Disclaimer: I do not own Negima, you should know that…
A childhood day
I awoke to a cool January morning and sighed glad that the heat had not acted up again that night; I was actually sweating in the dead of winter! I looked at the calendar and realized what day it was: The sixteenth, the day before her birthday.
Nineteen! I could barely believe that the two of us were so old already, though I had to wait for March before I could legally be called nineteen… I sat up in a groggy mess, flattening my disheveled hair that was now so long to the extent, I was thinking of cutting a great deal of it off. I sighed though at the thought of that… She said that she liked my hair the way it was last time I asked if I should cut it; I didn't want to disappoint her.
She always tries her best to work so hard for me, tries to be everything she could be and more! I think it might overload her system one day and she'll keel over in a fatigued mess that I might not be able to pick back up, but she always keeps her cool around me. And I am grateful for it. It meant that I don't have to try so hard.
She doesn't notice, but I try very hard for her and her only. I think she thinks it's for my family, or my grandfather… I could really care less for the tradition of trying hard for your family, and I refuse to do good just for my grandfather's sake, don't get me wrong, I want him to be impressed with me, but not just because I'm a good person. I want him to see that I am strong, independent, and I can be a great leader.
I try to gain those traits from Secchan… She is the walking entity of all of those things wrapped into one wonderful being. People who don't know her are afraid of her, most people annoy her, and other's wonder why she sticks around with me, an air head who can be a hyper-active mess on two different terms of service: I'm too drunk to know what's going on, or I'm to sleepy to know what's going on.
We both go to college at Mahora now; you don't have to take an exam to get in if you've been in the school all your life, with the exception of Secchan. Father wants her to be by my side always, thus, she gains free admission to college. When we first got our schedules a week ago in the mail I was disappointed that we only had two classes together. Perhaps my grandfather has learned of my dirty little secret that only my closest friends, other than Secchan, know.
Why does she not know this secret if she is my truest and most best friend? Well mainly because the secret concerns her. I can't have her knowing my true feelings… word will spread like wild fire and my grandfather will request a new bodyguard, and my Secchan will be taken from me for the rest of my life. I could not handle that, I would be alone without the only one to ever really understand the true me.
I sighed and looked around the room, a discarded blanket lay against the back of the couch. Secchan had left again; I wonder when she left today… She'd been falling asleep in our, mine and Asuna's, dorm a lot recently. She said she was worried that I was not sleeping right, which was mildly true, but I was overly dramatic about it just so she would stay with me.
Many times I told her it would be more comfortable, and warmer to lay in bed, but she refused stuttering about it being unladylike to speak like that, and that the couch was a worthy place for the likes of her to sleep. It's been six years, and she still has that all too cute blush that decorates her countenance every time she feels my gaze upon her person. She also still has the notion that her presence is not worthy of mine.
All I can do during those times is smile and pat her on the back; then remind her that we are equals, and if I had to say it again she was going to be punished. Once, which surprised me, she asked what the punishment would be. I smiled, shrugged and said, "Use your imagination." She sat for a moment in silence, then I said, "Of course, you could always do it again, and you'd find out." She shook her head after that, and mumbled something of the sort about not wanting to find out, just in case.
I would giggle then, laughing at the blush that now ordained her face and was spreading like sunburn down to her shoulders. I gasped and exclaimed that I'd never seen it do that before, thus, she blushed harder. I swear, if I hadn't stopped laughing she may've fainted right then from the rush of blood to her head. "Secchan!" I shouted that time. "Secchan, calm down, I don't want you to keel over on me!" I said and she looked away quickly, as if to regain her composure, but that could never really happen around me.
I sat up in my bed, finally done reminiscing about the past and decided to get ready for the day, I had to shop for Secchan's gift, among other things. Grandfather wanted to see me today too and I was regretting having to go. I sighed again as I looked at the clock: Eight thirty. Secchan, regardless if she woke up only minutes before me and left she'd be here to see me at nine.
This meant that in order to escape her for the day, though I didn't want to, I had to leave before she saw me awake. So, I quickly got dressed and went for the door. Asuna has the most imperative timing for everything, and happened to catch me at the door. "Where are you going?" she asked in a groggy tone. "I'm going out to get Secchan something for her birthday tomorrow. I'll be back at six probably." I said quickly opening the door, leaving Asuna to sleep her day off.
I was finally out of the building, and I was glad that Secchan hadn't caught me. I hurried to the train station and hopped on the train to Tokyo to get to Harajuku. When I got there I hurried off to the store that I had ordered my present from and walked in quietly from the rowdy crowd in the street. The many different cosplayers and j-pop fanatics stayed away from this store because of how quiet it was, and the loss of anime stuff and Japanese pop music blaring through the speakers of the store.
