Gah! Negima finally ended and though I'm sad to see it go, I'm satisfied with some of the things to come out of the last chapter.

Anyway, here's the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it! I even started on the next chapter already so hopefully that'll be out soon

I feel I may even do a TGMH update around the same time...we shall see!

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Playing With A Player

"Oh come on Ref...that's a shit call!" yelled Evangeline as she made her way to the penalty box. She turned around before he had time to close the door. "That was a friggin dive!"

The ref closed the door and waved the fuming blonde girl off. "Sorry, a hit's a hit...the call is final..."

The short center forward slammed her fist against the glass in protest before falling back onto the small bench in defeat. Sighing and shaking their heads, her line mates Chachamaru and Chao made their way back to the bench for a change up. The rest of the girls groaned as they approached; clearly agreeing with them that the penalty call was ridiculous. It was the last period with just over three minutes left in their fourth home game, and for the first time that year the Warriors found themselves tied with one point a piece. It was a tough game, as the opposing team was ranked third in their region, only two places behind them in the overall standings.

When one of the defensemen from the other team got a hold of the puck and began to make their way down the ice towards a waiting Konoka, Evangeline immediately turned on the heat and chased the girl down. What had happened when the call was made was a direct result of the centerman catching up to the girl and making brief contact with her shoulder. Knowing how much time was left and that their chances would be better of scoring with a man up, the girl chose to pull off what was one of the most obvious dives in sports history. The refs of course, knowing Evangeline from years and years of rough play, automatically blew the play down and gave her two minutes for charging, to which they received an earful of protest from the crowd. Now with only so little time left, the Warriors were a player short with the opposing team's best power play line hitting the ice.

"Alright girls, listen up." began Takamichi as he quickly leaned over the boards to the eagerly listening girls. "I want penalty kill line one out there...since there's not a lot of time left, try to stay on for as long as you can...get it done."

"Right!" replied all the girls as one.

Making their way out to the face off was the Warriors' top penalty killing line, all of whom were personally selected by Takamichi after running some intense drills during the last few practices. It was obvious that Setsuna was put on, as she was one, if not the strongest defenseman they had. She was joined by Mana on her left side, with Asuna securing the first offensive spot. The last forward spot was given to Zazie Rainyday, which at first seemed unlikely as she was a rather quiet person. However, Zazie seemed to almost disappear on the ice and then reappear with a flair of precision in the times when she was most needed, creating very positive defending opportunities as well as scoring chances for her team.

Zazie Rainyday; The Mahora Warriors' offensive magician...

Asuna turned her head slightly and nodded towards Setsuna who quickly gave her a salute of understanding before crouching down at the ready. She smiled as she thought about the way things had been going between them, ever since that night a few weeks back. The memory faded and her smile turned to a look of serious concentration as the puck left the hands of the ref and made its' way in slow motion to the ice.

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~Two Weeks Earlier~...

Asuna and Setsuna had just made their way out of the Superplex after their long night of cleaning the rink as per punishment they had received for fighting from Takamichi. Both girls were yawning and stretching as they slowly made the long walk back to the dorms, where they could finally flop down in their beds and catch some well deserved rest. Setsuna reached her hands up into the air and let out a satisfying sigh after letting her arms loosen out from her last stretch. She couldn't get over how beautiful and clear the sky was tonight, allowing for the perfect view of all the stars in the sky. She only ever got a chance to see the sky like this when she did night training, but hardly had time to just enjoy them as she was pushing herself to work harder to get stronger. It was nice to just simply walk down the street, now carefree since befriending Asuna during their punishment, and take in her surroundings.

It'd be nice to share this with someone like Konoka...I feel like she'd be into stars and stuff...of course, I still don't know what she really thinks of me...

From a few feet beside her, Asuna looked over to the shorter girl and smirked as she watched the defenseman's features turn with a slight tinge of red. Without really having to ask, the ex captain knew exactly what was going on inside her teammate's head; she knew, because that used to be her. Asuna wasn't really sure what it was about Konoka that brought the girls flocking to her in droves but she knew that it must have something to do with that attractive air, both physical and emotional, she had coming from her. The ex captain remembered that fateful day back in their last year in junior high when it suddenly dawned on her that she wanted to be more than just friends with the goaltender. Now as she continued to glance over at Setsuna, she knew that the exact same thing was happening to her.

Asuna laughed lightly to herself. "So...I bet you're pretty relieved that we're alright now, yeah Setsuna?"

