EP 01: Challenges Arise, Welcome to Class 3-A!

"Crisp and chipper and ready for a new day!" I yelled, walking out of my room to head to classes. Asuna walked out of her room looking at me strangely.

"So, do you have a job that requires you to get up this early too, Alex?" she asked, in full work attire for her paperboy duties.

"Eh…?" I asked, confused as to why she would ask that.

"It is 5 AM dufus, do you have a job that requires you to get up? If not, then there is no point being up this early.

"… Crap!!!" I yelled, and decided since I couldn't get any sleep, I would go to town and get a new clock, seeing as I broke my only one the previous morning.

I went outside following Asuna and jogged down to the station. I hooked a train to town and picked up a clock shaped like a fireball. I returned to the dorms, put up the clock, and walked down to the campus.

"So… What to do today? Negi is going to have a hard time teaching class, seeing as it is his first week in this place. It will be boring, so should I just skip and practice my martial arts?" I asked myself as I walked. While pondering over this, I found I was already seated in the classroom.

"No skipping, Alex," Ayaka told me in a sing-songy tone.

"Great, another shouta…" I sighed, laying my head on my arms.

"What was that newbie?!" she yelled at me, fire in her eyes.

"You've got the hots for Negi don't you? That makes you a shoutacon," I explained drearily, bored out of my mind.

"I'll teach you to…" she was saying, stomping up the steps to me when I whispered a small spell to have her trip over her shoelaces. "OW!" she yelled, Asuna coming in right when she did.

"Hey hey! The little "iincho" tripped on her shoelaces. I guess she isn't as mature as she presents herself to be," Asuna scorned, causing the two to fight each other.

Negi walked in soon after and the two calmed down. Class that day went as predicted, Negi getting flustered and Ayaka helping him out, much to Asuna's disdain. If she helped him out of responsibility or out of personal interest I don't know, but I can bet it was out of personal interests…

"Oy, Negi!" I called out to him outside the class while he was alone.

"Yes Alex, what is it?" he asked.

"If I know your secret then I might as well tell you mine!" I called happily as I ran up to him.

"And what would that be?" he pondered, the usual puzzled look present on his face.

"Simple, close your eyes…" I said, getting him to close his eyes. I led him into a closet for the display as to not get caught.

"Right…" I started as I snapped my fingers. "Open."

When he looked, he saw me on fire, my clothes not burning and my usual female form now taken over by my natural male body.

"You wouldn't… ALEX!!!" he yelled as he tackled/hugged me. "I'm so glad to see you! But aren't you supposed to be in America?" he asked.

"That was a lie regrettably… but seeing as my objective is to watch over you, we get to hang out more!" I pointed out, changing the subject from the lie to the bright future.

"That's wonderful! But… it looks wrong seeing you as a guy in a female uniform. Please change back to a girl…" he said, causing me to realize that my attire was still extremely feminine. I chuckled as I snapped my fingers, turning back into my school 'Form'.

"I still can't believe your family, able to cast a spell simply by thinking the words!" he said, awe and envy present in his eyes.

"Yeah, it makes us big hits for military positions… and hit lists," I sighed, reminding him of the struggle my family had to put up with before they died.

"Oh right, sorry…" he said, looking down.

"Don't be down on yourself man, I still have you and your sister, that is all the family I will ever need!" I said, patting him on the back. "Anyways, I think someone is coming, lets get out of this closet before people get the wrong ideas…" I cautioned him

"Oh right, I forgot where we were," he whispered as we left the closet quietly, closing the door with care. We got caught leaving the closet by Nodoka, the person I had sensed coming.

"Crap… Hey Nodoka, keep this silent all right? I'll explain everything at… oh crap, I forgot all about the Library Club activities! Alright, Nodoka, prepare for a bumpy ride!" I attempted to explain as I put her on my back in a style similar to piggyback rides. I dashed off with her on my back and barely made it to the island on time.

Haruna walked in as soon as I set Nodoka down and I then proceeded to walk over to Yue.

"Hey, Yue?" I asked as I approached her.

"Yeah, what is it?" she replied, taking another sip of her box.

"Do you… I mean, what flavor do you have today?" I asked, completely forgetting that she wasn't in on the whole 'MAGIC' thing.

"Grapefruit. Want some?" she offered, barely even looking up at me while she sorted through the cards.

"N-no thank you…" I said, looking away embarrassed and possibly blushing. I overheard Haruna mention to Nodoka a little something that sounded like "I think she has a crush on Yue".

Later that day when we had finished, I walked over to Haruna.

"Hey, you might try talking a bit quieter, I happen to have VERY good hearing. Just letting you know," I said as I walked by on my way to Nodoka's station.

"Nodoka, I'll explain what happened earlier now. Could you come with me to the back of the Modern Mystery section?" I asked, motioning her to come with me. She got up and walked over to where I was about 5 minutes after I asked, I guess she had some work to finish up on.