In my mind this was a very calming store, and I thought the contents of it suited Secchan's personality just right. So, I decided to get her something from here. I walked up to the counter and the old man at the counter smiled at me. "Ai-ya, Konoka-san, I haven't seen you in a while! Have you come to get your package?" he asked
I smiled and nodded. "So, who's it for again?" he asked in his kind tone, I smiled and replied just as softly: "My dearest friend, a person who I can never leave." And he smiled. "Seems like quite a fine fellow if you ask me." He said and I blushed. He began to chuckle at the light rose color on my face. "Struck a chord did I?" he asked, and I looked away for a moment; then looked back. "Well, actually, Soutou-san… My friend is a girl." I said; I could feel the blush darken.
Soutou-san looked at me for a minute, wisdom clouding his gaze. "How lovely, Konoka-san, you seem to have found your soul mate!" he said with a louder chuckle. And I looked up and smiled. "My grandfather thinks not." I said, grabbing the package, wrapped up neatly, from him. "Well tell your old grandfather, though he is wise, you too are wise beyond your years, and you know that she is your soul mate. You know it's bad luck to break up a soul pair?" he said.
I sat and considered this for a moment then smiled. "I would have to think that is true Soutou-san. Thank you for the advice. Perhaps I'll bring my dearest friend to see this store one day, I think she'd love it." I said in a happy tone, then bowed in respect to the wonderful man who owned the shop. "Have a nice day!" I said turning to run out the door, but stopped short when I heard Soutou-san's voice once again. "Good luck, and fortune!" He shouted; before I left, I nodded, and was on my way.
After I left the city, I was back at Mahora Academy, and my grandfather was breathing down my neck for me to come see him. He said I was dishonoring him by not showing up, I argued that he'd never made a set time to come and see him and if he wanted to be angry, he should be angry at himself for not making it clear when to come see him. I told him I had a bit of shopping left to do, so I'd be there within the hour, so he'd stop calling me.
I walked to the local store on the campus of Mahora, and bought some ingredients to make cake and or cup cakes, and some candles to go on the cake. It was very rare before that anyone, including Secchan celebrated her birthday. So when we first grew close again I threw her the biggest party I could with the help of Asakura and Haruna, those two have more connections than I do on the Mahora campus. I guess it's because of their outgoing nature. Most people are afraid to approach me; I have to approach them. There are two main reasons to this. I am the dean's granddaughter; no one wants to get on my bad side, so they rather avoid talking to me at all.
The second reason is Secchan. To everyone but the people who were in our classes in junior high she is a very freighting person for some reason. I go to talk to someone and she follows, the person I talk to either makes some quick excuse to leave, or has a very hard time talking to me without stuttering in Secchan's presence. I tell them "Secchan's not scary, how could you think that?" and they start bowing and apologizing, going along that if I don't think they'd like my best friend, they should be thrown out of the academy.
I think it's just the sword she carries. Yûnagi gives her a very oppressive aura. It makes her seem like a strong individual. In which case she is, with or without Yûnagi. I don't know they only seem scared of her when she's with me or in the ring with her in a kendo match. After all she's a professional bodyguard, a samurai essentially, though no one really knows this. If I had to go against her, and I was a novice like some of those guys in there, I'd be scared too… especially with the rumors and stories about her.
I finally got back to my dorm at a quarter 'til three and Asuna greeted me. "I thought you said you weren't going to be back until six." She said. I nodded and told her that's what I said, but I had the groceries, and I didn't want them to spoil. "I'm going to leave in a few minutes anyway, Gramps wants to see me." I said, then sighed to show my distain for the meeting. "You think it has anything to do with school or something…more." She said, and I slapped her arm.
"Asuna! Don't say that! Especially in that way!" I demanded turning to leave once again now that I'd put up my groceries. When I come back you have to keep Secchan away for a few hours so I can cook." I reminded her. "Got it." She replied and I was off, opening the door to go see my grandfather.
As I started down the hall I heard "Ojousama" from behind me. I stopped and sighed. "What have I told you Secchan?" I said turning to meet Secchan face to face. "Oh, sorry…Konoka. Where are you going? Were have you been? Your grandfather called me looking for you earlier. I was worried." She said walking up to me. "I went shopping for a bit, you know, for something to eat tonight, stuff like that. And now I'm going to see gramps. You can tag along, but I doubt he'll let you in… just like last time he needed to talk to me about important future business." I said turning.
