Chapter 4: The Study Party
Miyaka, still dazed by the fact that magic was real, was still confused about this whole thing. In fact, she was even more surprised when she found out she had magic powers herself. As she was walking back to her dorm, she bumped into her best friend, Kimiko.
"Hey, Miyaka! Ayumi, Asano, Ayu, Rei, and I were looking for you. Where were you?" Kimiko said.
"Some crazy person was chasing me," Miyaka said. She knew Kimiko would think she was out of her mind if she told her about magic. In fact, she could hardly believe it herself.
"Again? How many times do those people chase you? Why don't you meet us at the swimming pool tomorrow after class? That way we won't have any trouble with some crazy people," Kimiko said, interrupting Miyaka's thoughts.
"I guess that will be alright," Miyaka said wearily. Then suddenly it struck Kimiko: something else is going on with Miyaka. Kimiko knows enough about Miyaka then anybody else does. They've been best friends since kindergarten.
"Are you okay, Miyaka? You aren't acting normally. Is there something else going on? You know I'll understand. We're best friends, remember?" Kimiko said.
"No, nothing's really wrong," Miyaka said, "I'm just tired."
"Alright then," Kimiko said.
The next morning Miyaka, Kimiko, Ayumi, and Asano woke up. As usual, everybody was all peppy and happy – even Miyaka.
Kimiko thought, "Maybe she was just tired. She's acting usual now".
After all the girls changed, brushed their hair, and got up, they got out of the room and into the cafeteria. They ate some rice and eggs then quickly got to the classroom. By the time they were done, they were just in time for the bell.
"All right, 4A. I'm accepting a lot from this year's exam. I know both classes did relatively well on their exams last year. Let's try to do that again," Negi said.
Class went on usually. Negi called on various people to read or translate – when he called Asuna, she got mad and didn't really know what to do.
After class, there was a huddle among all the girls and Negi.
"Hey, you know what? I think we can organize a study party amongst ourselves in somewhere like the gym. We can study I guess for some time, than just hang out for the rest of the time. What do you say? We can even ask Negi-sensei to rent the gym," Beniko said.
"Yeah," Naomi said, "we could do all kinds of stuff – watch movies, play video games, and talk."
"So what about it, Negi-sensei?" asked Chinatsu.
"I guess it will be alright. Now all we have to do is ask the Dean," Negi said.
Negi walked down the hall, into the dean's office.
"Hello, Negi-kun," says the dean.
"Hello. Um… dean, I came to ask you a question. I was wondering if we could use the gym tonight," Negi said.
"Hm… what do you suggest to do at the gym tonight?" the dean asked.
"To host a study party for the whole class for this year's exams," Negi said.
"I guess that will be alright," the dean said, "now all you have to do is sign and stamp these papers and give them to the gym teacher. Then you'll be all set for the night."
Negi signed and stamped the papers and went to the gym to find the coach. Then, after the coach agreed and took the papers, they were all set.
As Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna were walking to the gym, they were wondering about numerous things – especially about Miyaka.
Suddenly, Negi felt something on his back.
"Hey, Negi!" Kotaro said, "Wanna have a rematch?"
"Kotaro… when will you stop asking that?" Negi asked.
"Oh come on!" Kotaro said, "at least tell me where you are going."
"Um…," Asuna said. She knew she wasn't supposed to tell anybody outside of the class.
"Whatever," Kotaro said, "I'll just follow you."
At the study party, they really didn't study much. After they studied for half an hour, Konoka started her video game, Zombie Hunters 3. It ended up everybody was trying to beat the game. Then at last, everybody fell asleep.
Suddenly, there was a dark force coming… from somewhere… inside the room… from Zombie Hunters 3.