"What were you and Negi-sensei doing together in the Janitor's Closet?" she asked, getting a bit defensive.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses little cowgirl! Don't get the wrong idea, I know you like Negi and I would NEVER intrude on your 'territory'. Negi and I are childhood friends and I was asking him a rather… personal question pertaining to the condition of his sister. See, I'm an orphan and Negi and his sister are basically the only family I have…" I said, lying about what I was doing in the closet but telling the truth about my situation in life.

"I-I'm so sorry! I'm a horrible person for thinking such things!" she said, being hard on herself again.

"Sheesh girl! Stop being so hard on yourself! You just thought like any rationally thinking girl your age would. Given what you knew, you pieced two and two together and assumed the most logical answer to what was going on," I said, saying what I could have said with a lot less words.

"Really? That makes sense I guess…" she said. I then waved goodbye to her and ran for the door, forgetting what I had to do tonight.

When I got back to the dorms, I grabbed Negi after putting on a swimsuit and dragged him to the bathroom.

"Come on man, it's time I did something I should have done a LONG time ago!" I cackled, giving in to my evil side.

"No! Anything but that! Please, I beg you, don't do it!" he wailed as I dragged him to the public bathing area.

"Hehe! No amount of begging can save you from… oh crap!" I stopped dragging him when I saw that Asuna was standing in the entryway, staring at me.

"And what do we have here?" she asked me. I decided to shed the darkness for a while whilst I explain everything to her.

"Oh, good ol' Negi hasn't had a bath since he was a lad. I figured 'Oh, what the hell, let's give him a bath so he doesn't stink up the dorm!'" I explained whole-heartedly to Asuna.

"Sounds like a good idea, let me help!" she said happily, evil in her eyes. I returned to the darkness and threw Negi in the warm bath water. While we cleaned him, I sensed a huge mass of body heat coming from the entryway's direction. I hid Negi and Asuna while I examined the situation from barely above the water. I noticed the entirety of class 3-A, Evangeline and Chachamaru being exceptions, come through the arch naked. After a short nosebleed I swam silently over to Negi.

"Dude, I have to get you out of here! The entire class is here, and they are NAKED," I whispered. I teleported him back to the dorm with a towel and then cast a temporary blindness spell on myself. Asuna led me out into the open where the girls noticed us.

"Eh… hi there guys! Pardon me, but I have to get out now, I sort of lost my contacts and can't see straight. I got Asuna to help me…" I started to say when I felt myself get grabbed.

"Another contestant in our game!" I heard one of the girls call out. "Let's compare breasts now!"

I sat there nervously as the other girls measured me. I was thanking God I was a full girl else I'd be screwed. So this is what it feels like to be groped… now I know not to do that to girls! I thought while the entire event was going on.

"Drat," one of the girls finally said, "it seems Alex has the biggest breasts of us all. Fine, you get to keep Negi in your room for this year!" they said as I was finally released. Asuna helped me get to the dorms and put me in the room. I took off the spell when I arrived.

"Well hell, that was VERY weird for me!" I exclaimed, sighing a sigh of relief.

"So what was so bad with seeing naked girls anyways? You didn't have to lose your contacts and close your eyes you know, being a girl and all." Asuna pointed out.

"Eh… fine, I'll admit it. I'm a lesbian! There, happy?" I asked, apparently saying the wrong words as Asuna smacked me over the head, knocking me out.

I woke up the next morning to the sounds of my new alarm clock ringing a high pitched ring that I could swear came from devils.

"Yo, Negi! Wake up, midget!" I yelled, pushing him out of bed. I cast my Gender-change-spell-of-DOOM while he got his lazy butt out of bed.

"Hey man, I can't cover for you very long with the whole Asuna thing," I called from the bathroom as I was changing. "You're gonna have to exchange a contract with her soon."

"W-w-what?" he replied, apparently shocked.

"Dude, I've been getting funky responses from the Academy. I can't lie forever! And to emphasize that, they are sending two sprites to watch over us in a couple of days. This means that they WILL find out!" I yelled as I got my hair together.

"Eh… so I have to?" he asked.

"What do YOU think? Oh yeah, Nodoka too. I get the distinct feeling that she remembers exactly what happened but doesn't quite believe it all happened. Also, I know you have feelings for Asuna and Nodoka, you are GOING to have to choose between them you know. I also know they both share those feelings, even if Asuna doesn't openly admit it to herself…" I called in response, coming out of the bathroom ready for breakfast.

Negi blushed and almost burned himself while making eggs.