The defenseman suddenly realized that she had been spacing out thinking about Konoka and had completely forgotten about Asuna even being there. She quickly snapped back to focus and nodded awkwardly to a still laughing Asuna. "Y-yeah...it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about any more fights or issues coming between us..."

"Yeah that's always good..." smirked Asuna. "...but I bet it's even better knowing that now you don't have to worry about my issues getting in the way with you and Konoka..."

"W-what do mean?" asked Setsuna as she scratched the back of her neck and tried to hide a blush.

Asuna rolled her eyes. "Oh come on now Setsuna. I'm not stupid...I knew you had a thing for her even before you made the bet to stay away from her during keep ups..."

Setsuna blinked before sighing deeply in defeat. "It's that obvious huh?"

"Yep...sorry." smiled Asuna as she punched the defenseman in the arm. "Helping with training, offering to protect her, that look you get when you see her...you got it bad don't ya?"

"Even if I did...it doesn't matter anyway..." began Setsuna as she turned her attention back to the sky. "I heard things about her from Makie...I have no idea if she even likes me in the same way I do...what if..."

"What if you're just another one time thing?" finished Asuna in a sighing and bored sounding voice. "Yeah yeah...I can see your concern...but I feel since we're on better terms now, I should tell you something kind of important..."

The defenseman's eyes quickly shot back to the ex captain. "What is it?"

"Well...let's just say it was another reason for me hating you..." laughed Asuna as she watched a look of confusion come over Setsuna. She shook her head and continued. "Listen...the stuff you've been told about Konoka being a player is completely true, I won't lie about that...but, for some reason Konoka sees you as completely different from all those other girls. Actually, according to Kazumi, it looks like Konoka hasn't felt that way about any girl since we dated...which is that other reason for why I didn't like you..."

"She..." replied Setsuna before pausing to try and remember what she had just been told. Slowly the words began to sink in. "Konoka sees me as more than just...just someone to fool around with? Like...she wants to...be with me?"

The defenseman watched as her ex captain nodded. Suddenly, she could feel her whole face heat up and turn a dark shade of red. She had known for a while that Konoka had at least had some interest in her, but she never would have guessed it was anything like Asuna had just told her. The defenseman had been concerned since that night after initiation when Makie had unknowingly placed into her head a not so innocent image of the goalie, and was now feeling a little silly for letting something like that eat at her. Maybe now she could finally let herself get closer, and finally let herself give in to the goaltender instead of holding back her feelings.

"Oi...so when you gonna make your move Setsuna?" asked Asuna, completely catching the defenseman off guard. "...ha...hope you've got some experience between the sheets...if you know what I mean..."

Setsuna's whole body went bright red as she caught sight of the devious smirk on her ex captain's face. "W-w-well...I...uh..."

Asuna burst out laughing as she watched the awkward spasm burst out from the girl in front of her. It was clear to the red head that if this girl was actually experienced, she was rather bashful when it came to talking about it. Asuna continued to laugh while Setsuna stuttered on through her awkwardness as the two made their way through the dormitory doors and headed up to their floor. The defenseman was still blushing and scratching at the back of her head as she waved goodbye to Asuna before heading into her own room. The ex captain waved her off and smiled; she could already tell that by befriending her, she would be able to have a lot of fun messing with the defenseman. The ex captain's laughter and smiling stopped however, when she came to her own door.

Shit, I forgot about coming back to an angry Konoka...she looked so pissed off at me when I left earlier...hopefully she's not awake, that way it'll give me some more time to work out a good apology...plus I can save the surprise of Setsuna and I working things out...yeah, I know she'll be happy when I tell her that...

Asuna slowly and quietly opened the door, being careful not to make any noise in case Konoka had fallen asleep. She quickly stepped inside and turned to close the door behind her before locking it up for the night. She then turned around, and instead of facing a dark room with a passed out goaltender lying in her bunk, Asuna came unexpectedly face to face with a dark looking figure.

Asuna gulped and put her hands up to try and wave off the angry looking Konoka who was pressing in on her, forcing her to back up against the door. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Konoka c-calm down!"

The goaltender was now inches away from the red head's face now. She paused briefly and stared her down. "...What did you do..."

Asuna squirmed slightly and continued to stutter. "W-wha-what do you mean, what did I do?"

Again, Konoka continued to lean in. "...What did you do..."

"Konoka...I-I don't understand what yo-..."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" yelled the goaltender as she grabbed the front of Asuna's shirt.

