Oh, look, it's the first chapter already! Aw, yeah.

I don't have much to say for the first chapter right now. See, I write stories like this: beginning author's notes story closing author's notes. And as I tend to write based off of my current ideas…yeah, that explains it.

I will, however, say this: Mao's arrival is timed some time before the Kyoto arc, yet after Negi becomes Evangeline's apprentice. This means that Konoka has very limited knowledge of magic and that Negi has only Pactio'd with Asuna. Plus, he doesn't really miss much, either.

And to my anonymous reviewer: Thank you! Your words fill me with so much happiness, like you couldn't even think about. I'm glad I managed to write Madoka right, too! And…well, basically? Before getting sent to Mahora, he sorta did, but the memories were too fuzzy. After getting sent to Mahora, he won't be able to remember them much. What can I say, I like torturing him.

To cooking samurai: Well…the destruction of the Netherworld, as well as some other worlds, meant the creatable demons were destroyed as well, which means they can't exactly come help. And don't worry about not finishing the manga yet—you've got a lot of people who sympathize with you, me in particular.

So! On to the story, then.

Disgaea: Presence of Hope

Episode 1: Mahora Academy

It was a few days before the school's "Free Time Day". School had been out for a few hours, and the crowds of students catching up with their friends were milling around the World Tree Plaza. So caught up were they in their chatting that they didn't notice the strange-looking young boy unconscious on the ground beside the World Tree, groaning intermittently.

Konoe Konoka, for her part, was alone. Oh, sure, she had chatted with a few people, but they had all gone off to catch up with their other friends. She didn't really mind, though. Today, she was in a mood to think.

She leaned against the World Tree, thinking of Setsuna. Did she remember the days when they were younger, when they played together for hours, not minding the world around them? She remembered, as clear as day, the moments they shared together, the secret smiles exchanged with each other.

"Secchan," she murmured.

And at the same time, she remembered the perpetual blush that seemed to be stuck on his face, and—

"Where did that one come from?" she idly wondered.

"Mrrrgh…" someone groaned, catching the young girl's attention. She turned her head towards the source of the sound and gasped.

There was a young boy, lying unconscious on the ground beside her. Blood trickled down his forehead in a steady flow, and when she came nearer and checked his temperature, she realized he felt…hot. Burning hot.

"Help!" she yelled. "Someone help! I need help!"

"Is something wrong, Konoka-san?" Negi asked, walking up to her. Beside him was Asuna, who was grumbling about being kept in to improve her test scores. He took a step back upon seeing the young boy that Konoka was cradling in her arms. "Oh, no…"

Konoka looked pleadingly up at Negi and Asuna. "Please help me!" she cried. "I don't think I can carry him to the clinic alone…"

"A-Ah…"

Asuna shook her head. "I heard the clinic's closed for the day," she recalled. "The nurse took her annual day off. I'd say she's earned it, considering what happened with Haruka-kohai yesterday…"

Negi, Asuna and Konoka shivered at the memory of the young girl in a Playboy bunny outfit, juggling coconuts while riding a unicycle, blindfolded, right before crashing into the clinic and traumatizing the poor nurse for life.

"Let's not mention that…" Negi requested. "So what should we do?"

Konoka knitted her eyebrows together. "Hmm…we should take him to our dorm!" she exclaimed.

"Absolutely not!" Asuna yelled. "We already have Negi-kun rooming with us. I don't want anybody else sharing a dorm with us! Who knows what he'll do to us in our sleep!"

"Guh…" the boy moaned.

Chamo started whistling innocently.

Negi massaged his temples. "Um…maybe we could take him in for a while," he suggested. "Then, we should ask the Dean where we could put him."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Konoka remarked. "What do you say, Asuna?"

"Ugh…fine." She sighed. "But only for a while!"

"Urgh…"

"Well, come on, then! Asuna-san, you take the head. Konoka-san and I will take the legs. Let's not waste time!"

"…oops."

"Oh, yay, you gave him a concussion."

"G-Gig-san! What are you doing here?"

"I was bored. Also, I wanted to see how that creepy scientist pervert was coming along."

"Um…well, I think I put too much power into the portal."

"You think."

"Um…yeah?"

