note: i originally planned Ako as being the narrator but it ended up sounding like Chisame. blame Lykke Li's "tonight" for inspiring this. and picture the era of this story being around the mid-1800s in Europe or like in 'the Prestige' or 'the illusionist' or 'the phantom of the opera'...
oh, and i don't own any "Mahou Sensei Negima" characters...
The first day I saw him was the last day I would ever see him.
He was a traveling magician, going from town to town, trying to make a living off his wondrous tricks.
Wherever he went, he enchanted the people, persuading them for a while that magic was indeed real and that the hope for the impossible was the best kind of hope.
His marvelous abilities gained him the love that few ever experience: children, men, women, grandmothers, grandfathers, people of all ages loved him, especially the women. Many women fell in love with this magician, whom was both handsome and kind, even I fell for his otherworldly charm.
Unfortunately, for the maidens he unintentionally wooed, he was never without a certain female companion. Always by his side was an equally beautiful person, a woman, his stage partner.
I met her just once.
At first, she would appear distant and haughty. This was my first impression of her: a stubborn, vain, empty-headed woman. For all her beauty could get her, the affections of men, the jealousy of other women, the admiration of all, I believed her a selfish child, playing with the emotions of those who chose to befriend her.
That was what I believed her to be, before I understood the true intentions of her actions.
The day I meet him my superior had been invited by a friend of his to a showing of this magician. He had accepted with good humor, being a great enthusiast of magic tricks, he enjoyed them wholeheartedly. He had asked for me to accompany him, as a friend with whom he would be able to discuss the possible ways that the trick be achieved.
I agreed, mainly on the part of duty and responsibility, for I held no curiosity for magic, being a firm believer in what could be seen.
I had no intention of becoming like all those I have heard of: the wishers, the believers of the supernatural, the ones that stepped out of this magician's show having faith in magic.
There was no magic for me.
And as the show came to a close, even with all my prejudice against the magician, the cold view of this world that my stony heart held, I could not help but wonder at his amazing talents.
My superior praised him as one of the best he had ever seen. Even now that so much time has passed, he tells me constantly that he has never seen a magician as magnificent as that young man. He prays that the magician returns to our town again.
Although, I would never say this, I too secretly wish for his return.
Unfortunately, I know now that I will never be able to have any kind of relationship with him but that of a friend's.
Why?
Because of that woman, his stage partner.
Of all the women that loved him, the hundreds, perhaps thousands of women's love, he had only one.
His love, the love that he held in his reach but yet, was never able to claim.
That woman, yes, she, the one that unintentionally tortured his heart with every smile and every glance that she give to him. His days where spent filled with fake smiles, fake laughs, fake joy, all trying to hide the pain of seeing the one he loved with another.
How do I know all this?
The magician told me.
He told me, one of the many women that loved him, his most deepest secret: he was in love with her, the one who was always near him but could never have.
At first it was an accident.
My superior had shown interest in the girl, the magician's stage partner, begging me to speak with her in hopes of allowing him to become better acquainted with the beauty.
I had agree without a second's thought, for I too hoped to receive a chance to speak with the handsome, red-haired magician.
As I reached the magician's dressing room, I heard voices, cheerful voices of a man and a woman, both of whom I recognized as the magician and his stage partner. I heard the magician suggest a small celebration together with a certain alcoholic beverage. The girl laughed, telling him she couldn't, not after what happened the last time she had drank that beverage, waking up the next morning not remembering the night before.
She said her goodbyes arranging to meet with him in a few hours after seeing the town. I quickly tried to hide my presence as she left his room but my attempts of stealth failed miserably. The girl asked if I needed anything, looking at me with surprise at finding someone there.
I must have seemed like a mute because she tried to make me write, putting a pen and paper in my hand.
I quickly corrected the misunderstanding telling her my purpose in coming to their dressing room.
She looked at me strangely but agreed in meeting with my superior, saying it would be a pleasant experience, one that she hadn't been able to make time for yet.
She walked back to his room to tell him the change of plans, she told him not to lose sleep waiting for her if she didn't return that night. Jokingly, she added that if she didn't turn up tomorrow morning, he should send the police brigade to search for her.
By this time I had already reached the magician's room, hearing him laugh as I peeked curiously in through the open door. The girl smiled at me, whispering in my ear that she would make me the happiest, most envied woman alive.
I was puzzled at her words until she told the magician about me and invited me in, pulling me towards the beautiful man sitting by his desk. She grabbed the bottle that the magician held in his hand, talking about how it was his favorite drink and how unfortunate that he had only her, who couldn't handle it, to drink it with, that or drink alone, something which depressed her immensely.
