Thanks to Stan's pessmisstic ramblings, a young Negi does not associate "saving people" with the Thousand Master like Nekane wanted, but instead he believes that "trouble" will bring him. So he gets himself into trouble. Falling off a tree, getting stung by bees, being chased by a dog and almost drowning in the river but no Nagi Springfield.in trouble isn't enough, then what if he was the trouble?
And then the demons came.
Nagi's willingness to fight off the demons, but not stay behind to help unpetrify the townsfolk, just reaffirms Negi's belief. If being in trouble wasn't enough, what if he was the trouble?
Negi starts on a path to fill Dark Evangel's void...just wanting to drag his father out of hiding...

Vox Victum

~click~ Bing! "Hello passengers, this is your captain speaking. We would like to ask that everyone return to your seats as we begin our descent to the Narita International Airport. Thank you for flying with KLM and have a pleasant stay in Tokyo."

One of the passengers buckled himself up before nudging the young boy with wild brown hair that was sleeping with his face plastered to the window.

"Huh, wha?" A mighty yawn cracked his jaw as he rubbed his eyes. "What?"

"We're landin'," the man said shortly in heavily accented English.

"Oh!" Negi dug into his front pocket and pulled out his favorite pair of round glasses, placing them carefully on his nose. He popped his spine, wiggled his toes, retied his hair and grabbed some ear plugs. The last time he had been on a plane, the pressure had hurt his head something horrible! All evidence of his last minute studying was then packed away with an efficiency that made his isle mate chuckle.

"Don't see kids doing that too often..." and then his face was buried in a Dutch newspaper.

Negi shrugged. At both Cardiff and Amsterdam he had run into issues with his age, stupid custom officers, and ended in them actually having to hold the plane for him. Was it so unbelievable that a ten year old could travel by himself safely? No one back home had any doubt.

'But then again, they know me so that's not really fair.'

He turned his body towards the window to hide from prying eyes. "Practe Bigi Nar Tempus" A red rune of inflamed skin appeared on the tip of his index finger as he wiggled it, trying to stem the numbing affect channeling magic like this had. Sometimes he wished that he could make bigger, more powerful runes but those were a bit too dangerous to try on himself. Sure, he could just finally wind up his pocket watch but where was the fun in that?

A blue mist gathered in the air. 6.32. He began to sweat a little. 11 hours and twenty minutes being stuck on a plane was not exactly fun and he was still cutting it way too close. No rest for the weary. His first day as a teacher started in less than two hours.

He canceled his spell and took a deep breath. Held it for five seconds. And let it out through his nose. He could do this. He knew he could. He would show them all. And if they refused to see, he would-

The plane shuddered and dipped.

He would make them...

As if on reflex, Negi's thought pattern paused. This was usually the time that his sis would say something, something wild and dramatic as well as eerily close to what he was actually thinking, as if she could read his mind. And then, and then she would look at him expectantly, as if waiting for praise and he would usually realize that hearing his thoughts voiced made them seem a bit...stupid. Childishly reckless. Just plain dumb sometimes. Who knows how many half baked ideas she had stopped him from attempting like that?

'Make them, hmph. How would I do that while I'm still a kid with a diploma?'

He really needed to think things through.

And that is when his ears popped and with a yelp, Negi clapped his hands to both sides of his head. "OW!"

-------------------------

Customs was a nightmare, like he thought it would be. The Japanese officials weren't quite as annoying as the ones in Cardiff but they still held him up for several minutes in order to check his credentials, passport and other such nonsense. They acted like he snuck past the customs officers in his own country in order to get on the damn plane...yes, he knew he was in Tokyo. Yes, he knew that Tokyo was in Japan. Yes, it was far away from home. Yes, he came here on purpose...

'And no, I don't know what time it is...' If he missed his train, it would just completely make his day. 'Eeni, meeni, mini, mo...' Picking a woman who didn't look like she was in too much of a hurry, he walked over to her.

"Qing wen, shen me shi dian?"

The woman stared at him blankly, hesitant smile frozen on her face as she clutched the purse to her side a bit closer. "N-nani?" Negi stared back at her, debating on the merits of pulling his hair out in the middle of the train station. Meeting the language barrier was like running face first into a brick wall. He said it right, he knew he did so what was he missing...? Several moments later he could have punched himself. 'Wrong language, you dork.' Instead he just settled for clapping a hand to his face.

