Negi's Room, Saturday

"Gotta run, guys! See you two later!"

The door opened, then slammed shut. Unfortunately, the loud noise woke Negi up.

"What…" he muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Negi-kun," Konoka said with a smile. "That was just Asuna almost late for her paper route."

Negi looked at the clock. Sure enough, it was a few minutes past five o'clock. Then, Negi remembered something.

"Erm, Konoka-san…" he said, still not fully awake, "it's the weekend. Asuna-san never has to work on weekends."

"Her boss called her yesterday and asked if she could cover for someone who was out sick. Being Asuna, she said she would."

Negi groaned and flopped back down onto the bed. He wished for the life of him that Asuna hadn't woken him up- he had been enjoying a rare good dream, one in which he was reunited, finally, with the Thousand Master.

"Good dreams never come true, do they?" Negi asked himself, before drifting back off into sleep.

"This looks familiar..." Negi thought as he drifted along a snow-covered valley. "But where have I seen this before?" He looked down at himself- only to find that he was… well, naked.

"Oh, this is just great…" Negi grumbled. "Let's just hope no one can see me."

It was only then that Negi realized just how odd this situation was. "What the…" he muttered as comprehension dawned on him. "This only happens when I'm in someone else's dreams… but I'm pretty sure I went back to sleep. So, could I be doing this in my dreams? I've never heard of a mage entering into someone's dreams while they're dreaming, though…"

He drifted along a little further, still trying to make sense of it all. He entered a thick patch of woods; for a second, he was afraid of hitting the trees, but when his body passed right through one, he relaxed and just let himself flow on to… wherever he was going. When he got through the woods, a smile cracked his face.

"This is Mahora Academy!" exclaimed Negi. "I know where I am now!" He jerked his head around suddenly, afraid that someone might have heard him; it seemed, though, that those around him could neither see nor hear him.

"Well, since I'm only asleep," thought Negi, "I'll take a bit of an unofficial tour." He floated through the door and along the hallway, making sure to keep above everyone else, if only to prevent himself from accidentally eavesdropping on their conversations.

Going on a bit further, he noticed Nodoka and Haruna standing near the entrance to his classroom.

"Where do you think Negi-sensei is?" asked Nodoka. "I'm a bit worried about him."

"Why?" asked Haruna. "And as for where he is… Konoka probably just forgot to wake him up…"

"Maybe…" said Nodoka, and that was the end of that.

Negi began to get a little bit concerned. "Why would Nodoka-san be so worried about me?" he asked himself. "Maybe… since I'm only dreaming… I could read her mind, like she can do with her artifact… and find out just what's bothering her. I am her teacher, after all…"

Floating down to where he was in between Nodoka and Haruna, he placed his hand on Nodoka's forehead; her thoughts began to flow between them.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now," Nodoka was thinking. "Is Asuna really in love with Negi? That's what she was going to tell him… up when they were in that tree…"

Negi tried to think of what she could be talking about, as he severed the mental connection and floated back up to the top of the hallway. "Up in the tree…" Negi's jaw dropped as he remembered- right before Asuna's soul was taken by the demon, they were up in that tree, having that conversation… "Nodoka-chan overheard that? Oh, man, maybe I should tell Asuna-san about that…" He laughed to himself when he thought this, though, remembering that this was, after all, only a dream. The smile faded off his face, however, when the reality of what Nodoka had thought sunk in.

"There's no way…" he thought to himself as he floated along again. He closed his eyes, not afraid of floating into anything. "Could Asuna-san really be in love with me? This is just the dream-Nodoka's thoughts, but… Asuna-san did seem to be looking at me funnily, so… I guess it's possible. But what would I do, if it were true? I already have Nodoka who's in love with me, not to mention Class Rep-san, Makie-san…"

Negi opened his eyes once more- and was surprised to find himself facing the main entrance to the Academy… from the outside. "I floated all the way outside…" Negi thought to himself, laughing softly. "Shows how lost in thought I can get…"

He was about to go back into the school when a light, brighter than any he had ever seen before, filled his entire vision. Negi closed his eyes reflexively, but the light continued to blind him. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the light disappeared. Negi opened his eyes again- and was absolutely shocked at what he saw around him.