"…Dammit. And what else did you give him, a fever? Great job there, stupid ribbons. You gave your own champion, the one-time destroyer and now would-be savior of the universe, a concussion and a case of fever, and that's not even mentioning the amnesia thing."

"I-I didn't mean it! It was a side effect of losing all his power and his memories at once. And don't you ever call anyone by their real name?"

"Give me one damn good reason as to why I should."

"Um…um…then I'll call you Meanie-san!"

"…Gods-dammit. And you're supposed to be the personification of hope itself. With the mad scientist you picked out as a champion, we're all doomed."

"Have a little faith in Mao-san, all right, Meanie-san? I know he can do it."

"It's Gig!"

In his prison, the Lifemaker felt a new presence, a familiar one, enter the school.

He saw a young boy, bleeding from his forehead, lifted and carried to a dorm room by three people—the son of the mage he so despised, the Twilight Princess, and the girl with unimaginable power.

As he watched, he realized that he would have to adjust his plans.

But, that was fine. He could wait.

In the meantime, he watched, and plotted his next moves.

It was two hours after Konoka, Negi and Asuna carried the unconscious young boy to their dorm room, and 30 minutes since Negi and Asuna went off to buy supplies and notify the staff about their new situation. Konoka didn't really mind it—as far as she was concerned, she wasn't really alone, and besides, someone had to take care of the new guest, who was now sleeping in her bed.

Also, who would tape the new "Super Sentai All-Stars: Cry of the Devil Prince" movie for those two? She couldn't quite see the appeal that it seemed to hold for Negi and Asuna, but some part of her absolutely loved seeing the monsters getting clobbered.

She was dipping a towel into a bowl of ice-cold water when she heard a groan from her bed.

"Ah, you're awake!" she exclaimed, turning to see the young boy sitting up. "I was worried about you."

"Huh…?" the boy uttered blearily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Where am I?"

"My dorm room," she replied, wringing out the water from the towel. "We found you under the World Tree and got you here, actually."

"What happened to me?" he asked.

"Well, when I saw you," she began, "you were bleeding from your forehead, and you had a pretty high fever too. So I asked Negi-kun and Asuna to help me carry you here, and here we are. Do you feel any better?"

He looked down at himself, apparently realizing, just now, that his head had been bandaged up and that he had no shirt on. "Perhaps," he finally said.

She only sighed, then stood up. "Okay, sit still," she ordered him, perhaps more forcefully than she wanted to.

The boy froze up, then twitched. "Stay away from me!" he snapped.

"This is for your own good!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? I can put that to my head just fine!"

"Just fine, my foot! You still have a fever! Now stay still!"

It took twenty minutes and an unprecedented amount of destruction, but she finally managed to put the towel on top of the boy's forehead.

"I finally did it," she gasped, then collapsed to her knees. "You're so frustrating!"

The boy glared at her, then sighed, turning away from her. "You too," he grumbled. "You remind me of somebody, but I can't remember who."

Silence passed between them, during which Konoka returned to watching the movie.

"…What's that?" the boy asked.

"It's something called Super Sentai," she replied. "From what Asuna told me, it's about someone called the Devil Prince who tries his hardest to keep being evil, but falls in love with one of the Super Sentai. It's really sad."

"Yeah…" he softly echoed, before his voice took on a harsher tone. "Hmph. He shouldn't have fallen in love in the first place, then."

"Why not?" she asked. "Love is…well, it's hard to describe. But it can redeem anyone, if they really love somebody. The opposite is true as well, though."

"So this 'love' is so powerful that it can do anything?" he asked, sounding very interested. "I wonder…"

"No, you will not experiment on anyone on my watch," Konoka automatically answered, then blinked. "What did I just say?"

The boy froze, then twitched. "Dammit, why do you cut off my fun before I've even started?" he complained. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Konoka leapt to her feet. "I am Konoe Konoka!" she cried, a grin on her face. "Daughter of the Dean of this school! Soon to be lover of Secchan!"

Somewhere in Mahora, Sakurazaki Setsuna suddenly found herself having to stem a sudden flow of blood from her nose.

Back in the dorm room, the young boy blinked at her, then, less enthusiastically and with some hesitation, replied, "I'm Mao. And I…don't remember."

