Alright, this is a new story that I've been working on in my spare time that takes place before Negi goes to Mahora as a teacher. I hope you enjoy the story and any comments you can make are appreciated.

Loud footsteps echoed through the hall as two boys ran full speed down the corridor to their class. The shorter boy on the left rubbed his brown eyes trying to wake up and clear the morning gunk out of his eyes. He had barely had time to run a brush through, and then tie up his red and brown hair. The boy was much younger than the boy on his right, and this was emphasized by their height difference. As they dashed through the halls, the boy on the right said, "Geez, Negi, did you pull another all-nighter?"

Negi looked over at the boy holding a piece of toast he was trying to each as they ran through the halls. The boy was probably a good foot taller than Negi, but unlike Negi he hadn't bothered to brush his hair. Following the example set by his disheveled hair, his school issued black robe was wrinkled and had some crumbs from his toast on it. There were dark circles below the boy's brown eyes as the younger boy replied, "You pulled one yourself, didn't you?"

Taking another bite of his breakfast as he laughed, the older boy replied playfully, "True, true, but I'm also older and more fit to stay up late. Little kids need to go to bed on time."

Pushing him playfully, Negi replied, "Oh? And who's the one who has to rely on this 'kid' to explain the concepts he doesn't get?"

There was a short pause as they continued their dash, turning a corner and heading into the final stretch. Thinking up his retort, the older boy replied in a bemused tone, "At least I don't have to shop for child's robes." Before Negi could reply, though, they arrived at the classroom and nearly throwing the door open the older boy shouted, "Safe!"

The entire class looked to the back of the room as the two boys stood there. An irritated teacher at the front of the room shouted right back at him, "Mr. Daje, you're ten minutes late, that's hardly 'safe'." Then, catching the other boy with a pensive look, continued, "And Mr. Springfield as well. Tell me, boys, why it is that you feel the need to not only arrive late to class, but to make a ruckus upon entering as well."

There was a pause and a foreboding silence in the classroom, as they watched waiting for the happy-go-lucky teenager to make a reply. With the entire class waiting, the boy began, "So there I was, surrounded be a pack of-" but before he could even finish his thought the woman at the front of the room interrupted him.

"That's enough, Christopher." She turned to the chalk board behind her where there was currently a list of the various theorems used in magic. As she began writing in the top right hand corner she said, "That will be a ten minute detention for Mr. Springfield and a thirty minute detention for Mr. Daje after class."

From the back of the class there came a, "Hey, that's not fair! How come I get thirty minutes while Negi only get's ten? Is it because I'm three times the man he is?"

The teacher picked up the chalkboard eraser and threw it the complaining boy, "That's ten for being late, ten for disrupting class, and ten for lying and attempting to make up an excuse. Shall I add another ten or would you be so kind as to take your seats so that I may continue the lesson."

Wiping off the chalk dust from his already messing looking robe, Christopher walked down the aisle until he got to the row he and Negi sat in and took a seat there. The room had sixteen tables in it, and at each table sat two students. When the teacher turned around to continue the lesson, Christopher's table mate turned to him and said, "Chris, I thought you said you didn't need me to stop by and wake you up this morning?"

In a low, almost sarcastically cheerful voice, the boy replied, "Sorry, Kathy! I just sort of overslept, and Negi did too." The girl sighed and turned away from Chris to look into her bag. Moving his chair and trying to look over the girl's shoulder, Chris asked, "What are you looking for, Kathy?"

Find what she was looking for, Kathy produced a brush. Chris scooted his chair away from her, and Kathy said in a whisper, "Don't try and escape. It looks like you're letting a small animal nest in your hair."

Chris looked over at Negi who was sitting at the table to his left and quietly pled, "Negi, save me! Please! You owe me one! Come on!" The young prodigy simply smiled a rather awkward smile and shook his head. Kathy reached over and grabbed the collar of Chris's robe, pulling him down to the level at which she could brush his hair. Chris tried to fight back, but the petite girl was much stronger than she looked and he finally submitted; embarrassed by the snickers he was getting from the students around him who were watching.

