Chapter 4

The next day

Drug-dealing is a delicate business in places like Mahora; you have to make your customers relax and feel safe since they are buying things that would get them both thrown out of school and sent to jail. Dealing with a beat-up face and a large patch hiding a wound bad enough to warrant ten stitches will be like swimming with concrete boots. However Negi knew he had to do it, sick leave didn't exist in his line of business. Therefore he now hid in his usual alley as evening fell and waited for his customers. As so many times before he now stood in his alley and waited, only difference was that Kotaro was with him this time. He wasn't stupid, besides his friend had claimed that he had nothing better to do.

Asuna was at home with a girl Kotaro knew, the babysitter having rented some DVD for her. Negi had, obviously, checked the disc to see what she was renting. Expecting something like "Rape Revolution the Movie" he had been pleasantly surprised to see that she had actually gotten hold of a pretty decent thing for Asuna's age, something about a little turtle that went out in the world to yadda yadda. It was pretty much what he wanted her to see. Kotaro had also, as a bonus, made it very clear to the girl what would happen if anything had happened to Asuna when they came back. Negi had realized then that his friend had a greater rep than he let on, the girl had nearly pissed herself in fear, mainly when Kotaro buried a kitchen knife in the hallway wall, pushing it in to the hilt.

Suddenly the scrawny face of Yuusuke peered into the alley, the young man looking even more like shit than usual. Negi saw in a second that the little twerp had failed to handle the Crystal, as expected. Negi just smiled inwardly when he realized he had just gotten a good source of money. When the little twerp saw Kotaro his eyes widened and he was about to retreat when Negi motioned for him to come in. Kotaro pulled back a little so the guy wouldn't run and Negi spoke up.

"It's been a while Yuusuke." He smiled, but stopped when the wound on his cheek became strained.

"K-kami-sama!" Yuusuke exclaimed when he got a good look on Negi's face, "What has happened to you?" Negi grimaced inwardly; Yuusuke was too damn jittery to let this slide, the little scaredy-cat had to be calmed, now.

"I was clumsy," he said, seemingly dismissing the whole thing, "But don't worry, it won't happen again," He pointed against Kotaro, "He's here to make sure of that. Don't worry, he doesn't bite." He smiled with one side of his mouth, avoiding putting strain on the wounded chin. "You want some study-aid?" He asked, trying to get off the subject. Yuusuke shook his head, as if trying to clear it.

"Yeah…yeah." He said, "That stuff was amazing." He smiled maniacally, "I managed to study for an entire day straight. It was awesome! The exams will be a breeze!"

Negi's smiled as much as he could, while hiding his disgust for the guy, and picked out four new bags.

"Then I suppose these are something you want?" He asked happily, Yuusuke nodded and had fished out the money in a second. Negi noted again how easy it was for the twit to get out money. He had to be a rich boy. When he had left Kotaro whistled.

"Holy fuckin' hell…" He chuckled, "Gold customer that one." He shook his head, "That's gotta be the most gullible fuckin' retard ever. You should try t' get him hooked on more stuff, it seems like he can fish out as much money as he wants to. With a lil' luck you'll triple th' profit off him."

"That's the problem." Negi said, "I'm sure that I can get him hooked on heroin if I want to, but I'm trying to milk him slow and steady. I don't need a corpse on my hands; if he's a rich kid his dad will probably raze Mahora to find me."

"You're missin' something." Kotaro said, "Those fuckers ain't never gonna believe that there's dealers here, on their fine campus. They think that th' kids go off to th slums t' get hold of it. Get him hooked on all you can, they almost never track th' dealer anyway. A body is a body an' it's not like your personal mark is on th' stuff. They won't track you down."

"It's my neck if they do." Negi said.

"Whine, whine, whine." Kotaro rolled his eyes, "Hey, gimme one of your joints." He suddenly said, "I'm getting' bored 'ere, you're collectin' th' easiest money on earth, I can't get why you ever were worried."

