Here's my first ever Negima story! I hope you like it! Also this takes place just after Asuna died and was brought back in the show. Now on with the Disclaimer!
Clears Throat
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Negima, the show, manga, whatever! I don't own any of it! So don't you dare take a step closer lawyer people!
Fragments
Fire... fire was everywhere. A teenage girl lay on the ground, motionless. Everything was ablaze. All of the building's were crumbling, falling prey to the orange flickers. Flickers. That's all she could see now. Distant remnants. 'Ah well, I won't be missed much anyway.' She sighed inside her mind. All she could do was take in the last worthless sights she would ever see. Smoke had already claimed her lungs as she could no longer breathe. The once oxygen supplied air had evaporated. The last glance was of a building finally toppling over, right above her. It smashed against her frame, but the pain was gone, she could feel no longer.
'Am I, dead?'
That's when she heard it, the thrashing of bells.
'Hmm?'
A little girl had been sobbing, running for her life, or so the teen could hear. And then, her feet skidded to a halt. A whoosh from a large set of wings sounded.
"Please, don't hurt me." The girl begged.
And if the paralyzed teen could feel, then the raspiness from the other's voice would have surely sent chills echoing up and down her spine.
"10 more years."
Chapter 1: Memory Loss Isn't That Bad (When You Count Everything Else)
Sunlight washed over her, draining away the paleness that had once caressed her skin. Eyes finally opening, she could see her problem in the form of a window on the back wall. Wait, window? This place... isn't familiar at all. Getting a good look at her surrounding's, the girls eyes scanned nearly everything in sight. The tiny crack filled on the flower pot stowed away in the corner, every single little droplet of water clinging to the mouth of a faucet atop a sink, even every single line etched on the blanket in front of her. Confirming her suspicions, she nodded in approval.
'Where... am I?' She let loose the thoughts skim inside her head, hoping to get a decent answer.
It seemed like the patient's room inside a hospital facility. She was currently residing in a pure white bed, the cheap scent of linen occupied it. Throwing the sheet away in disgust, she noticed the tattered bandages tightly intertwined onto her legs. The dark whine color of blood staining through.
Odd indeed, if anything her muscles felt but a little sore, the only thing she could really complain about was the pounding in her head, it made her mind feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Nothing that hurt that much mind you, really more of an annoyance at best. Shifting to the left, a leg swung over the edge to stand up, but ended in failure. The sharp pain shooting through her thigh demanded her to sit down, and remain in the previous position.
'Great, I can't walk and have no help whatsoever.' She grinned at her own sarcastic remark.
It was funny, and a little sad. She was lost in unknown whereabouts, yet she was too busy trying to find a way to past the time by. Not such a great reaction to her paranoia. But then again it's best not too panic either.
Hearing the clatter of foot steps approaching, she quickly focused on it, watching as an arm extended into tugging at the long shower like curtain. Discovering that she was awake, the brown haired girl sprinted away in search of somebody named, "Shizuna" or something like that the teen figured. After the distant bickering had ended, this so called "Shizuna" had entered. She was a tall woman with long trimmed blue hair and glasses. Taking the steps necessary, she kneeled down to level with the small bedside.
"So? How are you feeling?" She asked.
Her voice hinted of nothing suspicious, so the teen could suspect nothing wrong. Answering her question, she pulled out the best answer she could manage.
"My head's kind of bugging me, and I can't stand." Yeah, a little on the complaining side, but hey, she had every right in this current situation. Shizuna nodded, as if expecting her to say this, but enough with that, the next thing she asked really was the million dollar question.
"What's your name?"
And that's when it hit the teen. 'What is my name?' And then that's when she realized, 'Wait, I can't... I can't remember anything.' Nervously she shook her head, the memories refused to be called back, sending her into an upmost tail spin. Biting her lip, she said the truth, after all lying would only make it worse. As she opened her mouth, it ended up closing again, no words spewed forth. Nothing could make up for her ridiculous answer, it felt so obvious, but she couldn't remember it. But then, she felt something click, something that had been misplaced for a long time, and the word just shot out of the barrel.
"Hikari."
It felt right, it felt like that was her name, so she decided to stay true to it. Giving the smallest of smiles, Shizuna proceeded.
"What about your parents?"
Now that, she knew not. Unlike her name, this one would not come so easily, she knew it was nearby impossible to remember something so complicated as that.
"Actually, my name is the only thing I can remember." The reluctant teen put forth the truth.
Shizuna recoiled slightly from the answer, but kept her cool. Sighing a bit in response. The little moment of silence that past by ended, as the teen grabbed her head in pain from the jab that attacked her head. And then it kept coming, exploding like bombs, their numbers constantly increasing.
"I see your pain medicine wore off, please wait here."
And so she left her to wallow in her own pain, still clenching her head, eye's squeezed shut. Through the pain of it all, she finally realized how afraid she really was, the fear coming up in small bursts. But maybe it was because of the pain, she never was sure.
Finally rounding the corner, the teen quickly downed the small pill the medical specialist had provided her, wanting to end this as quickly as possible. But still, the pounding and banging did not stop, it prodded on and on. Lessening and lessening after every few minutes. And then finally it was gone. Gladly feeling the relief the drug had provided, Shizuna allowed her some space, deciding to discuss this over with the dean. But it did not matter for the teen. She was still too caught up in her own thoughts. Holding a hand close to her heart, she let the name roll off her tongue.