The whole of the Academy lay in ruins; it was as though something had demolished the entire campus. Negi floated along, in a daze; he saw no one roaming the streets, no one flocking to the damage to find the ones they called friends. He turned a corner and found himself facing the dorm, where he and Asuna and Konoka lived. It, too, was completely in ruins. He made his way over to where he and the others had once lived. Looking down, he felt all the wind rush out of him- he saw a petite hand sticking out of the rubble. Watching in amazement, he saw Konoka struggle up out of the rubble, only to flop onto the ground. She looked up at Negi, as though she could actually see him; she flashed him one last smile, before she closed her eyes; her hand dropped to the ground as her last breath left her body.

Negi felt himself going downward; he tried to fly back upwards, but it was as though gravity had tired of him defying her. He landed sharply on the ground, and winced as his kneecaps hit the bricks.

"Guess you really can feel pain in a dream," he thought dryly; he couldn't take it anymore, and his tears began to flow. He covered his face with his hands, letting all his tears flow over Konoka's lifeless body. Negi noticed a thick darkness covering the campus; he looked up to see ominous clouds covering the sky; one of the clouds parted, and a being made of light came down to him. When the figure got close enough, Negi saw who it was- and hid his eyes.

"NO!!!" he yelled. "It can't be you!!!"

The figure of light reached out to him, and-

Negi awoke suddenly, bolting upright; he was drenched in sweat and could hardly breathe. It took him a good five minutes to calm down enough to look down to see if Konoka really was dead. Of course, she wasn't; she was asleep again on her bunk. Negi also saw Asuna near his loft, alive and well, though clearly asleep, also.

"Do mages always have these weird dreams?" Negi asked himself. He lay back down, though he didn't want to go back to sleep- in case his nightmares came back to haunt him.

World Tree Plaza, the same day

The plaza was deserted, much to the chagrin of Kazumi. She had really hoped that someone, anyone would be there. Even Sayo, the class's resident ghost; Kazumi had really gotten to like Sayo over the past few months. She (Kazumi) was even thinking about whether or not she had fallen in love with Sayo.

It'd be freaky if I have fallen in love with her, Kazumi thought. A regular human and a ghost… weird.

Kazumi sat down on a bench, setting her camera in her lap. I can already tell this is going to be a long day. She slouched down, letting her head touch against the back of the bench. She didn't think she was going to sleep, but she lay her head down all the same.

Suddenly, Kazumi jerked her head up. "Ah crap!" she said aloud. "I completely forgot I told my parents I'd send them a tape of what Mahora is like!" Picking up her video camera and setting it onto "Record" mode, she began to pan the camera around the plaza, talking as she did it.

"Hey, mom; hey, dad," she said. "Sorry this is a bit late getting to you guys; there's been so much to do around here…:

As she kept talking, she began roaming the streets, explaining various aspects of Mahora life; how Mahora was basically a self-contained city, with restaurants, grocery stores, and anything else to make the students feel like home there. She eventually got to their dorm.

"This is where I stay," Kazumi said. "It's not bad, but it could be better. Heh… Negi-kun makes life so much more fun." She caught herself. "Sorry, I haven't mentioned him yet. Negi-sensei is our new English teacher. He's only 12, but he's already been teaching here for two years. I think you guys would like him; I think he's pretty cute, myself… in a little kid way, you know," she clarified.

It took her about two hours to get the whole campus covered; she ended up back at the plaza, where she shut her camera off and dropped heavily onto the same bench she had been at.

"Two hours of my life practically wasted…" she muttered. "Now onto the process I hate the most- editing…"

As she watched the video, she began to notice things she hadn't seen before- flags hanging in windows, the color of blinds in shop windows… There was about a half hour of tape left for Kazumi to go through, when suddenly the entire screen grew black.

"What the hell?!" she said out loud. "Don't tell me this thing screwed-" She never got the last part of her sentence out, though, because of what she saw on the screen then.