"Oh gods I swear I didn't do anything. I didn't even lay a finger on her tonight or say anything at all..." Asuna stopped for a quick breath before trudging on in her panicked state. "...I just cleaned the rink like Taka told us too, which was really disgusting cause of family day and everything and I don't understand why people gotta be so gross, but then it was ok cause Setsuna and I talked everything out and now we're alright and I don't know what else you want from me!"

Konoka pulled the ex captain closer, smirking under the shadow covering her face. "What was that last part?"

Asuna gulped again. "I-I said that Setsuna and I talked everything out and that we're cool now...I was gonna tell you in the morn-..."

Asuna was effectively cut off from the rest of her sentence when all air left her lungs from the sudden hard squeeze Konoka was giving her. To the red head, it was as if the goaltender had some sort of serious personality disorder as she watched her friend go from murderous tyrant to squealing happily like a small school girl. She was still in shock as she felt the goaltender continue to hug her adding in some nuzzles and the odd friendly kiss to the red head's cheeks. This was far from what Asuna had expected to receive when she first got cornered, but eventually she relaxed and even began to smile as she realized that everything was going to be alright between her and her oldest friend.

Konoka backed off slightly and smiled at her ex captain. "I knew it, I knew it! I just knew that you and Setsuna would work everything out...the cards don't lie you know!"

Asuna rolled her eyes playfully as she patted her goalie on the head. "Yep everything's fi-...Wait, what do you mean cards? Don't tell me you knew this whole time! What the hell was all that scary shit for?"

Konoka stuck out her tongue before giggling. "My tarot cards basically told me that what once were enemies shall soon form new bonds...I knew as soon as you left that you and Setsuna would become friends..."

Asuna stared in disbelief at her odd little goaltender. "So you did all that, just for fun then?...you're one scary little jerk, you know that?"

Asuna playfully pushed her friend off of her and then the two of them joined each other in a small fit of laughter. It felt good to be like this with Konoka again; she had missed it and was glad that things were finally starting to turn around. As the two got ready for bed, they continued to talk and joke around with each other. Konoka was telling Asuna all about how excited she was for the three of them to finally hang out together and maybe even spend some alone time with the defenseman, now that she wouldn't have to worry about causing anymore rifts between her and her roommate. Finally, the two slipped into their bunks and said their goodnights. Asuna lay looking up at the ceiling, thinking to herself and smiling.

Well...I hope you know what you're getting into Setsuna...Konoka's an odd one and she's practically a ball of never ending energy...just be good to her...I don't ever want to see her hurt...now, let's see what this kid can do...

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The puck sailed across the ice as one of the opposing team's forwards passed it up from the corner to their waiting defenseman. There were only thirty seconds left in Evangeline's penalty, and the Warriors had managed to keep a strong hold on the play. Even now, when they were defending their own end, they remained calm and focused on what they needed to do.

Setsuna and Mana watched as the puck went back and forth between the other defensemen, with Asuna leading in with a well gapped and timed challenge. They were slowly running out of time to do something with the puck before their one man advantage ended, and were growing desperate with each passing second. Suddenly, one of the defenseman panicked as Asuna came in close and decided to let off a quick shot. The puck made its' way straight to the net, but proved to be pointless as Konoka saw it coming and made a clean deflection to the corner with her blocker. Setsuna was on it in an instant, causing Asuna and Zazie to set up; the later at the blue line while Asuna swept down to receive a pass. The ex captain turned on the speed as she sent a pass directly to Zazie, who picked it up with little effort and made her way up the side of the ice with her head up. Just as she got to center, Evangeline came bursting out of the penalty box as her time expired, calling for the puck with everything she had. The odd forward smirked before sending a nice hard pass to the shorter blonde across the ice. Instantly, Zazie took off and made herself scarce.

Evangeline tore over the blue line as they entered into the last minute of play. She was determined to win this game, as she did not want to feel responsible for a tie due to her unfortunate penalty. She smirked to herself as she passed the last defenseman and began to lift back her stick. Just then, she caught something from the corner of her eye coming towards her hard. Evangeline knew all too well who it was, and decided that the goalie was paying far too much attention to her to have noticed. The blonde came down and brought her stick up, but instead of coming down and connecting with it, she fanned the shot. The goaltender was down instantly as she had expected the puck to come at her. With a final mocking laugh, Evangeline tapped the puck over towards the side of the net where an awaiting Zazie easily deflected it in. There was a roar from the crowd as Zazie and Evangeline were joined at the boards by the rest of the line for a rowdy celebration. The clock eventually ran down and the buzzer went off, signalling for the game to end. Once again, the Warriors managed to pull off another exciting game and even came out with a win. After shaking hands, the team made their way back to their dressing room to get changed and celebrate.

