Hi all! This is my first story on this site and I hope it isn't to horrible. Anyway, the idea for this story came to me at random while surfing the site.

Constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the respective properties below; unless they are OC's then they are mine and mine alone.

Chapter 1: First Meetings!

Somewhere in Japan, 1:57 PM

A red headed boy stood in the middle of one of the many forests that lay on the grounds of Mahora Academy chanting in Latin softly. At 4'3 the young boy made a common sight, even if he was dressed in a suit fit for well-to-do business-men and stood with a confidence and bearing that no child should have been able to muster. Now, what was uncommon about the boy was that he was glowing with white light and that the Latin that he was chanting had taken on an eldritch echo and had somehow increased in volume even though he had not raised his voice in the slightest. Around his feet a circle had formed and pulsed with an unearthly green light while the voice of the boy continued to take on an odder timbre and pitch.

The boy's name was Negi Springfield and he was a teacher at the Academy. Negi was also something much more... he was a Magister Magi or a Mage. Negi had graduated from Magic school in Wales only to find out on graduation day he had been assigned to an English teaching position in an all girl school in Japan.

The order had come as an absolute surprise to him, his sister and his childhood friend. A few weeks later Negi had found himself on an international flight to Japan. A couple bus rides, crazy taxi drivers (You can find them in any country) and a few flight's on his mage staff, brought Negi to Mahora Academy during the morning rush to get to class. Negi was deeply impressed by the sheer size of the Academy, the campus was almost a city unto itself, and in fact Negi had been feeling such a deep sense of awe that he had let his mouth run wild. A comment about a nearby pigtailed and redheaded girl's face showing signs of unrequited love (through the use of physiognomy) caused the girl to pick Negi up by the top of his head get the word "brat" thrown at him seven or eight times before her friend talked her into putting him down.

That was how Negi had met Asuna. It had been a one event in a string of events that had lead Negi to reveal his secret to Asuna and that had lead her to eventually becoming a "Partner". She had helped Negi fight a former enemy of his father's and her Partner, who had been bound to the academy and had been dead set who had been to get her revenge on him and his students, Chachamaru and Evangeline. It had been one week since then and even though he and Asuna had won the fight, things had been quiet, too quiet.

The reason for Negi being out in a forest during his break was because of a certain mage turned ermine, Chamo, claiming to have a solution to his problem. Negi had turned Asuna into a partner reluctantly and only after much pestering by Chamo and Negi was still embarrassed about the kiss used to seal the deal. Negi did not want to Asuna to get involved anymore so when Chamo had produced a piece of parchment with the name of a tome of summoning magic and directions to retrieve the book from the Mahora Library he had decided to give it a shot. After a few hours searching the island-cum-library Negi had found the book listed on the piece of paper, "The Tome of Fading Twilight."

The tome turned out to have a great amount of information about a very powerful summoning spell called "Void Calling". The book mentioned that the spell would summon a powerful being who had been on the verge of death to help defend the Magister. Thinking that he would summon a dragon or some other magical creature, he decided to give the spell a try.

Back to the present.

Chamo watched from the bushes as Negi began the last two verse's of the spell. The magic circle glowed a different shade of green with every verse and pulsed in time with the Latin incantation. As Negi began to get closer and closer to the incantation's end, blue gold lighting played across the surface of the circle and Negi's voice took on a colossal boost in volume. As Negi whispered the last word softly, "Adeat", the circle exploded in light and sound that none who witnessed it could have described. A wave of wind knocked Negi off his feet and sent him flying out of the circle while a thin green pillar shot out of the circle into the sky.

Chamo screamed "Anaki! Are you alright Anaki? Talk to me! Anaki?" as he scurried off in Negi's direction to see if his self-proclaimed big brother was alright. Chamo discovered that while Negi was on his feet and none the worse for wear, being only knocked out of the circle (give or take a few feet), an emerald star had started to descend the green pillar. Chamo, seeing that they only had a few seconds until whatever was in that emerald star made contact with the ground, blurted "Anaki, let's hide until we can make sure it's safe!" Negi nodded his agreement and they both quickly shuffled off toward the nearby bushes dubious safety.