"Err...ima nanji desuka?" He gave the stranger the biggest smile in his arsenal, hoping she would just forget about him mistakenly asking in Chinese. "Kudasai?" She rattled off a short sentence, gave him a bow and made a speedy exit. The feeling of being bowed to was a strange one, but he shrugged it off. "Okay..." he murmured as he unfolded his map of the subways. 'She said shichi, I think. Four after seven? Train leaves at 7.15...at Track 1?'

He raised his head and looked around the station. 'And Track 1 is....where...?' And there was a small dilemma. He could wander around by himself, he could ask someone and hope he understood them well enough to not get hopelessly lost or he could cheat...he swung his large rucksack off his back and set it on the ground, as if he was ready to rifle through it to find something. He reached his right hand into the main pocket and felt his fingers go numb. Cheating was more fun anyway.

'Practe Bigi Nar Cognito Accelero'

The following sensation was like he had eaten three tubs of ice cream only to go on and down four cups of ice water. Shaking his head, he sighed and hauled his bag onto his back again. Major brain freeze. He'd just have to get used to it until his brain restabilized itself.

Forcing his mind to work faster? All in a day's work. It could also get him a severe fine if caught using it.

There was a couple nearby and Negi eyed them. The woman was dressed much like the other one was with a light sweater, pleated skirt and purse while the man resembled a bum. Ski hat, large sweatshirt, pants hanging off his arse, the whole works. He walked over, unconsciously choosing the more relaxed looking of the two, and tugged on the man's sleeve while he plastered his most pathetic 'help me' face on while pointing at his map.

He knelt down to Negi's level, a strangely amused look on his face, and then pointed over the boy's shoulder. There behind him was a large bright blue sign with the white block lettering style symbol and the number '1.' Negi stared at it for a moment.

'Figures.' He refolded the map, made an awkward bow in thanks and hauled himself into the last car of the train.

'There are...a lot of girls on this train.'

That was something of an understatement. Every passenger on this train except himself was female and between the ages of ten to eighteen. His first thought was that Japan was horribly gender imbalanced, the second thought was wondering if he was on the right train and the third was one of horror.

'If this is the right train, is Mahora Academy an all-girls school!? The Headmaster wouldn't...' And he could hear his teeth grinding together. 'He would. Friend of a friend my arse, this is some kind of cruel and unusual punishment. I said I changed, didn't I?' Wasn't much he could do about it now, was there? Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Negi ignored all the curious stares and amused smiles the girls were sending his way in favor of retreating to a lone corner. He could see it, he could see clear through it now. As a teacher, no doubt there would be a lot of eyes on him. From the Headmaster of this school, from the students, from his "fellow" teachers...they'd be curious because he was young and they would end up boxing him in.

Less free time to himself, less oppurtunities to do anything by himself lest he be caught and ermined...he would have to rely on whatever scraps the Headmaster here would give him.

'It won't be enough! What do I do?'

And that's when he felt it. Starting as a small shudder, a ripple in the air that no one else but him seemed to feel. It was so slight, like feeling a butterfly pass by his face, so slight that he could have easily missed it. A Mundane school with a ward? Keeping something out or keeping something...in? Negi's lips dipped into a thoughtful frown even as he stomped the brief spark of excitement out. He couldn't go and lose his head now, not when this place quite suddenly became...interesting.

-------------------------

"We're going to be late!" Wheeling drunkenly around the corner, a girl with a peculiar shade of red-orange hair was burning rubber. The Mahora Academy uniform for middle school girls wasn't ideal for running given how short the skirt was, but when you were in danger of being late during Punctuality Week it didn't matter. Not only would she get a detention but if she missed homeroom-! "Why did you, why didn't you...you know what? Never mind!"

"My bad, my bad!" At first, the dark haired girl following behind on roller skates seemed apologetic but the effect was completely ruined when she giggled and took her eyes off the road to scan through a magazine's horoscopes. "But Asuna, we might be late for a reason. It could be the workings of Destiny!"

Asuna turned her head to stare with the twin bells that served as pigtail decorations tinkling. "You have to be kidding. You don't actually believe that stuff!"