Just as I'd suspected, Secchan began walking beside me, accompanying me on the trek to the dean's office on the other side of campus. As we walked I decided I wanted to take the long way and walk all the way. "Aren't you going to take the train?" Secchan asked noticing that I'd sidestepped the road to the station platform. "Nah, I think I'll walk. Good exercise, you know?" I said stretching my arms out behind me. "Oh." Secchan said.
On our way we talked about trivial stuff… how cold it was, how we expected our classes to be, once they started; how it sucked that we only have two classes together. "I bet you were hoping to copy off of me!" I teased her, she smiled a sheepish smile and I quieted. "Did you?" I asked, and that adorable blush spread across her face, yet again. "Secchan!" I said with a laugh causing Setsuna to laugh a little too.
"I can't help it." She finally admitted after we began to walk again. "You're so smart. Some of the stuff in high school, I was happy to have you in my classes… If I didn't I don't think I would've been able to pass with a good grade." I was baffled. I was smart? Me, the airhead! I couldn't think that she was being truthful. "You can't be serious, can you?" I asked and she smiled a shy smile once more. "It's true. I'm sorry… I should've told you." She said and sighed stretching her arms behind her.
"It's no problem I guess… I just didn't think my work was copy-able." I said as we approached the building to the dean's office. "That didn't seem like a long walk at all…" I said upon noticing the building. "You're right. It seemed to pass too fast. I guess I'll see you later tonight then." Secchan said and I waved a goodbye and continued onto the inevitable.
I walked up the stairs and stopped in front of the large wooden doors. I knocked softly and waited for grandfather to let me in. "Come in." he beckoned. I cracked the large door and walked in closing the door behind me. "Welcome. How've you been today?" He asked as I walked over in front of his desk.
"I've been well…" I answered and smiled the smile I do with everyone, everyone except Secchan, of course. "You've been shopping today?" He asked I expected he thought I should tell him exactly what I had bought, so I did. "Yeah, I bought some stuff to make cake and food for tomorrow." He nodded. "Well can we get on with it?" I asked. "I need to cook." I said, trying to hasten the meeting.
"Yes, I forgot. What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked. "I'm cooking for Secchan's birthday, and I can't leave. I'm spending the day with her." I said in addition to the cooking so he wouldn't try to sucker me into doing something for him. He glared slightly then looked at me. "An old man has a lot of burdens, you know." He said; I sighed. I knew what he was trying to do, sucker me in with guilt.
"Gramps, I already have a commitment. You always taught me to stick to my commitments. And now you're asking me to blow it off?" I said with a clever smile. "I have more important things than an Omi-ai tomorrow. I have a soul mate to be with." I finished. He knew he couldn't waiver my thoughts after I brought "soul mate" into the topic. He sighed, then waived his hand to dismiss me.
I walked out the door to the large administrative building and found it was snowing. I sighed and began to go on my way until I say that no snow was falling on my head. "You'll catch cold if you get too wet with snow." I heard. "Secchan, it's alright I wouldn't have been in it long." I said turning to look at my friend. "Well let's get going then." she said after a minute.
We finally reached our dorm building after an unexpected hard time at the train station. I sighed when I finally got into the warmth of my room; the heat was being too good to me today. I made a mental note to keep a bunch of covers near my bed that night… if the heat was being this good to me during the day; it would surely die out on me tonight.
Asuna quickly pulled Secchan away from the room saying something about needing help with something important about swords. And she told me I had 3 hours through text, meaning that she'd convinced Secchan to train with her in the middle of a snowstorm. I smiled as I imagined Asuna telling Secchan "It'll stiffen our minds and bones, allowing us to practice reacting faster in harsher conditions!"
I giggled upon imagining Secchan nodding and saying that her point was a good one… when in fact it wasn't really. So I started right away the mixing of the cake batter, then pouring it into the tin pans, and making a small batch of six cupcakes, because I wanted to give Secchan one before she went to sleep tonight.
When the cake products were almost done cooking, maybe thirty minutes away, I made the frosting. Since the cake was chocolate, I decided to make a vanilla icing. I mixed the sugar and other icing ingredients together and put it into the refrigerator to set while the cake cooked the rest of the time.
By the time the cake and cupcakes were done it was very close to nine thirty at night, and Asuna and Secchan hadn't come back… It'd been a few hours, and I was beginning to slightly worry. Then I got a text from Asuna asking if the heat was working because she'd need it. And I answered that it was being good for now, so she'd better hurry.
By the time I was finished icing all of the desserts I heard the door open and in came a complaining Asuna. "If Secchan is out there, don't come into the kitchen!" I shouted. "No, she went home to take a warm shower." I heard Asuna say as I heard the door open to the bathroom, stating that she wanted to do the same. "Good." I said, happy that I'd be able to bring Secchan her cupcake today.