"What the…?" Negi said, "You think I'm gonna let you smoke up my stock?" The fact that his friend smoked them was nothing new, he had known that Kotaro lit one up every now and then for years.

"Oh come on, It's just one." Kotaro protested, "You can share one with your best bud." He smiled and opened his arms against him.

"Each yen you smoke up for free is one yen away from my pay," Negi told him, crossing his arms in front of him, "You're paying like anyone else."

"That's you business attitude?" Kotaro asked, an annoyed look on his face, "How th' fuck do you get new customers?"

"Kotaro…" Negi smiled and clasped his hands, "You're not a new customer."

"Bah!" Kotaro took out his wallet and threw the bills at Negi, "Enjoy th' cash Scrooge."

"A pleasure doing business with you." Negi fished out one of the joints and handed it over before hunching down and taking up the bills. Kotaro lit it up and took a puff before stopping and taking a sniff on it. His eyes widened and he looked at his friend.

"Seems like I won 'ere after all." He grinned, "This is one of th' good ones, th' ones meant cost more than just that. Well thank you good sir for givin' me such a good deal."

"Who's to say I didn't mean for you to get one?" Negi asked his friend, "You do have VIP status in my shop," He winked at Kotaro who narrowed his eyes.

"Wow… you really took th' fun outta that." He muttered as he took another sip of it. "So…" He said after a while, "Who are th' other junkies?"

"The worst one would be Serizawa," Negi looked out of the alley to see if anyone was approaching, the area was nearly empty, "He's a creep, even freaks me out, he goes on everything that exists and nothing is too low for him. Half the GHB I sell here go to him for his date-rapes."

"No shit…" Kotaro chuckled, "Well… cash's cash… as long as he buys."

"That's' the shitty part with him," Negi said, "He's a snob and won't buy anything unless I lie my ass off about it being the fanciest stuff out here. I have to lie like a politician to him." Now Kotaro was laughing.

"No shit?" He asked incredulously, that was the most stupid thing this year.

"No shit…" Negi shook his head. "Well what can you do?"

"True that…" Kotaro agreed before looking behind Negi, "Incoming." Negi quickly looked back and saw Serizawa's smirking face approach. He quickly put on his business-face and turned to face the man he despised more than anyone on Mahora.

"Hey man." He smiled, "I suppose that the party was a blast since you were there."

"Do you even need to ask?" And the ass-hat was just as patronizing as ever, didn't even look at his wounds, "It was almost a waste of my time." He smirked that arrogant smirk of his. "I had to personally keep the whole thing from becoming a parody of a real party."

"Sorry to hear that." Negi said, inwardly wondering if it was possible to kill this guy and get away with it. "Hopefully the thing they are doing at Library Island this weekend will be better. The usual?"

"Yes…" Serizawa slowly said; a dangerous glint suddenly evident in his eyes. "You know something?" He asked, "I've been thinking about things for a while… I thought to myself one day "Why do I pay some back-alley scum enormous sums for something that I could get for free?" Negi was, in one second, stunned by the guy, who the fuck did he think he was? Serizawa mistook his inaction for fear and continued, "Seeing as how I can have to police here in one second I think its' time to renegotiate the prices a little, don't you think?"

Negi just blinked… this was unbelievable. However he noticed in the corner of his eye how Kotaro was slowly inching behind the guy. His friend seemed to get ready for something and Negi understood in a second. He only nodded and opened his mouth.

"Yeah…" He said, "Definitely, get him." The last two words were aimed at Kotaro who immediately responded. Before Serizawa could do anything Kotaro had kicked him in the back of his legs and sent him to the ground, Serisawa had only time to yelp in pain before Kotaro had planted a knee in his back and put his switchblade against his throat.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing!" Serizawa yelled in indignation. "Don't you know who I am?" He stopped talking when Negi stomped down on his hand, grinding the bones into the ground. "Ah!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Negi ignored his question, this guy had just pissed him off way too far to just let it slide, "Let me tell you something you little shit." Negi growled. Grinding his bones a little harder into the ground he spoke up again, "You see my face?" He pointed at his still bruised face, "The guys who did that are dead meat now. Do you really think that being the son of some piece of shit businessman will protect you? Well for your info, little prince, it doesn't."

