A/N: Thank you all for the overwhelming response to this story so far! As MaE 04 nears completion, I've decided that you've waited long enough. Here is Chapter Three, and special thanks to Tsutomu Teruko for allowing me to use her fine introductory scenes from Pactum Factum, tweaked by me to fit into this...madness.
Review Responses
Daughter of ether: No outstanding point?! weeps I must try harder then!
Tribladeofchaos: Sorry if I offended you. Write your fic well and who knows?
The Ansem Man: Ansem, mad as it is, I am not only doing the entire manga upto the Mahorafest, I am also doing the plots of the fics from which the OCs originate. A plot cocktail, blending all the fanfics and manga story together. Madness, as I've said, but it ain't been done before, so gotta try!
Tikigod784: Subtle? Me? Hah! All my secrets can be worked out in under a minute.
GaleBread: Things will heat up soon-ish.
LostInNothing: I recommend getting to know the OCs by reading their respective stories, even if only for the fact the fics are awesome reads.
Chapter Three
New Friends
"Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Well, except Yuna. She has an albino with red eyes in her closet."
Akira Okochi
Negi stared nervously at Asuna, who simply stood there and gaped at him.
"W-w-what was that?" she asked eventually.
Negi couldn't find any words, simply looking at her in shock and fear. Suddenly, Nodoka stirred in his arms, mumbling slightly. It snapped everyone out of their trances. Negi managed to yelp out as Asuna grabbed him and his staff and shot off, leaving behind a confused Nodoka. She didn't stop running until they were far away, deep in a park.
"Alright, what was all that?! What the hell are you, a mutant?!" demanded Asuna, shaking the child viciously by the collar.
"I-i-i-it was magic…" her teacher managed to stammer out between shakes.
"Whatever! It's the same thing in the end! Wait, that means the incident this morning was your entire fault too!" snarled the girl, glaring at the boy trapped in her vice-like grip.
"I'm sorry! Don't tell anyone I'm a mage1 Please!" pleaded Negi once he was released from Asuna's death-grip.
"You've gotta be kidding! I'm telling everyone!"
"Then you leave me no choice," replied Negi, suddenly serious. "I shall have to remove your memory!"
Well, we all know what happens next…
…so let's take a moment to view another fateful encounter, happening not too far away, involving one Yuna Akashi. She was heading back to her dorm alone, after another day at school, though this one was more memorable than ever. Who could've thought her new homeroom teacher would be a cute little ten year old? Yet for some reason, maybe fate, more likely not, she chose not to take the direct route home, instead deciding to take the scenic way. This route was just a tiny little pebbled path, flanked by various lonely little gated-off trees.
Yet…strangely, today the path seemed to evoke a feeling of…nostalgia? The basketball star couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something seemed to call to her memory. It was maddening, like a song you always hummed, but never knew what it was called or where you had heard it before. Whatever it was, it was beginning to faze the girl, so she quickened her pace.
That was the moment a rustling caught her attention. She stopped and looked at the bushes from where the sound was coming from. She sighed audibly when a cat emerged. It was black with big green eyes and one white paw. There was a pink ribbon around its neck, and its ears were lifted as it watched her.
"Awww!" cooed the athletic girl, walking up and crouching in front of the little ball of fur. "Hi, kitty! What's up?" she asked cheerfully, holding out a hand for it to sniff. The cat smelt her hand before turning around and trotting off back to the bush. Yuna blinked after it. "Oh, you're going now?"
The cat hunkered down underneath the overhanging leaves and stared at her intently. Yuna grinned and followed, creeping along on her toes without rising out of her crouch. When she reached the bush, the dark cat stood, bumped her hand with its head and tiptoed off again. She followed it with her eyes, watching it step lightly, as if walking on water until it reached…
"…a CORPSE?!" Yuna nearly screamed, staring in horror at the body. Then again, the guy seemed to be in pretty fine condition to be a corpse. Then again, he was just lying there, his arms limp by his sides. giving no indication of life whatsoever. He seemed pretty tall, with light-grey hair and wearing a strangely coloured suit Yuna had never encountered before.
She slowly approached the still figure. "Hey mister, are you ok? Hey, wake up!" The girl knelt down next to the stranger and shook him by the shoulder gently. Finally the strange youth stirred slightly, groggily opening his eyes. They were bright red.
He looked up blearily at her and spoke. "Huh?"
Yuna laughed in relief, falling back onto her heels. "Thank goodness for that, I thought you were really dead for a minute there!"
"What?" asked the bewildered guy, sitting up and glancing about.
