Magister Negi Magi is owned by Ken Akamatsu and Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo in Japan, and by Funimation and Kodansha USA in the United States, NOT by me.
Other characters are also the property of their respective creators and owners, not me.
Some characters created by kafka'sdragon for his 'Markham Chronicles Negima' story are used here with his permission.
It doesn't take quite so long for a certain outcome here, as it does in the MSN manga volume 38 postscript…
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Mage War
Chapter Three: An Actress and a 'lost' Puppy
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(New Ostia, 2007 Twenty-fourth Schismatic War's End Celebration)
Tossing a prize-chit in the air and whistling as he did so, Kotaro Murakami moved down the broad boulevard leading towards his hotel.
Fighting alone without Negi was a bit boring, but there was no other choice. Even if 'Nagi' hadn't died in the finale of the Nagi Springfield Cup during the Twentieth War's Ending Celebration four years ago, 'Negi' was too busy with other things to travel, just for the purpose of fighting.
Still; he'd made a tidy profit from the day's matches. If his luck and skill held out; he would soon have enough to move on to another arena venue… Albor maybe; or perhaps back to Grani…
With the suddenness of a thunderclap; Kotaro found himself on the ground, little birds flying around his head. Before he could stand up, another blow he couldn't see coming took him in the backside… sprawling forward, he rolled and came up facing… nothing…
People on the street were beginning to stare when another blow knocked him down to the pavement once more. He'd caught a glimpse of someone in the instant of being hit, and immediately jumped back up, but again… the only people around seemed to be those thinking he'd gone off the deep end…
One was a child; pointing at him and asking its mother why the strange man was beating himself up… The mother just looked away; telling her child to do the same.
With nothing he obvious to try and fight back against, Kotaro started to run away, but only managed two steps before he tripped, or was tripped. He finally made an attempt to shundo away, but whoever or whatever was attacking grabbed him by the ear… The shundo failed, and he crashed to ground back first…
When he recovered and looked up; Kotaro wasn't sure if he should be angry about his inability to deal with who was standing there, or afraid because they'd been able to deal with him so decisively… "Hey… Na… na… Natsumi! How have you been doing?"
Maintaining a grip on Kotaro's ear with one hand, Natsumi Murakami kept the artifact mask from the Adjutor Solitarius against her face with the other. Not in the mood for any public argument, she began twisting the ear like she wanted to tear it off. "I'm going away to train' for a while my fanny! You've been gone since last summer, and you never sent anyone as much as a peep saying how you've been doing! Do you know what kind of hell I went through trying to find you!?"
Both before and since he'd met the freckle-faced girl who now had him by the ear; Kotaro had faced strong opponents, both human and other-worldly, always managing to come out on top… Because of that, he just couldn't understand how Natsumi; despite looking unexpectedly fit beneath her travel worn clothes; could so easily keep him under control just by twisting an ear… "Ple… please Natsumi! Let me stand up!"
Stopping but refusing to let go of his ear for the moment, Natsumi allowed Kotaro to stand up. "You're coming back to Mahora to finish high school if I have to put a dog-collar on you and drag you there with a leash! Understand?!"
Not in the least wanting to suffer the indignity of being led-around on a leash, and knowing at some instinctive level Natsumi would and could carry out her threat, Kotaro nodded meekly in acquiescence.
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Having booked a reservation in haste, Natsumi was shocked to learn that the cabin on their whaleship flight to the nearest open gate port only had a single bed…
With Kotaro sulking on the small cabin's single chair, she sat on the bed wringing her hands nervously… When they had shared a bed 'before,' Kotaro had just been a kid… who had since grown and matured… Now; even though the flight to Ariadne was only two nights; it seemed impossible to be so casually dismissive of feelings and emotions which had also grown and matured…
When Kotaro failed to come back from summer vacation the previous year, it hadn't been a cause for worry… at first…
Days had turned into weeks though, then weeks into months, and she had finally taken a leave of absence from Mahora University to go find him…
What happened then almost didn't bear thinking about…
A short trip from Megalo-Mesembria to New Ostia and then to Granicus City looking for Kotaro had turned into a months-long romp across the Mundus Magicus; running from people that thought she'd witnessed who knew what crime, trying desperately to contact the Lawgivers to get the thugs off her back, and then going along with a group of mercenaries deep into the Cerberus Forest for the purpose of finding the criminal's hideout and wiping them out…
If it hadn't been for her artifact, she would surely have been dead several times over…
Finally finding Kotaro had brought all the built up anger, fear and frustration to the surface… Using the Adjutor Solitarius and basic martial arts learned from one of the mercenaries, she had taken everything out on him when he couldn't really fight back…
Besides her emotional confusion, she was beginning to feel regret over intentionally wounding his pride just for her own selfish satisfaction… "Hey Kotaro…"
Startled out of nervously circling thoughts about losing a fight to someone whose skill was basic at best… about the story of her 'adventure' Natsumi had recounted as they waited for the whaleship's departure, and an occasional one about being alone with a girl he felt confused about emotionally… Kotaro jumped up. "What?!"