"You'll regret this!" Serizawa hissed, "My father…"

"Isn't here now, is he?" Negi interrupted, "If you wanna play this game you'll just have to accept the consequences. And kids like you…" He looked at Kotaro who grabbed the man's arm, for a second he hesitated before he nodded again, "Doesn't belong here." The chilling noise of a bone breaking was followed by a scream of pain as Serizawa's arm was broken. Kotaro got of the young man and tore him to his feet.

"Get out of here." Negi said to Serizawa with a chilling voice and a sadistic smile on his lips, "And don't even think about telling the cops… I know where you live, don't think I won't do it." Kotaro shoved Serizawa towards the exit of the alley and the man fled, tears of pain streaming down his face. For a few seconds everything was quiet in the alley then Negi suddenly slumped against the wall, exhilaration and glee flooding him.

"God damn it…" He was laughing, "I've wanted to do that for months!" He had at last done it! He had put that arrogant little fucker in his place! Kotaro only looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow as Negi continued to laugh, loudly and happily, for several more minutes. In the end Kotaro grinned too, Negi was back in Mahora, big time.

Two months later

"..and that's how th' stupidity fine was created!" Kotaro finished, earning a pair of chuckles from his audience. One of the men nodded appreciatively at Negi, who was sitting next to his friend.

"That was truly a display of fast thinking Negi-san." The man said, taking a puff from his cigar. Negi just shrugged at this, he still wasn't fully comfortable about this whole thing. Out of the blue Kotaro had dragged him to this place. It was a seedy underground bar where one of the back rooms, little more than a concrete room with some chairs and sofas, a few tables and a TV in one end of the room, was open only to Fate's subordinates.

It was there that Negi and Kotaro now sat together with four other men, all of them apparently belonging to Fate's underlings. The man who had praised Negi's wits was easily the most colorful of them all. An effeminate face together with his suit, a colorful creation that was finished off with a pimp-hat, a long coat and silver jewelery, together with the cigars he smoked gave his the look of someone high up. He even had a pimp cane. Kotaro had called him a poser of the worst kind.

The other three consisted first of one of Fate's bodyguards, Hiroshi in fact, who wore the same suit as always, even had the sunglasses with him. The second was an old guy who looked like a bum, worn coat and all, and had the look of a first-class alcoholic in his eyes, eyes that nonetheless seemed sharp and aware. The last was a huge man with bulging muscles and a Mohawk haircut who had more scars than the average teenager would have dimples.

"I wish I could employ stupidity fine." Hiroshi said as he looked at his cards, "I usually have to shoot people when they mess up."

"At least they'll shut up quickly …" the thug pointed out, "Las` week this fucking old bitch couldn't pay up so I had to fucking slap her around a little." The thug felt his left ear and scratched it. "My doc thinks she nearly fucked my hearing to shit with the screaming." The thug rudely stuck his finger in his ear and then pocked it out and flicked it. "I was more surprised the old crack whore could scream that loudly."

"Have you tried earplugs?" Hiroshi asked. "I have to use them sometimes. But if you do use them, remember to throw them away after each time. Nowadays they can even ID people from their ear-wax."

"Gentlemen!" the Cigar guy suddenly said as he finished mixing the cards, "The table is open; minimum wages are five-thousand, one exchange only." His hands moved in a blur as the cards flew across the table and landed in front of the men. "Place your bets." Chips were pushed forth and they all looked at the cards, Negi was everything but experienced with cards but realized that what he had was shit. The men all threw the cards they didn't want, Negi ended up throwing three of them, and new cards were given. Negi's eyes widened when he saw what he suddenly had gotten and he quickly schooled his face into an impassive look.

