New Ostia was a massive symbol for the peace of Mundus Magicus after its immense war, which was something out of a story book. No surprise then, annually, it was also host for the festivals that celebrated the same event.
(Of course, there was that whole thing about Gladitorial Matches at Ostia that occur at the same time. People punch the shit out of each other in an arena that also encourages betting as well and the image that fighting is "safe". How this concept is met with approval in a festival celebrating peace, I don't quite get.)
Aside from the arena and Nagi Cup, though, the frivolities of the streets on the floating continent called many out.
A certain couple were terrorists.
Well, kind of. Actually that point isn't really relevant at all.
The fact is, Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna were walking together. Alone. In casual dress. In a festival.
While they went down the confetti and balloon littered streets, fulfilling the fetish of being meganekko nekomimi, while not really being either, their thoughts were as different as day and night.
For Konoka, sure, it was just her and Set-chan, same as ever. Friends forever, doing friend things.
"Ah, Festivals are pretty fun, aren't they?" Konoka said, half to herself in good cheer, half to Setsuna.
Setsuna, though, being herself, was weighed down with deep thoughts, and nervous sweating.
Sh... should I really be doing this...? Th... This is almost like a D... a Dat...
Nervous sweating followed by Nervous swallowing.
But we were ordered to take some rest... and besides, this was Ojou-sama's idea... yes, rest is important.
Of course, Konoka wasn't really paying attention to Setsuna's heavy debating, since, she spied a small confectionery stand.
"Set-chan! Say Aah!"
Setsuna's head was turning towards Ojou-sama with a disarming smile automatically.
"Ah...?"
Konoka popped a star-shape candy into her own mouth and into Setsuna's. It sent the swordswoman reeeling, her head clutched in her raised hands.
Not out of pain, though. Actually quite the opposite.
AGH! This is just too pleasant! It's wasting my time like this that gets me defeated by the likes of Tsukuyomi! Huh. This is tasty. What is it?
"I'll have a bag of them, please!" Konoka added.
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Person With Many Aliases Presents: "Canon!" A Message of Absolute Incredible Importance "Mahou Sensei Negima" series property of Ken Akamatsu.
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So it was that the two of them frittered away the day with candy and pleasant walks around the floating continent. Their re-adaption of Negi-sensei's advice to "Take a break" eventually took them to the edge of the island, letting them watch the sunset highlighted by an endless river of clouds above and below, and continuing on into the distance, until there was only a orange strip of sky flanked by vaporous fluff.
The two stood there, absorbing the beauty of the scene.
"I had a really fun day today. Did you, too, Set-chan?"
"A-Ah..." Setsuna managed to reply uncommittedly. She was firmly of the opinion that for the sake of her... incredibly best friend, "fun" should not be a word that exists in her vocabulary.
As much as Setsuna honestly enjoyed the day, there was still a sense of guilt that trailed from the back of her head no matter what she did. Above all, she felt only one priority.
Protect Konoka. To do that, she needed to be stronger.
Already she could hear taunts from the recent past, from people she fought in the past.
"Sempai, if you want to me stronger, you need to just become a monster~! Otherwise you'll never be able to beat me...~" "The sword, or your happiness? You can only have one. If you're so worried, you can just ask the Boy to protect the both of you."
Setsuna had previous answered with "I can have both", but previous fights seemed to only prove otherwise. Her inherent dignity as a Shinmeiryu practitioner meant it unthinkable to just "give up" protecting Ojou-sama for something entirely petty like "wanting to be happy (with her)".
So she was at the same impasse as she always was. As quoth the strawberry flavored death (quoth being one of the few good things that exists in that god awful manga):
Without the sword I can't protect you. With a sword, I can't embrace you.
The whole issue was certainly a lot easier when it was just "protect from the shadows, like a ninja, rather than a samurai."
Meh.
"Set-chan? Is something wrong?"
Blinking back to reality, Setsuna realized that she had left it for a few minutes to begin with, before replying awkwardly with another noncommittal noise.
"Come on, tell me. I know you're worried about something. I couldn't call myself your friend if I didn't know you at least this well!"
Setsuna sighed. Now that the day was near to an end, it felt like an appropriate time to let it out, a bit.
"Ojou-sama. I am just worried..."
"Yes?"
"I want to get stronger. I want to really be able to protect you."
Konoka gave a look of confusion, "But aren't you looking after me already?"