"Hikari huh? I guess that must really be my name."
Allowing sleep to take over, she willingly succumbed.
After the events of bringing Asuna back, things have been odd to say the least. Between the friendship of the redhead and boy wizard anyway. And what exactly? Well...
"It's time already..." Asuna groaned, lazily tapping the top of her noisy alarm clock. But her elbow bumped up against something, something with reddish brown hair.
Oh god, he's done it again.
"Negi!!! Get out!!!"
And how many times has he done it now? Oh, about the fifth day in a row.
Sleepily revealing his brown eyes, the boy slowly saw the girl in front of him, and immediately he knew who it was. Quickly realizing his mistake, the boy jumped back muttering about fifty apologies in a row. Either way it didn't matter, Asuna was still going to be pissed with him. But, it's still not as bad as the first time. It had only been his first night at Mahora, and back in Whales he always shared the same bed with his sister Nekane. And on accident, he had crawled next to Asuna's sleeping form. The reaction, well you can pretty much figure it out. Especially when the girl had been dreaming about kissing her once beloved Professor Takahata. And to see her dream man replaced with her kid teacher, it wasn't a very pleasant sight, especially since she had been kissing the top of his forehead.
However, unlike before, she hadn't sent the boy flying off the top bunk with a kick. No, she had gotten used to it enough to just ignore the event and get on with her life.
In fact, dare she say it, she kind of liked it in some sick twisted manner. After all, he is kind of cute. No, no, no!!! She can't say things like that, after all he's just a kid, and her teacher at that. It almost made her want to bang her head up against the wall to shake away these awfully wrong thoughts. 'But it was nice to sleep next to- stop it, you're doing it again!'
Annoyed at even her own self now, Asuna left Negi to continue his endless stream of useless apologies. After all, she had to get ready for work. She had been an orphan ever since she was four, and having nowhere else to go, Dean Konoe took her in, enrolling her into Mahora Academy. Not wanting to be a burden, she had been helping out with tuition as much as she could, involving her in taking a part time job of delivering the newspaper.
It wasn't so bad. But sometimes it would leave her a little exhausted. Arising to the wake up call as well, Konoka could already guess what had happened. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she could see an annoyed Asuna pull on her pink jacket, and overhearing the end of Negi's long apologetic speech.
"You're leaving for work already?" Konoka yawned.
"Yeah." Asuna answered, a lot more politely than when she had yelled at Negi. Fully dressed in her own attire, she was just about to leave through the front door when she could hear the wizard's voice.
"Asuna?"
"What do you want?" She shot back, tensing the mood between them. Stirring a little nervously, Negi responded sheepishly.
"Be safe."
Expecting to hear another one of his idiotic apologies, she was actually touched by his concern. Especially when she would usually be the one worrying about him. She let a smile slip, unnoticed by either roommates, or the sleeping ermine.
"You too."
Brushing away her hair, Hikari had taken a good look at herself. She looked well suited with her long light brown hair and fierce emerald green eyes. Her body was slim with a slight build. Not a half bad looker for the guys in her own opinion.
Here she was fixing up her looks, while only two days ago she had been bedridden. It definitely was odd at how speedy her recovery was, Shizuna had told her that it would have taken any normal person a full two or three weeks. Hell, according to the damage she took she shouldn't even be alive at all right now. 'Must be a miracle' the teen suggested.
'Well, it's nothing short of one.' Shizuna replied.
Shaking her head from her thoughts, Hikari focused on the task at hand. She had to go to the office and speak with the dean. Sure, at first she thought no problem, but after a hearing a few conversations, she had already changed her mind. Visiting him made her very nervous on it's own. And the rumors of bad luck floating around made it no better. Still though, they were just rumors. Being October, the weather was quite cool outside, in fact, Halloween was just around the corner. Sure she couldn't remember anything, but Hikari didn't need too to know that she enjoyed the fall's cool weathering. It was beautiful to see the glistening brown and orange leaves, a tint of red filling in each crack that daylight shown through.
Tightening the strings on her blue hoodie, she was finally finished. Shizuna had allowed her to take a trip to the store to find some suitable clothing, and traveling there with a skimpy shirt and low cut skirt was no easy task.
Looking herself over once more, she made a check list in her mind to make sure everything was correct. Faded denim jeans, sneakers, white long sleeved shirt, and a blue hoodie to go over it. Yep, she was ready. Everything fit accordingly, well except for the hoodie, the sleeves were dangling to her palms. Feeling it was acceptable enough, Hikari left the small bathroom mirror, heading straight towards the office.
Although she had to admit, it was very early. It was just barely after the crack of dawn. But the dean had told her to come at this specific time, he must be on a tight schedule.
Hikari took the time to take a look around at the school, it was definitely very large. But it was very nice. The dorms were in a large structure towards the west, the school building in the north. Not too far east was the office and staff area. And off in the distance was a large tree, but to Hikari it felt soothing, almost calming. Like it was guarding her.
But enough of that, she had already made it to the office. She gazed up at the top in amazement, it was quite tall after all. But making haste, she struggled in winning the battle from day dreaming, and opened the handle on the door. Feeling cool to the touch. Entering, she could see the head master's office located at the very top of a long set of stairs.
'Why does it always have to be at the freakin tallest point?!'
