A Little Bit of Magic

A Love Hina/Negima crossover

Disclaimer: Love Hina, Mahou Sensei Negima, and all the characters portrayed in those titles (and this fic) belong to Ken Akamatsu (that man is a genius!)

I will be keeping honorifics where they don't have an English equivalent. I apologize if that bothers anyone.

There will be spoilers for both Love Hina and Negima. You have been warned!!!

'These' are thoughts

-These- are in Latin

#These# are just general noises and sound effects, like coughing, things hitting people's heads, etc.

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#Sniff, sniff#

Most of the residents of the town surrounding the ancient inn were out and about, enjoying the warm sun and the gentle breeze. However, had they stopped by a playground near the inn, they would have noticed a 5-year-old boy crying his little eyes out.

"What's the matter kid?"

Little Keitaro Urashima wiped his tears on his sleeve as he looked up at the young man who had addressed him. Boys shouldn't cry, after all, and he didn't want to look like a wimp in front of anyone, let alone some stranger. Speaking of which, he really shouldn't be talking to any strangers.

"Oh, you're Hina-san's grandkid, right?"

Keitaro blinked. This man knew his grandma? As he looked again at the strangely dressed man, a jolt of familiarity went through the boy.

"Hey! You're that guy that's staying for free at the inn!"

"Oi! Don't make it sound like I'm freeloading or something! I happen to be good friends with your grandma!"

"S-sorry, mister."

"S'all right kid. And don't call me mister, call me Nagi." The man offered Keitaro a handkerchief that he had pulled from the cloak covering his entire body, which Keitaro accepted. "Thank you, Nagi-san."

"So, why the tears?"

Keitaro still looked hesitant.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Nagi reassured him.

"Na-chan is moving away." Tears began to form again in the boy's eyes.

"Ah geez, kid, don't do that. Er, anyways, who's Na-chan?"

#sniff# "She's one of my best friends! She and Mu-chan! But I heard Na-chan's daddy talking to grandma, and he said that now that she was feeling better, they were going to move!"

"That's too bad, kid."

But then Keitaro smiled a bit. "I guess it's ok though. 'Cause me and Na-chan promised that we'd go to Todai together!"

Nagi blinked. Todai? Does he mean Tokyo University? "Er, sorry kid, but I'm not from around here. Can you tell me what's so special about Todai?"

"Oh! Me and Mu-chan heard it from Na-chan's daddy! He said that if two people who really love each other go to Todai together, they'll live happily ever after, like in the fairy tales!"

Nagi smiled slyly at that. "Ah, I see. So you really love Na-chan, huh?"

Keitaro blushed a bit, but then exclaimed, "Yeah! And I'm gonna marry her too!"

"And does Na-chan love you too?"

"Uh huh! 'Cause Mu-chan told me so!"

'Heh, cute kid,' Nagi thought. 'That's kind of a strange legend, but then I've seen weirder things.'

"Hey, Nagi-san, now it's my turn to ask a question!"

"Huh?"

"It's only fair, right?"

"Well, I guess. Ask away, kid."

"Why are you dressed so funny? Why do you have that staff? Are you a magician?"

"That's three questions, kid, but they all have the same answer, so I'll let it be." He figured since he was just a kid, it wouldn't do any harm to tell him his secret. Nagi bent down and whispered conspiratorially, "Yup, you've got it kid. I'm a really powerful wizard."

"WOOOOOOOOOW!!!!"

"Hey, hey, keep it down. It's a secret. We go around doing good deeds, but we can't let people know or we'll get turned into animals."

"Huh? Why?"

"Same reason superheroes have secret identities."

"Oh, okay." Nagi was glad that kids were so innocent. "Umm. . ."

"Yeah, what is it, kid?"

"Umm, Nagi-san? Do you know a spell to make sure me and Na-chan meet again?"

"Why do you need it, kid? You have your promise, right?"

"Yeah, but I wanna make doubly sure!"

Nagi considered this. Someone might spot them. But then again, the kid and his little girlfriend would likely forget their promise. No one comes to the playground near sunset, so he could do it then. . .and besides, mages were supposed to help people right?

Nagi grinned. "All right, kid. Bring your girlfriend here tomorrow."

"Yaaay!!!" Overjoyed, Keitaro ran off to tell Na-chan.

"Heh, cute kid."

-o-o-o-

The next day, Nagi found Keitaro pulling along two little girls. One was a brown-haired girl around Keitaro's age, while the other was a 2-year old with lighter, reddish-brown hair.

"C'mon Na-chan, Mu-chan!"

"Um, kid, I thought you were only going to bring Na-chan."

"Yeah, but Mu-chan overheard us and wanted to see."

Nagi shrugged. It's not likely they were going to remember this later in life. Even if they did remember, they would probably just think it was a game. "Aren't you going to introduce me, kid?"

"Oh! Nagi-san, this is Mu-chan," Keitaro pointed to the older girl.

"Hello, Nagi-san."

"Hi." 'Then. . .' Nagi thought.

"And this is Na-chan." Keitaro, still holding on to the 2-year old's hand, raised it with his own.

'Heh, the kid likes 'em young, huh?' Nagi thought.

Keitaro continued, "Na-chan can't talk very well yet."

"Oh. Um, hey there."

"Aau. . ." the little girl hid behind Keitaro. Nagi sweatdropped.

"Aww, don't be afraid kid."

