Your Old computer has suddenly started working again. You also happen to notice that you have a FlashDrive sitting next to your right hand
What is your course of action?
[] Contemplate this strange turn of events
[] Call your mother!
[X] YOU GRAB THAT IFFING FLASHDRIVE AND J-J-JAM IT IN!-!-!
Correct answer!
You have pulled all your old stories and things that you want from the old computer before it finally sends itself to MAC Heaven. What do you attribute this to?
[] Strange coincidence
[] MAD SKILLZ!
[X] FUKKIN MIRACLES!-!-!
Hey all! guess what happened? I managed to save my stories! WOOT!
So now that means that I can get writing!
and for the long Haiatus, I give you this very long chapter! my fingers hurt by the way...
Now for the reader review response time!
(these are in response to chapter 6)
DragonXNegima2: Thank you! and I'll try to give out even better work!
APeeledOnion: Thank you! I aim to keep comedy rolling!
leo247: That's classified
Guest: Millions?... ugh... this chapter alone is already longest I have ever done EVA! so your number may be right
also, something I should be putting in here a lot more...
"word" = words said out loud
'word' = stands for internal monologue or thoughts
"Word" Or "word" = stands for certain emphasis
{word}= things in brackets normally stand for another language
Now enough about my ranting! lets read us some pale roots!
Pale Roots
Chapter 5: Miscellaneous Discovery
"Wake up lazy Bones! Can't sleep forever! We got school in an hour!"
Yuna bent down and started to poke at a massive lump all covered up by a light blue blanket.
The lump shifted around to avoid the poking finger,
"leave me alone… I wanna sleep…"
Yuna pulled away and stared down at the lump in annoyance. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind and she quickly walked off,
"alright, if that won't work…"
A few moments later, she came back with a frying pan and a metal ladle, a wicked grin on her face. She put it as close to his face as she could and pulled her hand back, ready to make some noise.
And she would have to if it wasn't for the other resident, Akira who walked in on her trying,
"Yuna! What the heck are you doing?"
before she could slam the metal together, Yuna stopped and tried to hide the kitchen utensils behind her back
"Um… Nothing!"
Akira was not fooled however, and she quickly walked up to her friend and took the items from her hands
"ah! Hey!"
in an attempt to get them back, Yuna reached out and grabbed a hold of them, but in the attempt, caused them both to lose their balance,
"Woah!"
"Ah!"
they both fell over into a pile on top of the other pile on the couch. When they both Hit, Thane quickly threw the covers off in sleepy anger.
"Hey! What's the big id-"
he quickly shut up when he found, not one, but two girls laying on top of him in a somewhat suggestive pose.
There was a moment of silence between everybody as faces flushed, a few more than others.
Yuna, who was on her back lying across his stomach, smiled up at him,
"Ah-ha! Finally awake huh? And all it took was two female bodies to do it!"
Thane, however, was not looking at her face, but instead, staring at Akira; who was on top of both of them.
When their eyes met, they both froze in place, their faces turning a deep crimson. Yuna looked up at Akira, and Then to Thane. She kept taking glances between the two, when she had another brilliant Idea.
Using her legs, Yuna pushed Akira forward into the youth
"EEP!"
"WOAH!"
Yuna smiled broadly as their foreheads smashed into each other, making Thane push himself back while Akira fell off the couch and onto the floor.
Yuna was simply laughing her head off
"KA HA HA HA HA! You guys are so funny!"
She had momentarily forgot that she was still lying on top of Thane and only realized it when she felt two knuckles buried into her temples. She looked up and saw Thane glaring down at her
"Ohhhhhhhhhh, so you think pain is funny do ya? WELL WHO'S LAUGHING NOW HUH?-!"
Thane started to grind his knuckle into her head. She desperately tried to pull away, but to no avail
"OWOWOWOW!-!-!-! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!-!-!"
After a few more seconds of furious temple crunching, Thane let go and flopped back down on his back, "I don't have the energy to stay so angry… So let me go back to sleep…"
Yuna pulled herself up off the couch and gently rubbed her raw temples, "ouch… who stuck a stick up your arse?"
Thane rolled over off of the couch and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Nobody, just a noisy girl using my body as a pillow that all…"
"Hey! Akira was also on top of you as well! Why am I the only one who gets blamed?"
Thane glanced over at her, "cause I bet you started it"
"Guh…"
he had her there. Thane blinked a few more times before he stood up groggily "I dun wanna go to school today…"
Xx a little later xX
"Come on Thane! Move your ass or we will be late!"
Thane walked half heartedly as Yuna kept trying to push him to go faster and not really succeeding,
"Whhhhhhhhhhhhy… we left less then fifteen minutes ago and it only takes twenty to get there at a walk… we're making great time…"
Yuna actually got behind him and started to push him,
"Not if you keep dragging your butt!"
Thane stepped a little more quickly, but just to get her to get off his back.
"Tell you two what, how about you simply run on ahead and I'll catch you later…"
Yuna shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she didn't want to try arguing with him,
"Fine… whatever… I'll catch you later Thane!"
Yuna quickly took off toward the school building; Akira however, simply kept walking next to Thane. The pale youth glanced over at her and tilted his head in confusion,
"You aren't going to hurry?"
"No… I just feel like walking today, that's all"
Thane missed the slight blush and how she never really looked at him, "alright… whatever you want Akira…"
the both of them kept up the pace, one of them half asleep while the other kept close to make sure he didn't fall over. They both failed to notice another person who was walking close by, a book in her hand and her pace a slow and relaxing one,
"Ha! What a beautiful day today! It's perfect weather for the closing ceremony!"
Thane suddenly sat up and turned his head at the sound of a familiar voice. He saw the frames of several of his friends and students coming up behind him and waved,
"Morning Negi boy! Hey everybody!"
"Good Morning Thane-san!"
"Morning Thane-sensei!"
though everybody that passed him greeted him, they still kept their rushed pace, causing Thane to scratch his head in confusion,
"What's everybody rushing for?"
"Good morning uh… Hasegawa-san!"
Thane looked over and noticed the student who was walking at the same pace as himself,
'wait… isn't she a student in our class?'
"Now that's the eye of a teacher for you! Noticing even the quietest one in the whole class!"
Thane watched as the rest of the students quickly ran past him, but suddenly heard somebody talking,
"The heck are they all running for even though there not late? Crazy brats…"
Thane glanced over at Hasegawa and lightly chuckled, "My thoughts exactly… Is that what they call youth?"
Chisame jolted from suddenly being talked to and turned herself to face her other teacher
'what the?! I didn't even know he was here! And why is he talking to me?'
Thane, not getting a response out of her, smiled and tried to initiate conversation with the glasses girl, "Well, good morning to you Chisame Hasegawa-san."
"Uh… morning to you to sensei…"
They both stared at each other for a few more seconds, a silence drifting downward on their heads like heavy gray snow,
'well… this is awkward…'
Akira quickly broke the uncomfortable silence,
"Um… Thane… we should probably get going…"
"Oh! Right!"
he glanced one more time at the Girl and tilted his head in thought,
"… would you like to walk with us Hasegawa-san?"
The glasses girl did a double take, as if she wasn't sure she heard him right,
"Um… what? Why?"
'What the hell? Where did this come from?'
Thane could only shrug his shoulders at the question,"Um… no reason really…"
Chisame looked him over for a few more seconds before she gave him the cold shoulder, "No thanks. I'll get there by myself thank you"
Thane watched her walk off and slightly huffed to himself, "Not a very sociable person is she?"
Akira shrugged her shoulders, "She's been like that for as long as I have known her. She never really does much but stay on her computer half the time."
Thane glanced back to Chisame's fading form and scratched his head,
"really now…"
Xx Later at the Third Term closing ceremony xX
Thane stood off a little way from the Podium a little behind Negi. They both sat there and listened as the principle gave his speech; that is until Konoe motioned for Negi to step forward,
"Ho Ho Ho… Everyone, allow me to introduce someone to you all. From the New Year onwards, he will be an official teacher at the Main Campus English department! Please welcome Mr. Negi Springfield!"
A boisterous cry sounded out from the Student Body as Negi bowed low. Well, most of everybody, Thane saw one student in particular look absolutely shocked.
He recognized it as the face of the girl he met just earlier, Chisame Hasegawa.
Thane slightly tilted his head as he thought about the girl, 'Chisame-san… she is an interesting person…'
Xx In class a little bit later xX
Both Negi and Thane Stood in front of the class and bowed low, "and so…"
"We hope to see you all come next year!"
"And we're looking forward to it!"
all the girls in the class started to get excited at this info,
"Sensei! Over here!"
"Check it out! We got the trophy for the top grade of the year!"
Thane couldn't help but smile when he saw Makie holding up the Brass trophy,
"Yeah! And we owe it all to Negi-sensei and Thane-sensei!"
"because of these two, we really did get the top grade!"
Despite all the praise, Thane couldn't help but noticed that behind all of the girls, one in particular was looking kinda miffed. He couldn't help but scratch his head a little when he saw her expression
'what's eating her?'
Ayaka's sudden shining and flowery Aura caught him off guard however as it took up his line of sight,
"yes! Class 2-A rallied around both of these remarkable teachers, Making us go from worst to first! This makes me proud to Be The class president of Class 2-A!"
Somehow, she had instantly made her way to both teachers and had knelt down while taking Negi's hands in her own,
"Please continue to look after us Negi-sensei…"
Thane smirked a little at Negi's slightly confused expression.
However, Chisame was less than thrilled,
'you bunch of idiots! That brat did nothing but slack off on his classes everyday!'
The glasses girl started to shiver angrily, trying to keep her temper in check,
'why is a ten year old working as a teacher!?Something is messed up with that! I mean, that's got to go against child labor laws or something!'
She suddenly noticed Thane's quizzical look in her direction and tried to look inconspicuous,
'oh shit… him… for some reason, that guy's weirder then the ten year old teacher! he looks like a damned corpse for crying out loud! He has to have a problem! And why is he still staring at me!?'
"Hey teach! I have a question!"
Everybody was distracted when Narutaki Fuka raised her hand.
"Yes? What is it Narutaki-san?"
"Thane-sensei notwithstanding, isn't it kinda odd to have a ten year old as a teacher? Just sayin"
Thane couldn't help but laugh a little, "and you're just now finding that odd?"
For some odd reason, Thane was really hooked up on Chisame today, because once again, he couldn't help but notice her reactions.
Chisame was currently nodding her head,
'Ha ha! Looks like me and those twins are on the same wavelength here! Yes! A ten year old teacher is odd! Keep it coming!'
"and so… Fumika and I have been thinking…"
"…That we should tell everybody that we should throw a 'Top of the grade' party for our victory!"
"Yeah!"
"that sounds like a great Idea!"
"I think anybody who's free should come to the dorms front garden for it!"
Despite all the festivities, Thane had watched Chisame bash her head into her desk with a loud *SLAM* so much in fact that he was surprised that nobody else had heard it.
He reached over and tapped Negi on the shoulder and pointed her out, "Hey Negi boy… does she look ok to you?"
It took him a moment, but Negi Finally saw what Thane was trying to show him. He got up from his desk and with Thane in tow, went over to the shivering girl, "Um… Hasegawa-san, are you cold?"
She quickly took a look behind her, and with a lot of effort, tried to maintain a calm face, "No… I'm fine…"
Thane placed a Hand on her shoulder, which made her jump slightly, "You sure? You're shivering pretty badly"
'What the hell you punk?! Don't just go around touching people whenever you feel like it!'
She was pretty much at her breaking point, her temper was that bad.
"Actually…"
She quickly stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder, "I'm feeling pretty sick, I'm outta here."
"Ah! Wait!..."
Negi held up his hand to try to stop her, but she was already out the door before he could do anything.
Thane started to scratch his chin in curiosity, "what's her deal?"
"Who? Chisame-san? Aw, she's always been like that. Just give her some space and she'll be fine"
Thane and Negi both looked at each other, both having pretty much the same thought
'I think we need to go after her'
Thane clapped his hands together, "I know class doesn't get out for another fifteen minutes or so, but I think we can make an exception this one time! Ya'll can go ahead and get started on the party!"
The loud cheer in the room made Thane grin widely before Negi pulled on his sleeve to remind him why they needed to hurry. The both of them quickly ran out the door to catch up with her. But at that point, she had already had a sizable lead.
Thane and Negi moved as fast as they could until they left the building. They both looked around, trying to see if they could catch a glimpse of her.
Thane shook his head in wonder, "man, she must have been running if she got away already!"
Thane looked over, expecting Negi to answer him, but was surprised to see him standing in deep thought. Thane walked over and patted him on the back to see if he could get a response out of him, "what are you thinking about Negi boy?"
Negi started to scratch his chin in thought, "Why would she run away like that? Does she not get along with the class real well?"
Thane could only shrug his shoulders, "Not sure. Maybe she's just shy or something?"
"That didn't seem like shyness to me"
Again, Thane could only shrug, "we can ask her about it when we find her. And I think she might already be pretty close to the dorms as is"
Thane sighed loudly as he remembered how long it normally took one to get from the school to the dorm rooms
"man… the tram takes forever to get to the dorms… I wish there was a shorter way…"
Negi looked over at his assistant and then to his staff, "Thane… how much do you weigh exactly?"
Thane looked over at the lad, slightly confused by the seemingly random question.
"About 170, why do you ask?"
Instead of answering, Negi quickly brought out his staff and mounted it, patting the empty space behind him
"Hop on!"
Thane was now even more confused, "uh… I don't think now is the time to play horsey"
Negi shook his head "First off, I'm not that young, and Second, this is how we're going to get there!"
"How? By attaching wheel's to it?"
Negi would have done a face palm if his hands were available,
"No! Where going to… how about I just show you instead?"
Before Thane could even ask what he was on about, Negi took a deep breath and started to hover. It took Thane a moment before he realized what just happened.
"Wait… You can Fly?!"
Negi nodded his head, "Yes, I can. Now hop on and we can catch up to her quickly!"
Thane grinned widely and jumped up behind Negi without a second thought, placing his hands on the lads shoulders to steady himself.
"Fly on boy! I haven't gotten to experience the thrill of flight in forever!"
Negi could understand the older male's enthusiasm since he too enjoyed the feeling of flight. Negi quickly took off and started his tracking, surveying the ground as they passed the tram. Thane looked down, the campus looking even more beautiful to him than it did on the ground.
"*Tweet*! Ha ha! Things tend to look much better from a bird's eye view eh Negi boy?"
The young boy couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. Thane patted him on the head and then looked down, suddenly realizing something, "hey! Shouldn't you be trying to stay out of sight? What if those people down below see us?"
Negi shook his head, "don't worry! I have a spell in place that hides our presence! we'll look like a bird to the people down below"
Thane ruffled the lads hair in amusement, "You think of everything don't ya? Good job!"
The both of them continued with the flight for a little bit longer before they saw a familiar shape walking toward the dorms.
Thane quickly pointed her out.
"there she is! take us down a little past the station Negi!"
Negi tilted his head back in confusion,
"huh? Why?"
"It'll look odd to her if we just show up at the dorms before she does. We need to make it look like we got off the same tram"
Negi nodded his head in understanding and did as he was told, making the both of them touchdown in an ally next to the station. Negi and Thane quickly ran out so as not to lose sight of her and called
"Hasegawa-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"
"hey! Hasegawa!"
The girl quickly turned on the spot, almost not even believing her ears.
'The heck?! Speak of the devil and he will come…'
She waited for the both of them to come a little closer before she initiated conversation.
"… Yes? What's the problem?"
It was taking a little bit for Negi to catch his breath, so Thane decided to answer her question
"eh… nothing much really. You said that you had a bit of a stomach problem right?"
Negi, having caught enough of his breath to talk, quickly pulled out a small bottle of some kind.
"I happen to have this great Stomach medicine that my grandfather gave me! it works great!"
Keeping her face as neutral as possible, Chisame waved it off.
"No thanks. I'm feeling better already actually"
At this point, Thane had started to pick up on the fact that this girl wanted to be left alone. Negi, however, didn't quite catch that signal,
"Oh! Then you can come to the party then!"
Thane kept trying to get the boys attention, but it wasn't working all that well.
Chisame started to get a little frustrated, but kept her cool,
"No thanks. I try not to party with Lunatics. Now if you'll excuse me…"
Thane couldn't help but mentally agree with her
'true… our class does tend to ere on the side of unnatural'
Negi started to scratch his chin in thought,
"Lunatics… I always thought the class was pretty normal…"
At this point, Chisame had started to shake again, 'yeah! This coming from the head Loon!'
Her shaking started to get pretty bad, so much that Thane and Negi even noticed it.
"are you sure your ok? You're shaking again"
Instead of an answer, she simply started to walk as fast as she could into the dorms and down the hall. Both Negi and Thane quickly gave chase,
"Ah! Wait Hasegawa-san! You must still be cold! You're shivering Like crazy!"
"I'm fine I told ya!"
Negi started to wave his arms wildly in an attempt to think of something,
"um… Then is it alcohol poisoning?"
"I'm not even of drinking age!"
Thane, wanting to throw his two cents in, held up his finger in thought,
"Drug addict?"
At this Point, Chisame was on the point of unrestrained fury,
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF-!"
Seeing her door, she quickly opened it and slammed it in there face's.
The both of them stared at the door for a moment before Thane shrugged his shoulders, "well that could have gone better…"
Negi kept taking glances from the door to Thane, finally coming to a decision about something. He reached for the door knob when Thane stopped him,
"whoa, what are you doing there Negi boy?"
"I'm going to see if she's alright"
Thane started to scratch his head, "I'm sure she's fine, I think she just needs some space is all"
Negi then turned back to face his assistant, some slight worry on his face, "But what if she's really not feeling well? She could need help"
Thane couldn't help but face palm at the boy's innocence,
'I'm pretty sure it was nerves and not her stomach… but I don't think I'll bother explaining it to him'
Thane took a deep breath, knowing that he was fixing to regret the words that came out of his mouth next,
"alright alright…we'll check on her. But I'll be the one who opens the door, got it? Lord knows, you get in enough trouble with Asuna as is, don't need another girl out for your head…"
Negi, not really sure what he meant by that, moved over to allow Thane access to the door.
Thane reluctantly grabbed the handle and turned the knob, expecting some resistance from a locked door. Surprisingly, the door easily gave way and it swung open enough for the both of them to go in.
They both glanced at each other and took a step into the room. It was really dark save the light that came from a tower computer screen in the corner, but that light really didn't illuminate much, so both of them took another cautious step inside.
Suddenly, somebody/something stood up from the desk,
"I'VE STILL GOT IT! RANKED NUMBER ONE BY A GOD DAMNED MILE BITCHES!"
Much to Thane's surprise, he recognized the voice and the frame to belong to Student number 25, Chisame Hasegawa. However, the thing that really surprised him was that her hair was down and that she was wearing… a bunny suit,
'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit… I think we just walked in on some weird territory…'
He was quickly jolted from his thoughts when the girl started to rant again,
"I am queen of the Net! More Charisma than anyone else ever! MEN DROOL BEFORE MY FEET! AHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Both males could only watch as she continued her euphoric laughter. Thane reached over and tugged on Negi's sleeve,
"Negi… I think we need to get the hell out of here… she is several fries short of a happy meal…"
Negi looked up at the older male with some confusion apparent in his feature, "what do French fries have to do with Hasegawa-san?"
At that point, Chisame had noticed the amount of voices in her room to be more than her own and turned around to see what all the noise was about. The moment she saw them both, time seemed to stop for her.
When her brain finally processed that she was standing there wearing a bunny girl suite in a questionable environment being spied upon by two people who had both the power and the right to send her to detention or the Loony bin, she instantly spat blood,
"GAH!"
Negi, not really sure what to make of the situation, went with his usual kind manner,
"Um… excuse me, but the door was open, so we-"
Thane threw his hand over Negi's mouth and started drag him across the floor
"- WERE FIXING TO LEAVE! Don't mind us! Just keep doing what you do and we'll be on our way!"
However, the door had been closed behind them, no doubt due to Negi and his gentlemanly nature of closing a door and quickly rounded on it trying to fiddle with the knob he couldn't see.
'openopenopenopenopenopenopen ! We need to get the hell out of here before she kills us! Need to call a psych ward or something! Haul this girl the hell out of here!'
"ah! Hasegawa-san! Is this you? You look gorgeous in this picture!"
At that point, Thane suddenly noticed the lack of one Negi Springfield in the safety of his arm and quickly turned to see the boy on Hasegawa's computer. That was the second thing he noticed, the first thing was a bunny girl looming over him with a giant carrot shaped object ready to beat his head in.
Doing the first thing that came to mind, he sprung into action to save the poor boy,
"NEGI! WATCH OUT!"
Thane quickly tackled Hasegawa from behind and put her in a head lock. Chisame instantly tried to wrestle her way out
"Let go of me you pervert!"
"LOOK WHO'S TALKING YOU CRAZY HARLOT! Run Negi! Call for a psych ward! Or the police! Either one is fine, but both are preferable!"
Negi instantly tried to get them apart, "wait! Wait! Wait! I think there's been a serious misunderstanding here!"
Thane instantly stopped strangling her, but didn't get off of her.
"What are you talking about?"
Negi pointed toward her computer in hopes that that might settle the older male down,
"just go look over there! whatever you think it is, it isn't!"
Thane was reluctant to get off and let her roam free to kill them both, but he did as he was asked and got up off the girl and went to the computer. He started to look at the pictures and after a few seconds of browsing, had to admit that he may have jumped the gun. He also had to admit that they were very pretty pictures.
He turned around and saw Hasegawa glaring at him while she kept her distance, thoughts of her earlier strangulation still in mind.
Thane stared at her for a moment longer before he cleared his throat,
"*uh-hum* … I'm sorry about tackling you Hasegawa-san… and… I must admit… you look beautiful in these pictures"
He looked back up and saw that she wasn't at least glaring at him, but she still didn't look happy.
Negi slightly laughed and snuck up on her and removed her glasses,
"Didn't take much work though"
"hey wah-?! My glasses!"
