Negima Neo: The Gears of Time
Chapter 2: Lost From Time
Negi rushed back to his classroom as fast as his legs could take him. He had to rush into the school from the field and to his room, wearing him out quickly. By the time he finally reached Class 2-A's room, he was already out of breath.
"Professor Negi! What's the matter?" Ayaka asked.
"Is something up Negi? You're exhausted. What happened?" Takahata asked. Negi quickly caught his breath and looked up at the others.
"It's....It's....It's Asuna! She's gone!" Negi shouted. The entire classroom gasped.
"What?!" the girls exclaimed. Everyone was soon abuzz with worry.
"Asuna's gone?! But....what happened?!" Kakizaki asked. Ayaka scoffed.
"She probably went back to the dean's office. We saw you two outside earlier Professor. That's probably where she is." Ayaka said. Takahata called the dean's office. But even after idly waiting for a minute, no one answered. The dean was still out and if Asuna was there, she might've answered.
"I'm not getting any answer from the dean's office. Besides Ayaka, if Asuna had returned, wouldn't Negi have seen her?" Takahata asked. Ayaka suddenly realized the flaw in her logic and groaned.
"Did she go back to the dormitories? I can go look." Konoka said. But just as Konoka was getting up, Takahata told them that he would ask Shizune to check. He then left, leaving Negi to watch the class.
"Professor? I'm worried. What happened to Asuna?" Nodoka asked. Negi sighed.
"I wish I knew Nodoka. I wish I knew." Negi said. Haruna thought for a moment.
"What if she was kidnapped? I mean, pretty girls like Asuna are ALWAYS targets for kidnappings. Am I right?" Haruna asked. Hearing that only got Negi more worried. And to that, Yue conked Haruna on the head.
"Might wanna watch what you're saying in front of Negi." Yue said. Haruna groaned and rubbed her head.
"This is bad." Fuka said.
"Yeah! Really bad!" Fumika added. Anya looked out the window.
"Asuna? Where'd you go? What happened?" Anya thought. Everyone waited patiently in class until Takahata returned.
"Well, bad news girls. Shizune and I looked over the entire dormitories. But Asuna isn't anywhere to be found." Takahata said. Everyone gasped again, including Ayaka.
"Then....if she's not in the dormitories, she must REALLY be gone from Mahora Academy itself!" Shade gasped. Ayaka couldn't believe it.
"What? But...I...I....I don't understand. Asuna wouldn't just....LEAVE, would she?" Ayaka thought, holding her head gently. Negi decided this should be considered an emergency and he ended class early so he could speak it over with the teachers. The dean had returned after looking over the grounds for the "Parent/Student" night when he found most of the teachers in his office.
"So....Asuna has gone missing you say?" Konoe asked. Takahata nodded.
"Yes. And she's not just gone from class, she's not anywhere on the school grounds." Takahata said. Negi clutched the end of his shirt in anxiety.
"And I'm sure that Negi is not taking this so easily. He and Asuna are good friends." another teacher said "I've seen them having fun together a lot. So I can imagine...." The teacher stopped when Shizune rose her hand.
"Dean, this is serious. I don't know where Asuna might've went, but Class 2-A is in a panic now." Takahata said. The dean sighed.
"As if things weren't bad enough." the dean said. He turned towards the window behind him as Negi asked what he was referring to.
"Well, as I was getting the list of our new students transferring to Mahora Academy, one student has yet to appear. Do you remember that girl Brianna?" the dean asked. Takahata nodded.
"Yes. She's supposed to be one of the new students that Negi was going to introduce to everyone at tonight's event. Are you saying they have NOT found her yet?" Takahata asked. The dean sighed and nodded.
"That poor girl. She's been missing ever since her thirteenth birthday. I thought the police had found her. But, I guess I was wrong." Shizune said. Negi groaned.
"Negi? You and your class should start searching too. Check every nook and cranny around the school. See if you can find any traces of Asuna." the dean said "I won't keep you here any longer if you're so anxious about her." Negi nodded.
"Thank you sir." he said, darting out the door. Outside, Class 2-A was already searching high and low for Asuna. They checked everywhere they could. Negi gathered his class together and decided there was only one way to find Asuna more effectively, initiate their pactio contracts.
"All right Professor. If you're sure." Setsuna said. Negi nodded and raised his staff, activating their pactio powers all at once. As he did, Kotaro arrived with Julie and Jennifer.
"Negi! We heard about Asuna. Let us help find her." Kotaro said.
"Thank you Kotaro. I would appreciate all the help you can give. Since you're very athletic, can you help survey from the rooftops?" Negi asked. Kotaro snickered and winked.
"You got it!" Kotaro chuckled. With one mighty leap, he leaped up to the top of the school and started off on his search. Negi was then approached by Julie and Jennifer.
"Negi! Let us help too." Jennifer said "Julie and I know about your magic. So please, let us help." Negi sighed.