So I decided to leave after I, too, took a shower. With the shower come and gone I slipped on my slippers for the dorms and continued out the door with the one cupcake in tow. I slowly traveled down the corridor to Secchan's room, the corridor was cold and I shivered, mainly because my hair was still wet.
By the time I was at her door I'd sneezed and was trembling. The dorms had an open hallway, so the snow and cold blew through the hall as I stood in front of Secchan's door. I knocked and the door was quickly answered by Secchan who was sheltered from the cold by a heavy blanket draped around her shoulders; I could see that her hair was still wet from her shower too.
"Ojousama!" She shouted, ushering me in. "Secchan… What have I told you?" I said in a playful admonishing tone. "Sorry, it just slipped, Konoka." Secchan said draping the blanket that was on her shoulders around mine. "You don't have to do that." I said going to give her back the blanket, but Secchan placed her hand on mine, halting my return. "I want you to use it. I'd really like it if you did." Secchan said, then dropped her hand.
I decided that I would keep it on my shoulders, mainly because I was cold… but also because it seemed as though Secchan wanted me to keep her blanket, and not because it was her duty. "Thank you." I said, then walked with her over to her kitchen, where she was making a fresh pot of coffee.
"Would you like some?" She asked pointing to the pot. "No thank you. I try not to practice drinking caffeine this late at night. It's 10:30." I said, thinking she was not aware of where the time had gone. "I know… The coffee adds just the bit of bitterness you need to make perfect hot chocolate. It's barely enough for any kind of caffeine kick." Secchan said with a small smile.
"Oh, Hot chocolate… I guess I'll have some then." I said with a smile, and sat the bag with Secchan's cupcake on the counter. "What's in the bag?" Secchan asked with her smile she used with only me. "Hmmm… I wonder." I said with a mischievous smile. "Maybe if you close your eyes, you'll find out." I said setting in silence as Secchan began to close her eyes.
I quickly turned and grabbed the miniature cake from the bag and ignited the candle with my unspoken magic. "Open your eyes, Secchan!" I said with a smile, and watched her eyes open with the flame reflected in them, as well as astonishment. "What's the occasion?" Secchan said looking at me, confused.
"Silly!" I said lightly flicking her head. "Your birthday's tomorrow!" I finished. "Well yeah… but it's not today… so why the—" I cut Secchan off with: "It's a lucky wish to trick the wish bringers for tomorrow." She looked at me like I was crazy, then laughed a little. "So, I should make a wish?" She said looking at the candle. "You should! Hurry before the candle melts!" I said holding out the cake in my hand.
Secchan closed her eyes and thought of something, then blew out the candle. "So," I said once she re-opened her eyes. "What'd you wish for?" I asked. "It won't come true if I tell you." She said with her mysterious smile she sometimes used when she said something cryptic to me. "Ah, the cryptic look." I said with a laugh, she laughed too.
"You have to eat it now, then you can have the rest tomorrow, during the party in my room." I said giving her the cup cake. "Fine." Secchan said peeling back the paper cup at the base of the treat, then took a small bite of it. "So…" I said linking my hands behind my back and began to rock back and fourth on my heels. Secchan smiled, then took another bite. "I think you like it." I said with a laugh, and watched her finish off the rest of the dessert. "I have to go now! I'll see you tomorrow…" I said and turned to leave. "Konoka!" Secchan shouted before I left. "Keep the blanket tonight… You need it for the walk back to your room." She said waving me off, and I left.
Upon returning to my room I flopped down on my bed and the blanket covered me perfectly, as though Secchan had draped it across me herself. "You going to bed?" Asuna called from the bathroom, where she was brushing her teeth. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna hit the hay… I need to cook for Secchan's party, so I have to get up early to prepare the food." I said rolling over and covering myself with the blanket that smelled of pine and sakura. "Sleep well." Asuna said, then I closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of what Secchan could've wished for.
In the morning I awoke to a loud knock on my door. I got up to answer it and saw Asakura. "Hey, what's up… it's like seven…" I said rubbing sleep outta my eyes. "Ohmigawd!!! Konoka!!! Look at this." She shouted, and I closed my eyes to show her the pain that her voice was causing my morning mind. "Open your eyes, silly!" She said again, and I did what she asked, to find a huge surprise.
"Kono-chan?" I heard as two big round innocent eyes looked up at me from Asakura's arms. I blinked several times to make sure that I was not dreaming. Once… twice… three times… She was still there, looking as though she were five years old again. "Se…Secchan…" I said in astonishment. "Kono-chan!!!" The little Secchan shouted, trying to escape from Asakura's grasp. "This strange girl won't let me go!!!" She said as tears began to form in her eyes.