Negi couldn't help but smile at her, "I mean, you started out with such a pretty face to begin with! Wouldn't need much makeup to at all! Right Thane-san?"
Thane couldn't help but stare at her and did indeed find her face to be rather stunning. He glanced away with a slight blush of his own,
"I… can't argue with that…"
Chisame wasn't sure how to take the sudden praise, yeah she got a lot from the net, but actually hearing it from somebody's mouth was something different. It actually made her blush a little.
Negi straighten his coat out and opened the door, "Come on Hasegawa-san! Let's go to the party with everyone else!"
Before she could protest, Negi suddenly took off out the door,
"Ah! Wait!"
Thane watched as they both took off down the hall and was about to give chase when he suddenly stopped. He turned back around and nabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down the URL of the site.
He tucked it in his pocket with a blush, "a teacher, regardless of his rank, must keep track of his student's hobbies… make sure she's not an internet Porn star or something…"
"It's a waste really for such a pretty girl to hide behind such large specs!"
"I can't see without them!"
Thane suddenly noticed that he was the only one in the room and took off after them, remembering to close the door behind him. He quickly gave chase to the other two and pretty much jumped the steps when he could to catch up.
When he finally made it out behind the other two, he noticed Negi had stopped, "make an exception just for today!"
he suddenly opened his arms wide, the sun behind his figure, as if to show him trying to catch the sky in his arms,
"The day is almost as beautiful as you!"
Thane smiled at the Boy,
'quite the charmer that one…'
Xx a little later at the party xX
Almost all the girls from class 2-A had shown up for the party, and everybody had brought some food of some sort or another.
However, everybody was surprised when they saw Three people start to approach,
"hey everybody! Sorry we're late for the party!"
Negi was busy dragging Chisame behind him with Thane behind her. The girl had pretty much been trying to get out of his grip, but was surprised when she discovered the strength he had in his frame.
Thane had pretty much snickered at her the whole time.
Most of the girls were a little surprised to see such a girl hanging out with Negi,
"who's that?"
"I don't know, but she's cute! And she makes that outfit work!"
Thane smiled a little bit at the activity before he felt his legs start to get tired,
'ugh… lack of sleep is starting to catch up… better find a place to rest…'
Quick as a flash, he found the ideal spot, under the tree next to somebody he easily recognized. Thane walked over and slightly tapped her on the foot and smiled down at her,
"hey there Setsu… I mean, Sakurazaki-san!"
Setsuna was a little surprised to see him talking so openly with her despite the agreement they had, but she kept her cool and her face remained stoic,
"hello there Thane-sensei. how can I help you?"
Instead of telling her, Thane simply plopped on the ground right next to her, leaning his back against the tree. Setsuna was surprised to say the least and was trying hard not to get flustered.
Thane couldn't help but smile a little at her reaction, "You don't need to do much save let me sit here. I'm tired and I need a break for a moment"
Setsuna took a few breaths to calm herself and leaned in close to him
"Thane?! What are you doing?!"
The older male glanced over at her and grinned, "Just taking a rest Sakurazaki-san, no need to get flustered over it… I'll be gone in a-"
"Ahh!"
Thane suddenly sat up at the familiar sound, knowing just who it was coming from.
"oh no…"
"ha… ha!"
Thane looked over and saw Negi getting ready for a sneeze. He was about to jump up to stop it, but quickly thought it over and leaned back against the tree,
"I won't make it anyway…"
"ACHOOO!"
A gale force wind erupted from the little body, causing Chisame's Bunny suite to explode into a shower of petal shaped clothe shreds.
Thane scratched his chin in mild amusement,
"Now that's something you don't see everyday…"
Thane couldn't help but laugh when he saw Chisame's face and Negi's reaction. While everybody else was distracted, Thane saw Setsuna stare at Negi in some mild interest.
He quickly poked her on the side, lightly laughing when she jumped,
"You got your eyes on a prospective mate there Setsuna?"
The Girl flushed in response and started to wave her arms around a little,
"wh-what!? No!"
Thane laughed a little, finding that pushing her nervous button to be a great form of entertainment
"Ha! I'm just joking Setsuna! You gotta learn when somebody is joking with you… but really, what was with the romantic stare at the boy genius?"
Setsuna was now starting to get rather annoyed and let her face show it.
"first off, it wasn't a romantic stare. And Second, I just find him odd… how did he do that with the wind?"
Thane blinked a few times in slight confusion,
"wait… you don't know yet?"
"Know what?"
Thane crossed his arms and sat up straight,
"huh… I thought the head master would have made it known to everybody. Negi boy is a mage in training"
Thankfully, the both of them had started talking in whispers so that nobody could overhear their conversation
"he's a what?! I wasn't aware of that… I wonder why I wasn't informed of it…"
Thane shrugged his shoulders at her question, "Not sure, maybe they forgot about you? You are part-time help after all"
Setsuna held her chin in her hand as she thought, "yes… maybe your right…"
"what the heck are you two whispering about over here?"
Both Thane and Setsuna jolted from the surprise guest and turned to look up at a short blond haired girl. Thane waved at her when he realized who it was,
"Oh! Hello there Eva-san! What do you need?"
The short Vampire started to tap her foot impatiently, a scowl decorating her porcelain like face
"You should damn well know why I'm here 'Sensei' how soon? You said you would have something after the Big test, but I don't see it"
Thane started to scratch the side of his head sheepishly, "Sorry sorry… but don't worry! I do have something! I just need to perform one test before I bring you the results."
Eva, though still eager for her release, could only sigh.
"Fine… how long will it take then?"
Thane smiled proudly at her and chuckled confidently, "Tomorrow afternoon. That's when I'll come visit you"
Eva tried very hard to not show her excitement.
She failed.
"Ho ho! That's good to hear then! I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Sensei!"
Before she could walk off however, Thane held up his hand to stop her, "wait…"
Eva quickly turned her head
"What?"
Thane pulled out a small piece of paper and a pencil and started to draw something on it,
"First… you're gonna… need… this!"
he quickly held it up to her face.
Eva snatched it from his hands and looked it over a few times,
"a magic circle?"
Thane Nodded his head, "yep, and it has to be done with powdered bone marrow mixed in with a little of your blood"
"Ehhh?"
Eva was starting to get annoyed again, "why my blood?"
Thane wagged his finger at her like he would a child, which pissed her off.
"This is being done for you remember? Has to be yours"
The girl scowled at him and then at the circle in her hand
"fine fine… I guess a little pain never killed anybody…"
Without even saying a word of farewell, Eva quickly went her way, Chachamaru quickly following her mistress.
Thane sat back into the tree, a content smile on his face. He suddenly noticed Setsuna's confused face, but waved it aside,
"don't worry about it… just a thing between her and Myself"
The samurai simply stared at him for a moment longer before she herself leaned back into the tree,
"I'll take your word for it then…"
Thane shrugged his shoulders in response and gazed back out into the party, unaware that he had been watched the whole time by a certain Swimmer.
Xx the next day, early morning xX
For once, Thane didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like usual.
He and Setsuna had decided that during the spring break, they would meet up at later times. Close to around 7 and 8.
It was about 7:30 A.M and the both of them were busy jogging, each in their own thoughts as they tried to keep tempo with each other.
Thane, however, had other things in his thoughts at the moment. He hadn't forgotten about Konoka and the way she had reacted when Setsuna had been brought up in their conversation a few days ago and had wanted to talk with his friend about it, and since the only time he could do that was in the morning, he considered this to be the best time.
After they eventually got to their usual spot to eat, Thane managed to work up the nerve to ask her the question on his mind,
"Um… Setsuna…"
The swordswoman turned to him, an Onigiri halfway to her mouth,
"yes Thane?"
The pale youth tilted his way this way and that, trying to frame the question so as not to sound accusatory,
"Um… well… I gotta question that I'm hoping you can answer for me…"
Setsuna put the rice ball back in her lunch box and held the thing up, "Fine, here you go, but you really should start bringing your own food you know"
Thane looked down at the lunch box and then to her, "what? No! I'm not hungry! It's another kind of question!"
"Oh… sorry about that. What's your question Thane?"
Thane scowled at her for a moment longer before he took a breath,
"well… I wanted to know what you think of Konoka. I mean, I know you're supposed to be her bodyguard and all, but… weren't you guys friends when you were kids?"
Setsuna had to blink for a few seconds. Of all the questions she was expecting, that had not been one of them.
She turned away from him, old and fond memories coming to mind "Yes, we used to be friends… But I can't protect her if I'm her friend. Her safety is my biggest priority."
"yeah… but… don't you want to be close to her? Talk with her and have fun together?"
Setsuna looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself, as if opting to use another set of words, "I… My main job and joy is to protect her. I need nothing else Thane. Can we please not talk about this?"
"But!..."
Thane was about to say more, but noticed the sad look in her eyes and looked down at the ground in shame
"sorry… I didn't mean to bring it up like that…"
The both of them sat there, an awkward silence flowing between the two of them for a good period of time. Just when Thane had enough of it and was about to speak, Setsuna quickly beat him to it,
"No… I know what you're trying to say, and I really appreciate what you want to do. But… I don't need any more then this"
Thane looked at her, finding her words to be just a little weak. He felt like he should say something, but found that it really wasn't his place to try to fix this. It was something that's been going on for several years, what right did he have to butt into their affairs?
He looked down and sighed a long sigh, feeling a little stupid about it. The sudden feeling of a hand on his shoulder made him turn his head, and much to his surprise, found Setsuna smiling at him,
"But thank you. Your concern for me makes me happy"
Thane found her smile to be a little sad, but really heartfelt and a slight blush came over his face.
He smiled back at her, "you're welcome… we are friends after all"
The bad air that had been around them quickly vanished; The main problem wasn't solved, but Thane was happy to note that he didn't hurt his friend.
He quickly stood up and stated to swing his arm around, "alright then! Let's get this ball rolling then! but first…"
He quickly reached over and snatched a rice ball from Setsunas hands, getting a small "hey!" out of her.
"Let's dig into this meal!"
He stuffed the rice ball in his mouth and got to work on chewing at a rapid pace. Setsuna couldn't help but laugh at his silly display and simply went back to eating the rest of her breakfast before Thane could steal anymore of it.
Xx later xX
After the both of them got done with their jogging and sparing, Setsuna had left, saying she had some things to do, which left Thane to do anything he darn well pleased. So he went back to the Dorm rooms to get something to eat.
'that little ball of rice isn't nearly enough to hold me over till lunch…'
He was on his way to his room when he heard the sound of two familiar voices down the hall
"alright Negi-bozu, we'll go on ahead and meet you there."
"alright Asuna-san! I'll meet you and Konoka there when I get done!"
Finding his curiosity to be larger than his hunger, Thane rounded the corner in time to See Konoka shut the door and Asuna walking toward him. Thane lifted his hand and called out to them,
"Asuna-san! Konoka-san! Good morning! What are you two up to?"
Konoka waved her hand Kindly while Asuna nodded her head along with a "Sup"
Thane couldn't help but laugh when she did that, "ha ha! What's with that greeting Asuna-san?"
The twin tail blinked her eyes in confusion a few time "eh? Isn't that how Americans greet each other?"
"*snicker* No… but I don't mind. You can keep doing it"
Asuna groaned in embarrassment While Konoka giggled at her friend.
"He he… In answer to your question sensei, we were on our way out to show Negi the school grounds. He hasn't had a good tour of Mahora yet, and since today was a free day, we decided to show him around"
Thane crossed his arms and tilted his head in interest, "really? Would you mind if I tagged along? I had Planned to get out and take care of something myself"
Konoka and Asuna both nodded their heads in unison
"Sure!/ I don't mind"
"Great! Let me go grab something real quick…"
Thane dashed off to his dorm room and started to rummage around in his bag that had been the storage place for all of his stuff. He eventually found what he was looking for, because his face lit up and he quickly withdrew his hand from the bag, taking the Eye of Havrad with him.
'Good thing I brought this out last night when the other two were fast asleep!'
Thane placed it in his pocket and hurried out the door, remembering to lock it as he went. He found the other two waiting at the top of the stairs, one waiting patiently, the other tapping her foot in slight annoyance.
"Got what you need?"
Thane nodded his head, "yep! Now let's go!"
Xx a little later at the meeting spot xX
Thane was sitting on the wall of the walkway, dangling his legs as he stared down the road in a bored manner.
Asuna was leaning up against it while Konoka calmly stood there,
"…Negi boy sure is late…"
Asuna began to tap her foot impatiently,
"yeah! No joke! What's taking him?"
Konoka put her finger to her lower lip in thought as she stared up into the sky "You think he got lost? Mahora is a big campus"
Thane hopped down from his spot and nodded his head in agreement, "I agree, I've gotten lost on campus a few times myself"
Asuna rolled her eyes at him, "That's cause you're directionally challenged"
Thane glared at her and stuck his tongue out at her, "and you suck at academics, but you don't hear me saying anything about it now do ya?"
Asuna and Thane glared at each other for a moment longer before Konoka decided to intervene.
"Alright you two, today's too nice of a day for fighting"
Thane stared Asuna down for a moment longer before he sighed, "yeah… your right Konoka-san… sorry Asuna-san"
Asuna simply shrugged her shoulders indifferently.
"Eh… don't worry about it… and sorry about saying that stuff about ya… even if it is true…"
Thane glared at her again but let it slide, knowing that she was just kidding… he hoped.
Asuna lightly smiled at her little victory when she suddenly noticed a familiar Pineapple haired reporter (Or was it rooster headed?)
"Yo! Asakura! Good timing!"
The reporter turned her attention when she heard Asuna's voice and smiled at the group,
"Hey! What am I on time for?"
Asuna simply shook her head in annoyance, "yeah… can you deliver a message to the P.A? tell him That we're waiting for Negi-bozu to show up"
Asakura quickly jotted it down on paper and nodded her head.
"Sure, got it"
Just as she was about to leave, Thane suddenly had an Idea pop into his head
"Ah! Wait!"
The girl stopped and looked over at him, a quizzical look in her eyes,
"Hum? Yeah?"
Thane started to grin devilishly at the thought in mind,
"How about you tell them this instead… it should serve as a little incentive for him to hurry it up…"
Thane reached over and started to whisper into The girls ear, by the time he was done, Asakura was trying not to giggle out loud,
"Oh that is priceless… I'll make sure they get it word for word"
Thane waved her goodbye as the other two gave him curious glances.
Asuna tilted her head in puzzlement,
"what did you tell her to say?"
Thane chuckled evilly, "Ohhh… you'll find out…"
Both the girls looked at each other, not really sure what to make of it. Konoka shrugged her shoulders in defeat and started to stretch out her arms, as if to welcome the sun light,
"Mmmmmmh! What a beautiful day! Hey! What would you guys say to a picnic?"
Asuna smiled sarcastically at the question and responded in kind, "I would say 'go away picnic, I wanna go home and sleep'."
Thane rolled his eyes at her, her snarky attitude getting something of a smile out of him.
"Spoilsport, you should get out and enjoy the sun more. Might help with that pale complexion"
"Me pale?! Looks who talking Mr. Vampire!"
"Vampire!?"
Konoka started to giggle at the both of them, causing them to turn toward her in confusion.
"what's so funny Konoka?"
"Oh, you two just argue like an old married couple, that's all"
Both Thane and Asuna shared the same expression, disgust
"Ugh… don't even joke about that Konoka…"
Thane glanced over at Asuna,
"ouch… you didn't have to say it like that… Though I do agree"
Thane could only shake his head at her as she smiled at him.
"Eh... whatever, let's get going you two"
Both Konoka and Asuna glanced between each other in confusion before they asked the question,
"Go? Where? Weren't we waiting for Negi-kun?"
Thane wagged his finger at the both of them like he would a small child
"tsk tsk tsk… we will be, but at the new location. The observatory"
It took them both a moment before they got what he was saying,
"Ohhhhhh… that's defiantly a good place to start our tour of campus!"
Thane nodded his head, "exactly, now let's get moving!"
The both of them quickly followed the older male as he led on. It didn't take them very long, less than 10 minutes to be exact, now they simply waited for the P.A to go out. They didn't have to wait long,
"NEGI SPRINGFIELD FROM THE JUNIOR HIGH DEPARTMENT ENGLISH DIVISON. YOUR ONII-SAMA AND ONEE-SAMA ARE WAITING FOR YOU NEAR THE OBSERVATORY"
Both Konoka and Asuna quickly took a glance over at Thane, who was trying very hard not to laugh, and failing at it.
"Did you really…?"
Thane nodded his head before he started to laugh,
"HA HA HA HA HA! I can only imagine the look on his face right now!"
Both Asuna and Konoka started to laugh themselves, though at varying degrees. Konoka was slightly giggling, while Asuna was full out laughing,
"HA HA HA HA HA! That is brilliant!"
Thane held up his hand and Asuna got the message, giving each other a high five. Konoka simply rolled her eyes, but still giggled all the same.
Sure enough, in the span of no more than a few Minutes, a very flustered Negi Springfield was practically running at them. He quickly came to a halt, awfully peeved,
"That was not funny Asuna-san!"
"not to you maybe… but it wasn't me who made em say that. It was your assistant"
She jerked her head towards Thane, who raised his hand in greeting.
"Guilty as charged"
Konoka went over and patted the still angry Negi on the head, "We just wanted to make sure you hurried, that's all. The campus is really big, and we don't have a lot of time to explore it"
The three older teens walked over to the balcony, motioning for Negi to follow.
"Don't worry, all will be forgiven as soon as you come check this out Negi boy"
Negi, feeling his anger subsiding already, followed in curiosity. He grabbed the rail next to Thane, who was leaning against the railing and staring out into the distance with a content look on his face.
Negi followed his gaze and his eyes went wide in surprise,
"Uwaah! T-This is amazing!"
Spread out before him was the campus of Mahora in all its glory, the buildings oddly mismatched, yet keeping a quant homey feel while the streets were busy with activity; and to top it off, the sun shone beautifully in the clear blue sky.
Thane couldn't help but smile widely, "that was my very same reaction when Takahata brought me up here. The place just radiates energy doesn't it Negi?"
The young boy couldn't help but nod his head in agreement.
As Asuna and Konoka started to explain a little about the locations and History of the campus, Thane reached into his shirt and fiddled with the bag around his neck, gently rolling the precious contents around in the pouch
'Levy… Dark… Troy… I want to wake you guys up to see this magnificent sight… the vision of our new home…'
Thane was distracted when he noticed Negi get up on the lower railing to get a better view
"wow… it's like it goes on forever!"
Thane grinned at the boy and lightly ruffled his hair,
"it gives that impression doesn't it?"
The sudden sound of the godfather theme sounding caught everybody's attention and turn to the source of the music. Konoka whipped her phone out and saw the text on her screen
"oh? It's mail from my Grandpa…"
She quickly skimmed the contents of the message and motioned for Asuna to read as well. The twin tail quickly looked it over, a discontent look showing through as she read
"…what? Aw man…"
Konoka held up her hand in apology, "Sorry you two. Looks Like He has a job for Asuna and myself"
Thane crossed his arms, feeling just a little put off by this sudden development,
"huh? That sucks… But I guess it can't be helped"
Negi smiled at them both, "Ok then, you both go on ahead and take care of it. Thane and I will be fine on our own. He's toured the Campus before and can show me around"
Thane pounded his chest in pride at the statement
"Leave it to me!"
Both Asuna and Konoka had a bad feeling about that, Asuna being more vocal about it
"I'm not too sure about that…"
Thane glared over at her with plenty of annoyance,
"what? You think I'm that bad?"
Asuna shrugged her shoulders, "I'm pretty sure you don't want me to answer that…"
Before Thane could protest, the sound of a young voice called them out
"hey Negi-sensei! Thane-sensei! Whatcha doing?"
Everybody present turned their attention to the new comers, causing a few of them to smile in surprise
"Ah! If it isn't the Narutaki's!"
Konoka quickly nodded her head and motioned for them to come over, "You both have perfect timing!"
The two twins looked at each other and then to the older girl, who quickly explained to them the situation
"so if you both wouldn't mind giving them a tour-"
"I can guide myself just Fine Konoka-san!"
"—it would really help us out"
Fuka saluted while Fumika nodded her head,
"Ok! We'll show you both around the school"
"Just leave it to us! The strolling club!"
Thane waved the other two girls goodbye and turned his attention to the both of them.
"Strolling club?"
Negi smiled innocently at them both, "I guess your club activities would include…"
Thane shrugged his shoulders as he completed the statement, "strolling… sounds nice enough"
Fuka waved her hands around, as if Thane had just done them an injustice
"oh no sensei! there's much more to it than that!"
Fuka quickly started to go into her explanation, "there are whole tournaments, even a championship! It's a hardcore sport for professionals! There are always pro strollers vying to take the number one spot in the Sahara Death Hike! It's brutal!"
Thane was rolling his eyes inwardly, 'pu-leeeeez… like anybody would believe that crock of-'
Just one look at Negi told him just how wrong he was yet again. The poor lad was shivering in fear, "I-I had no idea strolling was such a dangerous sport… we people from the country do it all the time…"
Thane could only face-palm.
'one born every minute…'
Fuka was laughing silently while Fumika was shaking her sister and talking to her in a whisper
"Sis! Stop! He's swallowing the whole thing! Sensei's just a kid!"
Thane patted Negi on the back, "Negi boy… you are aware that she's just pulling your leg right?"
It took Negi a few moments to register what he just said.
"What!?"
Thane patted him on the head, a smile crossing his face at the boy's expression,
"don't let it get to you, now come on! We got a lot of ground to cover! Lead the way you two!"
Both twins quickly set the pace and started to march forward,
"alright! Follow us!"
After a little strolling around, and some slight explanation into the few sight that they managed to see, the group eventually found itself at its first destination and the first person they met was somebody they knew
"Negi-kun! Thane! What's up you guys! What are you doing here?"
Negi bowed slightly while Thane raised his hand in greeting,
"Greetings Yuna-san!"