"You don't?" she gasped, then, with renewed determination, pumped her fist into the air. "Then I, Konoe Konoka, will help you remember, Mao-han! I swear this, on my honor as a daughter of the Konoe clan and a student of Mahora Academy! You will remember your past!"

"…Who the hell is Secchan, anyway?" he asked. "Don't tell me you're one of those yuri girlies!"

Suddenly, Konoka was thrust into a beautiful erotic fantasy, where she was wearing only an apron to cover her…parts, and Secchan, her sweet angel, was slowly removing it with a sexual smile on her face—

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Due to the…rather erotic nature of Konoka's daydream (and her subsequent description of Setsuna to Mao), I have removed it from this fic. Please enjoy this lovely scene of Mao, Valvatorez, Adell and Laharl trying to kill each other through overkill instead, at least until said erotic fantasy runs its course and this fic is no longer in danger of pushing its T rating.

Mao visibly paled, shaking with every sappy (and far too descriptive, at least for him) word. Konoka paid it no heed, instead going on and on about how beautiful, gentle, kind and sweet Setsuna used to be, when they were children.

"…and whenever I got hurt she would pick me up and carry me back to my room—"

There was a sudden thud, an indication that Mao had collapsed upon the bed again.

"Mao-han? Huh, I guess he felt sleepy."

"...Ah, here you are!"

Mao blinked, then turned around, realizing that this wasn't the dorm room in which he was staying.

For one thing, he knew that large vaults resembling a heart wrapped in dark, rusted chains could not possibly fit in Konoka's dorm room. Also, the dorm room was small and rather simplistic, which didn't seem to fit with the magnificent-looking (yet at the same time completely devastated) crystal wasteland he was in now. For another, he couldn't recall seeing the tiny pink-haired girl in an elaborate dress in front of him before. Or the smaller, greenish white-haired kid bearing his appearance as well, only he was carrying a large staff, like the girl.

Then again, he couldn't really recall anything, besides his name. That, he could remember with amazing clarity.

He decided he must've hated irony.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Sorry about the concussion and fever, Mao-san," the girl apologized, and he flinched.

"You gave me that?" he almost yelled. "Do you realize how much pain I went through, trying to get away from that yuri-girlie?"

The smaller boy beside the young girl winced in sympathy. "I hear you," he murmured.

The girl, on the other hand, blinked innocently at him. "Yuri-girlie?"

"I'm not telling you," he grumbled.

"Well, anyway, we're getting off-topic here!" the girl declared. "I'm really, truly sorry about the fever, concussion and amnesia—I didn't think you'd get the first two. But nevertheless…"

She drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't very tall, and put on a determined expression. "If you ever need my help, Mao-san," she assured him, "I will come, and I will try my best to help you."

"And I," the boy added, "will do my best to guide you."

"That's nice," he muttered, "but that doesn't explain what this is."

"This," the boy replied, gesturing towards their surroundings, "is your heart."

"My what?" he asked, confused.

"His what?" the girl echoed. "True Heart-san...what do you mean?"

"I thought I already explained the concept to you, Madoka," the young boy responded, sounding very exasperated. "I suppose I have no choice, though."

He started walking, speaking and gesturing all the while. "Mao, you are a demon."

"Well, that explains it," Mao muttered to himself, earning a strange look from Madoka and a "Please shut up, I'm talking" glare from the boy. "Oh, don't mind the amnesiac demon here," he sarcastically replied. "I'm listening."

Which was sort of a lie, but the glare the boy threw him intensified, forcing him to listen to his next words. "And something that many demons, if not every one of them, share in common is that their hearts often manifest outside of their bodies, inside something called the Heart Bank."

"But the Heart Bank disappeared when Mao-san destroyed his universe, with some other neighboring universes, right?" Madoka interrupted. "So…Mao-san can only access his heart within dreams?"

"So you were listening to that part," the boy wryly observed. "That is partly true, but I have yet to learn exactly what the other methods are. So, yes, he can only do so within dreams."

"At least that's better than…that." The two shivered together, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Indeed."

"What's 'that'?" Madoka questioned.

"You do not want to know," they simultaneously responded.