"A-anyways, Na-chan, Mu-chan, this is Nagi-san. He's a really powerful wizard!!!"

Hearing Keitaro praise Nagi enthusiastically, 'Na-chan' looked at the young man in awe, while 'Mu-chan' gave an "OOOOH."

Nagi smirked, then addressed Keitaro. "I've got everything set up for the spell. Keitaro, you and 'Na-chan' stand over there together. 'Mu-chan. . .'"

"My name is Mutsumi, Nagi-san," the girl interrupted with a smile.

"Err, right, Mutsumi-chan, you stand away from us a bit. This spell is designed to affect only two people and I don't want to know what'll happen if a third person were in there."

"Okay, Nagi-san."

"All right, Nagi-san. Let's go Na-chan!" Still holding hands, Keitaro dragged 'Na-chan' along with him to the spot Nagi indicated. The girl, trusting Keitaro, followed happily. With all of the preparations ready, Nagi pulled out a spell book from his robes, and began to recite his personal key phrase. Every wizard had one in order to initiate spells.

"Man Man Terro Terro!" Nagi yelled. -Ancient spirits, join these two souls so that they may find each other once more! Destiny Binding!-

A circle of light full of strange symbols appeared on the ground beneath Keitaro and 'Na-chan' before ribbons of light wrapped around the two. A bright flash surrounded the two before everything returned to its normal state.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Mutsumi gushed. Keitaro and 'Na-chan' stood there for a second, dazed, then walked back to Nagi and Mutsumi.

"You two all right?" Nagi asked as he put his spell book back into his cloak.

"Yeah. It felt really nice," Keitaro stated. 'Na-chan' nodded her agreement. "So did it work, Nagi-san?"

"Yup. So now you two are definitely going to meet again."

"Yaaay!" the three children cheered. "Na-chan, Mu-chan, lets go play! Oh! Thank you, Nagi-san!"

"Ah, don't mention it kid. It's my job as a wizard, after all."

"Still, it's too bad Mu-chan couldn't be part of the spell."

"It's okay, Kei-kun."

"Hmm. I might have something for Mutsumi, after all." Nagi pulled out a small bag from his robes. "This is a special memory-retaining powder I found." He sprinkled some on Mutsumi. "Now, all you have to do is think of what you want to remember, so you'll never forget it."

Mutsumi closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Finished, Nagi-san."

Nagi smiled. "Okay kids, why don't you go run off and play."

Smiling, the three friends waved good-bye to Nagi.

"Nagi Springfield, what were you doing to my grandson and his friends?!?"

Nagi winced, then turned around slowly. "Ah, hello, Hina-san. Nice weather today, eh?"

The old woman just glared at him, and Nagi began to sweat. He may be a powerful mage, but Hina-san had the skills and experience to kick his butt from here to Wales.

"I hope that spell wasn't anything dangerous young man. You know playing with human emotions can cause a lot of problems in the end."

"Ah, no, no! Keitaro and his little girlfriend will just be ensured a meeting in the future. What they decide to do and how they feel about each other is up to them. And the memory powder has been thoroughly tested."

"All right Nagi." Grandma Hina smiled. "So, how was your trip to the Kansai Magic Association headquarters? I heard you got into an incident with one of the Shinmeiryuu swordsmen. Someone from the Aoyama family, was it?"

"Hey, if she hadn't jumped to conclusions then we could have avoided that mess. Oh, and Eisyun-san sends his regards."

"Well, you can tell me all about the meeting over some tea, Mr. Thousand Master."

The two walked back to the inn while three children laughed and played in the sandbox.

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Author's Note:

Heh, I hope that his wasn't too bad for a first fic. Ever since I read Mahou Sensei Negima a while back (before it was officially released here) and then read that one of the students, Setsuna, was a Shinmeiryuu practitioner, I had a desire to write this fic. I wanted to write a crossover that would have very little impact to the overall storyline. Hopefully, at least. I found the beginnings of this fic in one of my folders and decided to redo it all using information from the latest chapters of the manga.

For those of you who don't know, Mahou Sensei Negima (or Magister Negi Magi) is Akamatsu's latest manga. It was just recently released in the US by Del Rey. It's about a 10-year old magician, Negi Springfield, sent to Japan to teach English to an all-girl school. I really love the characters in Negima and I do recommend that everyone read it!

The key phrases and Nagi's personal phrase "Man Man Terro Terro" are really in the manga. The Destiny Binding spell and the memory powder I made up (yeah, I know that spells are supposed to be in Latin in Negima, but I have little to no knowledge of the language). "Eisyun-san" here is referring to a friend of the Thousand Master, who is the current head of the Kansai Magic Association in the Manga and Konoka's father. As for Grandma Hina, well, considering how long she's lived, she's bound to know at least a few mages. If you're wondering why Nagi's so afraid of her, well. . .she is the one teaching Kanako how to fight. I'd imagine someone with her experience could make even the great Thousand Master shake in his boots.

If you are wondering why Mutsumi wasn't part of the spell, Keitaro didn't know that Mutsumi was also going to leave pretty soon . The way the timeline goes in this story, Naru first leaves, then Mutsumi. As for the Thousand Master (a.k.a. Nagi Springfield, a.k.a. Negi's dad), I wasn't sure how old he would be in 1984, so I just assumed he was still young (maybe early 20s?). Please R&R! If I made any mistakes I'd like to know so I could correct them!