"Hey Yuna! Nothing much, just getting a tour of the campus"
Yuna bounced the ball in her hands a few times before she stuffed it under her arm,
"Well, let me introduce you guys to the middle school division's exclusive Gym!"
She stretched herself out, revealing just a little of her skin through her basketball uniform that didn't go unnoticed by Thane. He chose to ignore it, though he didn't do it very well, something that didn't go unnoticed by Fuka.
"We tend to work up a sweat from about 21 fitness related clubs"
Thane started to stretch as well, "Yeah, I remember that! I wonder if any of the guys are still willing to play with me?"
At that, most of the people took a quick glance at him, as if to say 'hell no!'
'Guess not…'
"Geez… I go crazy one time and everybody hold's it against me for the rest of my life!"
Yuna raised her eyebrow as if to say 'did you really just say what I think you said?'
"uh…it was more like a rampage"
Fuka quickly started to get down to explaining before this could escalate, "yeah, we have a lot of clubs, but only a few of them actually play games, Like the dodge ball and volleyball teams"
Fumika suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah! The Aerobics and other lady-like activities also get to compete as well"
Thane took a glance back at Yuna and smiled annoyingly, "yeah, but I heard the basketball team is pretty weak"
Yuna quickly fell to her face, but jumped up quickly in anger,
"Oi! Lay off!"
Having got his little quip out of her for the day, Thane simply shrugged his shoulders with a smug smile on his face
"yes yes…"
Negi nodded his head, "ah! I see! It's good to see female students try so hard at sports!"
Thane and the Narutaki's stared at each other for a moment before they redirected their attention back to the auburn haired boy.
"Uhhh… Negi boy…"
Negi turned his attention to Thane, an innocent smile on his face. Fuka and Fumika where both blushing at him, however whereas Fumika was blushing, Fuka was blushing and grinning mischievously,
"Wow Sensei, you sound like a dirty old man…"
Negi blanched
"wha?! What do you mean 'old man'!?"
"Ohhhh… you know what I'm talking about Sensei you perv…"
Faster than a blink, Fuka was by a door and had started to crack it open slowly,
"wanna check out the locker room? I know you've been dying to see it…"
"So not happening!"
Negi was absolutely flustered at this point and Thane could only giggle to himself. He quickly went over and conked Fuka on the back of the head,
"alright guide, I think we've seen enough of this place as is. What's next on the list?"
Fuka rubbed the sore spot on her scalp and motioned for them to follow,
"Next up isn't too far away! Come on!"
True to her word, the group didn't go very far at all. To the building right next door to be exact.
"This is the Indoor pool!"
Fumika continued to explain the next little bit of info about the tour, "Our swim meet is also pretty good to! Akira-san from our class is really fast!"
As they talked about her, Thane noticed the Swimmer drying herself off in the distance and waved to her.
"Yo! Akira! Over here!"
The teen turned her head to see where the source of the noise came from and lit up with a smile when she recognized it
"Oh! Thane! Negi-sensei! How are you two doing?"
Negi bowed lightly in greeting while Thane put his hands behind his head with a large grin
"Pretty good! Just coming to check you out, that's all!"
Akira slightly blushed from his words, taking them the wrong way for a moment before she shook her head
'he didn't mean it like that stupid…'
However, before they could continue the conversation, the two teachers where quickly surrounded by other members of the swim team.
"So is this the rumored child teacher and his pale assistant?"
"Can this little boy teach? You can can't you?"
"I think I like the older one better. He looks more my taste"
Thane couldn't help but notice the large amount of interest he was receiving and tried to find a way out, feeling just a little claustrophobic due to all the attention. He was happy to note that Negi was just as nervous and flustered as he was, though for different reasons. Not wanting to remain the center of attention forever, Thane quickly grabbed Negi by the collar of his shirt and pulled him aside
"I hate to interrupt this little session ladies, But My friend and I really should be going"
he raised his hand at a particular swimmer and waved
"Catch you later Akira!"
Before he could even see her reaction, Thane quickly nodded at the other two girls, a slight smile on his face saying
'nice try kid's'
Fumika stared at her sister and chuckled sheepishly while the twin snapped her fingers,
"shoot… we'll get em with the next one… alright you two! Let's head to our next destination!"
Thane finally let Negi walk on his own and crossed his arms, knowing that at least one of the two twins was up to something,
"Oh? And where is this going to take us?"
Fuka started to laugh under her breath, "Oh… you'll find out…"
Negi, being the child that he was, didn't suspect a thing.
"Alright then! lead the way you two!"
And they did just that, right outside the door and into a large court yard filled with tons of people playing and practicing outdoor sports.
"This is the outdoor athletics department and where most of the clubs go to practice"
Fumika pointed out a few places with her hand while getting their attention, "there tends to be a lot of people, but not a lot of space, so most people end up arguing over court room… like those guys over there"
Thane and Negi looked over and saw what looked like two captains of separate clubs getting into a heated argument. Negi was about to get involved, but Thane placed his hand on his shoulder
"Might not want to do that Negi Boy, Let the P.E teacher take care of it"
Negi was about to argue, but Thane simply shook his head at the coming protest.
"Don't worry about it. They won't end up fighting if that's what you're worried about. How about you re-direct your gaze over somewhere else? Like over yonder?"
Thane turned the boy in a random direction and they both ended up getting an eyeful of a familiar girl's ass, namely Sakurako's. Both males were stunned for a short period of time until the cheerleader noticed them.
"Oh! Hey Negi-kun! Thane-san! What are you two doing here?"
Thane stared at her for a moment longer before he gave her a serious nod,
"Just enjoying the sights Sakurako… the nice round sights…"
'I love this school.'
Sakurako and Negi both missed the hidden innuendo, But both Misa and Madoka caught the hidden meaning,
"They're checking you out Sakurako"
Misa lifted her leg up oh so slightly, just enough to give her a provocative look,
"Ha! Please Madoka, like these things where made to discourage stares! Feel free to keep looking you two, we don't mind"
Thane smiled despite himself
"I think I'll do just that"
Negi, however, had gone quite in embarrassment, a fact that was easily identified by his burning red face. Both the Narutaki's started to giggle with Fumika poking him in the cheek
"Ah! Sensei's finally stuck for words!"
Fuka started to jab him lightly in the stomach with her elbow, a mischief making grin plastered on her face
"All this sexiness got you Nervous?"
Thane started to giggle from Negi's embarrassment and crossed his arms, turning his attention back to the three cheerleaders.
"So what brings you guys out here Thane-sensei?"
Madoka had put her Pom-pom's down and came over to greet them followed by Misa and Sakurako
"Oh, nothing much. Just getting a prime tour of the Campus is all. And since I'm the only one close to a legal guardian age, I went along. Though I will say, the Twins are dead set on getting us into compromising situations. Not that I'm complaining, just too many nice things to see"
Thane let his eyes linger on the girls Cheerleading uniforms for a second longer, as if to emphasize his last point. Misa slightly moved her leg a little to show off more skin and pushed her hair back a little
"Might want to be careful Sensei, Let those eye's stare any longer and we might just have to start charging you"
Thane let out a loud laugh, "Ha! If you're gonna start charging me then I think I would call for a little more Privacy! Maybe a privet show?"
Misa suddenly had a sultry smile on her face and winked at him,
"maybe… if I didn't already have a boyfriend"
"Gah! Shot down before the real flirting could start! Oh well…"
Misa quickly wrapped her arms around her friends and pulled them closer to herself, "I might not be available… but I know for a fact that these two are"
Madoka quickly pulled herself away,
"wh-?! Don't drag me into your stupid stuff!"
Sakurako quickly raised her hand, "Sounds like Fun! I'll bring the game boards!"
Thane and the other two cheerleaders stared at her in disbelief before they started to laugh, "Ha ha!~ that was priceless Shiina-san!"
Thane held his stomach and trying hard not to laugh himself hoarse. Misa patted her Partner on the shoulder, seeing the girl's cutely confused face,
"Don't worry about it Sakurako… Just another over-your-head deals"
Thane finally stopped laughing and let out a content sigh
"But really, I would like to get to know you guys better, maybe we could hang out sometime soon? Let me give you my number for later"
After pulling out a convenient pen and paper, he wrote his Cell number down and eyed the three, trying to pick the most responsible recipient
"And I think that I'll give this to you Dear Madoka-san. You look to be the most responsible"
Madoka blinked a few times in confusion.
"Huh? Wh-why me?"
Thane held her hand up and put the paper in her palm, smiling at her "Simply because you look like you won't call me every two minutes for random things"
Madoka looked back at her two friends and simply shrugged her shoulders, "alright… if I have to…"
"Great! Now where did Negi and the twins get to…"
"YOU GUY'S DETERMINATION TO SHOW ME ALL THIS STUFF IS WHAT MAKES ME NERVOUS!"
Thane quickly turned around and saw Negi chasing the Narutaki twins around.
"Ha! Looks like I better go and get them, the work of a parent is never done! Catch you three later!"
After waving the Cheerleaders off, Thane quickly chased after the three children.
"Hey wait up you three!"
After what had to have been 6 minutes of a wild goose chase, Thane finally managed to catch up with them, but that was only because they ran out of breath first.
"*Huff huff* Damn you guys… Do we really have time to be playing around?"
Fumika finally managed to catch her breath and laugh awkwardly,
"eh he he… True, but I don't think we would have had enough time to see everything anyway…"
Fuka started to scratch the back of her head sheepishly
"yeah, there's over 160 clubs… so it might have been a little hard to do…"
Negi blinked his eyes in shock and awe,
"Good lord! What kinda school is this!?"
Thane also nodded his head in wonder, "I knew we had a lot of clubs, but Jeez… Not that many! I think we need to change our game plan up a little bit, it's going to start getting late soon, so let's try going somewhere else for now"
Both Fuka and Fumika looked at each other and grinned broadly. Fumika grabbed onto Thanes arm and tried to drag him along, "Then we have a brilliant Idea! How about we get something to eat?"
Negi nodded his head at the idea, "Sure! I'm game"
Fuka started to Elbow Negi in the ribs.
"And since you both are the adults, you guys are payin, Right Sensei?"
Thane ruffled the girl's hair, putting her in momentary shock
"sure! But I'll only pay for one of you while Negi gets the other, deal?"
Both twins gave a nod and latched onto one of them, Fuka grabbing Negi while Fumika grabbed Thane.
"Deal!"
Thane smiled widely as he let the younger girl drag him along,
"so where are we headed?"
"You'll find out Sensei!"
After what had to have been several minutes of traveling crowded streets, they eventually made their way to one of the many student cafés.
Fumika quickly tugged on Thane's sleeve like an exuberant little sister in a candy store
"This place is perfect! From the roof to underground, they have all types of food from anywhere! And a countless number of food stores to go with them!"
"Sounds interesting. Let's see if it lives up to that reputation then shall we?"
The four of them quickly found an unoccupied table and made their orders. Thane and Negi simply got beverages and sandwiches while the twins pretty much went all out with their orders.
All of it sweets of course.
By the time Negi and Thane had finished their own light meal, the twins had eaten double that in massive quantities.
Thane had his eyebrow cocked upward in a semi-surprised look
"good lord you two, did you even taste the food? As a matter of fact, did you even breath?"
Both the twins looked over at him past their newest confection and nodded their heads
"Yup!"
"we're good at eating fast, it's part of Kaede's training!"
And just like that, they where back to chowing down on what hopefully was the last thing they were going to order.
Thane shrugged his shoulders
'training for what?'
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhh! This Mango chocolate pudding Parfait is dee-licious!"
Fuka started to try to shove as much of the confection in her mouth as possible while Fumika held her free hand to her cheek, as if overpowering nature of the pudding was too much for her little mouth to handle,
"Uh hu. It's this month's newest creation"
Thane was interrupted from his Twin observation when he noticed the server come back with yet another dessert, some kind of large banana smoothie. Both Negi and Thane had nearly identical thoughts
'man, they sure can put it away…'
Despite the silliness of their actions and the gluttonies nature of their appetites, Thane couldn't help but have a feeling of Nostalgia come over him from watching the display. So much in fact, that he put his right elbow on the table and leaned his head up against his hand and smile contently.
'What a good feeling… makes me feel like I'm watching my own Kids again…'
Fumika, in the middle of another bite of her pudding, suddenly felt an idea pop into her mind and looked over at Negi, the spoon moving away from her mouth and Toward Negi
"Hey hey! Sensei, Open wide!"
Negi flustered and shook his head at the gesture
"N-No Thanks!"
Feeling just a little dejected, the Twin realized that there was a second person she could try it with and re-directed her attention,
"How about you Thane-sensei? Open wide!"
Thane blinked a few times, his happy trip down memory lane being slightly jarred
"Hum? Oh! Sure! Ahhhhhhhhhh…"
Both of the Girls' giggled madly and Fumika put the spoon in his mouth, which Thane chomped down on happily
"Mmm… Tasty!"
Negi slightly blushed and started to flap his arms wildly, "Th-Thane-san! What are you doing!?"
Thane glanced over at Negi with a bemused expression,
"what? It's just a harmless little thing."
"Bu-But!"
Thane reached over and ruffled the boy's hair fondly,
"Relax Negi boy. No harm done, so don't worry about it. You gotta learn to chill every once in a while"
Negi really didn't chill out, but decided that it really was Thane just being friendly and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. The young Welsh boy turned his attention back to the twins, who were busy feeding each other their own little morsels of food from their plates and smiled at them both, losing himself in his own thoughts about the twins.
Thane also had his attention back to them both and laughed a little at them,
"Ha! Hard to imagine that you both are really fifteen; At first glance, one would think you where grade schoolers, the fact that you tend to act like it as well doesn't tend to help either… maybe if you had more of a rack or something…"
Both twins sputtered at his blatant insult to their figures, but Fuka was the one who retorted
"Excuse me!? Who you calling a kid!? We're just late bloomers is all! Just wait a few years, then you're jaw will hit the floor!"
At this, Thane just couldn't help but smirk
"Oh ho, planning on getting as big as Naba-san?"
"Even Bigger!"
Thane actually had to hold his mouth in check in fear that he was going to burst out laughing
"Ha! You better get started then, cause that'll take a while! Or…"
He Glanced at the girl and started to laugh a rather evil laugh while his hand's started to twitch in a leery way
"I could help you out… they say that massaging them helps them grow bigger… Uf fufufufufufu…"
Fuqua subconsciously crossed her hands over her chest and leaned her body away from him as far as possible without falling out of the chair while Fumika starting blubber incoherent words and blushing very hard.
Negi was too busy writing in his little book to notice his assistant's obvious sexual harassment of the students at the moment.
However, as quickly as it started, Thane went back to Normal and started to giggle uncontrollably
"Ke he he he he… you didn't think I was being serious did you? Like I would actually touch somebody, I'd be too scared of going to jail"
Both Fuka and Fumika however, instead of having looks of relief, both eyed him up and down
"Sensei…"
"You're secretly a Lolicon aren't you?"
The resounding smack of a forehead to the Glass top of the table was so strong that everybody within about a ten foot radius thought that somebody had smashed a wooden block against one of them.
Thane quickly sat back up and looked over at them with mixed expressions of Shock and annoyance
"SAY WHAT!-?-! That's complete bull!-!-! How'd you come to that conclusion!-?-!"
Fuka raised her finger in an oh so smart manner and went into the explanation,
"Well… your rooming with both Yuna and Akira-san and yet you haven't made a move on either one. This makes me think you're either a Lolicon or borderline Gay"
Thane's mouth was hanging wide open, that's just how outrageous he thought the claims they were making where
"I AM NOT GAY!"
Fuka, feeling that she was getting the upper hand, grinned mischievously
"So you say and deny with all your being, but you have yet to do so with the Claims of Lolicon, do you admit it?"
"SHUT UP YA LITTLE HALF PINT!"
Fumika, being the more level headed of the two at the moment, decided in that moment that she didn't want to see her sister die just yet and her Sensei shipped off to jail. So she decided to Diffuse the situation the best way she knew how, and that's through strategic diversion
"Ah! What're you writing there Negi-sensei?"
Negi, who had been oh-so-conveniently distracted the whole time, quickly Jolted to attention and pulled his roster out of her sight,
"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Just teacher stuff!"
Both Fuka and Thane turned their attention to the new target.
Fuka and Thane where interested in Negi's reaction, but both for entirely different reasons.
Wanting to divert the sudden attention on him and his roster, Negi clapped his hands together and smiled as normally as possible without letting a lot of his nervousness into it,
"w-Well then… I think it's time to call it a day. It's going to be turning evening soon and as your teacher, I need to make sure that you both head back to the dorms as early as possible"
Thane let out a loud sigh, feeling that he didn't get as much exploring done as he wanted
"A pity, but he does have a point"
Both the Narutaki's quickly got out of there Chair's and shook their heads
"Oh don't say that Yet you two!"
"Yeah! We still have one more really important place to show you!"
Both Thane and Negi Glanced at each other, as if to see if the other knew exactly what the twin's where talking about, but since neither one of them was a mind reader… well a decent mind reader, they had no clue and simply shrugged their shoulders.
Thane got up and straightened his clothes out, "Alright, as the adult of the group, I suppose we can visit one more place, but it's kinda up to Negi. So what do you say?"
The auburn haired boy thought it over for a moment before he nodded his head, "I don't see the harm in it"
Both Twins grinned widely and latched onto each of the Teachers, Fuka nabbing Negi While Fumika pulled on Thanes sleeve,
"Great! Come on then! Let's get going!"
Xx Sometime later xX
Thane and Negi were starting to get out of breath; the twins had set a pretty harsh pace and had not let up for even a minute, continually dragging the two teachers with no rest.
Thane, being pulled on by Fumika, Looked around and saw that, wherever they where, it was getting pretty far out. This was easily noticed when the amount of concrete starts to become sparse and the trees are more abundant then one would think possible in a City Campus.
Thane's attention was drawn back to the group when Negi spoke up, somewhat out of breath,
"Wh-What in the world could possibly be in the back of these hills that warrant such hurry?"
Thane shook his head in agreement, "I have to ask that question myself…"
Fumika got behind Thane and started to push him forward,
"It's just a little further Sensei! Hang in there!"
Deciding that it probably isn't that much further, Thane and Negi decided to go ahead and trudge on for a little while longer until they were rewarded with the sight of their destination.
Fuka quickly pointed that fact out to them both because they had started to get a little tired of seeing the same woods for the past thirty yards,
"Ah! I can see it from here!"
The two males turned their attention to the direction she was pointing and couldn't help but stop in their tracks.
Standing before them was the massive tree that could be seen all across Campus, but they were actually pretty close to it this time around, and the closeness of the tree added to its massive effect, making it seem as if it was much larger than before.
Negi went wide eyed in wonder while Thane had something of a lesser reaction, but there was no less Awe then Negi
'I know I've seen trees in Estoria that make this one seem Miniscule in comparison, but… something about it seems… Grand. It's a very old tree, that much I can tell'
Negi Continued to look the tree up and down, the sheer size and volume of it leaving him almost at a loss for words. But one must speak eventually, even if to convey simple questions and statement's
"This tree… I've seen it all over campus… but not from this close, it's absolutely massive!"
Fumika, getting into her guide mode again, started going into explanation,
"Yeah! They say that this tree was here before the Campus was built. Nobody knows what its real name is, but everybody calls it the World Tree"
At that, Negi looked at the twins with a perplexed expression,
"The World…Tree?"
"What? You never heard of the World Tree sensei? It's that one thing you revive with an item in Dragon Quest"
"Fuka! Of course he's never heard of it! He's British!"
The twin-tailed twin lightly sighed to herself and turned to Thane,
"What about you Thane-sensei? I heard Americans where really big on games, you've heard of it before right?"
Thane lifted his hand and tilted it side to side a few times in thought,
"Ehhh… I've heard of 'a' world tree, but I'm not sure it's the same one you're thinking about"
Fuka, having pretty much run into a brick wall with these two, sighed in defeat
"Eh… whatever… Come on! Times wasting and we don't wanna miss the good part!"
Both the Twins dashed off towards the tree, leaving both teachers scrambling after them in confusion,
"What? Miss what you two?"
By the time they finally managed to catch up, they were surprised to see the both of them starting to climb the Gnarled and heavily grooved Bark of the tree.
"Fuka-san! Fumika-san! What on earth are you two doing!? You could get hurt!"
Thane nodded his head, "Gonna have to agree with Negi boy on that one, but what are you two trying to do?"
Fuka, who had already gotten a few feet up, turned her head around and grinned broadly,
"What's it look like? Climbing the world tree!"
Negi was starting to Panic While Thane rolled his eyes, "we can see that, why though?"
Both the Twins looked from the two teachers and then to each other, smiling and giggling all secretively
"You're just going to have to follow us to find out!"
Thane scrunched his brow in annoyance,
"is that supposed to entice us?... cause it's working on me, wait up!"
Thane quickly followed behind the twins and also started to climb the tree. Negi, whom had just lost the support of his assistant, started to fidget nervously, taking a sideways glance this way and that in case anybody was watching them.
"Ohhhhhhh… I don't like this!"
When in Rome, do what the Romans do, or in this case, the Narutaki's.
Negi ran forward and followed behind them, showing a surprising agility for one his age. However, Since Both Males had never attempted to Climb this Tree before, they had to follow most of the same path that The twins did, This was easier for Negi since they were similar in height, But Thane had it a little harder since his height was twice there's, so Thane pretty much had to find his own way to climb.
Despite the few mishaps, mostly in the form of Fuka trying to knock Thane down, everybody managed to make it to one of the Larger Branches.
Thane helped Negi climb the last of the way up and they both sat down on the Branch While the Twins stared down at both of them.
Fuka smiled wide and had her hands behind her head,
"Huh, wasn't expecting you to make it Up Thane-sensei, good Job"
The Pale Youth stared her down with extreme annoyance
"yeah, no Thanks to you Half-pint"
The twin-tail simply smiled at his Sarcasm and looked out into the Horizon, her features changing along with her sisters.