Asuna smiled as Konoka waved her off, leaving the showers. The ex captain then looked over to Setsuna, who had spent the better part of her shower time staring at the wall with a slight blush. Asuna shook her head and laughed. "Geeze Setsuna...how do you expect to get anywhere with Konoka if you don't even look at her?"

Setsuna sighed and took her attention away from the tiled wall to look at the red head. "It...it just wouldn't feel right to take advantage of our perks of being team mates...especially when we haven't even gone out yet..."

"So what's stopping you from asking?" asked the red head as she proceeded to wash out the last bit of shampoo from her long hair. "You already know that she'd say yes as soon as you ask."

"That's not the problem Asuna..." began the defenseman as she turned and leaned her back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. "It's just that...well...I imagine Konoka's been on tons of dates and..."

Setsuna had wanted to ask Konoka out for a long time now, but she was unsure on what she would ask her out to do. She already knew from what Asuna had told her that the goaltender saw her differently from the other girls; but she still felt a need to further separate herself from them and show Konoka that she was someone special to her. The defenseman had been wracking her brain over it for the past two weeks and was still unable to come up with something that wasn't so generic. To make matters slightly worse, she was even having trouble being alone with Konoka during training, as her mind often wondered away from what they were currently doing to images of the two of them together. This usually ended up with the goalie making a comment to snap her back into reality or Setsuna making an out of character ass of herself by stumbling over something or dropping weights on her feet.

"I guess I see your point..." sighed Asuna as she made a grab for her towel. "...even though I'm pretty sure you could just stand there on your date and she'd think it was the best thing ever...There's gotta be something you can do though..."

Setsuna shook her head in slight defeat. "I've thought about everything...nothing seems to scream out perfect date...it's like everything's been done before..."

"Oh come on...there's gotta be something Setsuna." replied the ex captain as she rolled her eyes at her new friend's over dramatic groans. "I mean, even I know that you're different form the others...you are on the same team and all..."

Suddenly an idea popped into the defenseman's head and she quickly dried herself off and threw on some clothes. She smiled towards Asuna, who was looking at with her squinted and questioning eyes, before heading out to the main dressing room. As she quickly tied her semi-dry hair back up into its' usual side pony, the defenseman made her way over to Konoka, who was just finishing laying out her gear to properly dry. The goalie immediately stopped what she was doing as soon as she saw the defenseman's feet standing next to her gear bag. She looked up and was greeted by a friendly, yet determined look from Setsuna.

"Hey Setsuna, what's up?" asked the goaltender with a smile.

"Could I...possibly talk to you..." she paused for a moment and noticed that she was being watched by Sakurako's line, as well as Sayo, Ku, and of course Makie. They all casually turned away and started looking at random things or whistling when they caught sight of Setsuna looking in their direction. Setsuna laughed in her head and continued on. "Talk to you outside...for a second?"

Konoka nodded. "Sure! Let me just throw on my hoody."

Konoka grabbed her hoody and pulled it over her head before following the defenseman out of the room. They walked slowly down the hallway, Setsuna wanting to get just far enough away from the door so that they wouldn't be over heard by their friendly, yet extremely nosey team mates. Finally they came to a stop and the defenseman took a deep breath before continuing on with their conversation.

"So...I was wondering...since everything else seems to be going alright now..." began Setsuna. She paused once again as her eyes fell upon the goaltender's happy looking face, instantly becoming distracted as she fell into those big brown eyes.

Konoka laughed a little as she watched the odd look come across Setsuna. "You were wondering what...Setsuna?..." she finished with an overly suggestive smile, loving the way it messed with her defenseman.

Setsuna quickly snapped out of it and pulled herself together. "I...I was wondering if maybe, you'd wanna go out...or whatever...with me tomorrow night..."

It was as if cheers louder than the ones she was used to in a championship game sounded off through Konoka's head. Inside, she was feeling extremely giddy and almost childlike as her heart began to pound with excitement. The goaltender had been waiting for something like this to happen ever since she first got to know the defenseman, and especially since Setsuna had made peace with Asuna. In fact, she was almost growing worried that maybe her intuition concerning Setsuna's feelings towards her was wrong. It had been two weeks after all; if the defenseman was going to make a move, why wouldn't she have done so immediately? Of course, these thoughts made Konoka feel like she was being a little self righteous in assuming that she was that important and attractive to be jumped on as soon as humanly possible. The goaltender was sure not to give away her raging excitement, and quickly threw on a cool smile as she looked to the raven haired defenseman's eyes.