Hands still clasped, Natsumi looked over at the boy she'd given her first kiss to in the New Ostia Arena just a few short years ago. "Do you really not want to go back to school?"
Presented with such a sincerely asked question, Kotaro found he really couldn't avoid answering it. "No… I mean, I don't mind going back… especially since you went to all the trouble of coming to find me…"
Seeing an opportunity, Natsumi stood up and took a step towards Kotaro. "Do… do you wish I hadn't?"
Wanting to react with anger, Kotaro started to do so… before slowly closing his mouth… "I… I… I'm not sure… I'm mad that you put yourself in so much danger; but I'm also angry at myself because your doing so is at the least partly my fault… I worry, about you as my 'sister,' but also in a way I don't know how to deal with… not knowing was a big part of why I left Mahora…"
All the 'running away' Natsumi had done recently had involved endeavoring to stay alive… Ultimately though; she had been running 'towards' Kotaro… "You know; you didn't used to want to get away from me… You may have wandered back and forth, but I always thought you stayed in my bed more than Chizuru's, and certainly more than Ayaka's…"
Cringing; Kotaro flattened his dog ears in embarrassment… "I… I was just a kid then… and like I said; it was more like you were my sister then than anything else…"
Before she could lose a sudden feeling of conviction, Natsumi went over and put her arms around Kotaro. He tried to protest, but she refused to let him go. "You still act like a kid sometimes; but I like that about you… It means you haven't lost your innocence, despite everything you've been through…"
Wanting to push Natsumi away, Kotaro reached up to try, but the place his hand settled had a disconcerting softness to it… "Ack! I'm sorry!"
Surprising even herself, Natsumi didn't shriek or try to move away… though her blush did deepen… "Kotaro… I know we said you were my little brother back when staying in the girl's dorm might have been problematic otherwise… but that doesn't mean I still think of you that way…"
A younger Kotaro; one from just a few years ago; would have shoved Natsumi away and then gone on about 'real men' not getting all mushy over a girl…
A memory of words spoken by another girl though; one of he and Natsumi's mutual friends from Mahora; prevented him from doing so…
"Kotaro; you must always be nice to girls!"
Chizuru Naba was an enigma...
Even though she was one of the nicest girls he had ever known, she was also one of the most frightening… Even before acquiring the terrifying artifact resulting from her provisional contract with Negi Springfield, he had seen her make a Count-class demon hesitate with just a confident attitude and a few words…
If she ever found out he had done something to hurt Natsumi…
To her delight, Natsumi felt Kotaro's arms tighten around her waist. Maybe… maybe like Chizuru had said would happen eventually, he really was growing up; and was reacting thoughtfully now instead of emotionally. For the moment satisfied, she responded in kind and held him close…
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(Mahora Academy, preschool daycare center)
Humming a soft tune as she used a kitchen broom to sweep the currently empty daycare center, Chizuru Naba's thoughts drifted between her class 3A friends; now scattered for the most part after everyone's graduation from high school; until they came to rest on the smiling face of Kotaro Murakami…
Oddly enough… the dog-boy from the Mundus Magicus was the one she missed most of all…
Author's Notes:
When 'Nagi' and 'Kojiro' fought together as a team during the arena battles of the Twentieth War's Ending Celebration in New Ostia; the dopple-Nagi created by Haruna, Yue and Nodoka was 'killed' by Shirabe Shido and Homura King when then intervened in the Nagi Springfield Cup Finale against Fate Averruncus. (The real Negi having gone to Old Ostia to rescue Asuna.) Thusly; the arena gladiator named Kojiro, (Kotaro's age-pastille modified, but now actual grown form,) no longer has a partner. See chapters 41 and 42 of my story 'Ala Alba in the World of Magic' for further details.
Adjutor Solitarius: Natsumi Murakami's artifact through her provisional pactio contract with Kotaro Inugami. In the form of an opera mask, it allows the user to remain completely hidden to all senses, as long as they don't touch someone or something they wish to hide from.