"Anyone who wants to raise their bets?" the man with the Cigar asked and the thug threw his cards onto the table.

"I'm out." The burly man growled, "I musta pissed in Lady Luck's beer or something."

"I'm raising twenty." Hiroshi said and pushed out his chips.

"Me too." The bum wheezed. Kotaro and the Cigar-man raised too, finally it came to Negi, who though for a while before he took up double the amount of chips.

"I call and raise another twenty." He said and noticed the Cigar-man having an amused glint in his eyes. The raising went on and eventually both the bum and Kotaro had folded.

"Good luck man." The latter had said to Negi and now Negi and the Cigar-man was facing off against each other. The cigar-man smirked at Negi, the amused glint still glowing in his eyes.

"Are you certain you know what you are doing?" He asked, "That is an awful lot of money." He put out chips for a hundred thousand Yen. "And now there will be even more. If you take this bet you might end up losing two hundred thousand. Is it not a better idea to cut your losses now? While you still have a chance?" he fiddled with his cards, "Unless you hold a Royal Straight Flush you are out in dangerous water. There's always bigger fishes, you are nothing but a small frog out on too deep water, is it worth the risk?"

"Same to you." Negi pushed out an equal amount on the table, trying not to show how nervous the man had made him. Without waiting for a reply he threw his cards on the table. "Full house: Aces and Kings, Speed gives you wings, I win." He reached out across the table and collected his winnings. "Care for a second round?" he grinned, collecting his winnings as slow as he could to rub in how much he had actually won, "Or should I just treat you all to a drink since I don't exactly have to worry about cash for a week or two?"

Kotaro broke out in a howling laughter and the Cigar-man's trademark dropped from his mouth before his lips curled in a snake-like smile.

"Let's keep up the game." He said "And how about upping the bets a little? Double or nothing perhaps? If I win all the gains, including your remaining chips go to me, if you win, I'll give you all I have."

"Give it a rest man!" Kotaro laughed and looked at the man's pile of chips, compared to Negi's pile it was pitiable. "You ain't got nothing t' offer that's gonna make up for th' risk."

"How about a night with Sakura?" The man took a sip from his cigar and the table fell silent. "One night with the finest girl I have, a girl that usually would cost three times as much as what I have left." He continued. "The cherry-blossom of Harajuku will be my wager."

Negi's eyes widened again.

"Y-you mean Sakura as in the girl who fucked that minister?" He asked with a dry mouth, "Who got him fired when she told the press?"

"You gotta be fucking shitting me." The thug said with a choked voice. "Take it," he told Negi, "Fucking take it! She's the best whore in Tokyo, there's a fucking waiting list for her!"

"Man…?" Kotaro said quietly, he was salivating; she had to be good. "I'm not good enough to even speak to her when she visits the boss." Negi felt his shoulders be pressed down a little harder than what many would consider friendly, "If you ain't takin' this bet I'm gonna drown you in th' Tama river." Kotaro continued, "She's that fuckin' good."

"You're serious?" Negi asked and the Cigar-man nodded, "No bullshit," the man shook his head, "A whole night with her?"

"From eight in the evening to eight in the morning." The man took a puff of his cigar. "I'll let you skip the waiting line and whatever you wish, she'll give you. But that is only if you take the bet."

"You'll never have this opportunity again," Hiroshi smiled at the whole thing, "It would seem that you pissed Albireo off enough for this to happen. Normally you'd have to be at Fate-sama's level for something like this to be plausible"

"Time is ticking, little man." Albireo said, "What will it be?"

Negi went through an inner crisis. Despite everything that had happened he was still a man with somewhat intact morals and something within him protested vehemently at the thought. However he had, for over half a year now, lived in this world where morals were cheap and dangerous and money everything. It all was for Asuna, he knew that. If it wasn't for her he'd never have done all this.