Groaning at her strenuous task, Hikari grinned and beared with walking the full five minute trip. And by the time she had made it to the top, she was already crawling on hands and knees, just barely able to make it over the last step. Catching her breath, she propped an elbow onto the wall to steady her balance. 'Damn, that took forever... Oh well, at least I'm here.' Feeling well rested, she sucked in as big of a gulp of breath as she could manage, and held it until she opened the door. Her nerves were getting to her again, oh boy, why did she know this was going to be a long day?
Upon seeing her face, the dean smiled respectively.
"Oh, you're here. Take a seat."
He looked almost ancient in Hikari's opinion, he had a long white beard and ponytail connecting to the back of his oddly shaped head. The dean also wore long yellow robes, and he definitely didn't look like any old geezer you'd find at your local bookstore.
Taking his kind gesture, Hikari took the large red cushioned seat placed directly in front of the desk. Stroking his beard as if in thought, the dean began to stir up a conversation.
"Let's see now, Shizuna told me that you're 13."
"Yes." Hikari confirmed.
"And you don't have any parents or a place to stay."
"That's right."
Thinking it over in his head, Hikari was already in a mix of ideas about what he was going to say, all of which were completely off. 'Crap! He's gonna say something weird like, "Oh we can't do anything about it." And then ditch me outside the front gates. Yeah that sounds like something that would happen! Oh great, now he's looking at me funny, this is just great! Stupid memory, why don't you come back when I need you! Think! Think! Think! Think-'
"I've made my decision." He announced calmly. Hikari nearly jumped out of her seat. 'Oh great, here it comes...'
"And I think..."
Hikari just nodded to move the conversation along. The temptation was absolutely killing her. "That you should-" He was abruptly cut off by the large double decker doors opening, a young girl walking inside holding up an enclosed envelope.
"Hey, I have the payment for this month's- whoa! Sorry, I didn't know you were in a meeting." She quickly apologized. Bowing her head in respect before turning to make a break for the door.
"It's quite all right Asuna, in fact I need your help with something."
This froze the girl in her footsteps, she felt a little taken back by his answer. "Oh,... sure."
She had long orange hair tied back with golden bells into two long ponytails. Her eyes were interesting, she had one beautiful blue eye, the other was a sparkling green. It looked pretty cool in Hikari's opinion. She had an open pink jacket showing her white shirt underneath, a red skirt, knee length dark socks, and a pair of sneakers.
But as soon as she moved across the room, the sound from her bells recalled a memory that wished to be long forgotten.
"Please, don't hurt me."
Snapping back to reality, Hikari wished it away and focused on the current task at hand. Having Asuna at the front desk, the dean proceeded.
"Right, I would like you to show Hikari the tour of the new school she will be attending."
And immediately at that, both girls snapped, shouting out both words at the exact same time.
"TOUR?!!"
"NEW SCHOOL?!!"
The dean was still completely calm throughout the entire conversation, even after both girl's outbursts. But he saw no holes in the plan, and sent both of the teens on their way. Handing Hikari a few of the necessities for starting at the new school. But what he hadn't told her, was about the strange magical aura that shrouded her. She may be dangerous indeed, but he would just have to wait and see. Besides, with what he gave her, she should be on the same track so that he can keep an eye on her.
Hikari was completely awed by what had just happened, without so much as a "hello" he already enrolled her in the academy, handing her two tiny pieces of paper and a list of supplies that she would need to pick up at the store. The whole entire situation felt awkward, and she wasn't exactly sure if she was up to this whole school thing.
Unrolling one of the pieces of parchment, it revealed her future classroom, with dates and times of the bell schedules. Uninterested, she slipped both documents into her jeans pocket, followed by the list after halfing it down into a neat little fold. Switching her attention back t the redhead, she didn't seem all that happy about it. But, it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. "So, you're Asuna huh?" Hikari remembered when the dean had called her over only about a minute ago. Asuna gave the teen a slight smile. "Yeah, and you're Hikari?"
The teen nodded. Asuna seemed to be growing a little suspicion towards her, which made Hikari uneasy.
"W-what?" Hikari looked over nervously.
"Why did the dean, just let you in? Do your parents even know?" Asuna asked. It was official, she was suspicious. If the hint in her voice didn't give it away, then the words sure did. Hikari sighed inside her mind, repeating the same line once again.
"I don't have any parents."
Asuna raised an eyebrow, but she looked sorry for asking such a touchy subject. Moving things along, she wanted to get past it as quick as possible, to ease any awkwardness still forming.
"Well, why don't I give you the 101 about Mahora Academy."
Hikari smiled at her kindness, at least she was willing to do it now.
"Sure."
"C'mon Negi, cheer up, Asuna won't be mad at you for long." Chamo's tries were pretty much futile at this point, the boy wizard was still feeling down about his repeated sleeping occurrences with Asuna these past few days. He knew fully why, and it wasn't on accident like everybody believed. After losing her once he didn't want to a second time, he wanted to be with her, at first he did it by will, but after that he couldn't stop, his sleep's been doing it a continuous amount of times. But did he really love her? And then that's when Yue's question blew way out of proportion in his mind.
"Negi, did you like Asuna?" Yue asked carefully. Negi didn't even hesitate to answer.
"Of course."
Yue shook her head. "No, I mean we all liked her. But did you love Asuna?"
"Oh, I... I don't know, all I know is that Asuna was very, very important to me."
Love. In truth he didn't know what it felt like, which was why he couldn't answer that. Was it the sensation he thrived towards her, whenever she was around? Or was it the happiness he felt just to be with her? The drive to protect her? He didn't know. But he did know that he wanted to hold her, just stay right next to her. He knew it wasn't right, she was his student and he her teacher. But, how could something that felt so right be so bad?