Fumika, seemingly being the Fount of Knowledge among the two, decided to go into a little trivia mode,
"Hey, Sensei. Did you know that this tree has a lot of Legends surrounding it? You'll often hear about them from a lot of people, some Legends say that This tree is really a powerful Land God sealed away thousands of years ago, while some of the Darker Legends say that it's actually A cursed Tree that devours Humans in its roots. But the Most popular one is really simple"
Thane glanced over at them both, his curiosity having been pricked a little,
"And what is it?"
Fumika lightly giggle as she sat down next to Him, her feet dangling off the edge of the branch
"They say that if those with unrequited Love confess their feelings to the One they Love under the Boughs of this tree, then that confession will come true"
Fuka sat Down Next to Negi and her sister, the Both of them staring out into the Sky with a set of serious looks that Thane wasn't used to seeing on their faces.
"Someday… Fumika and I will also…"
The mentioned twin nodded her head in understanding of her sisters thoughts. Negi felt a small sense of respect grow in his chest for the two girls while Thane smiled like a father
'One day, even these two will outgrow their childishness and find a meaning to their lives… such is the way of life and all things…I pray that it comes in it's appropriate time…'
Thane turned his attention back out into the sky, letting his thoughts drift with the slight breeze around the Branches
'Loved one huh… I wish I knew about that when Lif and Oswald where trying to get together… would have saved me a world of headaches… he he… oh well… I wonder if there's anybody who I could confess to under this tree…'
Instantly, his thoughts turned to a few girls, 'Sayo-chan? That would be nice… Yuna? Ehhhhhhhh… maybe not, she doesn't seem like girlfriend material… not for me anyway… Madoka? I barely know her, what am I on about? Oh! Evangeline? She'd probably rip my head off, but the act of seeing her fluster like a little girl would be sooooooooooooooo worth it… oh, oh! Setsuna! Now that would be funny! She might take it seriously however…'
Suddenly, his thoughts turned to one girl in particular.
'Akira… maybe… nonononononononono! She's a good friend! Don't think of her that way!'
Thane quickly shook his head and tried to hide his embarrassment with a mask of serious on his face,
'why am I thinking of girls from this world anyway? I bet a few girls from Estoria would come to mind if I let them…'
He sat there and thought, and thought, and thought till he could think no more and came to a realization
'wow… I'm a really really sad man. I don't even think I know more than four women who would even be slightly interested in me and vice versa… a bachelor at my age? I gotta fix that soon…'
"Oh! Fumika!"
Thane was pulled from his thoughts when the Sound of Fuka's voice touched his ears,
"I just had a great idea! Let's tell Negi-sensei and Thane-sensei that we like them and maybe, for a little while anyway, they'll be our Boyfriends!"
Fumika clapped her hands together at the thought
"That sounds Like a great idea! The World Tree would defiantly make that happen!"
Both Negi and Thane quickly turned their heads to the two girls,
"say what?/Come again!?"
Negi attempted to get away, But Fuka quickly latched onto his right Arm, while Thane, despite the fact that he didn't try to run, got Fumika latched onto his left Arm.
Negi started to flail his one loose arm in panic, "No! Total opposite of Good idea! A teacher must never take advantage of his students! So not even in Jest should you-!"
He quickly shut up When Fuka pulled him closer. Fumika, on the other hand, was a little surprised By Thane's lack of panic and looked up at him and found him smiling down at her. She was quickly distracted when Negi started to actually yell out in a panicked tone,
"Ah come on! What if that stupid Legend comes true!?"
"All together now!"
Before Negi could even react, he felt the pressing of a set of lips on his right cheek, and he had to admit, they felt pretty nice.
Fumika, on the other hand, was surprised when Thane had bent down and gave her a Kiss on her forehead.
She blushed deeply and looked back up to see Thane wagging his finger at her while smiling
"Tut, tut. You're a few years too young to be trying that legend with me, but… come back in two years, and I might consider it alright?"
The Young girl only steepled her fingers in response while lightly nodding her head. Thane put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it fondly, as if to get her to relax a little more.
After a few more Minutes of horsing around On Fuka's part, the group eventually decided to leave. When they got to the base of the tree, Negi went ahead and left first, his cheeks still red from the earlier kiss.
That left only Thane and the two twins at the base of the tree. Thane stretched his arms out wide, letting his muscles tense for a few seconds before he let them fall to his side,
"well… I guess you two need to head on back pretty soon then huh?"
Fuka glanced over at him, her face twisted into a quizzical look, "You make it sound like you're not coming along Sensei"
"Well, I'm not. I actually have somewhere I need to be here in a few minutes, would you two mind relaying a message to Yuna and Akira for me?"
Fumika was all too eager to agree and nodded her head quickly,
"s-Sure, what is it?"
Thane thought about it for a minute before he nodded his head at his internal answer,
"Tell them that I'm going to be late for dinner, so don't bother making me anything too eat"
"Huh… alright, but where are you going?"
"To visit a friend"
Both Twins nodded their heads in unison, "Alright, we'll make sure they get it"
Thane waved his hand at the both of them and smiled as they left,
"K, Thanks! Have a safe trip back home you two!"
When they were finally out of sight, Thane stopped waving and reached into his pocket
"Well… this is just as good a spot as any…"
Thane glanced around a few time's, trying to find something in particular for this situation until he eventually found it, "Ah… that should do nicely…"
He walked a little off the path, reaching down and picking up a moderate sized stick that he flipped over in his hands a few times,
"Should work…"
Thane then came back and started to walk around the tree until he found a good clear view of the Campus. He then impaled the stick into the Ground, twisting at around a few times to make sure it stayed in tight.
After doing that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Eye of Havrad, placing it in the little broken end of the stick that was conveniently shaped for small marble like objects. After doing that, Thane stepped back and observed his handiwork for a moment before he nodded his head,
"Alright… let's get that data then…"
He then stepped forward and placed his hand on the Small gem, holding his free hand in front of him and facing the entirety of the Campus
"The eye of the Deceiver will not be blinded"
The same blinding green light that flashed In Eva's cottage several nights ago was just as bright now as it was then. Suddenly, the many colors that painted the Campus Landscape was dotted in hundreds of thousands of White glowing sigils.
Thane smiled to Himself and pulled out a pen and Paper, "Alright then… let's see what's worth looking at…"
Xx about an Hour Later, Eva's cottage xX
Evangeline A.K McDowell, The Magi Nosferatu, terror of the Magical world, was currently sitting in the middle of her cabin floor, her fingers tapping impatiently on the Hard wood with an almost rhythm Like Pattern.
Her Patience was obviously starting to wear thin,
"Where in the hell is he!?"
Chachamaru, who didn't share any of her master's emotion as of right now, simply went about her business of making tea.
"That Crazy Punk said he would be here over an hour ago! He sure has balls for keeping me waiting!"
Chachamaru, finished with her preparation of Tea making, took the completed beverage to her heated mistress and put the Tray outside the Semi-crimson circle she was sitting in.
Evangeline quickly took one of the cups and sipped at the hot tea experimentally, testing the limits of the heat on her tongue the first few sips.
"Master, Should I perhaps go out and try to find him? That would alleviate your anger by some small degree and speed up the process of your release"
Eva looked at the cabin door, the steaming cup of tea stationary in her hand and her lip's pinched in both anger and excitement
"No; we will wait a few more minutes. But if he hasn't shown up by then, then you are free to go and find his sorry hide and drag it back here"
The Gynoid simply bowed her head in understanding and stayed next to her master, the seconds ticking by in an almost agonizingly slow pace for the Pseudo-Vampire.
Thankfully for Thane, He did indeed manage to make his way to the cabin in the next fifteen minutes and entered the residence with a large stack of papers under his left arm,
"Hello?"
Eva jumped to her feet at the sound of his voice,
"About time you got here! What kept you so long?!"
Thane shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, I got lost in the road of life…"
Eva cocked her eyebrow in annoyance,
"You just got lost didn't you?"
Thane raised his right hand and smiled at her, "Right! On the road of life!"
The Vampire decided not to pursue the issue and sat back down,
"So? Are we ready to go yet?"
Thane went to an open spot on the Table and placed all his paperwork there before he responded to her, "You have the circle in place?"
He turned around and saw her pointing to the ground she was sitting on. Thane smiled at her impatience, "Good work! I'll get started here in a second, but first let me go over a few of my findings. I want to get this right the first time around"
Despite her obvious excitement of the prospect of being released, Eva couldn't help but wonder a little about some of his findings.
"So what did you find out?"
Thane had sat down at the table and started sorting through his papers, placing some in piles that Eva really didn't want to bother with.
"well… for starts, I found that the heaviest concentration for the seal is around here and the cabin, no duh there since you're in here. Also, the seal seems to be of a semi-Spirit natured one, however, the other element being used is something I couldn't identify"
"Is that going to be a problem?"
Thane shook his head as he continued his work, "No, not with me on it. The seal is still magical in nature, so that means that at its base and core I can still deal with it. It just might take me a little longer, that's all"
Thane looked up at the ceiling for a second before he glanced back at her, "I did notice one odd thing though, it kinda confused me. Maybe since you're a resident of this world you could offer a little insight?"
Eva tilted her head in a quizzical manner.
"What is it?"
Thane began to scratch his head, "well, I said that a lot of the seals concentration is on you correct? One thing I noticed is that it seemed to worm its way around a lot of the Campus in lines, underground, in buildings, even outside, they all seemed to follow a linier pattern. Happen to have any insight for that?"
Eva thought about it for a second but shook her head after she thought it over.
"No, afraid not"
Thane shrugged his shoulders, as if to brush off some slight annoyance,
"Oh well, it won't be much of a problem anyway… alright… another few minutes if you please and we'll be ready to go"
And so, for the next twenty or so odd minutes, it was simply the sound of sifting paper, tapping fingers, and the occasional humming of the AC Unit outside.
Eva, not one to be bored for long periods of time, despite it going against her nature, decided to break the silence
"Hey"
Thane slightly Jolted from the sudden voice in the room, but recovered and turned his attention to the Vampire
"Yes?"
"Why do you want to help me so badly?"
Thane blinked his eyes a few time, he wasn't shocked nor hurt by her sudden question
"Why?... I guess… it may be because…I'm just too nice of a guy not too"
Eva Lifted her eyebrow in confusion,
"There has to be more to it than that. Nobody does anything for free unless they hope to get something out of it. In my 800+ years of living, that's one thing that I have never seen change"
However, to her shock, she saw that he was smiling,
"He he he he… I guess that is one true thing in this world, nobody does anything for free. And if you put it that way, I guess I really do have a reason for wanting to help you"
Eva didn't say anything, but the look on her face said she was curious. Thane scratched his chin for a moment before he decided to answer,
"I guess it really comes down to the fact… That I'm hoping you might fall in love with me afterward"
Total. Silence.
It took Eva's brain a full thirty seconds to process what the hell he just said, and when it did, the 800 year old vampire went red in the face,
"What'd you say!-?-!"
Thane was doubled over his chair, laughing till his gut started to hurt
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-!-! I totally got you with that!-!-! You should've seen the look on your face!-!-!"
Eva was both shaking in anger and embarrassment
"You asshole! Just you wait till this gets done! I'm gonna rip your head off!"
Thane turned back around to his papers and chuckled to himself.
"Soooooooooooooo worth it"
Eva was gritting her teeth in frustration, but suddenly felt that she may have just been played.
"Wait a second… Oh no you don't! You won't distract me! Now what's the real reason for trying to help me?"
"Tsk… You're sharp… but what else can I expect from one as powerful as you?"
Eva crossed her legs, her temper starting to get into the same position,
"Flattery won't get you out of this"
Thane finally sighed, knowing that he was defeated.
"Alright then… The real reason is because I can sympathize with you on this"
Eva blinked, once, twice, then the third time before she shook her head,
"Say what? You can sympathize with me? I don't know how you even think that, please, do tell. I'm highly curious!"
Thane noticed the agitation growing in her voice, and turned around to face her, "Well… I guess you can say I know what it's like to be cut off from your powers. Totally and completely cut off for that fact"
"Really? How so?"
Thane glanced at the circle on the floor and then down to his feet, "So we gonna start sharing stories about each other then? Huh… I guess… That it would probably be better to save this discussion for another time. You want to be released as quickly as possible correct? Sharing stories about my past won't speed that up you know"
Eva slightly gritted her teeth.
Everything he said was true, what use was his past compared to the seal put on her at the moment?
'I can just get it out of him later…'
"Alright, Fine. Go ahead and get started then Sensei"
Thane ignored the slight jib in the Honorific and stood up, coming pretty close to The circle that Eva was currently sitting in.
"Alright then, Evangeline, do whatever you want, but you must, I repeat, Must stay in the circle at all times else we will need to start all over, and that takes time"
Eva simply jerked her head in answer.
"Chachamaru… um… I guess you can do whatever you want, unless you know highly advanced Magical Streaming techniques?"
The Gynoid Shook her head, "I am afraid Not Sensei"
The male shrugged his shoulders, as if it really wasn't much of a concern,
"Oh well. Let's get started then…"
Thane closed his eyes and raised his hands, almost like a pianist ready to play his Piano.
Eva noticed the almost shocking change come over him and actually felt impressed. He had done things like this before, and she could feel it.
Thane took one deep breath, and then another. He then opened his eyes and started to speak in a low voice
{"Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 1"} (Spirit magic: The code of release level 1)
A small screen appeared before Thane. He put his hand around the round screen and slightly pushed forward, making the screen grow in size about three times, large enough to be considered a medium sized television screen, and then, he got to work.
Small ruins started to form on the screen and each time they did, Thane's hands where there. He would move them around, slightly alter them, throw them of the screen with a flick of his wrist, summon new ones, all this and more.
At first, it was a pretty slow pace, but as the minutes ticked on, Thane's hands would pick up speed and simply proceeded to increase. After 20 minutes, his hands where a blur at this point, moving this way and that, almost to the point where Eva was having a hard time keeping up with all the hand motions.
Chachamaru on the other hand, had no such trouble.
This continued for another 15 or so minutes before Thane suddenly stopped,
"ouch… I haven't done this in a while… but the show must go on! Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 2!" (Spirit Magic: The code of release level 2)
Even more ruins started to appear on the screen, but the Screen also started to shift, instead of being a flat screen in the air, it suddenly took on a box like shape, and Thane began anew, only this time, starting with the same speed he was going at.
Eva was pretty impressed at this point, "I must say, you're pretty good at this"
Thane flashed her a small smile, "Thanks, but we aren't even halfway there yet, I'm just now getting into the Magical functions of the Seal… Oh, and by the way, if you want to say something to me, say it before I get to level 4 alright? Cause at that point, I'm not going to be able to answer any questions. My full attention needs to be on this at that point"
Eva cocked her eyebrow at the number, "4? How many levels will you need to go through before you get done?"
Thane stopped for a second and switched the sides, beginning his work on another surface of the block.
"8 level's for something like this, this might take a while too, so I hope you have something to do in the next few hours… oops, fixing to start level three here"
And with that, he enacted the code for level three seal magic.
Eva simply stared on at his speed, finding the pace and the rhythm to almost be hypnotic,
"So… I guess the next one you won't be able to answer my questions then… fine, answer me this then"
Thane turned his attention to her, "What is it?"
Eva was silent for a second, as if rolling the thought of asking the question around in her mind, she finally seemed to come to a decision and rested her head on the palm of her head,
"I wonder… why do you help me? Has it never crossed your mind as to why I was sealed? You seem decently smart; surely you have to have figured it out by now. But, maybe you haven't, maybe you're just that Kind hearted. But why, why would you release an Evil Mage who is a powerful Vampire to boot?"
Eva was a little shocked to see that he didn't even slow down, didn't flinch, or even stop to ponder for a second. Thane looked over at her and smiled,
"hum… Why I wonder… maybe it's because of the same reason I mentioned before? I sympathize with you; I know what it's like to be sealed, to be stripped of your power, to be removed from a very core essence of yourself. It's like somebody ripped your heart out and keeps it out of range, you can still feel the effects of the beat, but it's just not there. It a hallowing feeling… and you've suffered through it for fifteen years."
Eva kept her face straight, but was a little surprised to hear something like that.
"Huh… I guess that can explain a little of your actions, but why help an Evil mage at all? What if I deserved it?"
At that, Thane did stop for a second, but started back up again
"… I don't know you that well, hell, you and I can only be considered little more than Acquaintances at this point but… The Eva I see isn't an Evil person in my eyes"
"What if it's an act? What if when you release me, I start to rampage?"
Thane shrugged his shoulders and went back to work, feeling the approach of the level 4 coming on,
"Then… I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it then, it would be my responsibility to stop you otherwise. But I would hope you wouldn't do that, I'm going to try putting my faith in you"
Eva was pretty shocked at this point.
'this guy… is he just that careless? No… he seems more carefree then anything'
"Hope that answered your questions miss Evil Mage, because I'm starting level 4 now, and from here on out, it's gonna take much longer compared to before…"
Evangeline shook her head to indicate that she was done talking and simply watched him continue in silence.
After 40 minutes, Thane Upgraded to level 5, after another hour, he hit level 6, and at this point, his arms where getting tired and sweat was starting to form on his brow.
Chachamaru, oddly enough, decided to wipe the sweat off his face as he worked, knowing that he needed to try to concentrate at this point.
After an hour and 26 minutes he finally hit level 7, and the speed he was going at had not diminished at all, but the screen changed at this point. It was no longer a square, it had taken a sphere shape now, and Thane's hand motions now included spinning it around a great deal.
Finally, after 2 more hours, it was 11:37 at night.
Eva had remained vigilant the whole Time, watching as Thane worked these last five hours for her sake.
Thane had a huge grin on his face,
"he he he… I haven't had such a challenge in such a long time… but you're dealing with the head of the Magical research division In the Estorian Military! This won't beat me! Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 8!"
Suddenly, a huge flash of light erupted from the circle Around Eva, causing her to jump
"Woah!-!"
Thane was starting to chuckle like a small child right about now
"This was tough, But my experience with seals leaves all others in the dust! Get ready Oh Queen of the Night! Your powers are about to be restored in FULL! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Eva felt a little sweat drop form on her temple, "I'm starting to think that you might have gone crazy from watching too many flashing lights…"
Thane decided to ignore that comment and continued with his work. The sphere that he had been working with at this point started to glow brighter and brighter until it was almost as bright as a small sun, or close enough to one.
"And Now!"
Thane stopped moving his hands and placed them under the glowing sphere. The sphere stopped glowing and reveled thousands of small ruins that where no bigger than the head of a tack. Thane put one hand under the sphere and the other on top, causing the globe of ruins to shrink down to the size of a baseball. Thane, having been standing for several hours, grabbed the small globe and fell to his knees,
"Ha! Finally! Now… just one more thing to do…"
He held the sphere in one hand and held it up, starting to squeeze it until the sound of cracking was heard
"And now… we go BREAK!"
*SNAP*
The small sphere shattered in his hands, the pieces falling to the floor and disintegrating the moment they touched the hard wood.
The circle that Eva was sitting in suddenly flared up in bright blue light, but only for a second before the circle itself seemed to dissolve.
Eva blinked in surprise a few times and looked over to Thane, who was still on his knees,
"Did… Did it work?"
Thane simply held his hand up with three digits held out, a smile on his face.
"3…2…1"
On one, Eva suddenly felt something she hadn't in over 15 years.
The thrilling rush of her full magical powers.
Thane smiled smugly, "Now you tell me if it didn't work"
Eva wasn't paying attention; she was too shocked at the sudden return of her powers to say anything.
Thane lay back against the couch, giving his tired arms a breather from all that rapid motion,
"So, how does it feel? To be returned to full power?"
She didn't answer at first, not with words anyway. No, she started to giggle,
"He he he… ha ha ha… Ha Ha…HA HA HA….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-!-! It feels goddamned marvelous!-!-!-!"
She flung her hand back, and frost instantly coated everything behind her. Eva brought her hand to her face and flexed her fingers, feeling power course through every digit,
"So long… 15 Motherphucking years and I am FREE!-!-! Who's laughing now Nagi!-? Who's laughing now!-!"
She started to laugh a great deal, doubling over in her laughter.
Thane simply smiled and sighed contently, "Glad to see I did my job well then…"
Eva finally managed to regain control of her emotions and glanced over at him, a smile on her face.
"Yes… you did do well… and for that, I thank you"
Thane blinked in surprise, "wait, what you just say?"
Eva rolled her eyes, "I hate repeating myself, you know what I said, I won't say it again."
Thane curled his lip up at her in annoyance, "Like it would kill ya… But… your welcome"
For a brief moment, Evangeline smiled, not a sneer, not a mocking Grin, she genuinely smiled at him.
However, in the next moment, all the lights in the cabin dimmed and eventually went out, causing everybody in the room to look around.
Thane was the first to say something,
"What the? Did we have a power outage or something? Maybe even electricity is afraid of your return eh?"
Chachamaru eyes suddenly lit up with small streams of code crossing her irises,
"No… not a power outage…"
Eva turned to her robotic servant and stamped her foot,
"Then what is it Cha-"
In the next instant, what could only be described as a massive bolt of lightning ripped right through the solid wood ceiling of her cabin and right through her second floor and struck Evangeline where she stood.
"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H!"
Thane threw his arms up to cover his eyes from the massive flash while Chachamaru's Optical lenses cracked from the sudden burst of energy.
However, unlike a real bolt of lightning, this one didn't vanish the moment it struck; instead, it just got stronger, shocking the vampire with untold amounts of electricity.
Eva doubled over in pain, not even screaming anymore it hurt that bad.
Thane's eyes managed to adjust enough for him to see what was going on, and the sight sent terror down his spine.
"EVA!"
Thane tried to jump into the electrical field, but was sent flying back across the room the moment he touched it and slammed into the wall.
Not letting the pain get to him, Thane jumped to his feet and leaned against the couch for support.
He was about to jump into it again when he suddenly noticed something happening around the energy field.
"Wha… no… No way!-!"
The energy that was surging through Evangeline started to turn into ruins and disappeared the moment the energy left her body.