"Sure Setsuna...I'd really like that..." she was sure to throw in her hand subtly brush against Setsuna's arm. Konoka smirked happily inside her head as she saw the slight change in tone on the defenseman's face. "What did you have in mind?"

It was now Setsuna's turn to act cool and confident as she gently took Konoka's hand into her own. She looked at the goalie and, making a huge effort to push back her nerves, sent her a playful wink. "It's a surprise...you're just gonna have to wait miss..."

Konoka was surprised; she had no idea what Setsuna had up her sleeve and was now looking even more forward to the following night. With one last smile, the goaltender waved off the defenseman and slowly made her way to the exit. As soon as she got outside however, Konoka took off at top speed for her room. There were only so many hours in a day, and she needed to be sure to make use of all of them between now and tomorrow night.

Meanwhile back in the Superplex, Setsuna patiently waited for Konoka to leave and for the door to close before springing into action. As soon as Asuna had mentioned that she and Konoka were part of the same team, the idea for the date became quite apparent. There was only one thing that she was able to provide the goaltender with for a date that all of the other girl's couldn't. This was definitely going to make her stand out, even if she had no need to do so. As she ran down the hallway, she hoped that it wasn't too late to set it up. She was going to need some help, and there was only one person who could provide her with what she needed. As she rounded the corner, a wave of relief rushed over her as she heard the sound of off key singing coming from the little team management room. Setsuna knocked quickly on the open door frame, and watched as Kotaro's head shot up from the stick he was taping. She sent him a small salute of acknowledgement in return to the one he gave her before entering.

"Hey Setsuna, what's goin on?" he asked as he placed the stick down. "Nice game out there tonight by the way."

"Uh thanks Kotaro..." Setsuna replied with a smile. Her face became determined once again as she came to a stop a few feet away from the spiky haired boy. "...Hey, you remember that first day I came in here and you said that I could come to you for anything?"

Kotaro laughed and tossed the roll of tape into the air, watching it lazily as it fell back down into his waiting hands. "Yep, sure do...what is it you need shorty?"

"Is the rink free tomorrow night by any chance?" she asked him in a hopeful tone.

Kotaro nodded and smiled. "Nothing's scheduled in there tomorrow after six pm. It's completely empty...why?"

Setsuna smirked and scratched at the back of her head. "Well...I sorta have this date and..."

"Say no more...anything specific you need?" he replied with an understanding wink.

"Actually yes..." began the defenseman as she stopped scratching her head and crossed her arms in front of her. "There are a few things...but most important...I need access to the Alumni skybox..."

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"Asuna! How about this one?" asked Konoka in a rushed and slightly nervous tone. She tried her best to wait patiently as the ex captain looked her up and down, but was growing more and more impatient as the answer didn't come. "Asuna!"

"Calm down Konoka, geeze..." sighed Asuna from her spot on the couch. She had been the victim of the goaltender's last minute fashion show for the tenth time .

now, and despite wanting to be helpful, she was starting to show signs of annoyance. She was about to say something sarcastic when she caught sight of Konoka pouting, causing her to playfully roll her eyes. "You look fine Konoka, really...stop worrying about it, it's not like you to get so flustered before dates..."

Konoka continued to pout slightly. "...but this isn't the same...I just wanted to make sure I look perfect..."

Asuna laughed now and looked her friend up and down. "Trust me Konoka...you look better than that..." she watched her best friend blush slightly before continuing. "...besides, I'm pretty sure you could wear nothing and you'd be fine..."

"Nothing huh?" smiled the goaltender deviously as she playfully made her way back to her room. "...you know, that's not such a bad idea..."

"Hey! That doesn't mean strip off dummy!" yelled the red head.

Konoka came back out of her room laughing and completely clothed, watching as Asuna face palmed before falling back into the couch. It was just about 7:30 in the evening and Konoka was becoming more and more anxious as the time slowly crept closer to when she would meet up with Setsuna. The defenseman had stopped by earlier that day to let the goaltender off of training for the day as well as tell her that she would be by to pick her up around eight. Before Konoka even had a chance to get so much as a hint out of Setsuna as to what they were doing on their date, the defenseman jogged off down the hallway for her own little bit of training. From that point on, the day felt as if it was crawling along which lead to many random spurts of second thoughts on clothing, accessories, and even what kind of body spray she wanted to use. Asuna almost had to leave at one point to try and relieve herself from the crazies, but instantly gave up as she saw the look of nervousness coming from her roommate.

