Hey guys! It has really been awhile huh? Sorry it took so long... I know it takes me awhile to think of the next chapter.. But before this fic starts, this being my first fic, there are a few people I feel I must show gratitude to.
First of all, to Rebanex, Enchaos Ivan, Azureiii, animeaics, xLion-and-Lambx, and KonoSetsunafor being my first reviewers!! Thank you guys for your ideas and especially to animeaics, I really appreciated your suggestion and I had a debate in my head which to use. In the end it came down to which one I could spawn the most ideas from.
To my YT best buddies,
Brandi (My first best buddy to read this fic. You are soooo awesome and really nice. Thank you for always supporting me and cheering me on I hope to talk with you soon!)
Tammy (Thank you for helping me out with the dialogue! It was a really big help! I hope we can role play some more soon!)
Leslie (Thank you for your support!! Your cheers really cheer me up and make me really happy! And btw you are more awesome and sooo much nicer!!)
Jeth (You are my Onii-sama forever!! Thank you for always being there for me!!)
Last but not the least, to my real life friends. Thank you for your support and putting up with my various complaining. To xLion-and-Lambx (my real life friend whom I really miss... we have to finish that fic!!)
Ok now to begin!! Oh wait... I forgot to do this in my last chapter...haha sorry...
Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or the characters if I did it wouldn't be as good as it is and probably will end in Volume 1...
Ok now we shall begin for real... Everyone I bring you chapter 2!! Please enjoy...
"Wow what a day!" exclaimed the young heiress to the Kansai Magic Association. She swivelled her chair around to face the window located behind her office desk. Slowly she got up of her chair and made her way towards it desiring to get some fresh air after a long period of paperwork. She opened the window experiencing a feeling of satisfaction as she felt the cool night breeze upon her face.
All of a sudden she felt a yawn coming and rose her arms up to stretch. As she stretched, she felt a cool piece of glass touch her skin lightly. She looked down to find a small pure white (albeit with a tint of pink) sakura petal shaped pendant. This pendant was a priceless gift to her and every time she looked at it, her dark brown eyes would always be filled with sadness and at times, tears. This time was no different.
Slowly Konoka brought her fingers towards the pendant tracing the intricate carving of her name (in its kanji form) and allowed the memory contained within it to overcome her.
It all happened a month or so ago during the party held right after the wedding ceremony
Flashback…
Konoka pushed her way through the crowd of people only stopping for brief moments to reply to the "Congratulations!" said every now and then. There was only one person she wanted to see but this crowd wasn't making her search any easier.
Finally she spotted the one who had been occupying her thoughts standing in a corner alone, drinking punch. Konoka heaved a sigh of relief and began making her way towards that person.
As she walked, this young heiress' couldn't help but admire the dashing figure which stood before her. This dark raven-black haired girl was clad in black pants and had a simple white, long sleeved blouse with a black tie hanging loosely around her neck. Up close, Konoka could see the broad, muscular shoulders and arms which have always been open to her especially during the harshest of times. Her dark hair, oddly enough, wasn't tied in its signature 'sideways' ponytail but let down.
"Se-chan, I finally found you…" said Konoka with a smile.
Upon hearing her nickname, the raven-black haired girl looked up. "Oh um…. Good day Konoka Ojou-sama..." She said in a serious tone.
"Mou! Se-chan! Why are you being so formal all of sudden? Call me Kono-chan like before!" said Konoka pouting cutely.
Under normal circumstances, Setsuna Sakurazaki would blush and stutter things like, "I….I…I'm sorry" or "I...It's…improper" However, this time, all she did was remain silent and look down at the floor causing her eyes to be hidden by the shadow of her long bangs.
"Se-chan is something wrong?"
When Setsuna did not reply, Konoka grabbed Setsuna's shoulders and forced her to look at her. She saw that the deep dark eyes of her friend were damp with tears. Seeing her like that urged Konoka to pull her into a hug…which is what she did…
"No." said Setsuna firmly pushing Konoka away.