"I mean, you were lying there in the bushes…You shouldn't do that! You could scare people you know!" pointed out Yuna accusingly.
The albino youth simply stared at her for a moment before slowly lifting his hand to touch her jaw.
"Huh?" queried Yuna, surprised. "You ok mister-"
She was cut off as the young man leaned in and kissed her.
Yuna hadn't ever been kissed by anybody before. And as a strict tomboy, daddy's girl and student at an all-girl's school, she hadn't expected to be kissed anytime soon, either. And so this sudden intrusion took her completely by surprise, and all she did was sit there, her hands on his shoulders in a feeble attempt to push him off and her eyes closed out of sheer habit.
And from somewhere or other, a little voice declared, "Pactio!"
Suddenly, she realized just what was odd about the path that day, but then she forgot it as she tipped forward, fast asleep.
"Yuna Akashi, Howell J. Fitzwilliam, check," murmured a figure to itself, calmly watching the whole scene from its vantage point in the tree across the path. He ticked a box next to the names labelled 'Met' and idly lingered over the next one, labelled 'Possible infatuation' before shrugging and wrapping up the document and storing it away. Those things came with time, and he had all the time in the world. But for now, he had other individuals to locate. He spared another glance at the sleeping form of Yuna Akashi and the calmly sitting youth next to her, idly staring at the clouds passing overhead. The figure smiled coldly as he vanished with a rustle of his cloak.
Meanwhile, in the dorms, a welcoming party was in full swing, absentees be damned! Negi applauded as all his students showed off their talents to him, and he had to admit, they could certainly put on a variety performance! He had never encountered such a group of individuals before. His class could do almost anything. Whether it was a gymnastic demonstration by Makie, or Misora leading the choir, or Zazie with her tricks, or even Ayaka playing the violin, Negi couldn't help but be impressed and entertained.
"So you are my new homeroom teacher?" he heard a voice query disapprovingly. The child prodigy turned his head slightly, only to be confronted by a familiar face.
"You!" he exclaimed, eyes growing wide. "Why are you here?!"
The girl from the plane ride frowned at him. "I'm here to learn, obviously. Question is, why are you here?"
"I said so, its part of my training," he replied nervously, glancing about to make sure no one was eavesdropping. There was no need. His students were thoroughly getting into the party atmosphere and losing themselves in the chaos of the celebration. Assured no one was listening in, he scanned the book in his hands yet again, identifying this student. Number 32, Aer Hazumi. "Oh, so you're name is Hazumi? I take it you're not originally from England then."
"Well I am," snapped the girl irritably. "My ancestors are probably from here, but I wouldn't know. Now excuse me, but I'm off to sleep," the girl turned away from him and stomped off to her room, followed quietly by another girl, glaring at all the celebrations contemptuously. Negi couldn't help but feel his spirits rise. If there was a mage, even one in training in his class, then his task was sure to be easier. In case of any emergencies, he had someone to fall back on and help him in class. A shame he hadn't known that this afternoon when he was caught by Asuna and tried to erase her memory, only to erase her…
Well, best not to dwell on that. He had other things to take care of, like getting to know his students. As he was going to be spending a lot of time with them, he might as well learn more about them. Quickly scanning the crowd, he matched faces with names in his class roster. Then he found that something didn't quite add up.
"Erm, has anyone seen Yuna Akashi?" he queried.
"Yuna? Haven't seen her since class ended," replied a tall girl Negi quickly identified as Akira Okochi.
"Ah, Negi, don't worry, I'll go look for her," said Takamichi, smiling at the child teacher. "Meanwhile, enjoy yourself. I'll be back with her in no time."
The ten year old nodded his acknowledgement, and his older friend left. He resumed reading through the class roster before finding yet another discrepancy.
"Konoka, where's Asuna?"
His other roommate turned to him, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I'm not sure. I think she left early…"
"Oh," blinked Negi. "Thanks." The dean's granddaughter smiled before turning back to her conversation. The teacher glanced about the large room, taking in everyone's good mood. No one would notice if he slipped away for a moment, right? Despite everything that had happened, Asuna was still one of his students, and as her teacher, he was responsible for her. Takamichi had already gone to find Yuna, so it was done to him to find his other wayward student. Negi smiled to himself as he quietly stood up and padded over to the door, casting one last look at the wild party going on in his honour. The kid teacher smiled before leaving unnoticed.
It did not take long to locate her. He found her on the staircase, leaning on the windowsill, staring into space. Negi slowed as he came up behind her, quietly worried at the girl's stillness, quite contrary to her usual boisterous self. "Asuna?"