The teacher in the front of the classroom finished putting the problem she had been lecturing about on the board, and then began to look around the room for someone to answer it. Seeing the situation in the third row back, she called out, "Well, Christopher, it appears that you can't brush your own hair, so am I guessing that solving this problem would be too much work for you?" The boy sheepishly looked down as Kathy but the brush away. "Oh? Is the great bard finally stuck for words?"

In a very low voice, Negi who was sitting on his left whispered, "Use Volman's principle." Chris silently said a thank you and then stood up.

"I accept your challenge, Ms. Caldwell." Slowly, Chris walked up to the board, picked up the chalk and began writing. After a few seconds, he had solved the first part of the problem using the theory that the young prodigy had suggested, but ended up stuck at the second part, unable to figure out what to do. Chris read over the incantation line several times and then, as if a light bulb went off in his head crossed out three words and repeated four words. He put the chalk down with a triumphant, "Done."

Ms. Caldwell looked over his work, "Well, well, I'm rather impressed Christopher. You used the correct theory at the beginning. However, I have no idea what you did there at the end."

Looking over at the board, Chris said, "I used Leyung's second theory of incantation." He looked over at the teacher, "did I make a mistake?"

Ms. Caldwell sighed, "For the hundredth time, you can't apply bardic theorems to regular incantations. This is why I am object to them allowing you to study bardic magic by yourself instead of sending you to another school where there is a proper teacher." She turned to the board and erased the later half of Chris's work, "This is the proper way to solve the problem." After a moment, she said, "you may go back to your seat now."

Back in his seat, Chris sighed, "I made an idiot of myself again."

Kathy laughed in a low mocking tone, "Don't worry, we're all used to it. All the special attention you get from Ms. Caldwell as well." Chris sighed again.

"Would you like me to tutor you again on incantation theories?" Negi asked. "Speaking of which, I think we're supposed to get the last test we took back today." A shudder ran down Christopher's spine, "How do you think you did Chris?" There was another shudder.

"I don't want to know." There was a silent pause and a slightly awkward laugh from Negi. "I've got an aptitude test today as well."

Kathy sighed, "The Dean's not cutting you any slack is he?"

Chris shook his head, "He says that if I want to study bardism, I have to prove that I can do it alone and make progress. Too bad there aren't any good teachers anywhere, since it's such a pain to learn from books." Chris took out a piece of paper and scribbled a few things down on it and then passed it to Negi. "Can you take care of this for me after class? I finally got all the permission but I'm going to be busy with the aptitude test."

Putting the paper in his pocket, Negi nodded and then asked Kathy, "Can you come give me some help?"

After a moment of thought, Kathy replied, "I was thinking about helping Chris prepare for his test, but if he doesn't need it I can help you."

"Go ahead and help Negi," said Chris. "It'll be best if I practice alone since I'm still creating some weird effects with a few of the songs." After a moment, he added, "And after the accident with the winds the last time I had an aptitude test, I'd better get them sorted out before my test."

Kathy looked over at the child who was anticipating her response, and said, "Alright, I'll help you out with that Negi." Negi smiled and thanked her, and then went back to taking notes. The three friends continued listening and taking notes with only the occasional 'What's this?' or 'Can you give me some help?' from Chris.

The class was nearly over when the teacher started handing back the tests. As she handed them out the class broke out into various discussions. Most of the students had the rest of the morning off until afternoon classes and were making plans. After Negi got his test back he looked at the score and smiled, mentally patting himself on the back.

"Well, Negi," began a tall boy with short blond hair, "I hope you are prepared because today I will overtake your spot as the number one in academics." The boy slammed his test down on the table, "Ninety-Six percent. Top that, Negi."