Now, Asuna glanced up from her resting spot on the couch to watch the goaltender trying her best not to fidget with her clothes or random objects laying on their table. She sighed and raised her hand to grab Konoka's attention; motioning for the goalie to join her on the couch until Setsuna came for her. Konoka quickly made her way over to the couch and flopped down, trying her best to keep calm. She had to admit to herself that Asuna was right; it was extremely odd for her to act like this over a date, even if it was with Setsuna. Usually, she would have been the one to either pick up the girl or meet up somewhere. She also would never have put so much time and effort into what she was wearing, and just ended up going out in whatever she decided to throw on that day. When she thought about it, it must have been because she knew that she didn't have to work to get what she wanted from these girls. They were more than willing to throw themselves at her; it was almost too easy. With Setsuna however, she felt like she was the one that needed to do everything she could to impress her. She laughed nervously in her head as she thought about the odd reversal in roles. Suddenly, she felt her nerves get the best of her, and she made a grab for her cards laying on the coffee table.

Asuna quickly grabbed them and held them away from her, with one hand pressed against the goaltender's forehead in an attempt to hold her back. She sighed as she watched Konoka flailing under her hand. "Konoka, come on...there's no need to check out how your date will go..."

"But Asuna!" whined the goalie as she continued to struggle against her hand.

"Nope, I'm not giving in this time..." laughed Asuna as she tucked the box of cards under the couch cushion she was sitting on. She clicked her tongue as she heard a small whine coming from the goaltender. "...don't you think it's better to go on a date and not know what to expect? Kinda the point isn't it?"

"Yeah...I guess you're right..." sighed Konoka as she fell back into her seat.

"There's a good princess..." laughed Asuna as she watched Konoka continue to pout.

It wasn't long after Konoka finally started to calm down and relax, when there was a knock on the door. Asuna looked at her phone and noticed that it was exactly eight o'clock. She sighed and shook her head, laughing slightly as she thought about how punctual the defenseman was. Konoka shot up from the couch and made her way over to the door. With one final brush over her clothes and a last plea for luck directed to Asuna, the goalie took a calming breath and opened the door. She went blank for a moment as her door filled with the sight of a tight fitting, dark blue zip-up hoody rolled up at the elbows filled her line of sight. After the long pause of silence, Asuna rolled her eyes and decided that if she didn't say something, then the date would end up at her doorway.

"Oi, hey Setsuna." greeted the ex captain now lounging on the couch. "How was the gym earlier?"

Setsuna snapped back into focus after staring at the tank top Konoka was wearing complete with what looked to be something similar to a black racer's jacket. She then quickly glanced over the goalie's shoulder towards Asuna. "G-great...it was great...I met up with Makie and Mana while I was there...it was a good time..."

Asuna got up and made her way over to the door to join them. She may as well have a little fun with these two while she had the chance. It wasn't everyday that someone was presented with such a good opportunity to induce friendly humiliation like she was given now.

Asuna wrapped an arm around the defenseman's shoulders and pretended to act all serious. "Speaking of a good time...I don't know what your intentions are with my roommate here...but I expect her to be home at a reasonable hour...so if you're gonna be getting it on, do so sooner rather than later..."

Setsuna's face went bright red as she tried her best to hide it by looking away. Asuna laughed and Konoka shot her a look of amusement mixed with irritation. "Asuna...goodnight."

Konoka then gently grabbed the red head by her shoulders and forced her to turn around before sending her back into the room. She then waved one last time before shutting the door, sighing in relief that she was now away from anymore of her friends embarrassing antics. The goalie then turned around, to which she was greeted by a smile from Setsuna, who had offered out her hand for Konoka to hold on to. Without a second thought, Konoka reached out and took hold of it and allowed for herself to be lead down the hall and then out of the dorms. The whole time, both girls felt their chests tighten as the hand hold grew into Konoka wrapping her arms around the defenseman's upper arm.

Once outside, Setsuna came to a stop and turned to face the slightly confused goaltender. "Alright...so since this is a surprise...I kinda need you to wear this...just for a bit!" added the defenseman in a panic as she presented Konoka with a head band to wear over her eyes. She was nervous because of how odd it may have looked handing her date a blindfold; she didn't want it to sound creepy or kinky in anyway.

Konoka giggled while Setsuna smiled at her nervously. "Well alright...but only this once..."