Negi and Chamo had barely made it to their intended hide when the unearthly star made contact with the magic circle. There was an overwhelming flash of light, which caused both Negi and Chamo to clamp their eyes tightly shut, then silence. Negi waited a few seconds, listening to the silence, and then slowly opened his eyes, daring not to breathe and slowly scanned the area. What Negi saw confused him, a person was standing in the location where he had cast the summoning spell.

Negi watched covertly as the person scanned his surroundings as if he were mildly surprised to be alive let alone in the middle of some strange forest. Negi eyed the strangers build, clothing and hair to get a hint of who this person was, let alone, why he was here. The first thing Negi noticed was that the person was tall, very tall, at least 6'4 with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He also noticed the way his muscles strained against his cloths that his muscle tone was that of someone who kept in very good shape. The next thing he noticed was that the man was wearing a uniform of some sort, not cloths.

The uniform the stranger was wearing was of a deep green color and the design reminded Negi of a United States marine's dress uniform he had saw on television once. The uniform's shoulders sported green and gold epaulets with an emblem depicting an eagle flaring its wings and its talons clutching twin lighting blots in each claw.

The last thing that was odd about the stranger was his hair; it was silver, long, made up into a pony tail, and that it was braided all the way to the tip. One or two seconds had past as Negi observed the stranger who seemed to be growing more and more alert as the seconds went by. At the five second mark both Negi and Chamo decided it was probably safe to breath at this point and quietly sucked in a bit of air after closing their eyes.

After one or two seconds of breathing in and out to calm himself Negi opened his eyes and looked over the clearing again and was astounded to find the clearing empty. At first Negi thought that the man had vanished somehow, and then quickly dismissed the notion, then he thought that the man had somehow used a teleport spell to go somewhere and was debating if he should search for any remaining magical traces when a pair of scared and callused hands clamped around his mouth and body. Negi would of jumped at least a foot in the air if he been able to move, however the arm around his body and the hand on his mouth held him motionlessly in place.

A deep gruff voice whispered in his ear (in American accented English), "I won't hurt you if you cooperate. Blink once if you understand me." Negi blinked once. "Good, now I'm going to ask you some questions and in exchange I'm going to let go of your mouth and as long as you don't scream it will remain that way, got it? Blink if you understand." Negi blinked and felt the pressure on his mouth decrease slowly. When he did not scream the pressure faded completely.

"Now, I can tell something weird is going on, so, I'm going to start with what I know and work my way up to what you know, got it?" the voice whispered, "Yes!" Negi yelped his reply with fear and wondered where Chamo was and if he was alright. "Alright, now let's start with what I know. Is this world in anyway affiliated with United Nations Space Command or any Separatist world?" Negi had no idea what those where but shook his head anyway. "Ok, is this world a human world occupied by the Covenant?" Negi replied, thinking that the Covenant might be a group of magic user's, "Not that I know of, but I'm not sure what you mean." Negi heard the voice 'hmmm' at that last remark. "Alright, if you haven't heard of the Covenant then, I don't suppose you know the date?*"

Negi replied, "January, 17, 2005."

The strangers grunted quietly at that and Negi wondered what the problem was. "Ok, I don't suppose you saw a shooting star did you?" Negi wondered what that meant, but replied, "No, I, uhmm, summ-...." Negi cut himself off before he got in trouble for revealing the existence of magic to someone not involved. "You're hiding something." The strangers tone made the statement a question. "Yes..." Negi knew that the stranger knew something was up, so, he thought he might as well admit that he was hiding something.

The stranger relented, "Ok, I'll come back to what you're hiding later. For now..." The voice took one quick, short breath and said, "Let's start with what you know then, ok?" The arm that had clamped around his midsection pining his arms to his sides since the entire conversation began released him but clamped onto his shirt collar. The stranger gently turned Negi around and Negi finally saw his attackers face.

