Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the manga, Mahou Sensei Negima. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Kiri Mishima was about to nod off for the third time in an hour when the school bell rang, signaling the end of classes for today. Her English teacher, Springfield-sensei, repeated the homework assignment for tomorrow as most of the class rushed out to anywhere else. Kiri gathered her things and started to leave with the last few stragglers when her teacher called out, "Mishima-san, a moment, please?" With a sigh, she stopped before the teacher's desk and waited for what she knew was to come.
Kiri was a first-year student at Mahora Academy, a school that provided education for students from elementary school through university. Her parents wanted her to have a good education, and had gotten a recommendation for the school from her father's company. After a tour of the campus, she was enrolled and packed off.
Kiri's adjustment to the school was not good, so far. This was her first time away from family, in a strange place and among strange people; a surprising amount of them being foreigners. This caused the girl to shy away from making friends with anyone in her class, even though some had tried to make the girl's acquaintance. The school staff was concerned about her withdrawing into herself, and were trying to help the girl settle in, hence the impromptu meeting with her English teacher. Though he wasn't her homeroom teacher, the Assistant Dean had decided that he would be the best person to help her along; saying, "he has a talent for bringing shy girls out of their shell."
Kiri did have to admit that, as teachers went, Negi Springfield wasn't a bad sort. He was from Wales, he told the class on the first day. He was tall, like a lot of gaijin, with an unkempt head of red hair he tried to keep tied back in a short ponytail. He was also lean, and every now and then you could tell that he was well developed under his suit. Springfield-sensei wore a strange pair of glasses, ones that didn't seem to have arms that hooked behind his ears. When asked about them, he said that they were called pince-nez, and they were held to his face by the nose bridge alone. He also wore a ring on the middle finger of his left hand. Kiri had initially thought it was a wedding ring, until she remembered that wedding bands were worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, not the third. Several small scars on his face and hands also gave the impression there was more to him than just being a teacher.
"How are you doing today, Mishima-san?" the teacher began, snapping Kiri out of her reverie.
"I'm fine," was Kiri's reply, "everything is okay; aside from the English homework, that is."
The teacher chuckled, "I'm sorry I can't do anything about the work load," then he changed the subject, "so, have you joined a club yet? Made any friends?"
"Not really," Kiri admitted, "although I was heading over to Library Island."
Springfield-sensei smiled at that. "Have you considered joining the Library Exploration Club?" he asked, "I know several girls who were members in the past, and they really enjoyed it. If you like Library Island, that would be the perfect club for you."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kiri replied, not wanting to dismiss the suggestion to his face, "but I'm not really interested in becoming a librarian."
"Well, I don't mean to pressure you," he replied, "but I can tell you that being in the Library Exploration Club is about more than just being a librarian. If you want, I can give you the name of the Faculty Advisor for the club. She'd be happy to tell you anything you want, and I happen to think you two would get along famously."
"I'll think about it," Kiri replied, really wanting to get away now from this high-pressure sales pitch.
"Alright, I won't trouble you further," he finally said, "have a good day and be sure to get your homework done for tomorrow."
With that, Kiri was released from the inquisition. She turned and left the classroom as quickly as she could without running.
Making a stop in the girl's bathroom, Kiri parked herself before one of the sinks, leaning against it and breathing a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she resented Springfield-sensei's interference in her personal life; it was that she just didn't want to be here. She missed her home, her family and her friends. Although the people here were nice, they were strange, and she was having a hard time dealing with that.
After a moment, she took off her glasses, turned on the water faucet, and splashed some water on her face. Turning the water off, she reached over and grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face. She then looked a moment at her reflection.
She wasn't a tall girl, and she wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. She had no shape to speak of; certainly not the womanly curves some of her classmates had, especially the foreigners. Her face was roundish and plain, with a few spots of acne beginning to bloom in embarrassingly prominent places. Her hair was black and cut short, just below her ears, so she didn't have to fuss with it like some other girls did. And then, there were her glasses. They were big and round and borderline thick. Even now, standing maybe two feet away from the mirror, she could only see her reflection as a blur. No one would want her around them; only her friends back home accepted her as she was. Shaking her head to stop that train of thought, Kiri put her glasses back on and turned, threw the used towel in the trash, then left.