The young princess was stunned at her guardian's reaction. Pushing her away was nothing new but Setsuna always did it in an almost comical way with her blushing and suttering. However, this time, Setsuna almost seemed angry.
"Look Ojou-sama, we have to talk" said Setsuna in a quiet and serious tone returning her eyes back to the floor. "Umm… let's go to somewhere quieter…" said Setsuna still looking anywhere but at Konoka.
Setsuna then grabbed Konoka's hand and led her to the garden outside. Fortunately for them, the garden had only a few people seeing as everyone was at the party inside the Konoe mansion.
"Ano… Ojou-sama, do remember the promise I made to you all those years ago? About always being by your side?" said Setsuna currently finding the ground quite interesting.
"Of course I do Se-chan! Is there something wrong? Why do you look so sad?" inquired Konoka with concern in her voice.
"Ojou-sama… Times will change now that you are married… You are now all set to inherit the Kansai Magic Association and pretty soon you're going to have kids with him... That is the reason why… I… I…cannot be part of your life…not like we used to be…"
"What are you saying Se-chan? Of course you can! It doesn't matter that I'm married now… that doesn't change anything…"
"Yes it does! I can't be with you because I'll just be in your way…"
"No you won't! Se-chan I like spending time with you! You will always be my friend!" cried Konoka still quite confused at her friend's behaviour.
"Yes I will… Kono-chan… the times I spent with you were the best times of my life and I will treasure them forever…" said Setsuna who appeared to be on the verge of tears.
"So will I Se-chan…but…"
"No…Kono-chan…. My feelings will always be in the way whenever I am with you and that is something I can never allow… I will never allow myself to be the one to hold you back from whatever you wish to do and become…"
"But…"
"Kono-chan… I…I…lo…" said Setsuna edging closer to Konoka.
As Setsuna edged closer, for some particular reason, Konoka's body appeared to be rooted on the spot. She couldn't move a muscle. Se-chan is so close… thought Konoka suddenly melting into the dark eyes of her raven black- haired friend… She closed her eyes anticipating for something to happen. However all of a sudden an annoying beeping noise came.
"Oh what does it matter anymore? It's too late isn't it?" whispered Setsuna.
"Look Kono-chan, even if I can't be with you, I still intend to keep the promise of protecting you. That is why I'm part of the Shinmei School… I'm sorry I have business to attend to elsewhere. But before I go…" said Setsuna reaching into her pocket retriving a black velvet box. "This is for you…a present for your wedding night... I..I...guess this is goodbye then Kono-chan...No, I mean Konoka Ojou-sama." Giving the box to Konoka, Setsuna bowed and ran of with tears in her eyes.
Konoka raised her hand to try and reach out to her friend but she was too far of into the distance for her to reach….
Opening the box, she found a sakura petal- shaped necklace… "Se-chan…." Whispered Konoka softly as tears began to fall.
Flashback end…
"Se-chan… Why?" Konoka uttered as the pain in her heart grew…
Suddenly at the corner of her eye, the young princess saw a small figure flying towards her window. It was outlined by the light of the moon thereby producing a fairly clear silhouette. At once a spark of recognition overcame Konoka. That sideways ponytail…it was no other than Mini-Sechan!!
But why would Se-chan send me a message at this hour? Konoka wondered in puzzlement.
As mini-Setsuna approached, Konoka could sense something odd in the air. Something was very wrong. Added to her suspicion, she noticed this chibi was different from the usual mini-Setsuna Konoka had come in contact with in the past. This time this chibi appeared to have a dark, depressing aura surrounding her and had a very sad and gloomy look. She also appeared to be fading as the seconds ticked by giving her a very ghostly appearance.
"Sempai wanted me to give this letter to you Konoka Ojou-sama." said the little chibi handing the letter over to Konoka. Konoka reached out to grab the letter, still feeling utterly confused.
Mini- Setsuna then gave a cute bow and whispered with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry Kono-chan." With that, mini-Setsuna faded away into the darkness of the night.