"The fortune today says 'you'll have a meeting with Fate' so what else could it be?"

"A hoax!"

"It also says that saying the name of your love five times out loud and then barking is effective..."

"Really!?" Screeching to a halt, the red head took a deep breath in through her nose. And then proceeded to weird the crap out of everyone in ear shot. "Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei! Arf! Woof, woof!" For a long moment there was silence.

"Wow, I didn't actually think that you would go so far for Takahata-sensei..."

The look that came over Asuna's face when she finally realized that she had been masterfully duped was not a pleasant one. "Konoka, I will kill you. Seriously." She meant to continue running but the prickling feeling of someone watching her aborted that attempt before she even got started. Where was it coming from?

Konoka had also started moving again but flailed her arms a bit when she realized that her friend wasn't coming, ending in a clumsy stop. "Asuna? Are you tired already?"

It was a boy. Some cute looking elementary age kid with a huge canvas rucksack, small glasses and a rather long piece of wood wrapped in white cloth in his hand. He was just standing there as people streamed around him like they didn't even know he existed, just..watching. His head tilted to the side in a way that brought to mind a cat that had found a crippled mouse. And then he smiled at her.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

'That kid...he could be the star of his own slasher film!'

"Asuna? Are you ok?"

She blinked. "I'm fine, just got a tiny stomach cramp. Knew I shouldn't have had ice cream for breakfast!" She could put the incident out of her mind, after all, it wasn't like she was ever going to see that boy again.

-------------------------

'The psychic impression of unrequited love. I don't know whether to be amused or scared that some random person in Japan has a spiritual impression strong enough to broadcast something trivial like that...' He briefly toyed with the idea of just going up and asking about it but the last thing he wanted was to make people suspicious of him. Well, even more suspicious of him. The girl had caught him staring and he, in turn, couldn't resist messing with her head. It hadn't been his most brilliant of ideas but...

"A pence for your thoughts?"

"Wha-" Negi turned and felt his eyes nearly pop out of his head as he recognized those glasses and 5 o'clock shadow. "Takamichi! You...here!? They wouldn't tell me where you had disappeared off to!" After all these years, Negi thought that Takamichi would get shorter somehow seeing as how he had been full grown while Negi was still getting taller. But the man seemed just as big as ever, even bigger maybe, or was it just his perception playing tricks on him? Not even this teaching gig could remain so bleak after one of his best friends show up out of the blue. "You know, there was this girl calling out your name and barking...."

"Ah, Asuna-kun." Takamichi smiled good naturedly as Negi felt his brain break a little. To be able to tell who it was just by hearing about it...

"Does she do that often...?"

He chuckled, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and scrutinizing every one carefully like he was deciding the fate of the world. "I hope not." He plucked one from the far right and put the pack back so he could free up his hand to search for a lighter. "So, made a move on Miss Krautzel yet?"

Negi couldn't stop his face from turning a beet red. Suddenly, the emptying streets were far more interesting. 'On second thought, maybe I don't want him around...' "It's not like that! Lira and Anya...they're just good friends of mine!"

Smoke was puffing out of his friend's mouth in a way that betrayed his silent chuckles. Standing there in a primly pressed and fashionably wrinkled business suit with his hands in his pockets...he was so cool looking that Negi wanted to hit him. "Whatever you say..."

"Takamichiiiiiiii!" 'I will not pout.' "I swear you've gotten worse! Don't you have anything better to do instead of teasing me in the middle of the street?"

"Something better...?" He scratched his cheek and hummed. "Like showing you where the Dean's office is?"

"Exactly!" The first tolls of the attendence bells proclaimed Negi to be officially late for his first day. "Would it have killed you to show up on time!?" And later, he could swear on his father's staff that this massive drop of sweat appeared on Takamichi's head out of nowhere. The man coughed uncomfortably, shrugging his shoulders as Negi almost began to brood.

His first day...late...black mark on his record already. [I]'Why am I here again?'[/I] The geass flexed in answer, coiling around the base of his skull like a serpent. Interesting choice of location, his diploma had been tailored for him. [I]'Oh yes...'[/I] He made a note to himself: Be less predictable. He sighed and hoisted his bag a bit further up on his shoulders. "Lead the way..."