But still… why not reap some of the benefits for himself too? He was a young man, with desires like everyone else. With Asuna at home sex was something he had had only about two times before. A whole night of sex with Tokyo's best… he eventually pushed back the chips. He hadn't had sex in a year and he fucking wanted some, that simple.

"Let's do this." He said, the thug and Kotaro both cheered. Hiroshi took up the cards and begun to mix them.

"Same as before," Fate's bodyguard said, "One exchange." The cards were placed out and Negi took up his. Looking at them he realized that, just like before, he had zip in the beginning. He kept his cool and looked over the cards; he did have three spades… perhaps go for a flush? No… Kotaro had once said that going for flushes was to piss into the wind. What else? He saw nothing… in the end he decided to go for the flush. He threw two cards and saw how Albireo only threw one. He started to feel cold sweat running down his neck, did the man try to bluff now or did he really have all that? As they got the new cards Negi only thought one thing.

"Fuck…" he had a pair of twos, nothing else. He was screwed.

"No raises, they are all out." Hiroshi said, "Cards on the table." Negi put down the cards and gritted his teeth, what the fuck had he been thinking! All those money… he had lost them because he thought with his dick! It was then that he heard Kotaro start to madly laugh again and instinctively looked up. His eyes widened when he saw what was lying on the table in front of Albireo. A ten, queen, king and ace, all hearts, however the last card was a three of diamonds. Albireo had been one card away from the best combination there was, but now he had nothing. Negi had won, and he had done it with the worst combination there was.

"You did it man!" Kotaro slapped Negi's back just as Negi rose from the chair; the result was Negi being thrown over the table and headfirst into the chips. As the chips flew all across the room Albireo was hit with a large about of them, one of them knocking out his cigar. The effeminate man just reached into his suit and took out another cigar which he slowly lit. Blowing out a large cloud of smoke into Negi's face he smiled crookedly.

"As Kotaro-san said," He said calmly, "You won. And as promised, for twelve hours the finest courtesan in Tokyo is yours." Albireo looked at the clock. "Six o'clock. My car is outside, shall we?" he said as Negi got off the table.

"Wh-what, you mean now?" He asked the pimp in front of him who nodded.

"Sakura is free tonight," Albireo asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes, "why wait?"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Kotaro, the bum and the thug were all chanting quietly in the background.

"Ehm…." Negi wasn't fucking prepared for this! "Well… uhh… Kotaro can you take care of my chips?" he finished lamely and Albireo rose from the table.

"You got it man!" Kotaro grinned as wide as he could and held both thumbs up, "And don't worry 'bout home, I'll fix that too, just go and fuck your brains out!" He started to quickly gather up the chips and Albireo took his coat and walked out of the room with Negi following him.

Negi's thought were in a jumble, he'd get to screw the best whore in Tokyo, he'd gotten all that money, the drug dealing… Asuna… he was in a state of shock. As they came outside and Negi got a good breath of fresh air his head suddenly cleared and he looked after Albireo. The man was currently taking out a set of car-keys from his pockets. Pushing the button on them an expensive Mercedes further down the street lit up. Negi hurried over to it and was about to get into the back seat when Albireo spoke up.

"I am not petty enough to demand that the man who bested me in cards have to sit in the back seat." The man said, "Get in here," he patted the seat beside him. Negi chose to oblige, marveling at the car as he did so. All white leather seats and an expensive looking stereo. He wondered if the guy really was as much a poser as Kotaro had said. The car rolled off and for a few seconds they were silent. It was Albireo the broke the silence.

"If I'm not too forward Negi-san." He began, wetting his lips, "I noticed that you seemed quite distraught when you put out your second hand. It is not my place to pry, of course, but with a goldmine like Mahora at your disposal I cannot see why those amounts should matter?"

"Well what can I do?" Negi asked the man, "I can only sell that much."