At hearing her name being spoken, the teenager glanced at him. Negi was taken aback. The girl had tears in her eyes. Immediately, Negi understood. "I-I-I'm sorry," he said eventually, looking down to spare his student further embarrassment. "It's my fault. I seem to have made quite a mess of things on my first day…"
"No, its fine," sniffed Asuna, looking outside again. "It's unrequited love after all…" she continued on. Negi's heart swelled with sympathy. Asuna loved Takamichi, everyone knew that. But due to her being a student and him being a teacher, it could never be, even if she did confess her feelings to him.
"I'm sorry. Magic really is no good for these sorts of things. But then again, grandfather always said that our magic was not all-powerful, and that a little bit of courage was true magic."
Asuna was silent for a moment before turning around, smiling softly. "Alright, I'll try my best at being courageous."
Her teacher smiled too, quietly pleased that he had managed to lift the girl's spirits. Maybe this teaching assignment wouldn't be so hard after all!
"But you'll have to help me. I mean, as my teacher you're supposed to, right?"
Er, yes, of course," answered Negi, slightly nervous now. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, I need to practice confessing of course."
"Eh…?"
"I can't just confess to him without practicing first can I?" pointed out Asuna, climbing he stairs until they were face to face. "So from now on, you're Professor Takahata, got it?"
"Uh, sure…" replied Negi, surprised at her sudden change in demeanour.
His student took a deep breath, and removed her bell decorations, letting her long hair fall down until it resembled Ayaka's. Negi couldn't help but look at her admiringly. She was rather pretty actually…
"I love you…" she said quietly, almost shyly. Even though they were acting, Negi couldn't stop himself blushing. She looked up at him, and slightly more loudly spoke again. "I love you professor." Negi gulped slightly as she leaned in closer. "I've loved you for a long time," she continued, "is it troublesome for you?"
"Ah, eh, no…" stammered Negi, hoping he wasn't glowing red now.
"Good," whispered Asuna as she leaned in close. Negi felt the blood rush to his head, and he screwed his eyes shut to blot out the image of an attractive girl leaning towards him for a kiss.
I'm a teacher! These thoughts are WRONG! he thought furiously.
Suddenly he felt someone pinching his cheeks and pulling on them. He opened his eyes and saw the mirth on his student's face. "Did you really think I was going to kiss you just then?" she laughed, pinching his cheeks even more. "Your face was all red and quivering! For a kid, you really see yourself as a playboy, don't you?" She smiled as she continued. "This is your punishment for giving me the worst day ever!"
Yuna woke up. Feeling a little sick, the girl turned her head to the side slightly. Right next to her was a black cat.
"Huh… kitty…" she mumbled, then paused. She could hear singing. It was a male voice, and she couldn't understand the words to the song… they were in a different language, she realized—English? She turned her head to look in the direction of the sound, this time only to be faced by a blank-faced young man with bright red eyes and silver hair sitting a few feet away. "GAH!!"
Suddenly remembering what had happened before her nodding off, Yuna leapt up, pointing an accusing finger at the offender and wishing her face wasn't so very red.
"You-you-youyouyou—"
The stranger blinked at her, stopping his singing, his expression not changing.
"What?"
"You…" Yuna tried to find some way to voice her fury, finally settling on a strangled, "You bad bad man!"
"Bad man?" the albino guy considered this for a minute. "Oh, are you upset that I didn't ask you first? I'm sorry. I'd been waiting there for so long, though, and I was getting more and more desperate, so when you showed up I didn't bother asking…"
"Gah!" Yuna cried. "What kind of sicko are you!?"
"I'm Howell Jonathon Fitzwilliam. What kind of sicko are you?" he asked congenially, smiling all over.
"Akashi Yuna, pleased to—waitaminute!!" the dark-haired girl shook her head quickly and shouted, "I don't need to tell you anything! I can't even pronounce that
name of yours! You're really ticking me off!"
Howell didn't seem too upset by this declaration. Calmly, he pulled a rather thick rectangle of paper from his coat pocket and showed it to her. It was probably some kind of ID or something; it had his picture on it and a bunch of words in a language Yuna couldn't read. He pointed to these words and explained, "It's very easy, see? You'd pronounce it Hau-ru- Fi-tsu-wi-ri-a-mu…"
"I can't read that!"
"What, don't you pay attention in English class?" Howell inquired sweetly.
Yuna really didn't know why she hadn't left already. "None of your business. What is this thing, anyway?" she eyed him suspiciously. "A forged emigration paper, I bet! You're a criminal, aren't you!?"