Setsuna gave a disheartened smile, "Not nearly enough... I... I'm still too weak. All my enemies, if they can defeat me so handily, then I am unfit to protect you, Ojou-sama..."
Konoka showed honest worry on her face then, "Then, what would you do?"
"I don't know... if I am unworthy of being able to protect you, then I shouldn't be near you to begin with-"
"You can't!"
The imagined scenario hurt Konoka, and her plea sounded as much in the tone. Setsuna almost winced.
"I understand, Ojou-sama. I don't want to either..."
I want to be close as I can to you, as long as I can. "...but I cannot endanger you with myself, either."
Right then, Konoka held Setsuna's hand with both of hers, gently. Setsuna flushed slightly, but luckily the sunset's lighting disguised the reddening skin
"Set-chan... you don't want to give up either being happy or being strong, right?"
"Th-that's correct, Ojou-sama."
"And being with me makes you happy, right?"
"Of course!"
"Then am I the weak link in your strength?"
"O-Ojou-sama! I... I would never imply-!"
"Setsuna. Please, be honest. It'll make us both feel better."
The swordswoman stared right back into Konoka's intense gaze, and felt her defenses break apart. She could deflect or divert the issue, but lying wasn't something Setsuna was good at, and Konoka right now wanted the truth.
"...Ojou-sama. You're not a proficient mage, yet, though you're improving. You're best talent lies in healing, not in fighting. With the level of our enemies..."
Setsuna drew off there, and somewhat expected her friend to look somewhat insulted. But Konoka only gave a look of hard thought before answering rapidly.
"Then it's decided, then!"
"...What?"
"It's simple, Set-chan! Then I just need to get stronger too, as a mage, while you get stronger!"
"Ojou-sama...?"
"Let me finish. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I want to get stronger, too, so I can help protect people! I don't want to be the one holding you back, Set-chan! Don't make these decisions on your own! If you want to be stronger, but don't want to leave, then I'll get stronger for you! I'll become a mage who's worth being protected by you!"
Setsuna was overwhelmed by Konoka's vehemence, and at the same time, surprisingly, also overcome with a strange sense of gratitude.
"Ojou-sama..."
"I've been thinking about it for a while, Set-chan. What's the first and best way for me to help you get stronger?"
"Huh?"
"A Contract! A Contract, of course!" Konoka said with a smile that seemed a bit too pleased.
Setsuna blinked, letting the implications of that word settle in her, "Eh... What!? Y-You want...!?"
Konoka gave a sheepish laugh along with Setsuna's blushing splutter, also flushing herself, "W-Well... I'd rather have it with you than no one else... right?"
Setsuna swallowed hard, "A-Are you sure?"
"Yes, Set-chan. I want this. Let's get stronger together, okay?"
"O...Ojou..."
Of course, by then, all coherent thought left Setsuna's mind, as Konoka was already holding her by the shoulders, and reaching forward to plant her soft lips very firmly on Setsuna's.
Somewhere, Chamo was screaming "Pactio!"-
"Alright. Cut. That's a wrap."
Setsuna and Konoka immediately tore off each other, in surprise. They weren't expecting eavesdroppers. Or even eavesdroppers saying that as the first response to two girls kissing.
Turning around to the origin of the voice, they sighted an Author Avatar along the same walk that ringed the perimeter of New Ostia. He was predominately characterized by his fairly large bandanna-mask that covered everything from up nose upward, and his eyes showing only by immense whites without pupils.
Like the Goddamn Batman. Without the pointy bits. Or the power of Preparing.
"Who are you!?" Setsuna exclaimed, more than slightly annoyed.
"Hi. My name is Person With Many Aliases. I'm the author of this short oneshot."
"Huh?"
"Well... you know. I'm an author. I wrote this story..."
"But Akamatsu-san is the one writing Negima!" Konoka complained.
Person wringed his hands, a bit frustrated, "Well... yeah... but I'm like... it's complicated, alright. I wrote this particular story, which kinda makes me like a local god, but not really... fan fics are really complicated when you think about it meta-spiritually, okay? Don't make me think to hard on this...!"
"Well... alright. By why are you here?"
"Well, I have to make an important message, by which this story is a medium through."
"...What message could that possibly be?" Setsuna deadpanned, probably still annoyed that her chances for snogging were cut short.