The man standing on his haunches in front of him was pale, with piercing green eyes and stunning good looks. He also had a small scar under his right eye and another peeking up from underneath his collar on the right side of his neck. His silver hair was pulled back by his braid and the only loose hair on his head was his bangs, which hung long, almost touching his chin. The stare, made all the more intense because of his striking green eyes, he set on Negi was one of a person that had seen the cruelties of life and had refused to be cursed by them.

"Well then, I guess I'll start with the basics. On what world am I, where on that planet am I, and who are you?" Negi shrugged, causing the hand on his shirt collar to twitch, and said, "You're on Earth, on one of the mainland of Japan, and my name is Negi Springfield." Sensing that this man would not harm him if he asked, he went on, "And who are you are you, sir, if you don't mind me asking?" The man replied, "Call me Sierra for now, and I might tell you more if the situation is as bad as I think it is. But first, could you let me ask you something?" Negi nodded, wondering what he was going to ask. "Do you know who screwed with my hair? Because last time I checked I had an inch of hair, not four damn feet, and it damn sure wasn't braided!" Negi shook his head and pondered what his spell had done to the man.

The stranger released his hold of Negi's shirt collar and stood looking down at him after standing shaking his head. "And another thing, I should be forty one by my count, yet here I am with the body of a teen!" Mr. Sierra, as Negi had come to think of him, shook his head with a small frown, puzzlement radiating from every pore. Negi was about to tell Mr. Sierra that teens very rarely run 6'4, let alone have a Herculean build, when he heard both Chamo and Asuna yelling for him.

"Anaki! Anaki! We're coming to help, just wait a little bit longer!"

"Negi, just hold on where coming to help!"

Mr. Sierra sighed and asked Negi, "Friends of yours?" Negi nodded and said, "Yes, one is a student of mine and the other is... well... a ermine..." Negi finished lamely. Mr. Sierra gave him a very penetrating stare and said, "A ermine?" Sierra's withering tone caused Negi to blush faintly and wave his arms in his defense, "He is... a very special ermine." Mr. Sierra sighed and replied, "Look, let's just go meet up with your friends, they are probably worried."

Mr. Sierra gave Negi's shoulder a pat and started walking toward the rapidly closing voices. As Negi hurried to catch up with Mr. Sierra, Negi was struck by how graceful Sierra moved, even while walking Mr. Sierra seemed to stalk the forest trail. Negi felt something off about the stranger, the way he moved, the way he had acted, and how calm he was. Negi knew for a fact that almost anyone in the same situation as Mr. Sierra would have been stark raving mad by now. Negi was wondering just who he had summoned when Asuna came barreling down the bend of the trail.

Asuna was running full tilt down the trail when she spotted Negi, safe and sound, her concentration wavered briefly. That brief moment lead to her not watching where her feet where going, which caused her to not see the pothole in the middle of the trail. Negi watched as Asuna started to fall and instinctively reached for the staff that his father left him when he realized he had left it in the clearing where he a cast the summoning spell. As this revelation flashed through his mind, Negi took a step forward to see if he could catch her, when Mr. Sierra moved. One second Sierra was a few feet in front of him, the next he was holding Asuna in his arms in a honeymoon carry effortlessly.

That was how Asuna met Sierra. The moment Asuna tripped she knew the fall was going to be nasty, like broken leg nasty. She felt herself getting turned around in midair so she was no longer facing the ground. The next thing she felt was a pair of strong arms grasp her shoulders and sweep her feet off the ground. Green luminescent eyes looked into one green eye and one blue eye and asked (in perfect Japanese), "Are you alright?"

Asuna felt herself turning as red as her hair, although she didn't know why. "Yes." she said quietly and the middle school child was gently placed back on her feet. Negi gaped in disbelief at how fast Mr. Sierra could move. Mr. Sierra had been a good few feet in front of him and Asuna had been at least seventeen feet away from ether of them when she had started her fall. Sierra had seemed to have blurred across the intervening feet to Asuna. Definitely not normal, Negi quickly thought.