Negi smiled, "I'll see your ninety-six percent and raise you," he put down his test, "to a ninety-eight percent!" The small boy grinned, "I'm still the winner, Gavin!"

The older boy pulled back his test with an "Ack!" Then, he looked around and said, "Ha! I bet I beat you, Chris!" Chris who had been sitting silently, look at his test looked up. "Can you beat a ninety-six?"

There was a pause as Chris said triumphantly, "I can, actually." He plopped his test down one the table. The entire top page was covered in red ink, and in big letters in the top right corner the teacher had written 'Not even worth grading. See me tomorrow for a retake' Chris grinned, "Since technically nothing was marked wrong and deducted from my score that would give me a one hundred percent."

Gavin laughed, "What horrible reasoning. I can truly see that the only one over here worth my attention is Negi." He turned back to Negi, standing up as straight as he could and said, "you may have won today, Negi Springfield, but on the honor of the Hughes family I will overtake you before graduation for the spot of valedictorian."

Negi smiled and said, "I won't yield my spot to you!" Gavin grinned and then turned around and walked away. Negi turned to Chris and said, "I thought you said you didn't need tutoring before we took that test?"

Scratching his head as he laughed half heartedly Chris replied, "Well, I just didn't have the time, with the performance coming up and my aptitude test. Ms. Caldwell usually lets me retake tests that I do really bad on if I come for a few study sessions."

Kathy sighed, "If she keeps helping you like that you'll never learn how to balance your schedule."

Chuckling in a rather hopeless tone, Chris replied, "Maybe, who knows?"

Reaching into his stack of fliers, Negi pulled out one and Kathy taped it to the stone wall. The two stepped back and looked at the flyer. It was the same format that they always used for putting out flyers for Christopher's performances. As the background on the paper there were two guitars with the necks crossing and written over top of them was "Live Music Performance by Campus Renowned Christopher Daje. This Saturday at Seven P.M. in the courtyard. Free admission for all students."

Looking down at the stack of fliers, Negi asked, "Where do you think we should put them up next, Kathy?"

Thinking for a moment, Kathy replied, "Let's try the cafeteria. We can put some up there and maybe get a few others to help post them around the school." The walked off towards the cafeteria and Kathy asked, "By the way, Negi, I never really thought about it before, but when did you and Chris meet?"

Negi began thinking with a contemplative look on his face, only to say, "I can't really remember for sure. He's just always been there since I came to the academy." Negi paused for a moment, "I've only been here for a few years, but has Chris always studied bardic magic?"

Kathy shook her head, "At first, when he was around your age they wouldn't let him. He had to take all the regular classes like everyone else, but even doing that he managed to learn a few hymns and was able to prove he could learn bardism by himself." They continued walking on in silence for a moment, then Kathy added, "The Dean was impressed by his hard work and let him study privately instead of taking some classes. I was really surprised when I found out he'd convinced the Dean to let him have live concerts on campus."

Negi smiled thinking of Chris. He had been the first friend Negi made at the academy and he had the uncanny ability to make any situation brighter. Laughing, Negi said, "Hey, do you think he can teach me to play guitar too, so I can go up on stage with him once before graduation?"

Kathy looked over at Negi, who was showing his age. He looked excited, like a little kid thinking of a trip to a candy store, which was likely due to the fact that he wasn't even ten years old. Chuckling amusedly, Kathy said, "Maybe, but I sort of doubt he'll have time to teach you much. He's usually really busy trying to work on his hymns."

Nodding his head, Negi said. "Hmm … that's true … maybe I'll try and learn some by myself." Then looking over at his friend, said, "Hey, Kathy, do you want to learn how to play too? It would be really fun with all three of us up on stage."

Kathy looked down at her friend, "I think I'll pass," she said with a smile. "Chris doesn't just perform because it's fun, it's all practice for him, and I wouldn't want to get in the way of that." Then, when Negi started to look down feeling that he had suggested something dumb, she patted him on the head and said, "Come on, Negi, we need to finish putting up the fliers."