"It isn't as bad as it seems, Negi-kun."

The boy filed the suffix away in his mind as he dragged his feet on the road. "Are you a mind reader now?"

Takamichi's lips curved upwards and his glasses caught the light omniously. "Maybe."

Negi hummed. Ash flicked off the end of the cigarette drifted past his face. "Are my students going to just sit there?"

"I'm sure something has been arranged already." The man gave him a glance out the corner of his eye. "The Dean runs a tight ship."

"Of course he does," Negi scoffed and smirked lightly to show that he meant no offense. "Who else could leave his new teacher out in the cold, wondering where he's supposed to go..."

He watched his friend raise a teasing eyebrow. "Sarcasm, now? What have you been up to?"

"Working towards my dream."

They stopped in a large plaza that housed a gigantic tree, with fountains and Hellenistic architecture giving it a mildly 'otherwordly' feel. There was a faint throb of power here, swelling and ebbing like the breath of a large animal, pooling beneath the surface. Negi almost smiled, but for Takamichi's sake, he only stared up into the sky. Placing such a tantalizing source of power right underneath his nose like this...it was either being stupidly kind or overwhelmingly cruel.

"I'm going to take over the world sometime in the near future," he stated matter-of-factly.

"That's your dream?" Negi forgave him for sounding incredulous. Not many set such lofty goals, after all.

He took a deep breath, smelling the power laden air and felt giddy. "And, then, perhaps, I'll write a book about it. From start to finish."

[I]'Mahora...will get a front row seat. This tree...'[/I]

He shook his head. Later, it wasn't ready now. Heck, [I]he[/I] wasn't ready now. Later, later. "Are we going towards that building?" He pointed towards one of the larger sets that seemed to be a full story higher than anything else around it. At Takamichi's nod, was he looking a bit apprehensive or was it just the light, he grinned. No one was around...

"Race you!"

-------------------------

The Dean of Mahora, Konoe Konoemon liked to think that he doesn't delude himself. It would have been easy to believe that leaving the center of political manuvering in Kyoto would mean that he left and that it wouldn't follow him. For a while, he could admit, he entertained that notion when his beloved daughter married Eishun with his full blessings, despite the trouble sure to come. But Mahora was more than just a school.

Among other things, like one of the largest concentrations of magi in the mundane world, it was now a prison for two.

"Springfield-san, it is a pleasure to finally be able to meet you."

The boy gave him a strained smile, a vein on his left temple throbbing as he wiggled his fingers. A nervous tick perhaps? "C-could you speak a little slower, Konoe-san? I have...little trouble understanding..."

The boy had only three weeks to learn, he should have expected that he wouldn't be completely fluent. Perhaps he overshot his estimates. "Hrm, I'll make an effort to. Now about your tenure here, you'll be rooming with some of your students." He caught the tiny flinch and from the frown on his face, Takamichi did as well. "It's simply an accomodation for your age."

Negi looked at him. Looked at him and he realized that he had also undershot some of his estimates.

"My age was not a factor in getting here, sir." The vein was pulsing now. "And it isn't a factor in being responsible for the education and future of some twenty odd of your students."

"You are a brilliant young man, Springfield-san, but intelligence does not apply all across the board. You are unfamiliar with nearly everything here, it would not be wise to leave you to fend for yourself on top of your responsibilities." He had heard about Negi Springfield. Everyone had heard about the son of the legendary Thousand Master. Demons. Suspicions of dark magic. And it was hard not letting that affect his decisions.

His gut was telling him to keep the boy the hell away from Konoka.

Instead, he sipped his tea. "You understand, don't you?"

His newest teacher didn't answer that, giving Takamichi a glance over his shoulder, and picking up the tea he had previously refused to touch. "Headache," was the explanation and Konoemon let it lie.

This took a large concern off his counterpart's hands, it soothed ruffled feathers of the ermining-happy in the magical world, and the son of the Thousand Master teaching here? Mahora had its reputation in both worlds to consider, after all.

Ah...he breathed in the scent of jasmine tea. He felt the ownership of Negi's geass finish its transfer to him, the creation of it must have been very thorough, and sighed in regret. Politics.

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Rastel Magi Magister Viaticus Vox Victum