Konoka even seemed a little worried about him, but what could she do to help him out? Exiting from the bathroom as she just finished brushing her teeth, Konoka sat right next down to her teacher. The little ermine Chamo hopping onto her shoulder, seeing as Negi wasn't in the mood for chit chat.
"Negi, what's wrong?" Konoka started.
"I got Asuna mad at me again, and I don't know what to do to make it up to her." He answered glumly.
Konoka smiled, still upholding her optimistic attitude. "Don't worry about it, she's just been really stressed out with school lately, it's almost the weekend, she'll cheer up by then, I promise." Negi smiled at her motivation.
"Thank you, Konoka."
"Sure thing."
He didn't know why he asked it, but he needed to know for sure if these feelings were true or not.
"Um... Konoka?"
"Yes?"
"What's love like?"
"So, you're saying you don't remember anything at all?" Asuna clarified.
"Pretty much." Hikari answered.
Both girls had been wandering around the campus, Asuna trying to give the tour and putting everything into as much detail as she could manage. (Which wasn't a lot.) So far Hikari liked the school, she actually looked forward to going tomorrow, but she still needed to get a feel for it before she could attend class, so said the dean. But, why did he let her just go so easily? There's something up, but she couldn't place her finger on it. So it seemed the truth just slipping out of grasp. Advancing further in, the question just seemed to pop out of the blue.
"Hey, what home room class are you in anyway?" Asuna asked.
Hikari tried to remember. "I don't know, I think it said something like, Class 2-A."
Asuna nearly face faulted.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hikari noticed the teen's strange reaction. "What? Is it bad?"
"No, it's just my class... (Ayaka's going to have something to brag about.) What about the rest of your classes?" She continued. Hikari pulled out the tiny slip and handed it to her. And by the time Asuna looked at it, her face was a mix of confusion.
"Is that even possible?!" She screamed.
Hikari, who was having a hard time decoding what was going on, was worried about Asuna's constant reactions. "Um... Asuna?"
"You have all of my classes." She carefully handed it back.
"You're joking, right?" Hikari felt surprised by this. But it ended short as a group of classmates showed up right next to the two.
"I thought I sensed something foul over here, but it turns out it was just that monkey Asuna. Had a Fallout with Professor Takahata?"
Asuna was fuming, a roaring fire glowing in each eye, glaring in the direction of the bleach blonde that had said it. Two girls following at her side, almost sweat dropping as another fight between the pair was on it's way. They dodged out of the way as both girls began pummeling each other, grabbing and pulling hair or finding any cheap shot they could use. Hikari just stood there with wide eyes, sweat dropping with the blonde's friends.
"Does this always happen?" Hikari asked, not even taking her eyes off the spectrum.
"Almost everyday." One of them had answered.
A man in a dark cloak appeared on the roof of a building, overlooking the entire school. He brushed off some of the dark soot from his gloves, that fire had been some sticky business, but nothing he couldn't handle. Drawing a tiny pouch from his side, he was able to uncover his much missed alcohol, gladly swallowing it's rich contents. Hearing a portal appear behind him, he swallowed the last of his poison and watched as his cohort stepped out from it. He was a younger boy, around the age of fourteen. His robes were burnt to cinders, showing off a little of his skin, sensitive to the cold wind biting at it.
He extended a gloved hand to cover it, drawing back his head as he nearly retreated. "It's freezing." the boy complained.
"And the fire was any better?" The older man retorted.
The younger boy inclined his head downwards in disappointment, a few pieces of his brown hair poking outwards. The older man didn't care, all he wanted to do was finish the orders, how angry their leader was when he found out about the commotion. Urgently he sent them out their to find their target. Easier said than done. Taking another swing of the toxinous liquid, the man held it in front of the boy.
"So, have you ever wondered what it tastes like? Here's your chance to find." He teased.
The boy pushed the man's arm away from his face, catching a whiff of the strong scent of alcohol. "You know I'm underage, besides you always buy the cheapest brand."
The man sighed, he pulled the bottle back before taking another swig and placing it back inside his robe. The kid never was much with alcohol, and he still could get busted by the others if they found out that he made one of their youngest group members drunk. And unfortunately for him, that particular member wanted to cut to the chase.
"Why are we out here anyway?"
He wasn't going to like this at all, and he was no pushover in a fight, that was for sure.
"Our target." The man smirked as he could see the girls walk into view, and then suddenly break out into a fight, causing them both an awkward moment of silence.
"Uh... we're going after the blonde?" The boy sounded surprised by the turn of events, but was mistaken. The older man shook his head.
"No, although the red does have a magic canceler, we could use that to our advantage, I'll discuss it over with our leader later, but it's the brunette right there." The man pointed out distinctly. The boy's eyes widened, and he nearly stumbled back.
"No, that's impossible, she looks nothing like her." He was in complete denial.
"And that's exactly what you'll test out." The man grew a smirk. "We want you to see if she can use magic, that's how we'll know."
"And if she can use magic?" The boy asked cautiously.
"Then kill her, she's of no use to us anymore." The man didn't need to look to see that the boy's face was full of shock. He had close ties with her, feelings that she would never return, but no matter what, their job always came first. And he was beginning to think that the teen was losing sight of that. With a snap of the wrist, he made a portal appear, taking a few steps over he put a hand on his shoulder, as to sympathize with him.