At once Konoka's heart began to race. Something was defiantly wrong. No matter where, no matter how far, Konoka could always sense the presence of her Se-chan. However, the second mini-Setsuna faded away, it was at that moment, to Konoka, Se-chan's presence faded away along with her chibi counterpart.
Hoping to find some answers contained within the letter, Konoka began to read.
With each line she read, memories of the time she spent with Setsuna began to flash before her eyes. Although for this young princess, tears did not begin to fall until she read the last paragraph.
"That is a promise I cannot keep anymore… Goodbye Kono-chan…." Those words kept repeating in her head.
Flashback
Two girls no younger than the age of five, sat by the river gazing at the orange sky as the sun began to sink in the horizon. "Kono-chan, I wanna make a promise to you…" said the young girl whose black hair was tied in a sideways ponytail.
The other young girl with short chocolate brown hair sitting next to her raised an eyebrow. "What is it Se-chan?"
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Kono-chan. I promise to always protect you and I promise to never break it until the day I die."said Setsuna with a determined look in her damp eyes.
"You really don't have to. Can't we just play together?"
Flashback end…
"Never go away until the day I die… Promise cannot keep…Goodbye Kono-chan…" rang through the young heiress' mind.
"No!! No!! Se-chan…can't….can't…be…"
Konoka ran to the phone on her desk and called the Shinmei School's number. "Hello this is the Kyoto Shinmei School. How may we be of service?" came a female voice.
"H…Hello… This is K…Konoe K…K..Konoka. M…May I p…please speak with S…Sa..Sakurazaki Se….Setsuna please?" said Konoka trying to stop her tears and steady her voice.
"Hold on a moment please" Konoka took a deep breath. Which each passing second, she got more and more nervous. She prayed to the heavens that she would be able to hear her Se-chan's voice, reassuring that everything would be alright.
Unfortunately, a voice returned but it wasn't Setsuna's. Instead it was the same woman.
"Ummm… Konoe-sama… You have my sincerest apology… For you see… Sakurazaki-san's troop left for the Ookami territory a while back… We just received word that they did win the battle…but at the expense of their troop leader. We have reason to believe Sakurazaki-san may have…passed on"
"Oh… I see…T….Th…Thank you" Konoka managed to say as she hung up the phone.
In reality, she did not need to hear the last part. She already knew from the moment she stopped sensing Setsuna's presence. However being her stubborn self she denied it. She refused to believe her Se-chan was gone. Everything in her world just seemed to shut down as she stood there in stunned silence
Soon, the pain became too much for her and her knees buckled. She just kneeled on the ground cradling her body and allowing the tears just flow. Through her tears she saw her sakura petal pendant swing before her
Suddenly, before her eyes, a ghostly image of Setsuna appeared. She looked down at the young princess with her dark eyes filled with pain and sadness.
"Kono-chan it's time for me to go… I'm sorry Kono-chan… I wish I told you how much I had loved you." With that, the ghostly form of Setsuna began to walk away.
"NO! Se-chan! Don't leave…" Konoka cried as she tried to run and hug Setsuna to stop her from leaving only to catch nothing but thin air. Setsuna was gone.
"Se-chan… why is it always goodbye with you?" cried Konoka.
Tears continued to streak down her beautiful face. She gazed around her office and her eyes landed on a long, jet black samurai sword. "Yes…" Konoka thought. "There's a way for me to be with Se-chan"
She then unsheathed the nodachi and placed the cold metal upon her neck ready to give up her life.
Well there you go... I'm sorry if it is not what you guys may have expected..Wait did it even make sense?? haha well...it is my way of interpreting Konoka's reaction to Setsuna's death... so I apologise if it wasn't good enough...
Also there may be a few mistakes here and there...I'm am not sure if I edited it well enough...
Will I continue it? haha we shall see... It also helps if you guys review...
So please continue to support me and please r&r and remember no flames pls!! o and btw I'm not calling it a trial fic anymore. The only reason I said that was because I never thought I would continue it... So now that I did... this has become my first full fledged fanfiction!!