"Don't worry, I can set it up for you on a date," I offered, to which he nodded in reluctant acceptance. "Oh yeah, just a little opinion: I would choose Nodoka if I were you. I mean, she is hot, cute, smart, and has a great attitude to boot. Also, you are sorta the first guy she has ever been able to get near enough to have even a small chat with! It would just be wrong to not go with it. Then again, Asuna is kinda spunky and has the tomboy appeal. I guess it's just all up to you." I said, shrugging and getting the milk ready for us both. I finished up breakfast and sat down next to Negi.

"Oh yeah, meet me at the Library today at 7PM, I'll be waiting!" I called to him as I headed out to class.

I caught up to Asuna on the way.

"Hey, Asuna! Meet Negi and me at the Library around 7PM, okay? Thanks!" I called back as I raced to the room.

I still beat Ayaka that day, but I did it by a little margin. About 3 minutes to be more precise.

"Crap, not first today!" I cried out in anguish, being over-dramatic and I set my stuff down in the usual spot.

"Wait a minute, isn't she the only person in here?" the girl asked out loud.

"Are you TRYING to mock me?" I asked her, walking up to the front row's farthest left desk.

"Hold on, you can SEE ME???" she asked in disbelief.

"Wait, I'm not supposed to? Hold on a sec, are you number 1, Sayo Aisaka? I see… so you are the ghost on the campus. I was told there was one here by the headmaster, I just didn't think she would be in my class!" I said, getting giddy like a, well, schoolgirl.

"Yeah, that is me. I'm actually quite surprised someone can see me. I've been dead for 40 years and this is the first I have ever been seen by anyone in my class," she explained to me.

"Hmm… you know, that sounds rather lonely. Let me see… Do you want to be able to interact with your classmates?" I asked her.

"Yes! That would be WONDERFUL!" she said ecstatically.

"Alright, then when the bell rings, wait outside the door until you hear the words "Come on in". Okay?" I asked her.

"Sure, I'll trust you on this!" she said happily, going outside the room to behind the door.

"…and Zazie Rainyday?" Negi called out at the end of roll-call.

"Here…" she replied quietly, still juggling.

"Hey teach, you forgot a certain someone." I pointed out, standing up.

"Wh-what? Who could I have forgotten? I remember calling out everyone on the list, who could be missing? I'm sure I called them all, but who did I…?" he questioned, getting worried.

"You forgot Sayo Aisaka is who you forgot Negi!" I called out.

"But, she hasn't been here at all the first week, and I can see she isn't here now. What are you going on about?" he asked me.

"Simple, COME ON IN SAYO!" I called as loud as I could, casting the necessary spell at the second she reached for the handle. She opened the door and walked in. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"But, she hasn't been in school at all for the entirety of elementary and junior high school!" Yuna called out, weirded out by this whole thing.

"Where has she been this whole time?" another student asked.

"Simple, she's a ghost! She's been here the whole time, you just didn't know how to see her at the time." I pointed out. Instead of everyone asking me just how the crap I knew about ghosts and how I could see them, they just crowded her and asked her millions of questions.

Class let out and before I knew it, I was in the library and it was 6:30 PM. I met Asuna with Nodoka at the entrance of the library.

"Asuna, you beat Negi here, good. Saves lots of time explaining. I have to tell you something," I said as she walked up to us.

"Why am I here, and more importantly, I thought it was just gonna be me and Negi, why is Nodoka here?" she asked.
"Impatient you are, young one," I said in a very corny way, "I forgot to tell you about Nodoka's involvement in this meeting, seeing as I was in a hurry. And I will tell you why you are here, it was sort of what I was getting to…"

"Oh yeah, I knew that!" she lied, trying to keep her cool exterior.

"Sure… anyways, you are BOTH going to have to exchange a provisional contract with Negi so that he doesn't get turned into an animal and lose all of his powers for eternity," I explained it bluntly.

"Wait, what is a provisional contract and what are you talking about?" Nodoka asked me.

"Oh, Negi is a wizard and since he is on a mission, he can't let others know of his true identity unless they are to be his partners, as in the Robin of Batman and Robin. If people find out, he gets turned into an animal and loses all of his powers as a wizard forever. Anyways, a provisional contract is how one goes about becoming a partner and gaining special powers to kick the most major of all ass. But to exchange one, you must kiss Negi on the lips. Sorry about that…" I explained in the most lengthy way possible.

Asuna was furious and eventually I convinced her to do it, while Nodoka nearly passed out, but was willing to do it after some talking to.

Negi came soon thereafter and exchanged the contracts, we all went back to our dorms together, talking and having a good time. I told Nodoka in private that I was truly a male so hitting on Yue wasn't a lesbian thing. We all went our separate ways, Negi grading papers while I wrote the letter to the Academy, asking them to hold off on the spiritual messengers since everyone who knew Negi was a wizard happened to be his partners. I was finally able to go to sleep after hours of sitting in bed wondering just how screwed I was going to be when more of Murphy's Law kicked in on my adventure in this wonderful school. I lay there dreaming that night, wondering and waiting for the next day…