Thane could only watch, sudden understanding coming on him,
"It's… the seal is fixing itself!-! How?-!"
However, the sight of someone being run through with a bolt of energy dislodged that thought quickly,
"I can't worry about that right now! I gotta see if I can help Eva!"
However, the moment he tried to step forward, the electricity stopped and dissipated, leaving her standing there with smoke rising off of her body.
"Eva!"
Thane dashed forward and caught her as she was about to fall.
Thane gently lowered her to the ground and put his hand on her chest
'shit… please be ok…'
It was slow, and somewhat erratic, but Thane felt a heartbeat.
He let himself breathe out a sigh of relief,
"Thank goodness… I was afraid whatever that was killed you!"
The slight coughing fit she gave him told him that she was otherwise not a cadaver,
"Well… whatever it was… it damned near did… my body hurts all over… and get your hand off me"
Thane looked down, not really sure why she was angry at him, until he saw the condition of her body.
Apparently the bolt of energy had done more than reset the seal, it apparently blew all her clothes off too, meaning his hand was on her bare chest.
"WAGH!-!-!"
Thane threw his hand into the air in embarrassment,
"Sorry! Just checking to see if your heart was working!"
Eva let an evil smirk cross her face,
"Oh? Sure about that? Looked more like you where trying to feel me up you Lolicon"
"I wasn't trying to!-!"
Thane took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves down and remembered that there was another in the room who was even closer to Eva then he was.
"Chachamaru! Are you alright? Where are you?"
The robot raised her hand from behind the kitchen counter,
"I am Fine Sensei, though I am momentarily blinded. If you would, could you please call Hakase? The number is next to the phone"
Thane nodded his head and found the phone under a large pile of stuffed toys and called the Professor up.
After taking care of that, he went back and kneeled next to Eva, draping a blanket he found over her body,
"How are you feeling Eva?"
The Vampire looked up at him with annoyance very apparent on her face, "Just fine and dandy despite the fact that I just got shot by God-Lightning. Just what the hell was that anyway? My Body can't move and it hurts all over…"
Thane looked away from here with some shame on his face,
"Sorry… I was careless… it was that unknown Factor that I disregarded earlier… Thanks to that, you wound up like this… Let me see if I can help a little bit with the pain…"
Thane placed his hands on her stomach, much to the vampires embarrassment, "wh-what are you doing?"
Thane ignored her and took a few deep breathes, {"Ignis Magia: Lenia Flamma"} (Fire magic: Light Flame)
A reddish aura started to form around Thanes hands and slowly seeped down onto Eva's skin.
The Vampire instantly noticed a soothing effect and began to relax, the pain dying down,
"Oh… that feels pretty nice… What kind of magic is this?"
Thane kept it up for a few more seconds before he removed his hands, looking visibly drained,
"It's a healing spell from the Fire Branch of magic. Most fire spells Are Pure attack types so it has very few healing or support skills. But that's what makes them so cheap to use, they really don't heal very large amounts of damage. That kind of healing is reserved for the Water and Spirit Branches; else I would have used one of those to fix you up. Unfortunately for me, using a level 8 sealing spell pretty much drained me of everything I currently had… sorry"
Though she could still feel some pain in her body, Eva decided that she had suffered worse and sat up, using the blanket to cover herself,
"That's pretty useful… You didn't even have to Chant to use it either… But, I want to know what happened with the unsealing of my power. I felt my power's come back to me, so it wasn't a failure, but when that Bolt hit me, it got sealed back up again, what gives?"
Thane got into a more comfortable position and sat cross legged in front of her, a heavy sigh slipping from his lips
"I must apologize, like I said. Where I thought the seal was Magical in nature, it really came from something else. From what, I don't know, but the moment I released the Magical portion of the seal, the other half kicked in and ripped all that hard work to pieces, just like your roof"
Eva looked up and saw a gapping charred hole in her ceiling, however, that was the last thing she was worried about right now,
"Well… can you still do something about it? The seal simply reset itself, maybe if you look harder you can undo both halves"
Thane started to grit his teeth, "There's the problem… I just took a look and whoever did this seal must have been a damn genius"
Eva couldn't help herself with that one and just started laughing, "*Pfffffft!-!* AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-! That's a joke!-!"
Thane cocked his eyebrow upward in confusion, "Um… pardon?"
Eva waved her hand while getting her laughter under control.
"Nothing… ke he he he… continue"
Thane looked at her for a few more seconds before he simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Ok then… as I was saying, Whoever this guy is, he managed to hide two little surprises in that seal, the first was the auto-repair feature, that takes a lot of work to hide. But the second little surprise this person hid is one nasty little bitch… By the looks of it, the seal changes it's very magical makeup every few minutes…"
Eva didn't like the sounds of that, "so… what does that mean?"
Thane held his head in his hands in shame,
"It means I dun goofed… I can't work with the seal anymore. It took me five damn hours to work with it when it was just one seal, now that it's changing itself around, it doesn't matter how fast I go. It just changes itself around every few minutes… I'm sorry, I should have been better prepared…"
Eva looked down at her feet, her expression unreadable to Thane, but her inner turmoil raging inside her body.
'So close… I was so damned close… damn it Nagi… damn it all!'
Eva smashed her hand into the hardwood floor, and then again, and again, and again until her hand started to bleed from the constant pounding. After another minute of venting her frustration Eva Finally felt herself calm down enough to be rational and she turned her attention back to Thane,
"So… now what? We just give up? You're the seal genius; you tell me what to do"
Thane bit his lower lip in thought, working his brain into overdrive.
'there has to be a way to get it off… It doesn't matter how complex it starts to get, the caster has to have a backup in case it changes on him or something goes wrong… this seal should be no different… however, the magical make-up of this seal differs greatly from the ones in Estoria… I'm gonna need to study it much much more…'
Thane looked back at her and shook his head,
"Not give up, I have never failed to remove a seal and this one won't be any different, I'm just going to need a little more time to study up on it. Try to figure out what the second element used is. The moment I get that, this damned thing is going down"
Thane punched his fists together with a renewed vigor in his eyes.
Eva tilted her head to the side, a small smile gracing her face, "My my… You know, I'm starting to think you like me"
"*PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT* say what!-?-!"
Thane actually had to triple check what she just said to make sure he didn't blow his hearing out in the blast.
Eva smirked at him, an evil glint appearing in her eyes,
"I'm almost 95% certain that you do. I mean, why else would you go through this much trouble to help me with this seal? Either you're a supreme masochist, or you have the hot's for an 800 year old Loli"
Thane was incredibly red right now, his mouth moving, but gibberish spilling out
"I!-!-That!-!- You!-!-Not!-!- Shut up! Youdon'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout!-!"
Eva was now going into full on evil mode,
"Oh but I think I do. I remember you saying that you would like it if I fell in love with you. Now why would you say that if you didn't have a little something on the inside for little old me?"
Thane was much like Negi right now, blubbering about with no excuse to go with,
"I!-I!-I! s-s-s- STUPID EVA!-!-! I-I-I don't like you or anything!"
Thane quickly stood up and ran out the door screaming,
"BAKA EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!-!-!"
Evangeline was just laughing her head off at this point despite the pain she felt in her chest from doing so,
"HA HA HA HA HA!-!-! That was hilarious!-! I haven't laughed that well in a long time!"
Eva was still chuckling to herself before she noticed her robotic servant coming close to her, her visual sensors cracked and almost shattered
"… Funny, does the master not like Thane-sensei?"
Now it was Eva's turn to do a spit take,
"*PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT* what did you just say!-?-!"
Chachamaru sat down next to her mistress, her expression ever stoic,
"I thought the master Liked Thane. You would always ask if he was coming over soon to tell you another interesting story and I do believe that you looked at the teacher board to find his number as well. Am I mistaken?"
"SHUT UP YA STUPID ROBOT!-!-! You're dead wrong!-! That's cause he had the key to releasing my seal!-! That's the only reason!-! Ya hear me!-?"
Chachamaru tilted her head in a semblance of what appeared to be confusion
"I thought you said you wanted to play a game with him after you where unsealed? Am I also wrong on that as well?"
Eva, now on the breaking point, grabbed the closest thing she could find and tossed it at her Robot Partner, thankfully it was a cat doll,
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUPPP!-!-!"
Xx Meanwhile, back to Thane xX
Thane was sitting on one of the park benches, trying to recover his breath and his mind.
"S-Stupid vampire!-! I don't like her!-! No way! I deny it!-! She's a friend! Hell not even that!-! She's just somebody I wanted to help out!-! She needed my help! Her soul was crying out to me in pitiful anguish!-!-! That was it!-!"
'Good! That sounds like a good excuse! Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll believe it!'
Thane sat there for a few more minutes, trying to get his raging emotions under control again. When he finally did, he let out a huge sigh, feeling some peace come back to his mind.
"Alright… now that that's been taken care of… where the heck am I?"
Thane glanced from one side, and then to the other. The Darkness of the night shadowing any familiar places or landmarks that he could see or use to discern his location. Thane looked around for a little bit longer before he started to scratch his head,
"huh… for that fact… what time is it anyway?"
Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell doing a double take when he saw the digital numbers
"Holy-! 11:49 P.M?! I stayed out way later then I wanted to!"
Thane quickly hopped to his feet and took off running down the road,
"I'll figure out where I am in a few minu- AAAHHH!"
However, not but 20 feet away, he suddenly tripped and ended up falling flat on his face. He stayed like that for a few moments, as if he wasn't sure what the heck just happened
"… Owwwwwwwwwwwwww…. What the hell!?"
The youth quickly bolted upward and looked around for the offending item. Thane looked around for a little bit longer before he finally looked down, and what he saw there took him about 20 seconds to process.
What he had apparently tripped on was an Arm, a young healthy looking arm that was apparently wearing black with a white cuff underneath that was sticking out from the bushes that lined the sidewalk.
"… WAAAAHHHHH!"
Thane leaped back in surprise,
"Wh-wh-wh-wh- What the heck!?"
'Oh my sweet frikken god! Did I just walk on a murder scene?!'
"Ow…"
While Thane was busy freaking out, the Hand decided to move and maybe make a sound like it had been stepped on.
Thane leaped back even further when he saw the hand moving,
"Z-Z-Z-Z-ZOMBIE!"
Suddenly, the bushes rustled and somebody quickly jumped from behind the bush
"where!?"
Thane stopped freaking out for a moment when he saw the new face.
Unlike what he was expecting, which was a decayed and rotting corpse that moved with the speed of a turtle in molasses, there stood a Tall young man that had to at the very least 6 feet tall with a semi-hidden face that was obscured by long brown locks of hair and a light blue stocking cap with the character for 'Shinobi' on the side.
The Brown haired man slowly turned his head from the right, and then to the left, his hidden eyes carefully examining the area for threats or dangers.
He Then laid his eyes on Thane and cocked his head to the side in a curious manner,
"…are you alright?"
Thane blinked his eyes a few time, "Um… yeah"
The tall youth suddenly let out a sigh of relief, "Good… not sure how I would fare against the undead…"
The Stocking cap fellow nodded his head a few times to himself, as if confirming something.
Thane simply stared at him for a few seconds longer before he decided to speak up, "Um… Sorry about that, I was the one who shouted Zombie. I don't think there are any around here"
The strange man turned his head back to him and tilted his head,
"Oh… I see… no problem then…"
The both of them sat there and stared at each other for a little while, or, at least Thane thought the other guy was looking at him, he couldn't tell with all of his hair in the way.
The other guy on the other hand, clenched his right hand a few times and then looked down at it
"ow…"
Thane slightly jolted from the other guy's sudden noise, but quickly regained his composure
"Um… sorry. I must have accidently stepped on your hand when I came running this way. Here, let me check and see if I broke something"
Thane walked over to the big guy and held his hand out for the other guy.
The Shinobi guy looked down at Thane's hand for a second before he placed his own injured hand in it.
Thane examined it closely for a few minutes to check and see if he damaged anything,
'doesn't look like I broke anything… might bruise a little however… Damn! This guy has huge hands! Could probably grip a whole basketball with just one of them!'
After a few more seconds of observation, Thane let go of the guys hand and nodded his head
"Your fine, it might be sore for a little while. But I do want to apologize for stepping on your hand. Here… let me give this to you in apology"
Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of Pocky,
"sorry if you don't like sweets, a friend of mine gave them to me, but I'm not really into that stuff myself. If you don't want that, I can do something else for ya"
However, the big guy took the box and examined it for a second before a small smile appeared on his thin mouth.
"Juno"
"Huh?"
The Big guy bowed a little,
"My name is Juno. Friend or stranger?"
Thane was now starting to get confused by the seemingly random question,
"Um... Friend I think…"
Juno's smile widened and he held out his hand to Thane,
"Thank you my friend"
Thane glanced down and shrugged his shoulders
'ok… seems like an oddball… but he's nice enough'
Thane held out his hand and shook Juno's outstretched limb, "The Name is Thane. Thane Mastizetai. Nice to meet you Juno-san"
Juno nodded his head, moving some of his hair out of the way and revealing his eyes, Thane was a little surprised to see such fierce looking eyes on such a fellow. They looked almost Feral with their Heavy green color and slant.
Thane shook his head to get it out of his mind,
'eh… don't worry about it'
"well… I hate to greet and run, but I have to get back to my room else my roommates are gonna kill me"
Thane was about to run off, but noticed that Juno had not let his hand go just yet.
Thane tried pulling his hand out of the grip, but was surprised to see that the guy was holding him fast.
Juno slightly tilted his head and used his free hand to scratch the back of his head,
"Um… sorry… can I ask for your help?"
Thane stopped trying to pull his hand out of the iron grip and looked up at the fellow
"Um… what for?"
Juno finally let go of Thane's hand and reached into one of the pockets on his open blazer, but scrunched his brow in thought and reached into his Jean pocket next.
"Ah… here we are"
Juno then pulled out a small and crumpled piece of paper that had a rough if not somewhat decent picture of a Dog on it,
"Have you seen this dog? He goes by the name of Aina"
Thane scratched his chin in thought for a second,
"ah… alright, so he goes by the name Aina… wait a second… That's a girl's name! Why did you call your male dog by a girl's name!?"
"It was easy to remember" he deadpanned.
Thane did a face palm, feeling that was the only thing he could do in this situation,
"Whatever… Unfortunately, I haven't seen that dog before. Sorry. Wait… is that why you're out here at this time of night?"
Juno put the picture back in his pocket as he nodded his head, "Yup… I gotta find Aina. Thanks for the info, and sorry for holding you up"
Juno turned around and started walking away before Thane held his hand up,
"Hold up hold up…"
The tall youth turned his head around to look at Thane with a puzzled look.
Thane rotated his shoulders around a few times and walked up next to him,
"It might take you a while if you do it by yourself, two heads are better than one they say, so I'm pretty sure two voices will be even better"
Juno nodded his head in understanding and gratitude,
"Thank you Thane-san. He went missing around here earlier, so he should still be pretty close."
Thane nodded his head to show that he got it,
"Alright then, let's get looking, I'll look over there-"
Thane pointed a little ways down the road
"- while you look where ever it is you where looking"
Juno nodded his head without a word and went to his task.
Thane also went about his task with a smile,
"well… Guess I'm gonna be late anyway… I'll text Akira later about what the holdup was…"
Thane and Juno spread out in their search of the lost dog, and for about an hour, that's where all their concentration was focused.
"Aina! *tweet!* come here boy! I happen to have a tasty treat for you!"
Thane was moving through the bushes, cupping his hand over his mouth for longer range.
"Aina… come here boy… Aina…"
Thane glanced back over his shoulder at Juno with some annoyance,
"Dude, you gotta be louder else he won't hear your voice."
Juno looked back at Thane with some mild confusion on his face,
"I thought dogs could hear really far away, that's why I wasn't yelling… that and I was afraid I would hurt his ears if I did…"
Thane felt a little drop of sweat fall down his temple,
"uh-hu… well, disregard that for the time being and try to be a little louder. Oh, and you might want to go over there for looking cause being next to me won't increase the search range"
Juno nodded his head and went off in some random direction.
However, in the last hour, Thane had come to realize something about Juno.
He had no sense of direction.
Every time Juno would go off in one direction, he would pop up from the other side that he came from, not really all that worried that he seemed to be going in circles. After about the eighth time of this happening, Thane had reached that conclusion.
The pale youth shrugged his shoulders with disinterest,
"Whatever… Aina!"
However, after another few minutes of searching, Thane finally had to sit down and rest for a moment. Finding a little clearing in the wooded area, Thane sat there and lay down looking up at the stars.
"Huh… I wonder where that little pup got to… wait… are we looking for a puppy or a full grown dog?"
Thane cocked his eyebrow in thought before he gave up thinking about it. After a few more minutes of resting, the pale assistant teacher was about to get up and leave when he heard something in the bushes off to his right.
"*Whimper*"
Thane tilted his head to try to get a better view of whatever was making all that noise. Thane finally had to lay on his side to see what was moving around, and much to his surprise, he saw a cute little black and white Shikoku Inu puppy lying flat on its belly, it's front 2 paws over its nose, as if trying to hide from something.
"Well hello there little thing! Are you perhaps Aina?"
At the mention of the name, the little dog's ears slightly perked up and it moved its paws to reveal its frosty blue eyes.
Thane grinned widely at the discovery, "ah-ha! Found you!"
Thane sat back up and cupped his hand over his mouth, "Juno-san! Hey!-! I found him!-!"
hoping that he managed to hear It, Thane turned his attention back to the pup and extended his hand
"Come here little guy… nothing to be afraid of, I'll take care of you"
Aina slowly crawled forward on its belly, avoiding the underbrush until it eventually could stand up and walk on its own.
The Dog then came forward and started to sniff Thanes outstretched hand, slightly wary of this person.
"Good boy! Now we just wait for Juno and-"
*Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrowl*
Thane blinked a few times and stared down at the little pup
"… wow, awfully deep for such a cute thing"
*Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…*
Thane quickly started to look around, some slight panic starting to form in his voice,
"That's not you is it…"
The little pup quickly hopped into Thanes arms and tried to hide in his coat.
Thane, despite the sounds of a whimpering dog, listened very closely to all sounds around him, slightly detecting some aura of a type
"… WOAH!"
Thanks to his military training, Thane quickly rolled to the side and just barely managed to avoid getting his head taken off by a huge shadowy mass that went swinging into the bushes.
After that, Thane jumped to his feet and ran for it with the Pup in his arms.
'Holy shit! What the Frik was that!? I know one thing; it was trying to kill me!'
The sound of crashing brush and snapping limbs right behind him made Thane beat his feet even harder until he saw signs of the low lit road. Thane ran out from the forest and took off down the road, but whatever was chasing him, apparently didn't get as much traction when making sharp turns, because he heard it seem to skitter across the pavement in a desperate attempt to keep itself going but crash into a park bench and several trash cans.
Thane quickly turned his head around to see what was chasing him, and instantly regretted doing so.
"HOLY-! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"
What was now starting to pick itself back up, was some insect like creature with hard black chitinous platting going over every part of its insect like body. It looked like a hash combination of a praying mantis combined with a centipede with a bit of a Jaw's like mouth thrown in just for the hell of it.
Thane quickly turned his attention back to his front, determined not to get caught by something like that,
'what in the name of all that is holy is that thing!?It looks hideous for starters, but now that I think about it… didn't Setsuna say something along the lines of that sometimes lower level Monsters and demons would get into the campus? Now I see what she hunts…but that thing sure doesn't look low level… and I am going to die if I don't find a way out of this mess!'
The sound of heavy clacking on concrete forced Thane to turn his head behind him just in time to dodge roll out of the way of a two ton Monster hell bent on squashing him like a bug, no Pun intended.
Thane jumped right back on his feet, but had to dodge to his side when the thing took a swipe at him with its scythe like appendage,
"WOAH! Hey can't we talk about this!?"
No dice, the creature took another swipe at him, which he avoided again.
Thane looked around him, but found himself cut off from the back, the creature's long centipede-like body having made a near perfect circle to keep him caged. The only way out would have been forward, but the things claws where seeing to that little escape plan.
'Can't use magic… would try chi, but I have a dog in my arms and I never was one who had good marks with it… I am so screwed…'
Thane saw another one of its claws coming at him from the right, the razor like edge aimed for his lower body. Thane ducked low, but failed to notice the back of the second claw in the shadow of the first and felt the contact with his lower leg.
*KE-RACK!*
"AGH!-!-!"
Thane fell on his back, one of his legs broken and the other swept out from under him. The Monster took that as an advantage and struck one of its claws deep into his shoulder blade, piercing right through the bone
"GAH!-!-!"
Thane could only scream out and hold onto the pup for dear life
'gotta… gotta get help or… or something! Setsuna?! Eva! Negi!'
Thane scrunched his eyes closed, his doom flashing before his eyes in several rows of razor sharp teeth.
"Juno-Ninpou: Hachi Oni no hashira suto!" (Eight Demon Pillar strikes)
Suddenly, eight massive impacts crashed into the abdomen and head of the creature, splitting its chitin and causing purple blood to splatter everywhere and sending the beast flying back.
The removal of the claw as the creature went flying was defiantly less then delicate, but at that point, Thane was just happy to have it out of his body.
Thane, despite his pain, managed to sit up and was pretty surprised to see Juno standing in front of him, holding what appeared to be to be a small black ball.
"J-Juno-san? What are you doing here!?"
The tall youth slightly turned his head and gazed down at him, "You called me, remember? Said you found Aina"
Thane looked down and saw the still trembling pup in his arms,
"Oh yeah… I did… But that's not important right now! We need to get the hell out of here before that Thing gets back up!"
As if to defy the will of fate and the words that came out of Thanes mouth, the large Monster quickly thrashed itself to its feet, most of the armor platting on its upper body cracked and broken to reveal the soft flesh underneath.
"*Click click click* KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Juno held up the ball in-front of him and quick as a flash, had several small needles in his other hand
"Back off… I won't let you hurt my friends!"