I reached out and took her into my own arms, and she buried her face into my shoulder, much like the little shikigami, ChibiSecchan, would. "Secchan, what happened to you, why are you a child?" I asked, and Asakura's eyes bulged. "Secchan? As in Setsuna, 'Secchan'?" She repeated. "Of course!" I said and looked at Asakura's eyes. "H-how do you know it's not just one of those paper things?" She asked, and I looked at her.
"You really think I wouldn't know the real Secchan from the ChibiSecchan?" I said with a sly smile. "You're right… What are you going to do… Apparently something magic happened to her… What are you going to tell people?!" Asakura asked. "I guess I'll say that it's Secchan's cousin… She doesn't talk about her family… So people will buy it." I said setting the little Secchan down to stand.
"Wow!" She gasped and looked up at me. "What is it Secchan?" I asked crouching to her eye level to talk to her. "Why is Kono-chan so tall? Last night Kono-chan was as tall as I Am." She said in a small cute voice, so different than what she usually talks in, her voice had not matured by five years old, of course, so she sounded so adorable. "It doesn't seem as though she remembers past her fifth year." Asakura observed.
'Couldn't remember past five?! Why, and how in the world could this happen?' I thought. "Looks like Sakurazaki won't be attending her birthday party today." Asakura finished, and I stood up. "I have to see what happened!" I said ready to go, but I felt a tug on my pant leg. "Kono-chan… I'm tired." Secchan said with a yawn, a very adorable yawn that I couldn't help but 'Awww' at.
"Okay, you and I can go later and look for why this happened to you, but for now, you can come lay with me. It is early, isn't it?" I said and Secchan nodded sleepily. "Up-sa-daisy." I said lifting Secchan in the air and carried her over to my bed. I laid her down first; then lay beside her, and she snuggled into my grasp. I carefully draped the blanket she'd lent me over the both of us and we fell into a peaceful sleep.
After a few hours or more of sleeping I was again awoken, but by the sound of someone messing in the kitchen. So I got up without waking Secchan and looked through the door. "Asuna, I told you I don't want you in here." I said "Especially with those." I finished, nodding to the pans in her hand. "Oh, I thought you were going to sleep all day with that brat, who is she anyway?" Asuna said; I scoffed. "Secchan is not a brat." I said furrowing my brow, then smiled as Asuna looked at me with confusion.
"Sorry, I thought you said Setsuna." Asuna said, and I nodded. "Something happened to her last night, now she's five." I said, "And she doesn't know who you are." I finished, setting back to watch Asuna's facial event. "How?!" She said finally after contorting her face this and that way. "I don't know." I answered, shrugging, then felt a tug on my pant leg again, this time a pair of small arms encircled my leg afterward.
"Kono-chan…" Secchan said, and I looked down at her. "Hmm?" I questioned. "I'm hungry." She said with a smile, and I smiled back, "I'll make you something then." I said, and began to pull out a carton of eggs. "Happy Birthday, Secchan." I said to Secchan and she looked confused. "Birthday?" She asked. I remembered, she didn't even know what a birthday was until my mother told her when she was turning six.
I laughed at myself. 'Have I taken my mother's place now?" I wondered, knowing that I felt like one. Secchan was an independent little girl, but she couldn't live without me. She followed me around like a little duckling, just as I followed my mother when she was still alive. Secchan stood there watching me atop a chair. "Are you curious, little one?" I said echoing a memory of my mother. Secchan nodded and stood on her tippy-toes in order to try to see what I was doing.
I smiled and smudged a bit of flower from the pancake batter I was making on her nose. She sniffed like a cat does. "Did it give you a sniffle?" I asked with a smile, and she nodded, rubbing the flower off of her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. I noticed that she still had the shirt on she did the night before. "Secchan, your clothes are a little big, aren't they?" I asked. She looked at herself, then nodded. "Well… I can't buy you anything today… so, how about tomorrow?" I said and she nodded again.
I never noticed that Secchan was so shy… Maybe she is more so now than she was then. "Kono-chan… Why do you look like your mother?" She asked after our breakfast and I was washing the dishes. "I don't know… You really think I look like her?" I asked, an innocent blush crossed little Secchan's face. "What I'm asking is, why are you a grown up? You told me you never wanted to grow up." She said; I sat for a moment. 'I don't remember saying that either.' I thought, and Secchan brought my attention back to reality after hopping down from the chair.