"Anyway, before I got sidetracked…" The boy cleared his throat. "The heart reflects who you are, the state of your feelings. It's also where you keep your feelings and secrets, not to be revealed unless you so wish it to. The Heart Bank," and here he gestured towards the massive heart-shaped vault wrapped in chains behind them, "was a place where demons could take advantage of that. You could store the secrets and feelings you most wanted to keep hidden into the vault, and after that, you could commit evil deeds without remorse."

"And Mao-san," Madoka realized, "was the one with the most secrets."

The boy nodded. "That's right."

Mao himself looked up at the vault. "And that," he realized, "led to the destruction of the universe, didn't it?"

From the strange look Madoka gave him, he sighed. "I heard you earlier," he simply replied, as if that explained everything.

The boy silently nodded. "Indirectly, but yes. It, or rather, your succumbing to your darkness, did."

"I…" He trailed off, unable to complete his sentence.

"…regret it," the boy completed. "I am your True Heart, Mao. I have only returned in recent times, but I feel it."

"Mao-san…" Madoka finally said, her voice filled with conviction. "I don't regret making you my champion. And like I said before, I will aid you when you are in need of it. Don't even think about trying to deny it. I will come help you. Just call for me, and I'll be there."

"It's time to wake up," his True Heart told him. "Just be careful."

And he woke up.

"Ah, you're awake!" a young boy greeted him, a bright smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Negi Springfield."

He groggily sat up, to find that Konoka was nowhere in sight. "Where's Konoka?" he asked.

"Konoka-san went to buy something," Negi replied, placing a hand on his forehead. "Asuna-san went to accompany her, I assured her I would be fine with you. Hey, you don't have a fever anymore!"

"Good news," Mao muttered. "The first I've heard in a while."

"Anyway," Negi continued, "um..."

"Any salt and pepper?" he cut in. "If you're going to cook sunny-side-up eggs, then I want salt and pepper. If you're one of those hot sauce lovers, I'll kill you. Then stuff your soul into a cyborg body. And kill that one too."

"But I'm not going to cook..." the poor boy weakly replied. "I can't."

He got off the bed, shooting Negi a glare. "If you can't cook, I'll just get somebody who can. Did I have a shirt when I was carried here?"

"Yeah, it's on the table—Mao-san, I don't think it's wise for you to go outside just yet..."

"Why not?" Mao asked, tugging his shirt on. "You said it yourself. I don't have a fever anymore, so why should I worry?"

"Well," Negi answered, standing up, "there's always the possibility of it coming back. Stay here, I'll go order."

That was...tempting, actually, but he wanted to do it himself. Besides, there was a 68.42% possibility that someone would probably order hot sauce to go with his eggs if he didn't come along, and he was not going to have that happening.

Negi seemed about to protest, but then he yawned. Rather loudly, at that.

"It's 5 in the afternoon," Mao remarked. "What's made you so sleepy? Could it be some sort of—"

Negi shook his head before he could finish. "No, I just...didn't get enough sleep last night," he answered. "Don't worry!"

Mao filed that away, doubting he didn't get much sleep last night. For one, he could see two round holes on Negi's arm, like he had been pricked by a needle twice over. They weren't obvious, but he could tell they were there, somehow. He would have to ask him about that later, once he was done getting the food.

He was just about to leave when he realized he had almost forgotten something. He darted back to the table, then put on the jacket before glancing at himself in the mirror.

Something doesn't feel right...

Suddenly, a lightbulb went on over his head (not literally, of course). He fastened the chain so that the collar encircled his neck, then took his arms out of the sleeves.

"Much better," he remarked, grinning as he stepped out.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW!

Asuna: When the darkness falls over this world, who you gonna call?

Negi: GHOSTBUSTERS!

Mao: Not another one…

Asuna: The evil demon Dean of the destroyed Evil Academy, Mao, has come to take over Mahora Academy for his own nefarious purposes!

Mao: I told you. Pay up.

Laharl: Dammit…

Asuna: Using his evil charm and skills, he enslaves the student population and brainwashes the teachers into serving him!

Almaz: And the scary part is, it's not that far off!

Asuna: Is there any hope left for Mahora? Who can come save them from the clutches of this evil mad scientist?