"True." Albireo admitted, "No matter how skilled, a man can only do that much. But I must ask: are there no people there you believe could work under you? I sometimes have students as clients and without exception they are impressionable to an almost ridiculous degree."

"And if I try to build up my own power-base it's gonna give me a one-roomer six feet under." Negi deadpanned.

"How so?" Albireo glanced at him, "Fate-sama did offer you all of Mahora, didn't he? From what I've understood he gave you his blessing to conduct your business in whatever way you deemed fit."

"Eh… Newsflash:" Negi said, "anyone trying to grab more power than what Fate allows them is dead meat."

"Did he ever forbid you from expanding?" Albireo said directly.

"Well… no, but…" Negi was interrupted yet again.

"If you feel uncertain about it, bring it up with him." The man offered, "That way you can be on the safe side. It does seem a little stupid to sell your goods in some alley when you could be working all of Mahora, don't you agree?"

Now Negi's was quiet. He had gotten a sinking feeling in his gut. The man was right… Fate's words that time at the restaurant were clear in his head…

"Mahora is yours."

Holy shit… he hadn't just been offered a chance to pawn weed. He had been given all of Mahora! Negi groaned at himself and hid his face in his hands. How stupid could he get! His head begun to swim as he realized how much more money he could have made.

"It is not too late yet." Albireo seemed to have read his thoughts, "summer is coming, and it is now that your trade will flourish. With the aid of your comrade I believe you could take over most of Mahora quite quickly."

"Wait a sec here." Negi's eyes narrowed, "What do you get out of this?" He looked at Albireo who's eyed got that gleam again, but this time it was an appreciative gleam.

"I do have something in mind," he admitted, "But perhaps we should wait a little with addressing that matter. Rest assured, however, that my intentions are a mutually beneficial agreement, nothing else."

The rest of the journey proceeded in relative silence and it was first when they had reached their destination that Albireo spoke up again, "Ah, here we are." He said as he stopped the car outside a large hotel. As he got out of the car a man came out and took the car-keys. This was a hotel fancy enough to have guys who parked for you… "Let's go then." Albireo sashayed up the stairs with Negi in tow.

"Where the hell are you hiding a whore-house here?" He muttered to himself. Albireo looked back at him with a wry smile.

"Why hide?" He offered as explanation. "Here we are the kings Negi-san. You see… I own this hotel, thereby there is no need for us to hide. Guest-lists can be doctored," He continued "Security footage replaced. With the aid of well paid professionals and enough money…" He pushed open one of the large doors, "A man can be god."

Negi entered and couldn't help but stare. The place nearly blinded him. He, used to murky pubs and seedy back alleys, was overwhelmed by the glow of white marble and large lights high above. He immediately realized that no matter how fancy he had thought himself was he was even more out of place here than he had ever been back when he wore those old and worn clothes.

Still, what really caught his eyes was the bar, a large mahogany bar in the left end of the hotel which made a sharp contrast to the bright lobby and almost seeded to suck you in. Negi realized that he had found where the who… nope… whores wasn't the right words. Where the "Courtesans" were. Behind the bar and scattered amongst the chairs around it were some of the most drop-dead fucking gorgeous women he had ever seen.

Several of them were obviously busy entertaining clients judging from the expressions of the men that sat or stood beside them. Blatantly, without any care at all, the girls were fondling, kissing, even making out with them. Negi's experience with the skulking and hiding at Mahora made him even more stunned by what he saw.

"Welcome to heaven." Albireo whispered in Negi's ear, "Enjoy your stay."

"Holy…" Negi was in a daze. He looked at Albireo, who grinned at his expression before reaching out and shutting his jaw.

"If you would please follow me then." He made a gesture towards the elevators, "I believe we have business to discuss." Still in a daze, Negi followed him into the elevator. As the doors closed Negi noticed that Albireo pulled out a key from his coat and put it into a keyhole on the touch pad. As he turned it the elevator started to move upwards. Negi looked up on the display that showed the floor number. The elevator went higher and higher until it had passed the twelfth floor, which also was the top floor.