Chamo came running down the trail then. When he spotted the stranger he had seen attack Negi with his hands lying on Asuna's shoulders he screamed, "Asuna-Aniki that's the one that attacked Negi-Aniki!" Mr. Sierra's head whipped around, viper quick, to see who just said that and the only thing he spotted was a white ermine in the middle of the trail. Asuna took a second to pull herself together and quickly struck out with a fist.

Or tried to compose herself at least. Her fist had barely started to move when, without looking, the strangers hand was covering it, restraining it effortlessly. Asuna was not a weak girl and was considered the strongest physically in her class; however this man's arm had barely twitched. Asuna, however, was not deterred easily. She started to lash out with her foot when the stranger simply spun her in place and, without losing contact on her fist, placed her arm on the high point of the small of her back. Sierra then used a classic police move to trip her sending her face first into the dirt. However Sierra did not use the complete move, (where after tripping his opponent the police officer maintains the arm bar using his knee to pin the arm to the prep's back) he merely let go, allowing Asuna fall untidily into the dirt.

Asuna inhaled and exhaled a few times and had started to get onto her knees when she heard two familiar voices call her name down the trail, Kade and Ku Fei.

Kade and Ku Fei, who had seen Asuna run off during PE period and where naturally concerned, found Asuna on the ground with a strange man looming over her. They naturally made some assumptions and went on the offensive. Asuna heard the stranger sigh and saw that he had assumed a fighting stance of some sort.

Ku Fei led the attack with a jump kick. The stranger responded by simply swatting his hand at her leg, the force of the blow caused a small spike of pain through Ku Fei's leg and deflected the blow. Causing her to land in an untidy roll behind and to the left of the stranger. Kade fallowed up by throwing ninja throwing knives (blunted training knives) at him while dropping out of a tree to the right of the stranger. The man simply responded by ducking at the waist allowing the kunai to fly harmlessly over him.

Ku Fei came up out of the roll and lunched herself at the man with her fist raised intending to land a crippling punch. Kade landed and unsheathed her ninja blade (she always kept one on her at all times) and sprinted at the man with the intent to hamstring him. As they both closed the stranger shifted slightly.

Kade was the first one to reach striking range. She lashed out, aiming low, with the blade pointed downward in her fist. The stranger responded with a simple judo throw (grab attacking arm with one arm, pivot into the targets center of gravity with your back, sweep one foot with the back of your heel, bend at the waist while bending forward, and release the targets arm while gravity takes its course). The stranger also disarmed Kade somehow during the throw and she wondered, as she sailed through the air, how someone could move so fast.

As Kade was flying straight at Ku Fei, Asuna (lying on the ground as she was) looked up in wonder at the stranger and both of her friends. She had known Ku Fei was a martial artist, and that Kade had always been good at sports, but, the way her friends where fighting was on an entirely different level then anything she had seen before. The stranger seemed to be barely trying and that terrified Asuna greatly.

Ku Fei slid under Kade as she flies over head. Kade's body disappeared in a puff of smoke and in its place flew a small log. Ku Fei tried to sweep the strangers legs out from under him as she slid but he did a little twisting hop that allowed him to evade the attack. The reason for the twist in his little hop was so he could deal with Kade as she dropped out of a tree behind him and threw the ball end of a kussri-gama (that ball-chain-sickle thing ninja's use) right at his head.

The stranger used the Kade's ninja blade like a bat and swatted the ball away from his head. He then used his free hand to latch onto the chain and yanked the weapon out of the girl's hand. As he landed, Ku Fei launched a vicious strike at the strangers' neck, only to have herself hit in the head by the kussri-gama scythe's handle. The resulting hit launched the business end of the weapon into the air. Kade launched herself at the stranger hoping to exploit the commotion with the kussri-gama.

The stranger waited as Kade got closer then, simply, clubbed her in the side of the head with the kussri-gama ball end. The stranger caught the scythe end of the female ninja's weapon before it could burry it's blade into the unconscious Ku Fei. Asuna's and Negi's eyes had gone wide with awe and fear as Mr. Sierra dropped both weapons by his feet and went to check each girl's pulse.