Juno threw the needles, but oddly enough, swiped the ball behind them as they left his hand,
"Juno-Ninpou: Shi Oni no hashira suto!" (Four Demon pillar strikes)
The four needles hit the creature with the force of a ten ton truck and sent the beast flying yet again and crashing into the ground with a very loud crack.
Thane's mouth was literally on the ground,
"Ho-ly crap! What did you just do!?"
Juno slightly scratched the back of his head before he held his hand up with the ball in it, "This, but I can't tell you what it is. Ninja secret"
Thane blinked his eyes a few times.
"Ninja? You're a Ninja?"
Juno suddenly held his hands up defensively,
"Crap… wasn't supposed to tell you that…"
Thane laughed nervously, a small smile on his face,
"Cat's out of the bag now"
However, the sound of the creature getting up yet again caused the both of them to turn their attention back to the fight at hand.
Juno nodded his head in admiration, "You're a tough one… nobody has ever made it past 6 of those, but you took 12 of them and can still stand… I'm impressed… very well then"
Juno put the small ball away and pulled out at least a dozen of the small needles from out of nowhere,
"I will acknowledge your strength creature. Hence forth, Juno Nagase, Jounin of the Koga Ninja clan (Self titled) will use his full might to bring you down"
Thane blinked a few times at the familiar sounding name,
"wait…"
'Juno+ Nagase + Kaede/shares same last name= family!'
"Are you perhaps related to a Kaede Nagase… one who happens to be around 16 years old, is pretty tall, has long hair and rather squinty eyes?"
Juno turned his head and cocked his head to the side in some mild surprise,
"Oh? Do you know my little sister?"
'They are related!'
"Uh… I guess you could say that…"
Suddenly, the feeling of somebody grabbing hold of the Collar of his shirt sent Thane into panic mode, but it didn't last long when he had the feeling as if he just got pulled at 130 miles per-hour through the air.
Suddenly, he found himself about 20 feet in the air, held on tight by Juno as he held onto a tree branch while bracing his feet against the trunk.
"Close… almost didn't notice it"
Thane was highly confused until he saw that the Beast had landed right where they had been, cracking the pavement and sending stone chips and dust everywhere.
"Yikes… Pancakes… So how are you going to take care of this thing? Your blows didn't seem to do anything except make it angrier, even after breaking its armor"
Juno tilted his head in thought, the creature getting back up and looking around for them,
"Hum… I guess I could just pummel it into submission…"
However, just as he mentioned that, Juno noticed another presence coming at them.
"… Or just leave it to her"
"her? Who's her?"
However, Thane was talking to empty space. When he turned around, he found that he was sitting on the tree branch, Aina and Juno both having vanished into thin-air
"Uh… Juno-san? Where'd you go!?"
However, Thane was yelling at nothing, and unfortunately, his yelling caught the attention of the large Bug, which was made very apparent when it dashed for him.
"Waugh!" was all Thane could do at this point, since he couldn't get down and doing so would put him in the Jaw's of the thing.
'But at this rate, it's gonna eat me!'
The monster crashed into the tree, tipping Thane over precariously,
"whoa whoa whoa!-!-!-!"
After another few seconds of flailing his arms wildly, Thane managed to get himself righted in time, looking down and sighing in relief,
"Phew… Thought you had me, didn't ya sucker!? Ha ha!"
The creature, as if taking insult from his gloating, swiped its scythe like arm across the base of the trunk, cutting clean through it and smashing it with its other claw,
"Eh?"
Thane's momentary joy was quickly dashed when he saw that he was starting to fall with the tree,
"me and my big mouth!"
The creature smashed the side of the falling tree once again to knock Thane from its branches and succeeded.
Thane attempted to flap his arms in hopes that he might fly, but quickly abandoned that idea because it was 1: Stupid and 2: he can't fly like that.
"Guess I'll go with Plan 2!"
Thane started charging Chi into his fist, readying for a huge blow.
The Large bug opened its mouth wide to consume him while Thane threw his left arm back for a punch
"eat this ya ugly sonuvabitch!"
"Shinmei-Ryu Ougi: Zanganken!" (Rock splitting sword)
The creature, who had been not but a second ago whole, was split in half mid-riff, the top half falling to the ground and allowing Thane a soft, if not disgusting, break to his fall in a large and squishy pile of bug guts and blood.
Thane was surprised at first, not quite sure what in the world just happened, but he quickly found that pondering it in purple blood wasn't a fun idea and managed to pull himself out of the sea of Organs and flop to the ground with a wet *Sploch.*
"First off… ew… second, what in the… know what? I think I'll just say that crazy shit just happened and my day has been just downright weird in general."
"Thane!"
The assistant teacher turned his head in the direction of the very familiar Voice.
"Setsuna?"
True enough, Setsuna was running at him, sheathing her sword and looking at Thane with a look of worry.
Thane, despite the oddity of his situation, smiled at her, but felt some stinging in his upper right shoulder and slumped to the ground in a daze.
'right… forgot that I was stabbed… Guess I lost some blood… and that purple stuff really stings my wound…'
"Thane! Are you alright? What happened? Why are you- Oh my god! Your shoulder!"
Setsuna came to a halt right next to him and bent down to examine his wound, however, she unintentionally bumped his right leg, causing him to suck in air with a hiss.
"Ouch! Watch it! That thing also broke my leg to, so if you would be so kind as to not touch it…"
Setsuna was absolutely horrified at this point, "a Broken Leg as well?! I need to get you to a doctor! Here, let me help you up!"
Thane gently pushed her hands aside as she reached for him,
"You're making a big fuss over nothing, settle down why don't ya?"
Setsuna stared down at him, as if she wasn't sure she heard him right, "Nothing? NOTHING!? You have a HOLE in your shoulder! It's not just 'nothing'!"
Much to Thane's annoyance, and somewhat of a blow to his manly pride, Setsuna managed to pick him up with almost no effort and slung his one good arm over her shoulder.
"I need to get you to a medic or a doctor!"
Thane simply huffed, but was actually pretty relived about getting some help, However, the samurai had to walk at a pretty slow pace so as not to injure him anymore then he already was. Thankfully, she sent some telepathic messages to get some help and stopped by a bench to set Thane down.
The both of them sat there in silence for a little bit, Setsuna examining the extent of the wound while Thane used his one good arm to try to wipe some of the blood off,
"Well Setsuna, I don't think I had much of an appreciation for your little side job until today. You fight those things every day? Must be tough"
"That's not true, unlike that thing, most of what I do is take care of stray spirits and the occasional evil spirit that manages to slip it's way in. What that thing was, was a mid-level Demon. Those shouldn't be able to get into the campus however"
Thane tilted his head in confusion, "well if something that strong can't get in, then what was it doing here?"
Setsuna shook her head as she sighed heavily, "I'm not sure, but sometime ago, less than an hour actually, the Campus barrier went down for about 12 seconds. That was when we had the momentary power out"
"Guk!..."
Thane felt a sharp pang split through his chest as he turned his head away from her sheepishly.
'oops…'
Thane then started to laugh out loud, a little louder than he had intended,
"HA HA HA HA! Well at least you took care of it! So all's well that ends well"
Setsuna nodded her head in agreement, "yes, that was the last one to be taken care of, and minus you, nobody was hurt or killed"
Thane blinked a few times, not sure if heard her right, "wait… 'Last one'? There were more?"
"Yes, about six managed to get into the school campus before the barrier came back online. The one I killed was the last one. But the real issue is why the barrier went down…"
Thane was starting to sweat bullets right now,
'great… so this is my fault! Karmas a bitch…'
The sound of somebody walking down the road ended their current discussion and made the both of them turn their heads in unison.
Setsuna lightened up a little when she saw who it was, "ah, Thank goodness. I have one injured over here, he has two grade blue Injures, his left leg and his right shoulder"
Thane was surprised to see an elementary school girl, about 6th grade, who was wearing large glasses, a beret and had long black hair that was tied into two braids that went down the side of her face,
"o-Ok…I'll get on it"
Setsuna nodded her head in confirmation and turned her attention back to Thane, "alright Thane, I have to leave to make my report, but I'll see you later at the Dorms"
"Alright, see you there"
Setsuna quickly took off down the road and out of sight, leaving him with the somewhat shy girl.
Thane observed her for a moment, seeing as she didn't come over immediately and couldn't help but smile at her, "You can come over you know, I won't bite you"
The girl slightly jolted and hastily came over, pulling a scepter from her waist.
"r-Right! Sorry! Um… let me see here…"
She walked up next to him and looked down at his leg and then at his shoulder, she almost fainted when she saw the hole in his shoulder, she could even see through it to the forest behind him.
Thane slightly winced from her expression,
"yeah… kinda gruesome. But based on that alone, I can tell you've not seen a lot of injuries like this eh?"
The girl shook her head, "n-no… This is actually the first time I've been in full on combat…"
Thane smiled at her, knowing the feeling, "ahhhh… first time jitters then. But thankfully from the sounds of it, everything went alright. The name is Thane by the way"
The girl got done examining his shoulder and took a deep breath,
"Natsume Megumi… can… can you please take your shirt off?"
Thane nodded his head and complied with her order, but suddenly had a wicked thought creep into his mind,
"oh goodness… With me being so weak right now, if a certain girl mage decided to take advantage of me, I wouldn't be able to stop her… be gentle…"
Thane started to giggle when he saw the girls flustered face; however he regretted it when he felt the pain lance up through his upper body.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself… so if you could please take care of this wound, I would be very grateful"
Megumi quickly shook her head and got to work. As she started her spell, Thane started going over her name in his head for the heck of it
'Natsume Megumi… Natsume Megumi… Natsu Megumi… Natsu Megu… Natsu Megu?'
Thane suddenly lit up in realization,
"Nutmeg!"
Instead of finishing her spell, the girl did a face plant into the ground before rising quickly,
"H-How do you know my nickname!?"
"That's your nickname? It's adorable"
The girl flustered, but started to get kinda annoyed,
"can you please let me finish my spell? That can't possibly be very comfortable for you"
She pointed out the gaping hole in his shoulder to emphasize her point, Thane grimaced at her words,
"Sorry, please continue"
The girl quickly got to work on his shoulder, that being the more serious wound of the two at the moment.
Nutmeg took a few deep breaths, as if to steady herself for the task that would need to be done, she then held up her scepter and a magical field began to form around her,
"Rap Tjap la Tjap Ragpur…Sine gratia sanitatum Neptuni filias rarum caro et ossa, Tactu Aquae" (Let the healing grace of Neptune and his daughter's knit flesh and bone, Water's Touch. P.S. Not a Canon spell)
Small droplets of water started to materialize from the end of her scepter, each one glowing with a blue light. This went on for about ten seconds before there were enough to make a small glassful.
Nutmeg then directed it to his shoulder, where the water entered the wound, causing Thane to flinch a little from the sudden intrusion, the pain was only momentary however, and he instantly started to feel his shoulder fixing itself from the inside-out while the water soothed his pain away.
By the time it got done, the only thing that even indicated that there was an injury was the hole in Thane's shirt.
Nutmeg opened her eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw the smooth and completed flesh.
Thane rotated his arm around a few times to test the extent of the healing. The Male smiled wide when he felt the arm move as it should,
"Great! You did a fantastic job on this Nutmeg!"
The Glasses girl laughed sheepishly,
"My name isn't Nutmeg… But you're welcome. Now we need to take care of your broken leg, those are a little harder to deal with, so could you please drink this?"
She reached into a pouch on her side and pulled out a small vile with a milky white substance inside.
Thane eyed it suspiciously, "That stuff looks weird… you're not trying to drug me and take me back to your secret underground lair so you can have your way with me are you?"
Megumi started to flail her arms around wildly, "Why do you keep suggesting this stuff?! It's to help your bone's react with magic more easily!-!-!"
Thane giggled again, "Sorry, sorry… can't help it, you just look like one of those types who are very easy to pick on"
The girl could only sigh as Thane took it from her hands and downed it in one go.
"Alright, please hold out your leg, this might take a while, so try not to move it ok?"
Thane simply nodded his head in confirmation. She quickly chanted her spell and got to work on the broken limb, leaving Thane to ponder on the earlier fight,
'geez… I was totally pathetic out there... If I was at least at 15% power then I could have handled myself no problem… I'm also going to need to refresh my memory on how to use Chi… I can't have people coming to save my sorry butt every time something goes wrong… of course it would have helped if I didn't panic so that I could have used my Omni-tool… Man, if Juno hadn't been there, I would be so dead right now… speaking of…'
Thane looked out over at the dead carcass of the Monster and thought back to how it ended up in that condition,
'Juno… he was really really strong… he didn't even flinch when he saw that thing, and those needles! How did he launch them with so much power? Had a human taken one of those to the chest, it would have ripped a hole right through them… Juno Nagase… I'm going to have to ask Kaede about her older Brother, I'm guessing that since he is a ninja, she might be one as well… But nothing is confirmed as of right now, plus, that seal work for Eva needs to be done Pronto, I have to figure out what happened there… so much to do… and I only have a few days of spring break left to do it… goodness me, I'm going to be busy…'
Thane let out an audible sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by his charge,
"Um… is everything alright? You're not experiencing some pain are you? They said that substance would remove the pain from the limb… but maybe it's my magic… oooooohhhh… I knew I wasn't good at this…"
Thane quickly shook himself out of his revere and looked down at her, "Oh! No, it's not you; just thinking about other things is all… You're doing a fine job Nutmeg"
The girl was about to argue with him about how her name wasn't Nutmeg, but gave up on it since he seemed dead set on it.
After she got done with the healing she stood back up and bowed,
"You should be all fixed up now. I need to go ahead and leave to make my report; do you need a guide to make it back?"
Thane put his shirt back on and smiled at her, "are you offering? Or is it part of your duty?"
"P-part of my duty…"
Thane gave her a mock frown, "aw… what a shame, I thought the view of my manly chest would have left you swooning over me"
Getting one last jib out of her, Thane laughed a little while he waved his hand,
"No, I'm fine. I can make it back to the Dorm on my own. Thank you for the healing Megumi-san. I Hope to see you later"
Thane waved at her as he went about his way, the previous day starting to catch up to him as he walked.
Xx Sometime later, after some sleep and rest (it is the next day after all) xX
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
The buzzing sound of a cell phone alarm forced a sleepy and grumpy Thane to roll over on the couch and smash his hand into the table to grab the annoying phone.
Thane pulled the phone up to his face and looked at the time on the buzzer
:6:30! Time to wake up and train with Setsuna! Hiya!:
Thane had made that little message for his amusement, now it just annoyed him right now. He pressed the silence button, letting the phone fall to his chest as he let go of his motor skills
'right… training… I don't wanna… I still feel like crap after that fight early early this morning… maybe if I send her a text she'll understand… yeah I'll do that'
Thane pulled his Phone back up to his face and started to type out his message, however, about halfway through, he had a wicked thought and erased it to retype the whole thing.
When he got done, he grinned with a devilish smile,
"he he he… that should fluster her for a little while…"
Thane pressed the send button and went back to sleep.
Xx Setsuna Sakurazaki xX
Setsuna was sitting in front of the world tree meditating for her soon to be practice match with Thane, she envisioned every move he would make, her counters, his counters, his foot work, her foot work, every slice and stroke matched blow for blow, that is until her phone started buzzing in her bike shorts.
Then she lost her concentration, "What the… who would be sending me a text this early?"
She quickly pulled her phone out and saw the address was from Thane. She then opened the message and did a spit take.
:Hewwo Secchan! It's me! Sorry, but I won't be able to make it today, the fight with the big baddy left me feeling vewwy tired :'(. But don't worry! I'll make it up to you tomorrow with a lot of sweat and body mashing~! *hugs and cuddles!* from your bestest morning partner!:
"ah wa wa wa wa wa…. What the heck!?"
Setsuna was blushing very badly; the simple girly charm and very childish vocabulary making her feel embarrassed. She quickly stuffed the Phone back in her pocket and got back up, her concentration having been completely destroyed at this point,
"Great… I guess I will start my morning practice myself then…"
She got started, but the message didn't leave her mind the whole day…
Xx back to Thane, a few hours later (8:00) xX
Once again, Thane found himself awake; however, it wasn't from his noisy cell-phone. No, this time, it was a pair of human's who woke him up, a very frustrated and rather annoyed pair who went by the names of Yuna and Akira.
"Alright, spill your guts. Where did you go last night?"
Thane sat nervously in the Seiza position, trying to avoid the angry glares of his roommates,
"I went to visit a friend last night… Didn't the Narutaki twins tell you?"
Yuna rolled her eyes, "Yup they did, and we didn't think anything of it until you came home at 1 O'clock in the morning with a shredded shirt! You looked like you got in a fight with a lawnmower!"
Thane chuckled nervously to himself,
'Demon actually. But I ain't gonna tell you that…'
*WHACK*
"OUCH! What the heck was that for!?"
Thane was rubbing the back of his head where Yuna hit him with a spatula,
"Why are you chuckling to yourself!? You're in trouble right now! Head down and look guilty!"
Thane did as he was told reluctantly, "I pity your future husband you know…"
*Whack!*
"OUCH!"
'Note to self: Don't back talk when she's holding the Spatula…'
"Spill it! Where did you really go!?"
Thane held his hand up to try to quell her anger, "Like I said! I went to visit a friend!"
"LIES! You've been hanging out in the girls division of the Campus the whole time and you just so happen to go and visit a guy friend that we've never even heard of until now? I've never smelled something that reeked so much of BS!"
Thane started to sweat bullets. He was running out of viable excuses and he knew they were cornering him, so he went with old faithful,
"I'm telling the truth! I went to visit my guy friend and then we decided to go and play a prank! It got a little out of hand so that's why my shirt looked like it did! Honest!"
Akira, having been silent this whole time, spoke up before Yuna could,
"What's his name?"
Thane blinked a few times, the question catching him off guard.
"Huh?"
"What is his name? I'm going to call this friend of yours up and ask him about last night. If you're telling the truth, then he should confirm the story. If not, then we will find out what you really did last night"
Thane was more afraid of Akira in that one moment then he had ever been before, the ice of her absolution evident in her tone of voice.
This was it, Thane had hit the wall full speed and he was fixing to have to pay for the damages,
"um… his name… Yeah, his name… it's uh… um…"
The looks from both of them told him that he would receive no sympathy.
'I am so dead… wait!'
In a last ditch effort to save itself, Thane's brain had come up with the name of one person, the very man who saved his sorry ass just last night, hopefully, he could do so a second time,
"Juno! His name is Juno!"
Both Yuna and Akira looked at each other and then to Thane, unconvinced.
"What's his full name?"
Yuna smiled smugly to herself, she thought she had him cornered with that one. But much to both of their surprise, he instantly answered,
"Juno Nagase! He happens to be Kaede-san's older Brother!"
Both the athletes slightly blanched at that,
"Nagase-san has an older brother?"
Yuna started to scratch her head in both confusion and surprise,
"Huh… she never really talked much in class, but I wasn't aware that she had a brother. However! I'm going to go look him up in the student phonebook, just to check and see! You stay right there, and if you're lying, so help me, it'll be a frying pan I smack you with next!"
Thane wasn't worried about the being hit with a frying pan… ok maybe he was, but that wasn't the thing that worried him most right now.
He was worried that Juno was going to spill the beans about it being a demon, then Thane would have to go into an explanation about magic and how Eva's a vampire, Negi was a mage, he was a person from a different dimension and so on and so forth.
It wouldn't be pretty.
Thane sat there, slightly shuffling from knee to knee under Akira's ever keen gaze.
Several minutes passed by as Yuna shuffled around in the foyer for the phone book until she finally found it.
Thane watched as she pulled out her cell phone and quickly flipped through the pages until she landed on the page she wanted. She put in the number present and then put the phone to her ear. After a few rings, the phone clicked to indicate that somebody had picked up,
"Who are you and what do ya want?"
Yuna blanched from the very rude greeting she just received, but attempted to ignore it,
"Um… Hi. My Name is Yuna Akashi. Is Juno-san there?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone before somebody suddenly started shouting, forcing Yuna to yank the phone away from her ear.
"OI! JUNO YOU ASSHOLE! YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND! I'M TALKING TO HER RIGHT NOW! HER NAMES YUNA!WHAT DO YA MEAN YA NEVER HEARD OF HER BEFORE, SHE CALLED YOU BY PHUCKING FIRST NAME! FINE! BUT I'M STILL GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"
After he managed to get his voice to tolerable levels, the fellow on the other end spoke up,
"alright lady, my roommate says he's never heard of ya before. What do ya want with him?"
Yuna was almost afraid to continue with the conversation, but the mystery of where her roommate went last night was much stronger,
"Um… I was hoping to talk to him real quick; can he come to the phone?"
The fellow on the other end of the line didn't even give an answer, but the fact that it sounded like he was shouting from across the room gave Yuna an indicator that he had gone to get him.
Thane, who had heard the exchange, was sweating even harder now.
Yuna lit up,
"Oh! Hello! Yes, I'm Yuna. You probably haven't heard of me, but I do know your sister, Kaede-san. Well… I'm not really a friend of hers, just somebody that knows each other. No, nothing's happened to her, I was actually calling to ask you about a friend of mine. His name is Thane Mastizetai…yeah. Really? Oh… I see… Alright, that's all I wanted to know. Huh? Oh! Sure! I'll let him know you said Hi; and your sister too! Huh? Oh! No problem! Though your friend was kinda loud… no, Thanks, Bye!"
She hung the phone up and placed the phone book back in the dresser she pulled it from.
After a few more seconds of staring down at the table she turned her attention back to the other two in the living room and shrugged her shoulders, "He was telling the truth Akira, they just hung out last night, that's it"
Thane would have done a victory dance right then and there if he wasn't sitting down.
Akira glanced at Yuna and then to Thane, letting out a loud sigh, "Alright… fine… we'll believe you Thane"
Thane quickly hopped to his feet and smiled at them both, "Thanks you two! It really was just me hanging out with a friend! Now if you don't mind, I need to head out for a little while. See you both tonight!"