It was a small pinpoint of light, in the center of the screen; funny thing was, though, it was getting bigger… and bigger…

As it grew in size and clarity, Kazumi's jaw dropped. It can't be… she thought to herself. It looks like… a person. But I don't know of any person who is completely made out of light. As whatever was on the screen grew closer, she could see that it was, indeed, a person. Then, she noticed something else that made her blood run chill: the camera was on record- and pointed straight in front of her. Kazumi looked up slowly and sure enough- a black sheet covered a large area in front of her; the person she had seen in the camera was now close enough so she could see some vague facial features.

Whatever the hell this is, she thought, this is way too good for me to pass up. She had just stood up to go up to… whatever it was-

"Um, Kazumi?" she heard from behind her. Kazumi's heart leapt into her throat; she turned around, ready for the worst-

"Is this a bad time?" Sayo asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"No, no…" Kazumi muttered. She turned around again; whatever that thing was, it was gone now. She turned to face Sayo.

"You feeling alright?" Sayo asked again.

"Yeah, just thought I saw something."

Sayo smiled; she looked quite relieved. "I'm glad you're alright," she said, with what looked like a blush coming across her face.

"So am I," Kazumi said, her voice distant; she seemed to not even notice the loving way Sayo was looking at her, at that point. She looked behind her, as though she didn't trust whatever it was to stay away from her with her back turned to it. Soon, she began to walk away, Sayo close behind her.

Negi's Classroom, Monday

Negi walked into class about ten minutes early; he saw only a few people there- Setsuna and Konoka were talking animatedly, Kazumi (who, to him, looked a bit out of it) and Sayo were, oddly, also deep in conversation, and Nodoka was trying to hide the fact that she had begun to blush furiously when Negi walked in. Negi simply smiled at them all, and began to finalize his lesson plans. Soon, the rest of the class had entered, and Negi greeted them and launched into his lesson, though not everyone was paying attention to what he was saying.

There is absolutely no explanation as to what the hell it was I saw, Kazumi was thinking. Could it have something to do with Negi-kun being a wizard? It seems like something Negi-kun would get involved with…

Nodoka, however, was on a completely different train of thought- one that, to both her liking and embarrassment, involved her and Negi in some very… erotic situations.

It was Setsuna, though, who had the biggest decision ahead of her. Does Negi really need to know about this? I mean, I'm not sure if what she said was even true- it just sounded so out there. Then again, what about this school- and Negi- isn't out there? Her resolve hardened, though, and she decided to tell him.

At the end of class, Setsuna stayed behind. Negi finished erasing the board, then turned around to get his stuff, only to find Setsuna standing by his desk. He jumped back a bit.

"Oh, Setsuna-san, you're still here. I didn't know you had stayed behind." He sat down. "Was there something I could help you with?"

"Do you…" she began, "do you remember MahoraFest?"

A grin broke Negi's face. "Do I? It was awesome!" His smile faded a bit though. "But why bring it up now, Setsuna-san? It was so long ago."

"Well, you see, after you left… to use the facilities… I went to go find Chao-san."

"Oh, that's right," Negi said, remembering. "How did that go?"

"Well," Setsuna began, "I didn't have to go very far. She found me first."

Negi's smile faded the rest of the way. "Did she know you were looking for her?"

"I don't see how," Setsuna replied. "But that's not the point. Negi-sensei… she told me something that day. Something about you."

Negi leaned in, very interested. "What exactly did she say about me?"

"She said that… you and her were related."

Negi's jaw dropped; he leaned back in his seat, trying to get his mind to wrap itself around what had just been said. "Chao-san told you… that she and I were related? Did she say exactly how?"

"No," Setsuna replied. "Just that you were a blood-relation, and that she wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"That's odd…" Negi mused. "How could Chao and I even be related? As far as I know, my father didn't have any other children, and I don't think he had any brothers or sisters…"

"I've been trying to figure this out myself for quite some time now," replied Setsuna. "I'm sorry I can't be of any more help to you."

"That's quite alright," Negi said, getting up.

"Where are you headed?" Setsuna asked.

Negi looked at her, more serious than he ever had before. "There's someone I have to see."