"What the hell?" Negi asked but was stopped when the elevator slowed down and came to a halt. The doors opened and Negi stared. "Oh shit…"

Inside was a penthouse, one so luxurious that it made the lobby look Spartan. Negi's first thought when he saw it was that he must have ended up in some Arabic harem. Large red silk curtains, giant pillows on the floor, Persian rugs, it was unreal. But what caught his eyes the most was the woman resting in one of the large armchairs.

He saw a goddess. Normally he wouldn't use those words but they were dead right with her. Blonde hair, slightly tanned skin, voluptuous body. A black satin dress that did a better job accenting her figure then concealing it and full lips that were curled in a slight smile. As Albireo and Negi entered, the latter staring at the woman, her eyes opened. Two large emerald eyes, glittering, looked at them.

"Is this the young boy you mentioned, honorable husband?" She asked with a deep voice, sensual and alluring, which had a mocking tone to it as the last two words were spoken.

"That it is; beloved wife." Albireo bowed to the woman before turning back to Negi. "Negi-san, Allow me to introduce my beautiful wife, Evangeline McDowell."

"It's… an honor…" Negi managed to croak as he bowed, trying not to let his disappointment show. Apparently this wasn't Sakura. Apparently his efforts were futile for Evangeline started to laugh softly.

"Don't have that look on your face boya." She said as she slowly rose to a sitting position in the armchair, her movements cat-like and graceful. "I assure you that Sakura will not disappoint you."

"Okay…" Negi looked back at Albireo. How could that woman know that? Was the man wired or something? Albireo only smiled at him.

"Please, take off your jacket and have a seat." He said as he took off his clothes, pointing at a rack nearby. Negi quickly slunk out of the jacket and hung it up before he sat down in the chair beside Evangeline. He noticed that Albireo was looking for something in the kitchen and soon saw the man coming out with some glasses and a bottle of whiskey, the brand being one Negi had seen before, one he never had afforded. "Would you care for something strong?" He indicated the bottle.

"Yeah sure." Negi said, having regained some of his composure. Besides, he liked whiskey. Albireo poured us some glasses and handed one to Negi and another to his wife.

"Kanpai then." He said and they all took a swig of the whiskey. Negi's eyes widened when he felt the taste of it, this was good stuff, really good stuff. However he started to get antsy.

"Perhaps it's time for us to go straight for business then." Evangeline suddenly said, "I have a feeling you'd rather run off into the other section as soon as possible and my husband's tendency to drag out on things would annoy us both."

"Yeah," Negi remembered the words in the car, "You said you gave me that tip since you wanted something from me, what?"

"Forgive me but first I think I need to do a short summary of things." Albireo said, "Don't fret, I'll be quick." He added upon seeing Evangeline's face, "First and foremost: why did Fate-sama put you at Mahora? I believe that he was pretty insistent on it, was he not?"

"Yeah he was." Negi said, "But I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"As well you shouldn't, still… why?" Albireo continued, "The answer is that Tokyo is on the verge of a power shift of epic proportions. As the aged patriarch of the Yukihiro group is lying on his deathbed people are scrambling to grab hold of whatever power they can. It's nothing that concerns you; really, the struggle is much higher up than simple assaults in the streets. Still… Fate put a gold-mine like Mahora in the hand of an inexperienced amateur. What was he up to?" Albireo swirled the contents in his glass.

"He put out a Trojan horse." He answered his own question, "Fate's agents are well known and if he placed his best there they would quickly be dead as other groups would attempt to move in to stake a claim there. Better then to put out an enthusiastic newcomer without any real skill but with an immense talent. With you there the benefits of taking over would be outweighed by the consequences. Mahora still needs a lot of work, as it is it would take months to set up a good operation there and Fate would stop whomever who tried to enter. By putting you there and leave you to do whatever you want, he's not risking any agents but still holding Mahora in his hands. People know he has an interest there but not who is working for him."

