cold, causing her skin to prickle slightly, and tugging at her black cloak and corset, the one which showed off her adult assets to the best. Evangeline loved this form. It allowed her to be taken seriously, and not have to play the role of a ten year old brat. She rarely got the chance to use it these days, but every time she did, she made sure the chance wasn't wasted.
Also, it was her way of thanking that foolish old man for stamping permission forms every five seconds for the duration of this holiday. She smiled, her full red lips a stark contrast to the pale alabaster of her skin. Oh yes, revenge for all those years of suffering was sweet.
The vampire took a deep breath, savouring the varying smells being carried by the air, allowing her to pinpoint the exact location…there!
With a few terse phrases, she hurled a bolt of crystal ice at one of the palm trees lining the road. The glassy spear cut it cleanly in two. The tall tree swayed once before crashing to the ground. Just before impact a dark figure detached itself from the falling palm, and landed deftly in front of the vampire before standing up, his orange eyes narrowed in displeasure.
"Sharp as ever, Dark Evangel," he said in way of greeting.
"Well, well, if it isn't the bondage hentai," replied Evangeline, making the dark-skinned youth crash.
"I'M NOT A BONDAGE HENTAI!" he screeched at her, almost bird-like.
"Oh come on, one of your attacks is called bondage blade!"
"I – That is – er…DAMMIT!" swore Cygnus at the evening sky, nearly ripping out his own hair in frustration.