"What's the cake for?" She asked. I looked and then smiled. "Your birthday." I said drying my hands and walking over to her. "I have to go ask gramps about something, wanna go with me?" I asked and Secchan nodded. I bent down and picked her up. "It's cold out side, so I'm going to put my hat on you and bundle you up, okay? I'm going to carry you too, I don't want your feet to get frost bite." I said walking over to my bed. I grabbed my hat and the blanket Secchan had lent me, and put them both on her.
"Are you ready?" I asked and she nodded, situating her self so I could pick her up. "Up we go!" I said, and supported her with my other arm, then began my walk to the train station. On the train, Secchan held on tight to my neck as we stood, it was late day, and even with the snow, people had to get to places. "What's wrong?" I asked; she just buried her face into my shoulder. I realized then that she'd not been to a place this crowded in her early childhood so I whispered: "It's alright; all of these people are nice people." And she nodded,
After the train stopped and we got off at our stop, I continued on to gramps' place in the administrative building. I walked through the warm, closed hallways up to the large oak door that leads to the living quarters of the dean's room. I knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer.
"Who's there?" was heard from behind the door. "It's me grandfather, I have something to ask you." I said waiting for him to answer the door. Soon after, the door opened to the room, and I was ushered in. "My, I wasn't expecting to see you today, granddaughter." He said then looked at the bundle in my arms. "What's that?" he questioned, and looked at me as I shut the door. "The thing I wanted to ask you about." I said setting Secchan on the ground. "This is Secchan." I finished, uncloaking her.
Gramps stared down at the little figure of Secchan, and laughed. "So this is what happened last night." He said. I looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked and he started to explain. "Last night I was setting looking out my large window, drinking some coffee when I felt a large fluctuation of magical energy. I called all of the guards, including Setsuna-kun, but she was the only one who didn't answer. I figured she'd gone over to your room, but to see this happen to her, it's quite humorous." He said
I looked in utter disbelief at the man I called grandfather. "Gramps!" I said, and he waved me off. "Sorry, granddaughter… The effects of the wishing spell should wear off by the same time you asked her to make a wish last night." He said, then turned to a coffee pot, "Until then, Setsuna is not at school…" he said, and I knew that was all he was going to tell me. "Okay, thanks…" I said. "Let's go Secchan!" I said, and she raised her arms to grab a hold of my neck much like she and I used to do with my mother too.
I walked away, and back to the train station. As Secchan and I stood waiting for the train to arrive on the platform, I looked down to notice she'd fallen asleep. 'Did Secchan always sleep this much when she was a kid?' I thought, looking down upon the innocent face of Secchan. "I wish I could've gone back with you for just a day." I said to her, and held her tighter to shelter her from the oncoming wind.
After a while of waiting the passengers at the station were starting to get annoyed, until a man ran by shouting "A blizzard is expected, they've closed the railways!" everyone groaned, but I sighed, I should've known. So, I decided to quickly walk back to the dorms so Secchan and I wouldn't get caught in the storm.
When I got back to the dorms the wind and snow was really picking up, and Asuna, Haruna, and Asakura greeted me at the front doors of our building. "Where have you been?!" Asakura shouted through the whistling of the wind. "At Gramps' place." I said after walking through the doors to the warm common room. "You've got a kid with you, barely clothed, in a snow storm… You know how sick she could get?" Asuna said looking at me, then the bundle in my arms.
"A kid!?" Haruna shouted, and Secchan stirred in my arms. "Way to go Paru! You woke the poor thing up!" Asakura said. "Who's kid!? Where did it come from!?" Haruna continued, disregarding any comments from anyone else. "It's, uh… Secchan's little cousin." I said, going along with what I told Asakura this morning on what I was going to call her. "Kono-chan…?" Secchan whispered, looking up at me. "Let's go back into my room." I said to her with a smile, trying to escape Haruna's questions. "I'll make you something to eat." I said, setting her on the ground, and made sure that she held the blanket around her shoulders.
"OHMIGAWD!" Haruna shouted upon the sight of Secchan. "You have to tell me her name!!!!" she finished, leaving Secchan frightened, and hiding behind my leg. "It's Secchan." I said before thinking, then noticed what I'd said after I saw Asakura's bulging eyes. "Secchan?" Haruna echoed. "Yeah, she said she liked the nick name from Secchan… So I call her Secchan too… her real name is… se…Sekai…" I said pulling a random word out of the sky. "That's awesome! Hey there little Secchan!" Haruna said.