The russet-eyed man stared at her curiously. "It's our pactio card, you silly."
"Pactio what?" Yuna tried to think of where she'd heard that word before. After a while she gave up and, becoming fed up, jabbed a finger at the weirdo's nose. "Listen, buddy, quit trying to squirm out of it and answer my questions! What was up with that ki-ki-ki—that thing!?"
"I couldn't help it," Howell said simply. "I was really desperate."
The annoyed athlete stared at him, face deadpan. "For what?"
"The pactio," was the most infuriating response. "Isn't it obvious?"
Yuna was lost yet again. "What?"
"I mean, obviously I wouldn't do something like that unless I was really desperate. Right?"
For a minute Yuna tried to sort this out, then realized that he was making a jab at her and saying that she was undesirable, which ticked her off all over again. "Hey! What do you mean?!"
Howell shrugged and sighed, showing her that weirdo card thing again as if she wanted to see it and went on, "It was so weak! You're not used to it at all, are you? This thing will probably be completely useless…"
Yuna took this opportunity to smash him in the teeth with her fist. While he recoiled from this, she shouted, "Hey Buster, where do you get off practically molesting me like that and then complaining about it!? Jerk! Pervert! Jackass!"
He stared up at her blankly. "Huh?"
Infuriated, Yuna dealt him a good kick in the face, then stomped off before she could see if he noticed that. "Moron!" she grumbled.
"Huh?"
She paused, turned around to rant at him again, then decided against it. The girl turned on her heel and began to stalk off once again… but was stopped before she got too far.
"Well, hello, Yuna-san. What are you up to?" inquired Professor Takahata. "Who's this?"
"Uh, he's…"
"Alo-HA!!" Howell sang, practically pushing Yuna aside as he leapt up to greet Takahata. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Japanese teacher! I'm Howell Jonathon Fitzwilliam (age 25), I've come from the very, very far-off land of Wales, but I became lost and was accosted by this lewd, sweaty turnip-chest girl here and hit with a truck! Japan is a strange place, is it not? Ha, ha!"
Takahata blinked.
"Hey, who's lewd?! And whaddaya mean, accosted? YOU accosted ME!!" Yuna shouted, ducking behind her bewildered ex-homeroom-teacher. "Takahata-sensei, this weird guy won't leave me alone! He's been following me for a while now."
Instead of doing as she said and telling Howell where to get off, Takahata just stood there, rubbing his beard. "Fitzwilliam from Wales, huh? You're the one that the dean was talking about, aren't you? The new guy?"
Howell grinned up at him. "That's me!"
"EH!?" Yuna exclaimed, disbelieving. "The dean? What'd he want with someone like you?"
"Yuna-san," Takahata said benignly, gesturing towards the beaming Howell "Howell-san is going to be teaching here for this semester."
"Teaching?!" the dark-haired girl demanded. "But you look…so young!"
Howell had now turned back to address Takahata, showing him a handful of papers. "I have to turn these in to the dean before I can do anything else, but I got lost…"
"The dean's is just over that way," Takahata said obligingly. "Yuna-san, could you show him?"
"What?!" Yuna cried. The last thing she wanted to do was spend more time with this guy!
Howell nudged her with his elbow, chirruping, "Well, come on, turnips."
"WHAT'S WITH THE 'TURNIPS'?!" demanded Yuna, walking down the sidewalk with Mr. Strangoid nonetheless.
"Those unusually-lumped breasts of yours… they're so sweaty they look like turnips that have just absorbed too much water, yes?"
"What! THEY DO NOT!"
"You're right, looking at them now, they look more like radishes."
Yuna began to stamp Howell's foot into the ground, and Takahata lit himself a new cigarette.
Here was hoping that Howell got to the dean's in one piece.
"So have you decided on a place to stay yet?" asked Asuna suddenly, glancing back at him, causing the bells in her hair to chime softly.
"Oh, no," he replied, looking at her. His student sighed as she looked away.
"Well come on then, it's getting late. We should be getting back to the dorm."
"Asuna, does that mean you're accepting Negi?" asked Konoka happily.
"N-no! But I'm not heartless either! He's just a kid and he needs a place to stay! I'm just doing the right thing!"
"S-u-r-e," teased Konoka, winking at the orange-haired girl.
Negi smiled as his roommates fell into childish bickering, As an afterthought, he pulled out his class roster for the umpteenth time that day, and added another mark onto the picture of Asuna, scribbling out his early marks and jotting down 'Actually a nice person'. The prodigy's smile widened. Perhaps living here wouldn't be so bad after all…
A/N: Chapter four coming your way soon folks…