"I'm sorry girls. But I think this search would go better if my partners did the searching." Negi said. As Julie and Jennifer sighed, Evangeline approached Negi and glared at him.
"Just make contracts with them too. You might have an even greater chance if you had more partners searching." Evangeline said. Negi blushed bright red, seeing Chamo appear on his shoulder.
"Evangeline's right. Come on Negi. You've already got over thirty partners! Two more can't POSSIBLY hurt!" Chamo shouted. He then quickly drew a pactio circle around Negi with chalk and explained everything to the girls.
"All right. Guess I'm first." Jennifer said. She approached Negi and lightly kissed him. The pactio was completed and Jennifer transformed. She was now wearing a large red and gold kimono and her hair was a long ponytail.
"Wow! Oh! Me next! Me next!" Julie shouted. She quickly kissed Negi and formed her pactio as well. Julie was transformed, now appearing as a child in a magical girl costume.
"I feel amazing!" Julie exclaimed, seeing her transformed self. But just before Negi could finish the pactio, he was suddenly kissed by Shade. And in a surprising twist, he formed a pactio with her too. Negi's eyes widened from shock.
"Sorry Negi. But like Evangeline says, more partners can be a good thing. Plus, I think I would really be of help since my father was Gragon." Shade said. Negi stood there, momentarily stunned, before Chamo snapped him back.
"So Negi, what do your new partners do anyway?" Anya asked. Negi took a glance at Shade, Julie and Jennifer in their transformed state. Shade was now wearing a big, black cloak with red charms around her wrists.
"Hmm. All right then girls. Who's up for a little field test?" Negi asked. Julie begged to go first and she did. With a wave of her hands, everyone had suddenly changed outfits.
"Uhhh....all SHE can do is change clothes?" Chamo asked.
"Well, Julie DID love playing dress up when we were at the orphanage." Jennifer said. Julie sighed, apologizing for not having a helpful power.
"No. No. Don't think that. Maybe you would be of more help if we needed to disguise ourselves." Negi said. Evangeline groaned, thinking that was all Julie was good for. Shade was next and by extending her arms, her charms lit up red and extended laser sabers around her wrists.
"Whoa! This....This is new." Shade said.
"Now THAT has got to be for battle!" Chamo exclaimed.
"Yes. I think so too. All right Jennifer. It's your turn." Negi said. Jennifer nodded and waved her hands. At first, nothing was happening. But when she crossed her arms, a book suddenly appeared before her. It started flashing images of what happened ten seconds ago.
"Interesting. It seems your powers let you see what has happened in the spot where you are during a set amount of time." Negi said. Chamo chuckled.
"I think we've got a winner!" Chamo shouted. Negi nodded and asked Jennifer if he could follow him. Negi brought Jennifer to the last spot where he saw Asuna and asked her to examine what happened.
"All right. But....just remember, I don't think I can go very far. I'm a newbie at stuff like this." Jennifer said. She turned towards where Asuna was sitting, took a deep breath and brought forth her book. The pages flipped back just far enough for Jennifer to find Asuna.
"Ah! There she is!" Jennifer gasped. But then, they saw the events that took place between her and Anusa, the mysterious woman.
"Asuna? What....What's going on?" Negi thought. Negi and Jennifer gasped when they saw Asuna and Anusa walk through the portal and then vanish. Jennifer's powers ended after that, causing her to revert back. He then called everyone back to their spot and explained what Jennifer showed them.
"So, Asuna actually willingly left with this other woman...promising she could find her parents again?" Yue asked.
"Yes. It would appear so. But....I wanna know now is....where she went. Ayaka? Your powers let you detect someone's prescence based off of smell. So I think you might be able to help." Negi said. Ayaka nodded and asked if he had anything that had Asuna's scent. Negi remembered something and rushed back to the dorms. He returned with one of Asuna's pajama tops.
"Well....this IS a bit disgusting. But....if it'll help us find Asuna." Ayaka groaned. She took a strong smell of Asuna's scent and closed her eyes. However, her powers had led her to nowhere. After sensing Asuna passing through here last, her powers went blank as to where she was now.
"Uhhh....professor? I'm afraid.....I can't find Asuna. It's like....It's like she doesn't exist or something." Ayaka said. Everyone gasped.
"Whaddya mean she doesn't exist?! If she left behind a scent, you should be able to find her!" Konoka shouted. Ayaka groaned.
"Normally I would! But....it's.....it's like when Asuna left with that woman, she cut her scent off completely! I'm being led to a dead end!" Ayaka shouted. Negi couldn't believe it.
"Wow. This isn't the FIRST time I've seen Ayaka fail at something." Kotaro said. Ayaka snarled, glaring at him.
"What was that dog boy?! You wanna say that again? To my face?!" Ayaka asked. They continued to argue as Negi only worried more by the second.
"Asuna.....I know now what happened. But....please, I hope you're all right." Negi thought, looking up at the sky.
TO BE CONTINUED...