Before either one of them could ask him where he was going, Thane had dashed through the door and down the hall.
Yuna and Akira both blinked before they turned to each other
"Did you believe him?"
Akira glanced at the door in annoyance, "Not a word of it"
Yuna nodded her head in agreement, "Likewise"
Akira sat down on the couch, crossing her arms in thought, "so what should we do about it?"
Yuna grinned widely as she crossed her arms, "That should be obvious. We're going to tail him today! Or… it should be 'we' but… I gotta meet to get to and the coach said he would make me run 130 laps if I came late again. I leave the tailing to you Akira! Don't worry! I Put a GPS Tracker in his phone while he slept the morning away!"
The swimmer felt a nervous sweat drop fall from her temple, "um… isn't that close to stalker like behavior?"
Yuna patted her friend on the shoulder with a big grin plastered on her face, "Don't worry about it! Now you go and find out what he's doing while I go and make sure not to get killed. Catch you later!"
And fast as a flash, Yuna was out the door. Akira shook her head,
"leave me with all the work then… Guess I better go and Track Thane then… though it feels like I'm about to commit a crime…"
(Warning to all good boys and girls, Stalking is a crime. Don't do it)
Xx to Thane xX
Thane was resting against one of the many lamp posts that dotted the campus scenery, trying to catch his breath
'holy crap… thought I was going to get busted there for a second! But! None can catch me when I run for the hills!... that just sounds sad when I think about it…'
Thane pushed himself off the pole, having recovered enough of his breath to begin the day,
"alright… I should probably avoid going back home for a little while… but what does that leave me to do…"
Thane thought about it for a little bit before he suddenly lit up in remembrance, "Ah! I better get to looking into that seal for the time being! I wonder if instead of breaking it, I can find a loop hole in the construction…"
Thane started to walk down the road, his thoughts drifting toward the problem in general. He continued on down the road for a good while, his feet simply on auto-pilot while he thought out the conundrum that was Eva's seal
'no no no… that wouldn't work… the magical equation is all wrong… this worlds magical mechanics are vastly different compared to the ones in Estoria, the usual magical quotient just wouldn't work… it would take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to try to craft a new one from scratch, and that's not counting all the time it would take to study the algorithms and formulas that would be needed to even begin to speculate! No… the more I think about it, the more I need to find a loop hole…but where am I going to find the key to a loop hole for a vampire's-!'
Thane stopped right in his tracks, his thought process starting to kick up into hyper-drive,
'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute… a vampire… vampire's suck blood… and for a seal this powerful, the blood of the caster would be an absolute must! Wait wait wait wait… can't get ahead of myself here. There are only a few known records of vampires breaking the seals that casters had put on them, but there are only about 2% that include the actual drinking of blood to do so…It's a hard study, plus, this isn't Estoria. Who knows if the same principles would still apply? But… It's the only thing I have to work on… I need to get to Library Island Pronto!'
Thane, though not sure if it would work, suddenly had excitement running through his veins. So much in fact that he took off running down the street and right into somebody he didn't notice,
"Wagh!"
The other person, being much lighter on their feet then him, hopped to the side, causing Thane to miss them completely and face-skid into the ground. When he came to a halt, he could feel the sting of both humiliation and the pavement on his raw face
"Ow… that hurt…"
"Are you alright sir? You are not injured anywhere are you?"
Thane sat up and shook his head, both to indicate his answer and to clear his head up a bit,
"no, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern though…"
Thane turned his attention to the worried person and was surprised to see who it was, "Nagase-san? Is that you?"
The tall brown haired girl smiled at him, "well is this not a pleasant surprise. Hello to you Thane-dono. How are you on this day?"
Thane managed to pick himself back up and dust himself off, "Pretty good! I haven't seen you all spring break! Where have you been?"
Thane looked her up and down and was slightly surprised to see her wearing some old fashioned training clothes.
"Oh, just up in the back hills, outdoor camping and all that. I like to get out in nature every weekend and train myself. And since it was spring break, I thought now was a good time for it."
Thane nodded his head, noticing some small signs of the truth of her words,
"I see. You must have just gotten back then, you still have a few twigs and leaves in your hair and in your training clothes"
Kaede crossed her arms and smiled the whole time.
"oops. Forgive me for that. I had thought I got them all"
Thane shrugged his shoulders, not really finding anything wrong with the look, "That's alright, It doesn't really both me. As a matter of fact, I find it kind of endearing, but if I may ask, why where you out enjoying nature in training clothes?"
Kaede started to scratch her head, "Hum… I guess simply because I was training"
Thane tilted his head, finding the fact that she was running around the real reason to be funny
"Training for what?"
Kaede shrugged her shoulders in an unconcerned manner,
"you know… for the walking club"
Thane slightly chuckled to himself as he finally decided to quite teasing,
"looks like you won't say anything about it… But I know what you where really doing in the back hills of Mahora, or I do now at least"
Never once losing her smile, Kaede folded her arms in an amused manner,
"Oh? And what was I doing then?"
Thane wagged his finger at her in amusement,
"Ninja training"
The both of them stared at each other for a little bit longer before Kaede let out a defeated sigh, "ah… How did you find out?"
Thane smiled wide as he put his hands in his pockets, "Your older brother, Juno"
Kaede nodded her head, as if understanding some hidden meaning, "I see… my brother was always very good at keeping secrets, but he has been known to slip up a little bit. But do tell me Thane-dono, how do you know my Honored brother?"
Thane sheepishly grinned and started to rub his right shoulder in thought from the previous night, "I know him thanks to the fact that he saved my life last night, I found out that he was a Ninja from watching him kick the crap out of a monster last night. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but he declared his name and Ninja rank when he was about to take it down. I figured that you might also be a Ninja by extension"
Kaede nodded her head at the reasoning, "Astute ~ De-Gozaru. As you guessed, both my brother and I are ninja's. though we are both self taught one's at that, our parents didn't see the need to train us when we were younger, so we taught ourselves with some slight instruction from our deceased grandparents"
Thane nodded his head, the impression of her words sinking in, "I have to say this Kaede-san… the fact that your both self taught is amazing, and if your anything like your brother, Then even more so to say that I am beyond impressed with the skills I saw"
Kaede chuckled a little as she started to scratch the back of her head sheepishly, "I hate to say, But my brother is above me in terms of ability. He surpasses me in both the usage of Tools and the use of Taijutsu."
Thane simply shook his head, "I'm not sure where your ability lies in comparison with your brothers, but I'm still impressed. By the way… where can I find your brother if I wanted to talk with him?"
Kaede shook her head and thought about it for a little bit, "I am not sure… though I am sure you can find my honored brother in his dorm room at the Male dorms for the college students if need be"
Thane nodded his head in comprehension, "alright, Thanks for the info. Sorry for taking up your time Kaede-san"
The tall woman shook her head, "No trouble at all Thane-dono. Perhaps we can talk more in the near future, I feel that I can share my secret with you with no chance of problems afterward"
Thane nodded his head, "Anytime Kaede-san. See you later"
With that, Thane waved his hand at her and she in turn did the same.
After leaving the Ninja behind, Thane scratched his chin happily as he walked,
"huh… Ninja's eh? That's pretty damned cool…"
He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought, but quickly got over it and went back to the current problem about Eva's seal.
Meanwhile, about thirty yards away and attempting to dress inconspicuously, Akira was trailing behind her Teacher/dorm mate.
'Alright… I don't know what he was talking with Kaede about, but I guess it was pretty friendly… does he always meet Kaede this early? I'll ask him about it later, for now I need to keep on him'
Thane, totally unaware of his current stalker, kept on the path to Library Island, or at least what he thought the path was. That thought quickly changed when he had been walking for over an hour and had yet to reach his destination.
Thane looked around and saw that he was nowhere near his destination and started to scratch the back of his head sheepishly,
"Oops… Looks like I'm lost"
The sound of tumbling trashcans didn't really bother him, But Akira, who had been hiding behind them, was pretty much livid at this point,
'I should have known!-!'
Thane looked around for a few more minutes before he took a seat on a bench close by, pulling out his cell phone in the process,
"I wonder if I should give Akira a call… ask her to come and help me out… of course, the smart thing would have been to get Sayo first before I set out… *Sigh* I am not at my best right now…"
Thane slumped his shoulders at his predicament and leaned back against the bench, his thoughts swirling this way and that.
After a few more minutes of internal debate, Thane sat up straight and his face lit up in realization,
"Ah! It might be better if I ask somebody for directions!"
Thane quickly started to look around in hopes of finding a soul that would/could help him. His search didn't last very long before he spotted a short haired person from behind, her skirt waving back and forth as she walked with her head down in her cell-phone.
"Excuse me!"
At the call of his voice, the person stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him.
Thane quickly walked over to her, "Hello! I was just… wondering… wait a minute… Ha! Hey there Madoka-san!"
Much to his surprise, Thane had just so happened to come across the serious and more logical of the Cheerleaders, Madoka Kugimiya.
"Oh, hello Thane-sensei. Fancy meeting you here"
Thane crossed his arms and smiled at her, "Like wise! So what are you doing out here? Going to enjoy your spring break? I find it a little odd that you're not with the other two though"
"I just so happen to be going to meet with them now. We plan on going out to Karaoke, and then after that… well, Misa didn't plan that far, but we'll see… But on another note, did you need something Sensei?"
Thane nodded his head, "Yes, I did actually. I was just wondering where I was, I tend to get turned around a lot…"
Madoka tilted her head and smiled at him, "huh… alright. Right now, you're pretty close to the student shopping area. I hope you don't mind my asking; but where are you going? Or are you just wandering around?"
Thane unfolded his arms and shrugged his shoulders, "I was actually on my way to Library Island. But since you mention it, I'm actually pretty surprised by where I am. Isn't Library Island close to the shopping Area?"
Madoka tilted her head in thought and crossed her arms, as if doing so would help her.
"I think so… it might be shorter to go the through park, but I tend to get turned around in there. Your best bet would be to go the shopping district route, but that's just a personal opinion"
Thane nodded his head and started to contemplate her suggestions.
'Looks like the park is out of the question… if she gets turned around in there, then my chances might not be any better… not that I'm saying I have a bad sense of direction or anything!'
Thane shook the traitorous thought from his mind and looked back at the student,
"I see. Thank you for the advice Madoka-san! Another thing however…"
"Yes?"
Thane started to blush a little bit, "Um… do you perhaps mind if… if I went with you? Like I said, I tend to get turned around easily"
Madoka, who wasn't one to let things get to her, started to fluster a little at his embarrassment
"Um… sure… I don't mind. Just follow me, the way you need to go will be on the way"
Thane nodded his head and bowed a short bow.
"Thanks! This should help me out a lot!"
With that, the both of them got underway.
Akira, who had watched the whole thing from the cover of a bench and a week old newspaper, lowered it and followed them, her mind starting to crank up to 11
'Kugimiya-san? Why is he meeting with Kugimiya-san all the way out in the park? This… could this possibly be… a date?'
She sat there for a moment longer, contemplating the thought of the idea and shook her head
'no… it couldn't be… he hasn't made a mention of such a thing before… but… maybe… I should follow them just in case?'
Not finding an answer to her unasked question, Akira pulled up her trench coat and followed them as stealthily as she possibly could.
Meanwhile, Thane and Madoka were walking along in almost complete silence.
Madoka her face in her phone while Thane couldn't help but nervously shuffle behind her.
'well, this is getting somewhat awkward…'
He looked over at the student, hoping that she might initiate conversation of some sort, or perhaps be looking over at him in a mildly curious manner.
She did neither one.
She was still busy texting into her phone, quite content to remain silent the whole venture.
Thane, feeling the oppressive (and imagined) weight on his shoulders from the awkwardness, decided to break the ice,
"So Madoka-san…"
The cheerleader stopped her texting and looked back at her teacher,
"yes sensei?"
"Who in the world are you texting to? It couldn't possibly be Misa or Sakurako could it?"
Madoka looked at him for a second before her eyes lit up in sudden realization, "oh! I'm sorry sensei! That was rude of me; I didn't mean to ignore you! I was just texting my dad you see, he and I really don't get a lot of chances to talk and I figured I should text him on the way to where Misa and Sakurako where waiting"
Thane grinned a little at her and waved away her sudden concern,
"Oh don't worry about it. If you're talking with a parent or other such family member, don't let me get in the way of it. I'll just calmly stay out of the way."
Kugimiya quickly sent another text on her phone and put it away,
"Nah, I got it. I'll talk with dad later. You looked like you wanted to say something the whole time"
Thane blinked a few times before he lightly giggled, "he he… no, not really. I had simply thought the silence was starting to get awkward and I wanted to break it. But, since I have your rapt attention, would you mind answering a question?"
"Depends. What's the question?"
Thane threw the idea around in his head for a little bit before he spoke up, "It's about what you just said actually. When you say you and your dad don't get a lot of chances to talk…"
Thane didn't out-right ask, but the implied meaning was still there.
Thankfully, Madoka caught the hidden message and nodded her head, "oh, that? It's just as it sounds. Me and my dad never get a chance to talk, mostly because of his work"
Thane, now interested, started stroking his chin in curiosity, "what does he do? It has to be important if it takes up so much of his time"
Madoka tilted her head and smiled knowingly at her sensei, "It doesn't take up that much of his time. He always sends me presents on my B-day and he always stops by the house on holidays. But as for what he does? He's a mythologist."
Thane's interest had truly been piqued at this point, "really? Now that sounds like it would be a pretty fun job!"
"Ha! My dad like's to try to convince me that it is. But I don't see what can be so fun about reading old books about old fairy tales from some old time ago" Madoka was shrugging her shoulders, but it was only a half hearted gesture.
"Well Madoka-san, I tend to find that the truth behind old myths can be more interesting than the actual legends themselves"
Madoka glanced over her shoulder and flashed him yet another smile, "You sound like my dad when you say that"
Thane started to rub his chin sagely, "Oh-ho! Perhaps I'm his clone?"
Madoka gave a slight shudder at the thought, "Oh lord I hope not. I love him to death, but the world doesn't need two of my dad running around everywhere"
The both of them laughed together, the awkward feeling that had been there having no trace in the conversation anymore. Thane smiled at her as he settled down with his laughter.
'Huh, I did it. I broke the ice. Madoka can be a funny person when she wants to be'
"So Thane-sensei…"
The pale youth jumped from his thoughts being disturbed, but quickly righted himself,
"yes Madoka-san?"
"Since we're on the subject of questions, I have one of my own"
Thane nodded his head and crossed his arms matter-of-factly, all of happy to answer her, "Ask away, it's part of my job"
"Alright then… I never really questioned it until now, and just took it in stride like everybody else. But what are you doing here?"
Thane couldn't help but tilt his head in some mild confusion,
"Um… here right now? Looking for the library. Or did you mean something else?"
Madoka noticed her slight slip and quickly corrected herself,
"Oops! Sorry! I meant what are you doing here? At Mahora as an assistant teacher. You graduated recently from college at the top of your grade from a super elite school correct? Why aren't you out building rockets or writing books and other such genius stuff? Why an assistant English teacher to a ten year old?"
Thane didn't have an answer. Of the questions he had been expecting, that wasn't a really high one on his list.
"Um… why, you ask? Well…"
Thane couldn't help but glance at her a few times before he simply shrugged his shoulders,
"I guess the easiest way to put this is because I Kinda don't have anything planned out for myself right now. Other than getting my Kids back, I guess I'm just doing this to kill time for now"
Madoka tilted her head in remembrance, "Oh yeah… I remember Makie saying something about you having kids. Are you married or something?"
Thane rolled his eyes, he had obviously not gotten the point across with Makie yet,
"No, I am not married. I told her that my kids are adopted… gods how many times do I need to tell her…"
"Adopted? They're orphans then?"
Thane glanced at her for a moment before he nodded his head, "Yes, they are. You might be curious, but I would ask you not to inquire into the reason why. In truth, it's not a story I can really tell without each of their consent. If you want to know the reasons why and how I met each of them, you'll have to ask each of them"
Madoka nodded her head in understanding and slightly smiled, "I see… But, where are they now? I haven't seen any kids around you in the time you've been here"
Thane nervously started to scratch the back of his head, "Um… well, there is a reason for that…"
'Oh crap… I don't have a cover story for that set up! Quick! Think of something!'
Thane stopped walking for a second, trying to come up with a believable excuse in the span of twenty seconds
"Uh… they… currently are… kinda still in school! They also have to get passport! I had to fly ahead of them and get some lodging for them to legally come here and stuff!"
'That sounded so fake…'
Much to his surprise, Madoka nodded her head in some understanding, "Ahhh… I see. That makes sense!"
Thane couldn't help but cock his eyebrow in some mild confusion.
'she believed me? Does everybody in this school take everything I say at face value? Whatever…'
Thankfully, the rest of the trip was short and filled with random snippets of conversation ranging from the weather to new music. When it got to music however, Madoka started going all out, especially when it came to western stuff,
"Avril Lavigne's Music is just so full of inspiration! Have you heard her before?"
Thane couldn't help but chuckle to himself at her enthusiasm, "I can't say I have, but if you're so pumped for it, maybe I should start listening?"
Madoka eagerly nodded her head, "You have no Idea what you're missing! I'll let you borrow a CD of mine when we get back to the dorms!"
"Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy! Madoka! Over here!"
The two teens turned their attention to the sound of the voice, quickly noting the presence of Sakurako and Misa.
Madoka raised her hand in greeting "Oh, hey you two. I thought we were meeting in front of the café first?"
Both Misa and Sakurako turned to each other and lightly laughed to each other, "Are you playing Dumb Madoka? Your standing right in front of it"
Madoka blinked in confusion for a second before she turned her head and saw that she was indeed standing in front of the designated location.
"Oh Crap!"
She quickly turned to Thane and bowed in apology, "I'm sorry! We missed the road you were supposed to go on!"
Thane waved her concern away, simply smiling at her, "Don't worry about it. I was having too much fun to notice anyway"
Both Misa and Sakurako turned to each other again, some interested smile on their faces.
"Oh? What's this?"
They quickly got on either side of their friend, trapping her between their bodies,
"What did he mean you were having too much fun? Was it something dirty I wonder? Uf fu fu…"
Madoka started to blush From the Girls implied meaning,
"N-No! He meant we were having a lot of fun just talking! God, why do you have to try to make everything into a sex joke?-!"
Misa let her face fall in mock sadness, "aw… that's just boring… and I am the (self-Implied) 2-A queen of Sexy after all. I have to crack a sexual joke every so Often"
Madoka only shook her head at the self-titled queen while Misa turned her attention to Thane
"So what are you doing here Sensei? Are you perhaps here…on a date?"
Thane quickly waved his hands back and forth, his face rather red at the prospect, "Oh no no no no! As much as I might have liked that, it definitely is not a date!... wait… I didn't mean it like-!"
Too little too late, Misa was grinning widely with nothing but mischief on her face, "Oh-ho! So you were hoping it would turn into one then! Hoping that you could take her to a local bar and get her drunk enough for you have your way with her… Uf fu fu… you dirty teacher you"
Now Both Thane and Madoka where pretty red in the face, Madoka quickly getting up into her friends face
"M-M-M-MISA! Now you're going way too far! Besides! He's not even the type of guy I Like!"
Thane quickly felt a sharp pang tear through his heart, 'ouch… I know that she was just trying to throw her friend off… but ouch…'
The senior cheerleader started to giggle to herself at the two of them, "Ha! I was just messing with ya!"
Sakurako, however, felt that she was perhaps being left out of the conversation just a little too much, and decided to poke her little bit into it, "Sooooooo… if you're not here on a date Thane-sensei… what are you doing here for?"
"Well… Long story short, I was trying to get to Library Island, I got lost, Madoka found me, and the rest is as it is. I ended up here. Why? Because I was having too much fun"
The rest of the group couldn't help but giggle at the deadpan manner he delivered all that in, but Misa quickly recovered, "Ah ha… well, if you're still interested in going to the library, just go back the way you came by two blocks and make a left at the Café. It should be a straight shot to the library from there. But… if you felt like it, not that I'm implying anything, you could come hang out with us if you wanted; You did say you wanted to get to know each of the students better"
"Hum… tempting…" Thane actually had to sit there and think about it for a second. It would be nice to hang out with the cheerleaders, but he knew that the situation about Eva's seal would bug him to no end if he didn't get on it now.
With a sigh, Thane shook his head at the group, "I would like too, really I would; but I happen to have something important I need to take care of right now. Perhaps another time maybe? I'm just afraid that this week might be a bit stretched thin for me."
Misa could only shrug her shoulders while Sakurako and Madoka nodded their heads in understanding.
"Alright, if you say so. Catch you later Sensei"
Thane waved them Goodbye, quickly following the direction that the cheerleaders gave him.
Misa turned her attention to The Short haired one of the group and gave her a mischief making smile, "For somebody who isn't your type, you sure did look like you were having a lot of fun with him. I could hear you laughing from three blocks down"
Madoka felt her face go red again, but she managed to keep it straight, "You're reading way too much into it…"
She quickly walked past her friend, determined to stop talking about it, "Come on, I thought we were here to enjoy the last few days of our spring break?"
Misa could only shrug her should and shake her head, "yes, your right. Let's get to the Karaoke!"
Shiina quickly raised her hand in celebration of the event, but quickly became distracted when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye, drawing her attention away from the group.
"Huh? Hey… isn't that someone we know?"
The other two girls turned their attention to what Sakurako was talking about. Just as she said, the rest of them recognized the person as someone they knew from Class.
"Isn't that… Okochi-san?"
The aforementioned swimmer was currently hiding behind a telephone pole, peeking out from the edge and watching Thane walk away and down the road.
The three cheerleaders where momentarily silent from the odd display.
Misa was the first to break the odd silence, "Uh… well… I guess it's not our problem! Let's get going before anything else happens!"
Xx back to Thane xX
Thankfully, Misa's directions to the library where spot on, just two blocks and a single turn. In less than what had to have been 20 minutes of walking, Thane finally managed to make it to the place he needed, Library Island.