"We all have to make sacrifices, this is just one of them."
And with that he left, leaving the boy to his own affairs. Outstretching his fingers, the young teen stared at his blackened hand, it had been completely burned of life during the fire, his gloves provided little protection. The index finger of the glove had been completely charred off, little spots of his peach white skin showing here or there. The rest was torn or nearly burned up into nothing, the ice cold weathering felt nice against his palm, unlike the rest of his body which would catch a cold if he remained there. But before he left, he watched her for a few more moments, even as the bell had rung for class to begin, scattering the girls below in a panic. He took one more glance before he had disappeared across several more rooftops.
"I made the right choice, didn't I?"
The bell had rung, signaling for class, Asuna wasn't even dressed in her uniform, neither was Ayaka, Hikari assumed that was her name anyway after hearing her cheering section. Seeing both girls sprint in the opposite direction, Hikari was left alone in the middle of the pavement, dumbfounded.
"Okay... Now what?"
And almost as if in response, the ground shook from the thousands of girls running this way. It looked like she was going to be flattened by the massive stampede. Not taking a moment to waste, Hikari ran for the hills, hoping to somehow escape.
Catching up to her roller skating friend, Asuna had been hauling Negi along by the back of his shirt, he of which was screaming it was stretching out. But Asuna didn't care, just as long as she made it there on time. Konoka just watched, sweat dropping at the scene.
"Ow! Asuna! Please stop!"
"Like hell shorty! If I don't do this then we'll never make it there on time!"
"But I can walk on my own!"
"You walk too slow!"
The boy struggled for an answer, until they both weren't looking and crashed into a pole, knocking both of them down in an oh so wrong position. This time however, Negi was the one pinning Asuna to the floor, and unlike before they were blushing furiously. Negi, afraid she was going to strike him again, started another one of his long apologies. But the girl was too distracted to care about hitting him, she felt amazed at how fast her heart was beating when he fell on top of her, and how much faster it's getting just by staring at him. Her cheeks were still hot red from the blush, and she couldn't make it go away, but why?
And there was the bell, now they really were late.
Hikari sighed, she had to find a way to kill time for a few hours. She had been sitting on a bench, staring at the empty streets.
'Am I supposed to do this for another six hours? Greeeeeeeat... yeah, this is so much fun! I'm having a blast staring at concrete! Yeah this is the best day ever! Yay...' Hikari was already resorting to sarcasm, which wasn't exactly helping out at all. Seeing a few leaves blow by, Hikari sighed heavily again. There was nothing to do. But unbeknownst to her, she was being watched.
"Alright, I might as well sneak up on her. That would be the best approach." The boy in the dark cloak was carefully concealed in the shrubbery behind the bench, figuring out which tactic to use. Finally agreeing upon his last idea, the boy swiftly swung his arm at her neck. 'If I grab her this way, she won't know what hit her.' But precisely at the exact moment, Hikari's nose became sensitive to an orange leaf that swept past her face. And immediately from contact, she lurched forward and sneezed. Leaving the boy's hand just inches from missing.
Feeling bitter about his bad luck, he tried again, faster than before. But every single time, she tilted her head the other way, she wasn't willing to cooperate. Cursing under his breath, he tried a more subtle approach, carefully he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small firework. Using his free index finger, he conjured up a fire spell and lit the wax tip, watching as it's ember quickly traveled down to the gun powder. Moving it to a safe distance, the firework exploded right next to Hikari's ear, blue sparks popping out until it turned into a dark red shower. The light show didn't last long, and for Hikari she didn't really notice. "Was that a breeze just now?" She asked no one in particular. Merely shrugging, she sat back down and continued to stare at the empty sidewalk. Shaking an angry fist, the boy had to grit his teeth to keep from cursing. But a new idea came to him, and he snapped his fingers in success. Opening up his robe, he reached in and pulled out a large dagger sheathed onto his belt. The weapon was neatly polished and just freshly sharpened, it could cut even the thickest of armor. Smirking, he launched it through the thickets of the leaves, so close to hitting it's mark. But...
Catching the shiny coin at the corner of her eye, Hikari was tempted to pick it up. "Hey a penny! It's shiny too!" Bending downwards, the sharp tipped weapon whizzed just past her ear and plunged somewhere else in the distance.
Dean Konoe had just finished filing away every single paper the school board had graded. He was quite proud of his work, it took 5, no, 6 hours of hard work to finish all of that.
And what a tragedy it was when the dagger came crashing through the window and filled a hole through the file cabinetry, spilling out every single paper the dean had finished putting away. As soon as the scattered papers had floated back down to earth's surface, the dean began picking them up, one by one. Preparing for another 6 hours of labor.
Oh she was good alright, distracting her didn't pan out so well. She avoided every single trick he used, even the rifle gun. He hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but it's time for Plan B. Motioning his hand forward, the boy began to chant in Latin, the ancient language of magic. He didn't want to resort to violence, but he had no choice. Right as soon as he was about to finish, the booming echo of a bell could be heard.
"Oh hey, school's over." Hikari noticed.
The boy had already face faulted in the dirt, why does this keep happening? It's going to be impossible now seeing all of the girls getting in his way. Taking a very short break, he pulled back the hood on his black cloak, rummaging a hand through his brown hair. This was not good, half of the day was over and he's made no progress whatsoever.