Secchan looked a little cross now. "Only Kono-chan can call me that. Not even leader, or elder, or sensei calls me Secchan." She said, and Haruna drew back a little. "Sorry." She said. "Well I can't wait for Setsuna's party! I'll see you at eleven!" Haruna said, and waved a good bye, then left up the stairs. "The party!" I said, just now remembering about it. "You just remembered?" Asuna and Asakura said in unison, and I nodded, then my mind raced faster than it ever had before. 'When did I tell Secchan to make a wish?' I thought. 'Ten thirty, maybe… a little after that?' I thought… surely it would wear off by eleven… I hoped.
"Well we need to start cooking then." I said grabbing Asakura's arm and Secchan's hand, and dragged them up the stairs. "Asakura," I said pulling her with me. "Go find Chao, and Sat-chan, I need help cooking this late in the day." I finished. She nodded and began to walk away. "You have to come with me to get the list of food and the ingredients!" I said and she said an apology and followed me. When we got to my room and I gave Asakura all of what she needed she was off and I began preparing some food.
"A party for what?" Secchan asked, as she sat on my bed. "Secchan! I forgot about you! Asuna!" I shouted noticing that she'd just walked through the door. "Take Secchan to her room for me for a bit, I need to do some things." I said kneeling to see Secchan, "Asuna is a nice person, just play with her for a bit!" I said patting Secchan's head, and allowed Asuna to take her. "I'll come over when I need to." I said to her as she walked out the door, and began working on tonight's feast.
After a few phone calls from Haruna, Chao, Satsuki, and Ayaka I finally had all of the dinner and disserts done and setting in my room, thanks to the Chao-Bao-Xi delivery service, known as Satsuki. I had decorated everything, and I was ready to just rest until the party in an hour or so, but I had to go relieve Asuna of her duty, so I decided to walk over there.
When I reached Secchan's room Asuna hastily answered the door when I knocked. "Can I go home?" she asked in an exasperated voice. "Sure, but why are you so disheveled?" I asked. "She's one good hide-and-seeker." She said and that was all I needed to know. "Oh, yeah." I said having a short flash back of a game I once took ten whole minutes to find her. I actually never found her. I got frustrated and quit in a since, and she came out to make me happy.
"Well you're relieved." I said, standing aside for her to leave. She said a quick thanks and left. "Oh, Asuna." I shouted down the hall; she looked back. "I'll know if you eat any thing." I finished, then walked into the room, closing the door. "Secchan!" I called, coaxing her from her game of hide and seek. "Come here, I wanna rest." I said and the little figure of Secchan came out of hiding, wherever it may've been.
"You've been gone so long! And that Asuna-san wasn't very good at hide and seek." She said walking over to me where I was setting on her bed. "I'm sorry, I was busy… and now I'm tired, so I can't play with you." I said, noticing the clock beside her bedside read nine fifty nine. "I'm going to sleep for a while, maybe you should put on a different shirt, that one's dirty." I said standing and getting a black dress shirt I'd bought for Secchan a while ago, and gave it to her. It was too big for her when she was grown up, now, it was like a small tent.
"Kono-chan?" Secchan asked in her adorably innocent voice. "Yes?" I said settling down into Secchan's bed. "I'm tired too, may I lay with you?" She asked. I nodded, and pulled back some covers and she climbed up and snuggled into my grasp, and soon we both nodded off to sleep.
I awoke to a loud shout coming from right next to me, and I jumped up to see what was wrong, only to find the grown up Secchan, in nothing but that large dress shirt on. "O-ojousama!" she shouted, and fell backwards off the bed. "Secchan!" I shouted, not paying attention to the fact that she'd called me ojousama. "Are you okay?" I asked standing and helping Secchan to her feet. "Y-yeah…" she said, as a dark blush stained her face. I sighed, happy that she was all right, and back to her old self. Then I thought, 'Old Self!?' and quickly looked over at the clock, 10:50.
"Secchan! Put on some pants, and fix your hair, that shirt is fine!" I said hurrying her. "Why the rush?" She asked, putting her pants on that matched the shirt. "Just hurry!" I said ushering her out the door. "Konoka?" She said as I pushed her down the hall. "It's a surprise!" I said, closing her eyes with my hands. "O-okay." She mumbled, with that dark blush re-asserting it's self again.
We walked down the hallway to my room and stopped. "Keep your eyes closed!" I said, then walked to open the door. After opening the door, I led her in and stepped away. "Kono-chan?" she said slightly confused. "Feel free to open your eyes whenever." I said with a slight giggle. She slowly cracked her eyes, then fully opened them at what she saw. "Happy Birthday!" the whole room said as ribbons and other party favors flew at her.