It was lunch time in the cafeteria as Kathy and Negi entered. Looking around, Kathy spotted two of her friends that she hoped would help and told Negi to stay put while she went to talk to them. Nodding, Negi stood right by the door, waiting for Kathy to come back. As he stood there with the stack of flyers, one fell off of the top. "Oops," however, as Negi reached down to pick it up the door opened behind him and knocked him over.

Negi fell forward and the flyers flew out of his hands, many of them right into the food of the boy in front of him. Looking up and trying to gather all the flyers Negi began panicking, "Ahh! I'm really sorry! I'm really sorry!" The boy in front of him put down his food and bent down to where Negi was collecting flyers.

Grabbing Negi by his collar the boy pulled Negi up to his eye level, "Stupid kid, you ruined my food! What the hell were you thinking?" Negi looked at the boy who was yelling at him. "Well, got anything to say for yourself, kid?!" The choking hold that the boy had on Negi was too tight for him to breath, or speak, but the older boy took his silence to mean that Negi wouldn't apologize. "If that's how you want it!" The boy cocked back his arm to punch Negi.

At this point a crowd had formed around the fight, everyone watching, waiting, and not wanting to get involved. However, one person appeared out of the crowd with a loud, "Well, well, what do we have here?" A large boy forced his way through the crowd. He had a loud, harsh voice, "If it isn't the son of the Thousand Master causing trouble again."

The boy that had Negi now pinned against the wall asked, "And who the hell are you?" With his short black hair, dark brown eyes, and his malicious grin, the only description that Negi could ever give him was scary.

"The name's Wiley, and if I were you, I wouldn't forget it."

The still pinning the struggling Negi against the wall sarcastically mocked him, "Oh, and why not? That way when you tell the teachers I'll know who did it?"

There was a quick, swift movement in which Wiley charged into close range and used an elbow technique that connected with the boy's sternum. Then, as the boy bent over from the impact he brought his knee up and hit him on the right side of his chest. The crumpled to the ground and Wiley spat at him, saying, "That's why, you little shit." Then, looking over Negi, Wiley said, "You're damn lucky that I don't charge for all the times I've saved your ass."

Negi just weakly smiled as he rubbed his neck, unsure of what to say. Kathy managed to break her way through the crowd over to where Negi was, shooting Wiley a glare as she passed him. "Are you ok, Negi?" She looked over at the boy who had been threatening Negi. "Go a little overboard again, Wiley?"

Laughing as he turned his back and walked away, Wiley said, "Technically the little guy started it. Can't blame me," then added just before he walked through the doors, "by the way, Kathy, can you give your boyfriend a message for me?"

Embarrassed and nearly shouting, Kathy replied, "Chris isn't my boyfriend!"

Shrugging and laughing, Wiley coolly replied, "Alright then, tell your sex slave that his concerts suck and aren't worth the admission." With that Wiley left the cafeteria and a very angry and disgruntled Kathy.

Helping Negi back on to his feet, Kathy said, "Negi, make sure you don't grow up to be someone like that, alright?"

Negi weakly nodded, even though at the time he thought to himself that he wanted to be someone strong like Wiley, someone who could protect someone, though he didn't want to be quite as big a jerk. However, the more he thought about it the more Negi wondered why Wiley always watched out for him and protected him, even if he always made fun of him afterwards.

Deciding it would be better simply not to think about it, Negi went back to putting up posters and with some help from the friends that Kathy had recruited they finished posting the flyers before afternoon classes began. As they headed for class, Kathy saw the time on the wall and commented, "Well, Chris should be just about ready to take his aptitude test. Pray we don't hear any fire alarms."

With an awkward laugh and smile Negi nodded his head and added, "I hope he does okay."

Alright ... Hope you enjoyed the first chapter.