Keeping eyes peered, he saw the girl approach the magic canceler this morning. Crap! Now he couldn't use magic, resulting in failing his mission. And when a member fails his or her mission it results in dire consequences. The boy shuddered at the thought of their leader pummeling him to a bloody pulp. But he needed to keep his chin up. If neither magic or sneak up attacks work, then what will? The boy's lips curled into a smile as he felt the paper from a scroll at the bottom of his jacket.
Oh yes.
This will.
"Hey Asuna." Hikari greeted.
"Oh, hey." She waved.
Hikari made it up next to the paper girl and her friend. Her friend of which was smiling cheerfully.
"Asuna, who's this?" The brunette asked. Finally coming two, Asuna began the introduction.
"This is Hikari, Hikari this is Konoka."
"It's nice to meet you." Konoka smiled.
"Likewise." Hikari stated. And before she knew it, all three girls had been walking. There was nothing out of the ordinary, they talked about the kind of things a girl would say, and no, not boys. Konoka was very nice, she wasn't shy to get into a conversation, same with Asuna, although she seemed kind of distant, almost like something was bothering her. But what? And even if Konoka didn't notice it, Hikari could see her hold her left hand close to a pocket in her bag. Something was definitely up. No matter where they walked to it felt as though a pair of eye's had been keeping watch on them, not leaving for a second. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But, no matter how much she denied it, she couldn't shake the feeling off. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that something bad was going to happen. And she knew, memory or no memory, that these feelings were usually right.
All three girls had rounded the corner, Asuna leading, Hikari and Konoka hanging out behind her. It was in the back of the school, nobody was here, everything was dead silent, except for Konoka's voice and Hikari's now timid answers. She was reluctant to say anything, even Asuna was dead quiet now, someone was behind them.
Coming to a complete stop due to the unusual freezing breeze, Hikari's shoulders tensed, Konoka was still oblivious to it.
"It's gotten a lot colder over the past few minutes. Oh, and look how dark it's gotten, I guess we've been out longer than we thought." Konoka noticed.
No, that wasn't it, the bell rung less than twenty minutes ago and school ended at 3:00, this isn't normal. 'All right, let's find out who exactly you are, starting now-' Turning to pivot the heel of her foot ended in failure.
'I- I can't move!'
And how true it was, every single joint in her body was completely petrified, she couldn't move her limbs no matter how much she wanted too, her jaw was clenched shut, even her eyes couldn't shift to look at what was wrong, all she could do was stare straight ahead at Asuna's back, who wasn't having as much luck moving. But, hearing didn't count, and when she heard that boy's voice, oh how she wished she could strangle him.
"Nice of you to drop by, although I'm pretty sure you don't remember me, and an introductory would be pointless seeing as you're going to die right now." Taking a few steps closer Hikari could see him clearly, he was boy not much older than she was, his face was completely shadowed by his black hood, the rest of his body was cloaked in black, it seemed that was the only color on him, nothing else. The only thing she could see was his mouth upturn into a slight frown. "Ah, well... might as well say it now, so uh... sorry." He lifted a hand in front of her face and began chanting in a language she could not decipher. His lips moved quickly as to end this as soon as possible, and immediately, right as he was about to finish, Asuna's left arm jerked forward, uncovering a card from her bag.
"Adeat!" As soon as she spoke those words, in less than a second a giant paper fan knocked the boy out of his concentration, as well as off his feet. He was sent flying back a few good meters, which not only stopped him from killing Hikari, but the binding spell as well.
Finally free from it's grasp, Hikari moved up forward to get a better look at the kid. He was rubbing his cheek from the stinging pain the paper fan had produced.
"Ow... is that any way to treat a first class assassin?" He muttered.
'Assassin?! This kid's an assassin?!!'
As soon as the pain numbed he scratched the bottom of his chin in thought, wondering his thoughts aloud. "But you know, I missed the incantation off by a few inches when I cast it, I never was the best with scrolls." The boy gave a nervous laugh.
Hikari and Asuna face faulted.
'Yeah right, first class assassin my ass.' Hikari retorted inside her mind.
"But seriously, I'm really going to have to kill you Hikari." The boy cut off from his nervous laugh.
"W-wait! Can't we talk about this?! And how do you know my name?" Hikari panicked.
The boy took in a small sigh. "Well I'm afraid it's too complicated to get into, but either way-" As quick as lightning, in a flash he had a sword drawn and was already in attacking position. Leaping air-borne, he showed off the massive rapier before plunging it downwards. "It doesn't really matter anymore."
Bracing herself for the worst, Hikari attempted to guard her own face, but somebody had already reached her. Asuna blocked the boy's weapon with the back of her paper fan, surprisingly it was as strong as steel and held it's own against the blade.
"An interference I see... oh well, I guess I'll just have to kill you too."
"Shut it!" And with that Asuna pushed the edge of the fan forward, forcing the boy to jump back or else risk getting slammed in the head again by it's rock hard exterior.
"Konoka!" Asuna called.
Bringing her back to earth, the brunette listened intently on Asuna's next set of words.
"I need you to get Negi and bring him back here."
Nodding her head, Konoka had already sped off in search of the wizard. "Hikari, go with her." The teen shook her head in dismay.
"I can't leave you alone with this freak."
"I prefer assassin, thank you." The boy called out from the other end of the street.
"I'll be fine, besides he's after you, it's best if you get out of here while you still can." Asuna replied. Hikari knew it was useless to try any further, so she unwillingly agreed.