"Wh-what's all this?" She asked, and I walked over to her and encircled her arm in my embrace, and weaved my fingers with hers. "January 17th, Secchan! It's your birthday!" I said leading her over to the couch. "Yeah, Konoka went through all the trouble of throwing this for you, so you should enjoy, Sakurazaki." Asakura said as we sat down.
"So, Secchan, presents or cake first?" I asked. She sat dumbfounded. "I don't know, you pick." She said to me, I playfully furrowed my brow. "Wh-what?" She asked. "Hmmm…" I said, as though I were thinking. "How about presents?" I said and the whole room shouted, Secchan nodded and on came the onslaught of wrapped gifts.
All thirty-one girls in our class, present or not, got Secchan something for her birthday. "Wow, thank all of you, and please send my gratitude to all of the others that gave me something too." She said, and Asakura went to go get the cake with Satsuki. "This is my present." I said handing Secchan the package I'd gotten yesterday wrapped in a beautiful silk cloth. "Well, open it." I said as she looked at it setting on her lap. Secchan moved her hands to the package and gently began to unwrap it.
When the silk had fallen off a Kodachi lay in a black sheath lay still on her lap. Secchan gasped a small bit, then looked at me. "Un-sheath it, silly." I said, and she looked back down. She picked the sheathed kodachi up and slowly pulled the newly sharpened blade from it's holster. A blade of nearly pure white stared back at her, a black circle was it's only blemish, near the hand guard. Then she noticed where the blade was going: A YinYang on the handle there was a white blemish of the same size as the black one on the blade.
She examined the blade further to find a sentence carved in the blade as well. "What does that say?" Asakura asked as she zoomed on it more with her camera. She could never know, it wasn't any language she or anyone other than my mother, Secchan, and I would. Secchan smiled fondly at the statement on the blade, the language is a mixture of all of the languages my mother knew, and she told Secchan and I that this was a secret language only we could learn. I was sure Secchan would've forgotten how to read it now, but it seemed as though I was proven wrong.
The statement meant a lot to us, and was something that my mother told us to always remember: 'A soul only has one half other than it's own; don't let yours slip away.' "Thank you." She said and sheathed the small blade once again. Then the party went on as any party should.
By maybe three in the morning Asuna was asleep and the rest of the guests had gone home, except Asakura, who offered to help Secchan carry her gifts home. "Thank you." Secchan said as Asakura left to go to sleep as well. "No problem! See you tomorrow." She said then waved a farewell as she retired to her room. "The storm's stopped." I said to Secchan. She nodded and looked at me, knowing that I had more to say. "Let's go to the roof to see the town." I said, and she gladly followed.
"What happened today?" She asked when we reached the roof. "Was I hammered or something? I don't remember anything." She said and looked at me with worry. "No, some magic cast it's self on you and you were turned five again. Gramps said it granted your birthday wish… which was?" I asked looking over at Secchan. "Well…" she started. "I wished that I could spend just one day with you like we did when we were children… " I looked at her and laughed, and began to explain the day's events. "I guess I was a little vague…" she said after my explanation.
"Maybe…" I said, and leaned closer to her. "It's starting to get cold." I said, and she wrapped her arms around me. "How did you remember that language we made up?" I asked, she smiled. "Your mother said never to forget it." I laughed at her comment. "Secchan, I have just one more gift for you, I'm sorry it's late." I said; she let go of me as I turned and looked at her. "I love you Setsuna." I said, and carefully placed my lips upon hers. I could feel that a blush was burning on my face, but I wanted her to know before it was too late. I was surprised when I felt her kiss back, then pulled away. "I love you too." She said, wrapping her arms around me again. "Six years, huh?" she said, "Six years too late." I whispered, "You wanna watch the sun rise?" I asked she laughed a little. "Sure." She said, holding me tighter.
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A/N: Happy Birthday Setsuna!!! I hope you all liked my story for her birthday! I tried my best to write it, and I only had like, three days to make it good… so please R&R and tell me how you liked it… be it good comments constructive criticism, or flames I don't care… I like to roast hotdogs over an open fire.
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A short poem-esk thing I thought up on the bus ride home yesterday. It's really about Konoka and Setsuna, but it could be perceived as anyone.
Extra
The Same MindA sigh, a look, a touch.
All things I receive from you everyday.
I sigh too; perhaps we're of the same mind; maybe your thinking my thoughts too.,,
I look I ask and you respond; a question as an answer.
It took me a minute to realize you meant our homework.
I sigh and answer.
Perhaps we're not of the same mind.
I look at you and notice you're looking and sighing again.
I ask if the homework was bothering you.
You shook your head, and leaned toward me.
Lips…That was something I'd never received from anyone;
Perhaps we're of the same mind after all.