"So what you're saying…" Negi's eyes were wide.

"Is that Fate is waiting for the day you expand and make Mahora his area completely." Albireo grinned.

"And now… say that I do this… you'll support me, won't you?" The couple's smile was all the answer he needed. "Then I'll repay you, in what?"

"Recruits." Evangeline said, "Amongst the girls of Tokyo there are always those who have nothing left, who'd rather die than live on. With you as the top man there we'd offer you a hefty sum for keeping an eye out for these girls, pure girls. You see, teenagers are always in high demand," Evangeline smiled at him with a confident look on her face, "It's not like crack-whores are everybody's favorite." Negi had tensed at what she said but Albireo calmed him.

"It is not like we ask you to kidnap them," The effeminate man smiled, "Merely point the girls that need to escape in our direction. Also… I do believe you refer to the students of Mahora as the "Mahora-cunts", Kotaro-san told me. Is there any need to stop them from reaping what they sow? We'll pay, at the very least, two million Yen per girl."

Negi had a lump in his throat now, they sounded like they wanted him to herd cattle. But still… these guys were on Fate's level, the money this could bring in. not to mention his getting to the top in Mahora. But still, they wanted him to help them trading in humans. Then again, with that money there would be no limit of what he could give Asuna. She could grow up to become like Evangeline if she wanted. Become a queen amongst men. He looked down into his glass and saw his reflection of the whiskey. In the end there wasn't really a choice; Asuna was an angel, a princess that deserved everything. The fuckers that said money didn't make you happy were wrong. He had already committed himself to doing whatever he could for her.

"Wasn't there some roman dude who said something about throwing a dice?" he suddenly asked. He vaguely remembered something he felt would be fitting for this moment.

"Alea iacta est" Albireo said, "The die has been cast. Those were words of Gaius Julius as he took his army across the river Rubicon and marched towards Rome to displace the corrupt senate and install himself as emperor of the Roman Empire. He later on became named Julius Caesar and is widely considered the greatest emperor the Roman Empire had. It's a fine analogy you have chosen Negi-san." The effeminate man smiled again. "A toast, then?" He asked, "To our alliance?"

"Kanpai." Negi raised his glass and emptied it. Albireo and Evangeline said it too and the glasses were emptied. Negi looked around as he put down the glass and Evangeline noticed his gaze.

"Don't worry boya." She chuckled, "You will have your allotted twelve hours. We don't go back on our deals." Evangeline raised one arm and snapped her fingers, as if calling for someone. A side door opened behind Negi who looked back, what he saw made his heart skip a beat.

The girl he now saw had to be Sakura, if nothing else her thin yukata, white with cherry blossoms on, showed it. The material was thin enough to hint her skin and give him a good estimate of her beautiful breasts. When he looked higher up he saw a beautiful, heart-shaped face, with two deep green eyes, almost black, that seemed to look into his soul. A small nose rested just above a set out full, kissable lips and the whole face was framed in by long raven-black hair. The short girl that now looked at him with a sultry look in her eyes made his mouth dry up.

"You called, mistress?" Her quiet and seductive voice sent shivers down his spine, suddenly he understood about that waiting list. The girl was somehow more than just gorgeous. He realized he was trembling.

"Sakura-chan, this is your client for the next twelve hours." Albireo said as he leaned backwards, a filled glass in his hand, "Give him whatever he wants."

"As you command master." She girl bowed submissively to Albireo before she turned to Negi, "Please come with me." She said, making a gesture towards the door she had entered from. Negi blinked before he took the bottle and poured up half a glass of whiskey which he drained in one swoop.

"Let's do this." He said to himself as he got up and walked off, Sakura following him. Albireo and Evangeline both had an amused expression on their faces as the door shut.

"You really found a prime hatchling Fate…" Albireo mused, "But shame on you to try to make him keep Mahora yours only." He took a sip of his whiskey. "Sharing is caring after all."