Coming to the shoe lockers, she changed into her street shoes and ran out of the school building, threading her way through the mass of students and adults freed from their duties; making her way to a bridge that stretched out to an island, Library Island.
In her first week at Mahora, Kiri took a tour of the campus, having nothing better to do. When the tour reached Library Island, the girl was captivated by all of the books there, on every imaginable subject. There were more books on the one floor they had visited than she had ever seen, even at the regional lending library in her home town! Not only that, there were nooks, crannies and alcoves where she could sit and read all day if she wanted. Kiri knew she could lose herself in here, reading and exploring and reading some more. Since that day, she would hurry over to the island as soon as she could, wishing a lot of times she could just live there and not even bother with school.
Kiri made good time to Library Island. She entered and almost ran down the aisle to a study nook she had found the first time she came here. She was in such a hurry, she didn't watch where she was going and bumped into one of the librarians, carrying a large stack of books. Both the girl and the young woman crashed to the floor amidst a rain of falling tomes.
"Ahh! I'm sorry!" Kiri exclaimed while protecting herself from falling lore, "I should have been more careful!"
The young librarian just smiled. "No, it was my fault," she said, "I shouldn't have been carrying so many books I couldn't see where I was going."
With that, the woman got up and proceeded to pick up the fallen books. Feeling guilty, Kiri quickly got up and helped her. The young woman was about 5' 5" and slim. Her dark hair was cut just above her shoulders, her bangs held back by hair clips that look almost like wings. Her chest was of modest size, giving Kiri a flash of jealousy at her own lack of development. Between the two, all of the books were quickly recovered, and in stacks that allowed both of them to watch where they were going. The woman then turned and continued on to her destination, Kiri close behind.
"You're one of the new students," the woman said as they walked, "first year?"
"Yes, sensei; Kiri Mishima, class 1-C, Mahora Academy Junior High School," Kiri replied.
"Oh, I'm not a teacher here, just one of the librarians," the woman replied, "Nodoka Miyazaki."
"Pleased to meet you," Kiri replied.
By that time, the two had arrived at one of the checkout stations. Nodoka put her pile on the counter and motioned for Kiri to do the same.
"Thank you for helping me with these, Mishima-san," she said, "next time I'm going to have to remember to find a cart."
"You're welcome," Kiri replied, "but I thought the younger students processed check ins and check outs."
"Not for these books," Nodoka replied, "these books are only available to school staff and university students."
Kiri's eyes jumped to the top of the stacks they had just set down when Nodoka said that, and saw that the book on top was a manual of sexual techniques, with a rather explicit cover. Kiri blushed at that and Nodoka chuckled.
"Like I said, adults only," she added as she walked around the counter, "thanks again, Mishima-san for your help. Next time, though, please walk in the aisles and keep a wary eye out for poor workers like me, who can't always see where they're going." With that last admonition, Nodoka turned to the stacks and began doing whatever librarians did to books behind checkout counters.
Turning away from the counter, Kiri realized she had not been to this part of the library before, and was lost. She wandered away, looking at the shelves and the walls, trying to get some kind of idea where she was in the complex. It didn't seem like she had walked all that far with the librarian, but she might as well have been transported to the far side of the moon.
As Kiri walked away, Nodoka went around, quickly sorting the books for shelving. Kiri Mishima, she thought to herself as she worked, Negi's talked about a Kiri Mishima. I wonder if she's the same girl? Putting the thought aside, Nodoka finished sorting, then took a quick look at the counter. Not seeing what she was looking for, she shuffled around some papers, then checked the floor. Still not finding what she was looking for, she checked all around the area behind the counter.
Where was that map? I know I set it down here before I went to get those returns, so where did it get to? And that was a Library Island Exploration Club map, not one of the regular ones. I'd better find it fast, or there could be trouble.