The entire fight had only lasted four seconds. The man had barely moved and both of his attackers had ended up unconscious on the forest floor. Mr. Sierra stood up and nodded, glad that both girls where ok when he heard a soft female voice exclaim, "You'll pay for what you did to them, evildoer!"

Negi, Chamo, and Asuna looked up the trail to see Setsuna brandishing her overly large katana. Negi and Asuna were about to warn Setsuna not to come any closer when they heard the silver haired stranger after shaking his head, say softly, "You know, I'm getting tired of random people assaulting me. Play time is over!"

The stranger launched himself at Setsuna who was a good 15 feet away, blurring across the distance in the blink of an eye, kicking up a large amount of leaves in the process. Setsuna whipped her large katana in an overhead downward strike, only to find that the stranger had sidestepped at the last instant. The stranger smashed middle of his foot down on the middle of the katana snapping it in half. The man then delivered a vicious punch to Setsuna's solar plexus, causing her to bend at the waist and drop to her knees while cradling her mid section, her sword forgotten at her feet.

"I've had enough of people attacking me at random." The stranger turned to Negi and stated, "I need answers before ANYONE ELSE attacks me and since you're the guy hiding something, so you are the logical person to start with." Negi winced at the man's tone and wondered if he should revile his secret to Mr. Sierra. Asuna got to her feet and walked over to Negi with the intent to shield him from harm if the stranger decided to attack.

Mr. Sierra watched Asuna walk over to Negi and knew what see had in mind. He sighed and said gently, "Look, Miss, I'm not going to hurt the kid. I just want answers. The last thing I remember I had gone into cryo sleep on a crippled starship, hurtling god knows where, only to find myself in a clearing in some random forest on Earth! Please little boy if you know something, please tell me."

Negi heard the pleading note in Mr. Sierra's voice and stepped around Asuna. "Alright Mr. Sierra I'll tell you what's going on, but not here, there are too many ways someone can overhear us in the forest." Asuna turned to Negi, "Negi, are you sure you can trust him? He did just beat up a couple of your students, incase you didn't notice." Negi nodded and looked over his shoulder at Asuna, "I think we can trust him Asuna, he could have finished off Ku Fei, Kade and you but he didn't. I think he was only defending himself and to be honest, if he had the intent to kill us, I think he would have done so already."

Setsuna staggered to her feet, clutching her midsection. "Negi-sensei are you sure it's wise to trust him?" She swayed on her feet as she spoke causing the stranger to offer his hand in support, to which she politely declined. Negi shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'm the one responsible for this mess, so it's my duty to fix this. But first, let's get Kade and Ku Fei to the infirmary then visit to the principle; he'll know how to fix this."

Negi walked over to the unconscious form of Ku Fei and tried to get a good hand hold so he could carry her. Mr. Sierra walked over and picked up Ku Fei, then Kade and placed both of them on his shoulders (a.k.a. a fireman's carry). Sierra looked around their little group and said, "Let's go."

Everyone nodded and set off toward the school.

One Hour Later

Mr. Sierra stood, spine ramrod straight, eyes staring at a spot four centimeters above the old man's head and saluted the Principle of Mahora Academy with parade ground perfection. The older man was a little surprised by the military formality, but nodded and told the stranger to sit down. "Now, Mr. Sierra was it? I have talked with Negi and Setsuna about what happened and we have come to an agreement."

Mr. Sierra nodded. "We have decided to tell you the truth. The whole truth, and, in exchange I'd would like you to tell me about yourself." Mr. Sierra considered the older man's words for a good couple of seconds and bobbed his head in agreement. The Principle nodded then stated, "Good, first, I'll tell you why you are here." The Principle paused, "You where summoned here with a powerful magical spell, known as "Void Calling"." Sierra cocked his head to the side. "Magic?"