Setsuna smiled again before reaching up to place the blindfold gently over the goalie's head, allowing it to fall easily over her eyes. Before the goalie had a chance to ask, the defenseman placed Konoka's hands back on her arm in order to lead her to their destination. For a moment, Konoka was left feeling a hot sensation slowly making its' way through her body. Something about having Setsuna take charge and lead her, once again protecting her and making sure she arrived safely, made her crave more from the defenseman. Hopefully whatever the date plan was, it goes well, and then maybe she could have an excuse for jumping the gun and move things along a little faster. Just as those thoughts began to become clearer in her mind, Konoka felt Setsuna slowly come to a stop. They had just climbed a good amount of stairs and now the defenseman was reaching up to take off the blindfold.

"Alright, we're almost there..." began Setsuna as she paused her fingers around the edge of the headband. "I'm gonna take this off...but you still can't peak ok?"

Konoka nodded yes and felt the head band come off a few seconds later, Setsuna's hands coming quickly back over the goalie's eyes to replace it. The goaltender gasped slightly as she felt the slightly rough yet comforting feel of Setsuna's fingers brush over her skin. She hoped that the heat rising through her face wasn't giving her away as Setsuna continued to lead her a short way. Finally, the two girls came to a stop and Konoka heard the sound of a door gently being closed as the defenseman nudged it with her foot. It was silent for a few seconds as Setsuna took a deep breath, hoping that everything she had managed to plan out with Kotaro the day before was the right way to go. With one last nod of confidence to herself, the defenseman leaned close to the goaltender.

"Alright...we're here..." said Setsuna, doing her best to hide the fact that her lungs wanted to jump out of her throat. "I...I hope you like it..."

Konoka still had her eyes closed as she felt Setsuna's hands leave her face. Slowly, she began to open them, eyes growing wide once she took in what was in front of her. She continued to stare forwards, not noticing a look of relief coming from the defenseman beside her. "Whoa...Setsuna, how did you? It's so...whoa..."

Setsuna laughed a little as she shakily made a gentle grab for the goalie's hand to lead her down to a seat. "Well...I had a lot of help from Kotaro..."

"Remind me to thank that kid later..." replied Konoka, still in wonder as she looked around.

Kotaro had managed to get the Alumni sky box open for Setsuna to use earlier that morning. Since then, she had been running around trying to get everything else set up, only stopping for a quick training session; some habits were hard to break. What Konoka was staring at now was the darkened arena, complete with low lighting usually reserved for use if the power went out due to a storm, with some of the lights changed to various colours thanks to the defenseman. The Alumni skybox they were currently situated in, was also dimly lit and the larger room they had entered into sloped downwards to a balcony of seats that had the perfect view from center ice. It was here where Setsuna had lead her to, where they sat down in two of the middle row seats, complete with various snacks that Asuna had told the defenseman were Konoka's favorites. What sealed the whole thing together was the large electronic scoreboard directly across from them hanging from the ceiling, where Setsuna had gotten Kotaro to hook up to a DVD player so that they could watch Konoka's favorite movie. Setsuna reached down into her pocket and took out a mini flashlight which she brought up over her head and flicked on and off several times, signalling to Kotaro who was waiting below to start the movie. She then sat back in her seat and glanced over to Konoka, who still couldn't seem to bring her eyes away from her surroundings.

"So uh...wha-what do you think?" asked Setsuna nervously, thinking that maybe she had over done it for a first date. "It's too much...right?"

Konoka slowly shook her head before finally turning her attention back to the defenseman. She saw the awkward and nervous look coming from her and smiled as she moved closer to wrap her arms around Setsuna's. "No...it's amazing. I've never had someone do something like this for me before...thank you..."

Setsuna scratched the back of her head with her free hand and smiled. "You're more than welcome..."

For the first little bit the two girls sat there and watched some of the movie, talking about random things and eating some of the snacks the defenseman had set up. As time went on, less and less attention was given to the screen as they became more interested in talking with each other. Konoka had become so interested in learning more about the raven haired defenseman, that she hadn't even realized how close she was getting to her. Even Setsuna didn't realize that they were now only a few inches apart until she looked up and her eyes met with the goaltender's. Her heart jumped to her throat as she nervously laughed and moved away slightly, Konoka trying hard not to giggle as she did so.

"So, you used to be captain on your old team?" asked Konoka, trying to draw attention away from Setsuna's nerves. "Now I can see why Asuna finally broke down and listened to you..."

"Yeah well...it's not like I'm the best influence in the world..." started the defenseman. "I did lose it...just like she did..."

Konoka looked at her with questioning eyes. "You lost your spot as captain? There's no way! You don't seem like the type to do something as reckless to be punished like that...what did you do?"