"Alright."
Hikari raced off after Konoka, and if she was a second faster she would have been crushed underneath the weight of the boy's sword as he blocked her way.
"I've got a job to do, and I can't exactly let you go so easily." The boy smirked. She gritted her teeth, there was no there was no other exit, she was cornered. But that didn't last too long, the paper fan came out of nowhere and struck the boy in the head.
"Ow... forgot about that..." He cringed.
Before even given a chance to stumble back, Asuna attacked again, which was blocked by the boy's rapier. Both were held in a power struggle before breaking apart and lunging back out again. Asuna countered with a powerful kick, which sent the boy skidding backwards. Not even a moment to catch his breath before the fan crashed down upon him, the boy just barely able to dodge out of the way. This wasn't good, he had an angry thirteen year old middle schooler with a magic canceler on his ass and he couldn't get away. She was evenly skilled in strength, and to make matters worse completely immune to up front magic spells. But maybe only attack types. This he was willing to test out. Standing his ground, the boy readied a spell.
"Erumpo Flamma! ( Erupting Flames)"
On cue, the earth in front of him changed to a fiery explosion, sending out a large shockwave. Even if the fire magic didn't burn her, the shock wave was able to send Asuna barreling back to the opposite side of the street, leaving the boy complete freedom in movement.
"Asuna!!!" Hikari's scream was useless, the girl didn't budge an inch.
Pressing into further matters, the young assassin teleported next to the distressed teen, lips curling into a slight smirk. He raised the rapier above her head, it's cold black steel giving off a sheen.
"Think of this as payback for all of things you've done to me."
The sword was swung, it felt like the slowest moment in her life. Hikari was in a mix of emotions, at first she felt confused and bewildered, then the fear settled in. Finally she registered what was going to happen, what really was happening now. She still had questions she wanted to ask, about her past life, about what really happened. She didn't want to die yet. Everything was a blur, she could hear the sword fall, but then it stopped. Eye's opening wide, she could clearly see the reason.
"Phasmatis lux lucis!! (Spirits Of Light)"
Piercing rays from a strong aura cut through the boy, knocking him off course as well as spewing a little blood from his arm. The spell had torn through the fabric of his jacket and broke through the skin, causing a gash below his left shoulder. He gave a small yelp before smacking into the iron chained fence.
Looking over, Hikari could see who had cast it, he had to have been only ten. He had reddish brown hair that was tied into a small pony tail and a set of tiny glasses that sat crooked at the edge of his nose. The kid wore a green suit and held a tall wooden staff in his right hand, a little weasel like creature sat perched on his shoulder. Konoka stood right next to him, it appears as though she was successful in her job.
"Miss, are you alright?" The kid called out.
"Er... yeah but..." Hikari answered hesitantly. Finally catching the drift the young boy's eyes caught Asuna's lifeless form and immediately he rushed over to her.
"Asuna!!"
Rushing over to the rest of the party, Hikari found the kid gently shaking her by the shoulders, trying to get her to say something. Each time, devastation hit him harder and harder. But, from the corner of her eye, Hikari could see the rise and fall of her chest, it wasn't the worst case scenario as they had thought. Noticing it as well, the little weasel jumped down and... talked!?
"Don't worry Negi, she'll be alright, just a bad fall that's all."
Hikari couldn't even help but blurt out the words. "Whoa! You can talk?!!"
He swatted his paws over his mouth, he didn't even notice the teenager standing there. If the shock wasn't enough, Hikari's next set of actions sent the new pair into a panic as it was no use in hiding it anymore. Hikari wasn't in the mood for a bunch of "Oh, we'll tell you later." nonsense. No, she wanted answers here and now.
"Konoka." Hikari decided to ask the most understanding person in the small group. "Mind explaining a few things? Who is this kid anyway?"
The girl knew there was no avoiding it, and didn't even hesitate for a solution to her question. "Well, that's Negi, he's a wizard. And this is Chamo, he's a talking ermine." She pointed to the weasel like creature. Having both of their biggest secrets told, both of them freaked as she had just said it out loud and so calmly too.
"K-Konoka, w-w-why did you just-" The so called wizard had stuttered over his words several times in a row, he was completely shocked that his friend had done such a thing.
"Konoka, do you have any idea how much trouble Negi here is in?!!" The little ermine talking still freaked Hikari out. Konoka didn't seem to take it so hard. "Oh, don't worry. Hikari won't tell anyone, right?"
"Uhh... yeah..." Hikari nodded.
Chamo still wasn't convinced. "Oh it's game over already, this is just great, and I liked this place too. The locker room, the showers, the girl's under-" He didn't even get the chance to finish as a fist was slammed into his face by an angered Asuna, whom apparently had just woken up.
"Shut...up..." She spoke through gritted teeth.
"Asuna!" Negi hugged the girl on the instant, so happy that she was okay. Asuna couldn't help but blush a little, her heart was beating so much faster. Hikari smiled a little at the pair's current situation, they looked so cute together, and she really was glad that Asuna was alright. Chamo was still trying to recover from Asuna's hard hit, the punch had completely stunned him, Konoka just smiled, ignoring Chamo's little predicament.
Speaking of predicament, the one that they had thought was gone had just risen up from the fence, clutching onto his rapier.
"Dammit..." He cursed.