"Well, you see, the above scenario is the artist's rendition of the official manga chapter 252, two hundred and fifty two. In it, Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna officially make their first Pactio via physical oral contact."
"...What?"
"You two actually, REALLY, Pactio'd. As in, Pactio'd... YOU TWO TOTALLY SNOGGED!"
The girls blushed.
CSI Miami opened with a "YEEEAAAAAAAH!"
Person With Many Aliases discretely coughed, "Therefore, since you two kissed within the manga, you're romantic relationship can be considered canon. Since it's canon, that means that all our expectations are finally met. Setsuna/Konoka is canon now.
"We can stop writing Setsuna/Konoka fics now, guys! Pack it up!"
"W-Wait, you can't just decide things like that, Person!" Konoka interrupted, "How can you insist on the canonicity of a romantic relationship just on one action!?"
Person raised an eyebrow.
"...Dood! You two just kissed! Akamatsu devoted a whole chapter to this event! This is plot progression, plot relevance, and closing a plot thread! This was a whole chapter about you two kissing! Therefore, the act of kissing between two incredibly close friends is considered an important point of progress! Akamatsu is setting you two up! Dah!"
"Hey! But half the chapter was devoted to my being arrested!" Negi shouted in the background. Person waved him off.
"You're just to fill up the pages. You weren't the point the chapter ended on! You're just a method to increase tension and move the general narrative forward! Go back to prison and prepare some crazy nuclear spell, Bat-Negi!"
Negi pouted and returned to prison as Person continued his argument.
"So you see, since the kiss and the Pactio was the point the chapter wanted to end on, it's the point that Akamatsu wanted the reader's to remember. Therefore, once more, this is an important plot point! Setsuna/Konoka is canon! We can stop writing, hoping it's going to happen, because it's already happened!"
"That's not true! What if Akamatsu was just trying to underline Setsuna having a new Pactio? Pactios are almost always made with a kiss, since Akamatsu seems to not want to do the blood exchanging thing!" Konoka still kept arguing.
"Dood! If it were just about the Pactio, he could have done it mid-chapter, like it was for... Kaede, most recently. But the the whole chapter was building up for this kiss! It's the kiss that's important! CANON!"
Setsuna frowned, "Stop using that word..."
"CANON!"
"...I said-"
"CAAAA-NOOO-NNN!"
"Will you stop-!"
"FIRST COMES CANON, THEN COMES MARRIAGE-!"
"...Shinmeiryuu Ougi-"
"Setsuna/Konoka is no longer presumed... for it has been ASSUMED! Let's start writing Ku Fei fics and Mana fics-!"
SNNNGGHHHKK.
Person With Many Aliases collapsed to the ground from a (relatively) nonlethal strike.
Nearby, was Jeremy Colt, inflated Original Character.
"I dunno about you two, but I'm just more curious as to why the chick's Pactio looks different from the Onion-sprout." Colt shrugged, "After all, two Pactios working at once from different mages may finally prove once and for all whether Pactios are the same, or they differ per contract."
"What if it's a retcon?" Setsuna asked. Colt snorted darkly at the thought.
"Retconning is terrible. Look what it's done to DC and Marvel. It's like the Detergent that was added to Bleach."
"Ha! Colt, you only care about power levels!" Person jabbed from the ground, "You're the kind of person who complains about the overratedness of a Desert Eagle when he himself thinks the Smith and Wesson .500 is the best thing ever!"
"...Actually, I like the Pfeifer Zeliska .600 Nitro Express."
"Bah!"
Konoka tilted her head at this point, "Isn't this supposed to be a funny story?"
Person staggered to his feet at that, "Q-Quite right... I need to tell a joke! Ready for a joke, guys!?"
Setsuna didn't seem quite so ready. Person continued, anyways.
"What does an Ostrich and Setsuna have in common?"
"..."
"They're both chicks with looooong legs!" Setsuna reached for her sword.
"Remember, fans! Setsuna/Konoka is now an official stance taken by Ken Akamatsuk since they both snogged! No need to write any more fics about it! Just concentrate on Eva fics and Nagi fics and Nekane fics-"
"Nekane fics?"
"Sure! Is not Nekane worthy of our love!?"
"...Apparently not?"
"...Oh-"
SNNNGGHHHKK.
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End. This Special Public Service Announcement was given by Person With Many Aliases. Many Bothan Spies lost their lives in order to get this information.