Setsuna sighed; she would love more than anything to tell Konoka all about what had happened with her old team, but she still felt like it was too soon to get her or even the rest of the team involved with her past. She looked at the goalie with apologetic eyes. "Please don't get offended or anything...because I really do wanna tell you...but I'm just not ready to talk about it yet..."

Konoka nodded and smiled at her honest defenseman. "It's ok Setsuna...just know that when you're ready, I'll be here to listen..."

The goalie had debated if she should do it or not, but threw her worries behind her as she leaned in and kissed Setsuna on her cheek playfully. She moved back and giggled as the defenseman's face became a dark shade of red. Before Setsuna had a chance to stutter out any sort of response, Konoka jumped up and extended a hand out to her. The defenseman looked up and saw a wide and energetic smile that seemed to glow off of Konoka's features.

"What do you say we go for a little skate together?" the goalie asked as Setsuna stood up.

Setsuna took Konoka's hand and nodded. "Y-yeah...that sounds fun..."

The two girls raced down the hallway, and quickly made their way to their dressing room to gather up their skates. They then made their way to their home bench and proceeded to take off their sneakers and laced the skates up. Konoka was the first one done and playfully jumped over the boards and onto the ice, laughing as Setsuna gave her a funny look.

"What?" said Konoka between bits of laughter. "I'm a goalie, I never get to hop over the boards...it always looks so fun to do..."

"Yeah it's pretty fun..." laughed Setsuna in response. "...that is, until you catch your foot on someone's arm and end up falling flat on your face in front of a rink full of people..."

Konoka smirked and sent a played up look of concern to the defenseman. "Oh...so that's why it looks like that..."

Setsuna stood up, looking confused. "Why what looks like what?"

"Why your face looks so weird." laughed Konoka as she stuck out her tongue jokingly.

"Oh that's it miss...you're in for it now..." replied Setsuna as she jumped the boards.

Konoka shrieked playfully and took off down the ice as the defenseman chased after her. Setsuna smirked as she made her way faster and faster down the ice, hot on the goalie's tail. They quickly came up to one of the nets that had been left out for the night after the zambonie's last run, and Konoka darted behind it. The red bars of the net were the only things separating goalie form defenseman and a heated battle filled with laughter carried on as Setsuna tried to get her hands on Konoka. The goaltender kept her eyes on the defenseman who also seemed to have her attention glued to Konoka. The goalie decided to take a chance, lunging one way before quickly turning and trying to take off in the opposite direction; but goalie skates are built differently from regular skates, and the lack of ankle support mixed with the unusual feel from lack of goalie pads surrounding it, became quickly apparent. Konoka screamed as she began to fall, arms coming up instantly to guard her unprotected head. She waited for her body to make impact with the ice below, and when none came she was confused. She quickly looked up and her whole body became heated as a blush took over.

"That was a close one miss..." smiled Setsuna with relief as she held the goalie in her arms. The defenseman had made a last second lunge and dove down on her knees in order to save her from smacking down on the hard, cold surface. "That would have been a nasty spill...good thing you weren't too far awa-..."

Setsuna was completely interrupted by Konoka's lips quickly coming up hard onto her own. The defenseman's head spun around as she felt Konoka wrap her arms around her neck and pull the defenseman in closer to her. The kiss, though extremely welcome and feeling as if it would go on forever, came to a stop almost as fast as it came about. Konoka gently pushed back and raised a hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide the embarrassed feeling she was getting from acting so suddenly. Setsuna meanwhile, was left with her eyes still wide open in surprise and frozen in place as the rink slowly stopped spinning around her. Slowly she shook her head and began to blush herself as she let her eyes fall on the goalie still lying in her arms.

"K-Konoka...that was..." began Setsuna.

Konoka smiled and giggled a little as she slowly picked herself up. She looked down to the still kneeling defenseman and winked at her. "Well...I had to reward you with something for saving me...if you want more though, you're gonna have to race me for it!"

The goalie then stuck out her tongue playfully and once again, took off down the ice. Setsuna smirked and shook her head as she pushed herself upwards, pushing off in the same direction in long, powerful strides. She had been worrying about going on this date with Konoka for so long now that it felt like it was hopeless to think it would be successful. Now as she rounded along the far corner of the boards and pulled up next to the energetic little goaltender, Setsuna felt as if there was no way this date could have failed, no matter what they ended up doing.

I can't believe that I worried about this...everything is completely fine, and Konoka looks like she's really into it. Maybe...maybe it'll be different this time around...I hope so...I don't think I could handle something like that happening again...