The assassin held his now bleeding arm in pain with his weapon free hand, hoping to block off the blood, just watching aimlessly as it crashed to the floor in crimson pools. The world was spinning for him, he couldn't see too well and the blood loss was making everything dizzier by the second. He had to act fast. Extending the tip of his blade, he aimed it for the head of the brunette who had made his life so miserable, even in the past.
"Well, every man has to do his job, even if it means killing his little sister. It looks like this is goodbye Hikari."
He fired the spell, but his hand was unsteady, he wasn't up to marksmanship on his shot. The spell had snaked itself up, but recoiled from it's target, and bounced to the other surprised brunette. Without giving it a second thought, or really any at all, Hikari moved in the way, hoping the block it. Her mind had been expecting the pain, but her body thought otherwise. Casting her right hand forth, the words just wormed their way out of her mouth, without her even knowing it.
"Talio Reddo!!! (Retaliate)"
The spell the assassin had fired met clash to clash with the blue light that had jetted out from the teen's hand, both spells caught up in the current of a power struggle. Blue and red sparks danced all around, glowing brighter and brighter until it engulfed the entire street. Finally though, Hikari's spell had overpowered it, and pushed back to where the boy assassin was. A spell of that size could not be dodged, nor survived. The boy smiled, it wasn't sinister or full of rage, or that confident little smirk he had felt when he was leading, but it was welcoming, and for once his face showed an expression of happiness in over a decade of his sad filled life. Nothing needed to be spoken, his mind said all of the words that he had wanted.
Hikari, I always was a little envious of you. Funny, I know.
The boy's smile didn't waver.
I never was the perfect brother, or member of our little group, and I know I shouldn't be saying this but...
The spell had hit him, but he felt no pain. No regrets.
Love ya, that's what I would have said the day you left on the fire, if only I had the guts to admit it to your face.
For a split second, Hikari could see the shadowed portion of his face lit from the vibrant glow of her blue spell. He had brown hair, and striking emerald green eyes, that were so similar to her own. Before even getting a chance to look further at the mysterious assassin, the spell exploded completely in a shower of sky blue. Covering her eyes from the blinding rays, Hikari finally released them open as the light died down. Through the hazy smoke, she could see burn marks indented on the streets, digging deep into the earth, a little fire still burning. It was still too thick to see what had happened to the assassin though.
The first words mentioned were from Negi's gaping mouth. "How...did you use magic?"
Finally bringing the question up, Hikari even wondered about it herself. It happened almost as if on instinct, if such a thing could happen. But she couldn't place it into words.
"I'm not really sure." She answered truthfully, shrugging her shoulders.
Negi looked back at the girl and smiled. "I must admit, I've never seen a spell that powerful before, fantastic indeed."
Hikari blushed from his little statement. "Hey thanks."
Konoka giggled. "Aww, your face is all red Hikari."
The embarrassed teen couldn't help but get on the defensive side. "What?! It's not red!" Her blush grew even more vibrant.
"Right, whatever you say Hikari."
Their little moment was shattered by the sound of footsteps and the voices of other girl student's. Chamo jumped to it and alerted the group. "Negi! Negi! We've gotta get out of here, we can't afford anyone else to find out!"
Asuna looked over the smoke and the small embers of flames scattered about. Not too mention the large amount of debris from walls or fences.
"Is it really okay to leave everything like this?" Asuna asked. Much to the party's disadvantage, they didn't have much choice.
"Hey, I heard something over there!" A feminine voice yelled.
"Yeah, hey where'd all that smoke come from?" Another asked in a concerned tone.
Quickly the three girls, boy wizard, and perverted ermine were all sprinting away towards the dorms.
"Are you really sure that was okay?!" Hikari asked, backing Asuna up on her question.
"Hey, when you're a wizard and your neck's on the line then anything's okay." Chamo replied.
Hikari threw him a suspicious look and a raised eyebrow. "Really? Anything?"
Chamo gave a nervous laugh. They had already reached the dorms, where sweet sanctuary was awaiting them. Pausing to take a breather, Asuna had chosen this time to ask Hikari while the group was on a short resting break.
"Hikari, what's your dorm room number anyway?"
Reaching into her pocket, she unrolled the slip of paper which revealed her temporary home. "It says 304."
Asuna face-faulted.
"Another bad thing?" Hikari asked.
Asuna was completely at a loss for words. "But that's- that's-"
Konoka, who was completely the opposite in a happy cheerful tone, finished the sentence for her. "That's our room!"
"Really?" Hikari asked again in disbelief.
The conversation grew into a few laughs and cheery smiles, as well as Asuna's complaints about Hikari staying with them, since it was so cramped and she already couldn't stand Negi. But eventually she couldn't help but give in. That was what a distant hooded figure heard anyway.
He held a cell phone up to his ear, the man on the other line completely furious.
"You mean your partner failed to kill her?!" He yelled.
"Yes sir, he died in the attempt of doing so." The man answered.
His leader took in a deep sigh and sat down, trying to calm himself. He knew that enragement would only make things worse. Trying to turn the tides of the conversation, he told his boss the most interesting thing he could muster. Hoping it would make him have a sudden change of heart.
"There was a girl there, and there's no mistaking it. It was her. The one who signed the contract with the devil."
Well, that's the end of the first chapter, I hope you liked it! I know that my friend is going to kill me for posting it so late. So yeah, I'm sorry about that! I don't even know what Asuna and Konoka's room number is, I just made up some random number. Anyway, please tell me what you thought of it. I'll try and get the next chapter posted as soon as I can!!