"Yes, magic, mana, incantations, spells, all that." The old man waved his hands. "It's with us, always. In this room right now, you and I sit in a sea of it. It connects all things together in an unbreakable web. There are many kinds of magic users and Negi and I happen to be users of the art. Magic is it what brought you here. The spell used to summon you here only summons's great beings to defend the caster. Now, why don't you tell me why the spell chose you, who seem to be but a man, here?"

The stranger lowered his head for a second and thought it over. When he raised his head, determination was written all over his face.

"I'm not sure I believe, the whole bit about magic being why I'm here, but it would make a kind of sense. Anyway, since you seem to have been truthful to me, I guess I will return the favor. I am Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the Spartan II super-solder program and for the last thirty years now I have been fighting a collection of alien races known as the Covenant, five-hundred years from now that is. Our first contact with them happened with them happened when the United Nations Space Command sent a battle group to investigate a colony, Harvest that had been out of contact with High Command for a period of time. They sent one message, "Your destruction is the will of the God's, and we are their instrument." They opened fire after that. There was only one survivor. That started a war that resulted in five hundred billion human casualties and two hundred and twenty worlds turned to glass. Now I've been candid with you, I would appreciate it if you return the favor. Why am I here?"

The Principle had gone white as a sheet at the soldier's story. The older man stammered, "Five-hundred billion? How could they have done such a thing?" Anger & sadness stormed in the old man's eyes.

"What you just felt sir is what the entirety of the UNSC armed forces had been feeling for thirty years. Now, please answer my question. Why am I here and why am I like this?" John said wave'ing at his body, slight agitation displayed in his body language.

The Principle sucked in one huge calming breath then said, "One more question, if you please. You said you where part of a super soldier program; I'd like you to expand upon that."

John sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you about the SPARTAN II program, only because the UNSC does not to exist here so their's no one who can court martial me and holding out at this point would be stupid." John cuped his chin with his hand and collected his thoughts.

John looked up and said, "At the age of six I was conscripted for the SPARTAN II program. I was taken from my home in the middle of the night and sedated then thrown into cryo sleep. I awoke in an amphitheater on another world, and told I was going to be a soldier. After the various speakers where finished, we where escorted to our barracks. We where woken up at 4am by trainers with stun sticks and that's when our training began..."

John told the Principle about his life, his successes, his failures, his augmentations, and his teammates for the next three hours. The Principle found the soldiers story horrific and despite himself, fascinating. The Principle saw the sadness in the Spartan's eyes even if the rest of his face showed no emotion. John told him about the Halo rings and the Ark, about 343 Guilty Spark, about Cortona, about Mendez, about Jacob and Miranda Keys, Kelly, Fred, Sam, Linda, Li, Grace, the list went on. John told the kindly old man about the things he had seen, done, and heard.

It was, for John, as if some long closed gate had opened and he told the old man everything. He described the grace of the Halo's, the sound of a thousand Flood infection forms scurrying about, and the feeling of dropping through the upper stratosphere without the aid of a ship.

The Principle was awed by the young man sitting in front of him. If his story was to be believed the man before him was almost as old as the Principle, had lived and fought in the worst war in human history, succeeded when the situation seemed impossible, and, above all, lived through it all. At the end of his story, the Spartan did something no one who knew him would think was possible, he shed a single tear, grieving for all that humanity had lost.

The Principle got up from his chair and walked around the desk and to John's mild surprise, bowed deeply. The old man said, after righting himself and voice thick with emotion, "Thank you for the honor of hearing your story. I shall carry it to the end of my days." John stood and shook his head, "No sir. Thank you for listening. It felt good to get that off my chest."

Both men resumed sitting after regaining their composure.

The Principle voice took on a business-like tone. "Well, now I understand why the spell chose you. But, to answer your question about why you are here, I'll have to get a little technical. The spell used to summon you here, as you know, is called Void Calling." John nodded. "What you don't know is that that spell has been locked away and hidden for the last two hundred years. The reason for this is that once someone summons's something with Void Calling it's impossible for that person or thing to return. Another reason the spell is forbidden is because of the changes that happen to the person or object. The caster is not really taking whatever he summons's from the place or time that object resides. He is merely taking the essence of that object or person and using it to form a copy body or shell here so that the essence has a place to live in and Void Calling only works with things or object's that are about to die or be destroyed.