I was hesitant at first, being so close to someone that I had barely began to admire made me nervous but without a say in the matter, the girl left me alone with him. He thanked me for my company, raising his drink to toast for my health.
We chatted afterward about everything from my opinion of his performance to what I did for a living. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, succumbing to the alcohol and his pleasant aura so much that I attempted a kiss.
He didn't pull back but allowed my lips to work with his.
Being lost in the sensations of kissing my new found love, I put my arms around him, ridding myself of all doubts and worries.
I kept this up until I felt him grow unresponsive to my eager passions. Releasing my hold on him, I asked if I was doing anything wrong, anything that had upset him. He assured me with sad eyes that I had done nothing wrong, saying that I would make a wonderful lover for someone.
Then and there I knew I wouldn't be having a fantasy night with this man.
For this man was a being who already had someone in his heart that owned him body and soul.
I asked him who she was, already having a clue as to who filled his heart. He asked if his infatuation was that obvious. I responded no, not to a passersby, I wouldn't have caught on if it weren't for the conversation I had overheard.
As if knowing the person he was talking to was trustworthy, he spilled his thoughts to me, splitting his heart open to a person he barely knew but felt he could tell anything.
Turns out he had met his stage partner when he was ten years old and she was thirteen. After his parents disappeared, he was left with his beloved cousin, whom he loved dearly but the poor girl couldn't afford to feed him, so she often starved herself at times to allow him the right amount of food for a growing boy. He decided to run away, promising to come back one day as a rich man.
That's when he met her.
She had lost all her family, a runaway orphan like him. Perhaps that's what made him stay with her, that and the ways she reminded him of his cousin.
For a while after, they fought for survival, then the girl suggested he become a magician since he had shown talent at card and hat tricks.
He was hesitant at first but agreed when the girl pushed, and that's how all this came to be: the breathtaking magician in front of me was born from that horribly beautiful woman.
This fact stabbed at my pride, she was connected deeper to this handsome man than I could ever hope to be and to top it off she already had his heart in the palm of her hand.
I decided to ask him how he came to love the girl, curious as to what he saw in her.
He told me, he told me everything, not withholding any information. He told me about how she had almost died saving him from robbers, how she hurt herself protecting him from wolves, how she had almost sold her body for a chance to allow him a performance in front of a large audience, how she would always make sure he had enough to eat.
She was another cousin to him, an older sister.
I asked him why he saw her differently now and he told me.
It happened one night when he was sixteen and she was nineteen. After a good show, he had bought alcohol, deciding to celebrate their success with his first drink of an 'adult' beverage. The girl had laughed at him, saying that if drinking made him an adult then she would have become one when she was seven. But she drank it anyways, toasting to their bettering lives and hopefully, a better future.
The magician wouldn't go any further, but I guessed at what had happened between them that night.
I looked at the bottle in my hands, asking if this was the same as the one in his story, he nodded.
He admitted that he would always try to convince her to drink it again, just to selfishly spend one more night with her, but she never gave in.
With this I felt that our conversation was over. There would be no magical night with this handsome lovestruck fool.
I stood up, ready to leave. He didn't look at me as I said goodbye to him, all he did was thank me for listening as I walked out.
If I would have known that I would never see him again, I would have done things differently.
When I stepped outside the building, I saw that girl speaking to my superior. She was laughing and playing with her hair as he touched her shoulder in a suggestive manner.
I felt disgusted at how she was acting, if only she knew how that beautiful magician felt!
But she didn't, and it didn't seem that the magician would confess anytime soon, so I decided to be a good Samaritan that hour, one who believed in true love.
I walked up to the girl and in front of my superior, told her straight out: he loves you.
To my intense irritation, the girl asked if I was talking about my superior. I resisted the urge to slap her, and instead told her that it was the magician who loves her.
She stared blankly at me, as if she was having an out-of-body experience. She asked if it was true, I responded by telling her about the night when the magician was sixteen. Apparently she had lied when she said she didn't remember anything of it because I saw tears start forming in her shining, green and blue eyes.
So that was why she busied herself with different men, to forget the one she believed she couldn't have.
Both this beautiful woman and that handsome magician were in the same position: trapped in a painful love that could be solved simply if someone spoke up first.
Those simpletons.
Luckily, I had come along and given them an opportunity at a happily ever after.
She said a soft thank you to me as she started to run towards the building.
I watched her long, orange hair swaying like golden fire from her quick movements as she disappeared into the doors that held her future with the one that loved her.
You can be assured I received a harsh scolding from my superior that night but it didn't matter to me.
I had helped my first love, a magician, who just needed to believe in a little magic himself.
I don't know what happened to the two of them since they were gone early the next morning but if they did end up together, hopefully, they'll remember me with a gentle smile. . .
END