Mao: No one! I'll turn them all into cyborgs that can obey only my orders! Let's see…missile launchers for fingers, shoot laser beams from your eyes, rockets for feet, bazookas for breasts...this school has so many specimens it's impossible to choose! (huff, huff, drool) Perhaps I'll start with this class…

Negi: Don't. Even. Think. About. It.

Asuna: Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a paper fan comes spinning out of the air, striking the evil Dean and draining his powers! Could it be…?

Mao: Wait, what?

Laharl: Ha! Serves you right, not saving any for me.

Mao: Of course I wouldn't! With a few exceptions, they're all far too interesting for me to spare any for you! And the exceptions, I'm putting to work as my slaves.

Asuna: Yes, it is! Kagurazaka Asuna, heroine of many and magic-cancelling Twilight Ranger, has come to save Mahora!

Mao: It couldn't be the Prism Rangers. At least they're easily defeated. Oh, no, it had to be the one that cancels magic.

Almaz: They're kinda sad once you think about it, though.

Asuna: With graceful style and expert dodging, Asuna counters all of Mao's moves, and with one devastating blow of her fan, banishes Mao to the abyss from whence he came, saving Mahora!

Mao: Can we not mention that?

Laharl: What, the abyss?

Mao: I thought I specifically told you not to mention that!

Asuna: But there's still a problem! Apparently, Mao's long-lost lover, dead for many years, has been reincarnated into one of Asuna's friends! Who's the one, though? And is the demonic Dean making a comeback?

Mao: I DON'T HAVE A LOVER!

Negi: (sniffle) That's…that's so sad! You lost the one you loved…

Mao: How many times do I have to tell you, I don't have a lover! That's just…ugh! The very idea makes me sick!

Konoka: But I thought you wanted to know what love is…

Mao: I wanted to know what it is, not experience it.

Asuna: All this and more, on the next episode of Kagurazaka: The Great Twilight Defender of Mahora! Episode 2: "A Demonic Love Song?" In the name of Mahora and Takahata-sensei in particular, I will punish you!

Laharl: Either she's been hanging out around Flonne for way too long…

Mao: …Or she's been watching too much Sailor Moon.

Oh my god, this was a behemoth. This chapter was hard to get out, actually, but I think I managed just fine. The brief little memory in Konoka's segment is…well, if I say too much I'll give it away, but let's just say that all of the people in 3-A are not who they think they are. Or at least, they weren't, and Konoka is among them. To reflect that, I've changed their personality traits a bit, to show that a part of who they were before has carried over into who they are now.

Chamo…didn't really play a big part. It's just that I tend to ignore him, which isn't really fair to the poor guy, even if he's an ermine pervert. I mean, who else can set up pactio circles? Negi? And yes, this part was influenced by the All-Purpose Negima Idea Thread.

"Super Sentai All-Stars: Cry of the Devil Prince" is not real, just so you know. However, it is a bit of a rip-off of Mao's backstory, as well as some of the things Laharl went through. Not that the creators themselves know, but I'm pretty sure once Mao regains his memories, he will not be pleased at how similar the Devil Prince is to him.

And, I may as well say it, but Raspberyl shares a VA with someone else in Negi's class. I'll leave it up to you to decide who it is, but she's definitely a blonde. Happy coincidence, since Beryl's not only going to share a VA with said girl, but a body as well! Might as well take advantage.

And the dream thing? Yeah, that was to introduce people who are new to Disgaea to the concept. Just in case somebody ignored the spoiler warnings, anyway. Also, it was to establish the state of his heart, sorta. You'll notice that I said it was completely devastated. What can I say, Human World ending is depressing for the viewer and for the characters.

The "yuri-girlie" nickname that Mao has bestowed upon Konoka is taken from the other, much more awesome fic, Disgaea: Gehenna's Holy Queen. And no, he's not about to give up anytime soon. (Just be glad it wasn't Gig. He would've called her something worse.)

Asuna and Negi liking Super Sentai? Chalk that up to something their past lives liked to do. I'm not saying anything more than that, but if you guessed it from just that little tidbit, then congratulations! You're smart, or I just gave it away.

As always, read and review! Flames will be killed by Vasa Aergun before what's left of them is finished off with Infinite Graves. I won't do the same to constructive criticism, though! Just tell me where I need to improve. Chances are, it's a lot.