The process is influenced by the casters mind which is why you have the body of a teen. I also wouldn't be surprised if some of your... enhancements haven't received a slight boost to reflect to teen mindset (you know, super heroes and such). Now, you can't go back to your time and you can't leave here because of the magical link with Negi. So I have a job I'd like to offer you, if you're interested."

"Hold on just a second." John said, looking over his shoulder, "You two, by the door! Front and center!"

The two large doors of the Principle's office flew open and Negi flew face first into the carpet. Setsuna stumbled into the office and triped over Negi and landed on top of him. The Principle cleared his throat. Both Negi and Setsuna scrambled to their feet, and looked down shame faced. The Principle cleared his throat, "I take it you heard John's story?" Both nodded. "And what did you two think?"

Negi looked up and stammered, "D-did you really stop a machine that was capable of destroying all life in the galaxy?"

Setsuna asked at the same time, "Did you really drop through the upper atmosphere with out a ship?"

John nodded, "Yes on both counts. Although, the suit of powered armor was what let me survive the fall." He turned back to the Principle, "Now, what's this about a job?" The Principle coughed into a fist. "Yes, well it's about young Negi here. You see, he's a promising young mage with a lot of potential. However, he also has a tendency to get into trouble and I'm afraid he's going to get into trouble one day that he can't handle. So, he need's a body guard, interested?"

A voice popped into John's mind, I know he has a partner somewhere on campus and your REAL job will be to guard both Negi, his partner, and his class. I fear for the boy. Forces are moving around him that I can't control and I won't be able to protect him from some of the worst of it.

John cocked his head at the Principle and replied in his mind, I will try. I don't really have a choice in the matter but, I will try.

"I'll do it."

"W-what? Principle, what do I need a bodyguard for?!"

"Good. Now, I'm going to enroll you in Negi's class as John Springfield a distant relative of some sort here to observe his class." The old man started to stroke his beard, smirking.

"Wait, What? That wasn't in the job description."

"Be sure to visit the student store for your uniform and get some sleep, class start's tomorrow. I have a feeling your going to need it..."

In The Infirmary

Asuna, who was watching over the still unconscious forms of Kade and Ku Fei, felt herself blush and her heart skip a beat. She was wondering why when Ku Fei's eyes fluttered open. She shot up to a sitting position and stated, "Where is he?"

"Where's who?"

"Where's the man with the silver hair?"

"In the Principle's office."

"Ah, good, I thought he was a dream."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm going to marry him."

With that, Ku Fei fell back into the bed instantly unconscious. Asuna wondered if she was serious.

Later That Night

Negi knocked on the door of the room he shared with Asuna and Konoka and sighed wondering what he was going to do when he heard, "Come in." The voice sounded familiar but Negi shrugged it off and walked in. Negi fell flat on his face. Sitting with Asuna and Konoka around a low slung table in the middle of the room, was John!

John turned to Asuna and asked, "Is he always like this?"

"Yeah, the little brat can't seem to stay on his feet for more then a few minutes!"

"Be nice Asuna. No, he's not always this."

"You're too nice Konoka."

"And beautiful too!"

Both girls laughed at the little by-play and Konoka said, "You really should get up off the floor Negi, you'll catch a cold."

Negi stammered, "W-what are you doing here John?"

"I'll be living here from now on."

"You and he will be sleeping on the floor."

"W-what!?"

The Next Morning

Negi stood before a massive black board facing his class. "Alright class before we begin today, I'd like to introduce someone. John, you can come in now." The Spartan, clad in his new school uniform, walked in. "This is John Springfield, he's my cousin from America. He's here as part of a special exchange program. Please treat him well."

"My name is John and I'll be working with you all for the time being, please treat me well." The Spartan bowed. Ku Fei and Kade jumped to their feet and shouted at the same time, "That's the guy from yesterday!"

The entire class looked at the stranger, then at Negi, then burst out, "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

End Chapter 1