The familiar structure loomed higher over him as he came closer, eventually reaching the front student entrance.
After signing in with the registration forms, he started to wander around on the first floor of the building, hoping that he might find the book he would need there. As he continued searching, he noticed that there wasn't that many students, but of course, that was to be expected on spring break.
However, he did perhaps notice someone he thought was familiar and quickly called out, "Hey! Yue! Is that you?"
The short girl quickly turned around at the call of her name and nodded her head, "ah. Thane-sensei, how are you doing today?"
Thane quickly walked the few feet between them, not wanting to shout out and be rude to any other of the library goers.
"I'm alright, just here trying to find certain books is all. But what are you doing here?"
"Library Exploration member stuff. We just got back from one such expedition"
Thane nodded his head in some mild understanding. Nodoka. Haruna and Yue would tell him a lot about it when he asked them about it. He had thought it sounded exciting, but they said he would need to fill out several papers if he wanted to go exploring, something he considered to much of a hassle,
"Really… that sounds good. Manage to find anything new?"
Yue only shook her head, her expression Justas stoic as ever,
"Not really. Just collecting some books for references this time… though… I did find an interesting book while I was down there"
Thane, being a scholar in his own right, couldn't help but tilt his head in interest at the prospect
"Oh? What kind of 'interesting' are we talking about here?"
Yue tilted her head, as if not sure on how to phrase the word, "well… it was interesting to me due to the lack of any form of words. I would show it to you, but I left it at the front desk."
"Lack of words?"
Yue noticed Thane's growing curiosity and simply shook her head, "Pentagrams, circles, archaic flowing ruins. I suppose it's a magic book of sorts"
Thane nodded his head once, something about the word 'magic' sending an explorers vibe up his spine, "Sounds interesting. You'll have to let me read it later. But for now I have a question"
Yue turned her attention back to the tall youth and nodded her head.
"alright, what is it?"
"This might sound strange, but can you tell me where I can find books related to Magic and Vampires in the same texts?"
Now Yue was a little surprised, if not confused,
"Magic… and Vampires? Well… I suppose you could find that in the mysticism Branch of Library Island…but, you might not want to go there. It tends to be littered with booby traps, even more so than the rest of the library combined. Only the most senior of Library Exploration members go there"
Thane felt himself slightly spark at the prospect,
"really now? So it's really hard to get down there?"
"Very much so"
Thane started to smile, then he started to giggle, causing confusion on Yue's face.
"What's so funny?"
Thane looked over at her and just gave her a smile, "oh… nothing… Just a funny thought… You wouldn't happen to have a map on you would you?"
Yue wasn't one who would condone fool hardiness, and she could definitely see it right now in her teachers eyes.
"Yes, I have one, but I won't give it to you"
Thane felt his shoulders slump and quickly started to pout
"Oh come on! It won't hurt you to give me a map!"
"You're right. It won't hurt me, but it might get you killed"
Thane glanced down at Yue, feeling slightly annoyed at her, "Oh please. Don't think that I'll be beaten by a simple set of traps. Despite what you may think, I have indeed done something like it before."
"Good for you, my answer is still no"
Now Thane was starting to get pissed, and he let it show by towering over the undaunted girl
"Alright, if you wanna play it the hard way, I'll just take it from you. Now hand it over before I actually have to try to take it from you"
However, the short girl remained unfazed, pulling out a juice box and starting to sip from it, staring up at Thane as if to say 'try it'
Thane had to admire her mettle; she had obviously stared down things scarier than an angry teen. The both of them simply stared each other down for another few seconds before Thane let out a defeated sigh,
"Oh fine… I won't take your map… I'll get it from Nodoka Instead!"
Before she could even react, Thane had already taken off down the hall, looking for a familiar purple helmet haired girl among the halls.
Yue quickly tried to give chase, but her lack of a lot of physical activity turned to her disadvantage in this case. She chased Thane down for a short period of time, but his morning runs with Setsuna had conditioned his body for many long miles and easily kept away from the twin tail.
After what had to have been several minutes of being chased, Thane finally noticed the lack of another pair of feet behind him, meaning one of two things. He had either eluded Yue, or she had stopped running to throw him off.
He seriously doubted it was the second one.
After a few minutes of checking to see if he was at least still on the right floor, Thane got to work on finding someone who would give him a map (also read as take it from them).
"I will get down into the lower portions if it's the last thing I do… though I would hope that it isn't the last thing I do because I still have a lot of things I would like to do…"
Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance behind him, Akira was huffing heavily.
She hadn't been expecting Thane to suddenly take off like that, and she had nearly lost him several times. But thanks to the amount of swimming she did in her club, she had just barely managed to keep up. Swimming was not the same as running you know.
After catching her breath, she peeked around the corner, watching as Thane started to look around and down each hall.
Thane continued his search for someone for a little while, trying to keep out of the way of Yue, who was still hell-bent on keeping him out of the lower levels of Library Island.
After having paced around the library for a good amount of time, Thane let out a huge sigh,
"Geez… I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't just try winging the lower levels… I can't keep pacing around here looking for a map…and I need to stay away from Yue while I'm at it… If it was Haruna or Nodoka I could just get the map off of them… fat chance of that happening though"
"Fat chance of what happening Thane-sensei?"
Now there was a term on earth that Thane had hardly ever heard, but it goes a little something like this
'speak of the devil and he will come'
Only replace 'devil' with 'Haruna' and you have the reason for Thane's current surprise.
"Whoa… uh, hey Haruna! I wasn't expecting to see you here"
The glasses girl (I will go ahead and mention that the author is a glasses loving guy, and finds Haruna to be very very sexy when she wants to be) tilted her head in amused confusion,
"and why wouldn't I be here on Library Island? I am part of the Library exploration club after all"
Thane shook his head at his own stupid question, "Right right… I was just surprised to see you when I was thinking about you actually"
"was it something dirty? I hope it was, cause that would be very hot and something I am not opposed to"
Thane stared at her with a hell of a lot of annoyance in his face, "NO! It was not something dirty! Geez, I wonder about your brain sometimes…"
Haruna simply nodded her head at the statement, "You and everybody else, but on too the main question, what are you doing here sensei?"
Thane opened his mouth to answer her, but quickly stopped as he thought about who he was talking to.
'Will she try to stop me like Yue did?...what the hell am I on about? This is Haruna where talking about here, she'd probably get a kick out of it'
"Well if you really have to know, I need to get down into the lower levels of the library to find some key books pertaining to the subject of my current interest; and in order to find the books I need, I'm going to need to obtain a map of the lower levels for the Mysticism section"
Haruna quickly caught onto what he was saying and pulled out a map, "ah-ha… so you need this bad boy from me do ya?"
Thane eyed the map in her hand, wondering if he could snatch it from her grasp, but quickly abandoned the thought seeing as she was probably anticipating the move.
"Yup, and if you would be so kind as to give it to me, I would be in your debt…"
Haruna grinned with sly intentions, something she wasn't even bothering to hide from her sensei,
"alright, I'll give it to you…"
She held it out for him to grab, but quickly pulled it away as he felt the small touch of paper on his fingertips.
"Only if you promise to do anything I say for one day in the time of my choosing. These maps aren't very easy to keep track of you know, and pretty expensive for the club to make."
Thane swallowed in some nervous fear. Was it worth it? To make a deal with Haruna of all people? Thane could only shrug his shoulders. Hell, he's made deals with devils before; Making a deal with a teenage girl wouldn't be so bad.
"Alright, I accept that deal"
Something told him in the very depths of his mind that he made a very very bad choice today.
Haruna actually started to purr in delight as she handed it over, "Excellent… have fun, don't get lost, and hopefully, you don't die while your down there"
Thane couldn't help but blink at the somewhat ominous message delivered in such a cheerful manner.
Haruna waved him goodbye and proceeded down the hall with a cheery tune, leaving Thane scratching his head at the oddity of the situation had been in, "well…not the weirdest thing to have ever happened to me… now to read that map"
Thane quickly pulled the rolled up piece of paper open, getting a full view of the map. At first he was smiling at the new map he had, but the longer he looked at it, the harder it was to stay smiling,
"…Crap… I should have asked her how to read it first…"
where he was expecting an easy to follow map of Library island, he saw that it was actually more complex and harder to follow then he thought it was going to be. The section he was looking for, the one the students labeled the Mysticism section, was largely unexplored and marked out with a lot of caution and danger signs on it.
Thane simply shook his head at the complexity and held his hand over the paper, drawing on the small amount of magical reserves he had ready to be used {"Spiritus Magia: Peregrinator circumdabit"} (Spirit Magic: Travelers compass)
Akira, who was still watching from a distance, noticed a faint glow coming off of his hands and squinted her eyes at it.
"what is he doing? Why is his hand… glowing?"
She could only ponder on that fact until the glow actually left his hand and lit up the map. Akira's eyes settled on the paper as it lit up, several line and paths showing up from her vantage point and leaving two large glowing dots on it.
Thane nodded his head as he examined the paper, "Good… glad to see I can still do that one… so… the shortest path looks like… this way then? Alright"
Thane nodded his head and passed down the halls of the Library, Akira following closely behind him.
After about 30 or so minutes of evading staff, students, and one pissed off twin-tail, Thane (and by extension, Akira) had managed to make it to the entrance to the lower levels of Library island Thane looked the archway up and down, the sheer amount of detail leaving him nodding his head in approval of the formation,
"Well… whoever built the place had some good taste in architecture if nothing else…"
As he examined the arch-way, he suddenly noticed a large plaque attached off to the side and titled his head in mild confusion. Thane quickly paced over to it and read it out loud to himself,
"items that are an absolute must in the lower levels. Grappling hook, Magnetic and non. Rations. Water proof clothing and flashlight. Air tight and waterproof backpack. One Library exploration emergency kit containing several flares, compass, Venom kit, and first aid. One machete… wait… a Machete? The hell is down there? Eh… better keep reading just in case…"
Thane ran his eyes over the list for a few more seconds, even stopping once when the word 'flamethrower' showed up
"Da heck? Why would you use a flamethrower in a place full of flammable paper?! Makes no sense!"
After thoroughly reading the checklist, Thane shrugged his shoulders and simply sighed, "As much as the students know what they are talking about, I don't have the time to worry about all of this stuff… Plus, I'm a well-known adventurer in my own right! I've completed the tower of Darjel by myself! One measly little library can't compare to the horrors that I found in there! Onward I say! Checklist be damned!"
Thane quickly descended the stairs, leaving Akira to slowly follow before she stopped and looked at the Library expedition checklist herself.
She felt a sigh escape her lips as she resumed her stalking "I only hope this doesn't get us killed…"
Xx Sometime later xX
"MOTHER OF THE GODS!-!-! WHATEVER GOD'S ON DUTY RIGHT NOW SAVE M-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E!-!-!-!-!"
Thane quickly jumped in between a large towering book shelf, causing the great rolling boulder precariously close to his heels to slam into the case with a resounding crack and boom.
Thane lay there for a moment, the events of running for his dear life flashing across his mind as he desperately dragged air into his lungs.
After a few more minutes of this, he quickly dragged himself to his feet; dusting himself off as he grumbled under his breath
"this is frikking nuts… Giant boulders?! First the arrow traps… not so bad, kinda was expecting those, then the Pitfall trap's, that was kinda Ok… Then it started to get into the needle traps! A little extreme… But the phucking flame traps?! Plain overkill right there! How is someone not dead yet?! Add the Boulder traps and you have yourself one hell of an overdone cliché! And I ain't even to the Mysticism section yet!-!"
Some space back, Akira was also huffing to herself.
She, Like Thane, had also been encountering traps, but thankfully, it had been the aftermath of what Thane had already triggered.
Mostly, her weariness was due to trying to keep up with him, especially with this boulder trap; Unlike Thane, she had to run to keep up.
After a few more minutes of regaining there strength, Both Akira and Thane set back on their way, one following the other of course.
After a little while, Thane started to have a new appreciation for what the Library exploration Club did.
Not only was this Library littered with traps and pitfalls that would leave a Dungeon crawler wary, it was also just plain huge.
Like, Whale Gigantic and beyond! Another point, if not a strange one, was that the Underground Library had a freaking jungle growing under it! The mount of Plant foliage and hanging vines left him wishing that he had indeed grabbed a Machete.
The giant Coliseum made from Greek Text books being the second most interesting thing he had seen. He could only conclude that someone down here had too much free time on their hands.
But the forest was his most pressing concern right now.
Often times, he would have to direct magic into his hands to cut down the plants and other such strange things growing around.
He had almost run into a giant Spider web even. Not wanting to meet the Spider that owned that web, Thane had beat a hasty retreat when he found that one.
After what had to have been another hour of traveling and looking at the map, Thane had eventually had to stop. Thankfully, he had found a convenient, if not weird, rest spot with a sandwich bar and Drink dispenser.
Akira, who had simply grown even more curious about all the strange things he had been doing, had simply followed behind with almost no difficulty.
She remained out of sight, and while Thane was resting, thought back to all the odd things she had seen him do.
'What is with all of this? First he comes home looking like he got in a serious fight, then he runs off to who knows where only for it to be at Library Island? And that thing he did with his hands… how did he make them glow? I clearly remember him saying he couldn't read that map well, but he changed his tune when he did that thing… and all the other stuff, the vines, avoiding all those traps… something isn't right… is he even… Human? All this seems way too ridiculous…'
However, her thoughts quickly vanished when the sound of Thane's boot's roused her from her internal dialogue.
"Welp! Give or take another hour or so and I'll be up and able to find that stupid section! Onward!"
Thane quickly pulled out his map again and examined the area he was in currently, "Now let's see here… according to this thing here… I'm currently in the Botany section… well that explains all the plants then… I need to make my way past the arthropod sections and then lightly skim across the Marine Biology area in order to get to the mysticism section…alright then!"
Thane nodded his head at the route until he notice one small thing in the corner of the section he was in currently. He squinted his eyes at it until he saw what it was.
A small sign: warning to all students! The botany section is home to some dangerous and yet to be studied book blooms. The coloring is bright red with a bright green pistil. The flower gives off a very pleasing scent to Female's. Men are not so affected. Take caution! However, should conflict arise with this flower, flames have been proven to drive it away. Make sure you are carrying your Library Exploration Standard Flamethrower with you at all times!:
Thane blinked his eyes blankly before he simply shrugged his shoulders, "Odd… Giant man eating flowers… odd indeed… Good thing I ain't a woman then!"
However, Unlike Thane, who now had ample warning to said Blooming terror, Akira was simply confused by his strange proclamation,
"what is he on about?"
However, before she could even inquire into it further, Akira started to notice a… very nice scent. She couldn't help but tilt her head up and get a better sniff of this strange smell,
"*Sniff* *Sniff* what… is that? It smells nice… Kinda like the sea… where is it coming from?"
Akira, her thought's starting to be more drawn to the smell, got up and let her feet start to direct her. What felt like an eternity of searching, and the smell only getting more enticing as she looked, she finally found the core of the sea breeze.
She turned down a row of books and a large dead-end in the shape of one of the largest Flowers she had ever seen. The thing had to have a diameter of over 12 feet across, each of its eight petals as big as she was tall. And standing up in the very center was a three foot tall Pistil deep emerald green and a small flower of its own, opening and closing; releasing small wafts of yellow and what appeared to be giving off the nice scent.
Akira's mind was currently very muddled at the moment, her eyes starting to slightly glaze over and a pleasant grin on her face,
"How… pretty…"
However, her inner mind was working overtime, trying to bypass the effects of the pleasure inducing spores that fogged her mind
'very… nice smell, but… wasn't I…? What was I doing before this? I think… following something? Or… someone… but… to nice… can't… remember…'
Akira took a few more steps forward, the sound of shuffling leafs and the shadow of looming vines creeping up on her lost on her addled mind.
Meanwhile, Thane was busy packing his bag with as many of the little sandwiches that he could, "Who knows how much longer I'm going to be down here… might as well as stock up on as much as possible… though the actual presence of a snack stand in the middle of this labyrinth of a Library is kinda odd… Oh well! No skin off my-"
That thought was interrupted by the sound of a very loud *Snap!*
Thane quickly rounded his head, his ponytail whipping around at the speed,
"'snap'? Snap is never a good noise"
Thane listened closely, trying to see if he could hear another such noise. Thankfully. It didn't do it again, but much to his discomfort, it had sounded very close.
"Eh… wonder if it's one of those things that the map was talking about… Book blooms they called em? Um…not my problem! Might as well as get… *Sniff* … huh… that smells sweet… Kinda like… Lemon pie?"
Thane stopped what he was doing and turned around a few times, finding the smell to be enticing, but not drug inducing,
"Huh… this must be that pleasant smell that it was talking about earlier… then that means that one of those book blooms are close by…"
Thane started to scratch his chin, some thoughts starting to come together,
'I'm not sure… but maybe the two are related? Well, the only way to find out is to go and check it out… god's my curiosity can be such a pain sometimes'
Thane simply shook his head at his internal thoughts. Despite the fact that it was something of a problem for his time, leaving this thing alone might bring trouble down the line, and he knew it.
So, best to take care of it now rather than when someone got hurt; or worse, dead.
Thane, using his nose, walked around trying to find the source; carful to mind his steps and not step on any vines and trip himself up. He was like this for a few minutes, somewhat aimlessly walking around trying to find a plant by smell alone when he suddenly felt himself getting closer.
Not due to a feeling, but due to the intensity of the smell in the air.
Thane took another whiff before he smiled to himself, "Alright! Must be close then! Probably right around this-"
Just as he took the action he was just about to mention, Thane quickly came to a dead stop.
Standing in front of him at nearly 12 feet tall was a closed flower of the deepest red he had ever seen, the base covered in jade green vines that where only slightly moving from the fact that a tiny Pistil was spouting out of the top of the flower blowing out small puffs of sweet scented pollen.
That was the second thing he noticed, and only briefly for that fact.
The first and foremost thing that assaulted his eyes was blinding white. Not light mind you, but the brilliant white of young covered maidenhood.
It wasn't anything overly sexy in his mind, but that stark contrast of the white against the dark of the area made it seem as if it was the blinding rays of the sun itself.
However, it wasn't plain, oh not by a long shot.
The complex pattern of the flowery designs (was it flowers? He really couldn't tell from that distance) lined itself along the elastic with such small minute detail, that one would think that a master panty maker had spent a good deal of time on it.
It certainly had coverage, but that was just the basics of it.
It was the tightness of the elastic that drew Thane's eyes to this perfect posterior.
Like most close fitting article of clothing, the panties where tight, and lightly dug into the young flesh of the young female that it happened to be attached to.
But the dazzling white brilliance of the rear in front of him almost made him get down on his knees and worship the one in a million chance to see such a marvelous sight.
It was a posterior of perfect proportions.
An ass of astounding attributes.
A rear of…
Thane quickly shook his head, a small part of him dying on the inside for not continuing the feats of the eyes
'what the hell am I even thinking about?! Someone is in trouble!'
Thane quickly ran forward and grabbed the legs of the person who was stuck tight in the petals. He tried tugging viciously, but it wasn't going over well, he wasn't budging them an inch.
Thane, not sure what to do in this situation, did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to shower the Bloom in violence.
Snatching a book off the shelf, a rather heavy dictionary about Magi botany, He started to hammer the petals of the flower with it.
All he was getting where hard smacks and no response from the plant.
Thane quickly threw it away and took a few steps back, "Spit it out ya big pile of Fertilizer!"
Thane pointed three fingers at the Plant and shouted out with anger {"Ignis Magi: Draco lingua!"} (Fire Magic: Dragon tongue)
A long stream of Bright orange flame blasted out from his finger tips with a mighty roar. That got the Plants attention.
Quick as a flash, the petals opened up, letting its contents spill out along with what could only be considered digestive juices.
Much to Thane's confusion, the plant started to crawl along the vines to get away from the orange flames. Thane cut off the magic power to the spell and watched as the Plant fled up into the higher book shelves until it had disappeared.
Thane observed the spot for a few seconds longer, making sure that it had gone a good distance before he brought his attention back to the person lying on the ground.
The pale youth quickly knelt down and turned the person over, feeling worried that he might have been too late.
"Hey! Are you ok? He-"
He shut up when he saw who it was, and it quickly sent his alarms sky High
"Akira!? Hey! Snap out of it! Are you ok!?"
He quickly started to check and see if she was alright, wiping as much of the wet goo away from her body as possible so that it didn't start burning her.
Thane ran his hand over her mouth to check and see if she was still breathing, thankfully she was and her heart was also in working order. All in all, she was just unconscious.
Thane breathed out a sigh of relief, but his thoughts quickly turned to panic,
'I'm glad she's ok, but what is she doing down here for!? She doesn't look ready to be down here at all!'
Thane could only shake his head as he picked her up bridal style, "Guess I better get her somewhere more comfortable…"
However, before he made his way back, Thane took one more glance back at the spot the plant had been staying and blinked in surprise when he saw what was there
"…You have got to be kidding me…"
There, on the shelf where the plant had made its home was a book titled,
:Vampires and Blood Magic. Spells and curses that effect Vampires and the blood magic necessary for it:
A thought briefly flashed across his mind that sounded a lot like a Victory them from the seventh game from a certain Fantasy series.
He quickly shook it away and grabbed the book, "well… guess I got what I came here for… just need to wait for Akira to wake up then"
Thane marched toward the rest area, his arms growing tired from carrying the swimmer until he actually got there.
He quickly made a place for her and set her down, sitting next to the Unconscious girl. From then on it was a waiting game.
Thane simply started flipping through the pages of his new book, Thoughts of completing Eva's seal problem coming into his mind. But even after reading over the entire book and taking several key notes he thought might be useful, he found himself drawing his attention to his dorm mate.
She looked peaceful from what he could see; the steady rise and fall of her chest showing many indicators of this. Her hair, though rather messy from the mess earlier, looked very pretty strewn this way and that across her face and on the ground. It was then that he noticed that her hairband had apparently been lost in the scuffle, because it wasn't in its normal ponytail.
Thane felt hot blood rush to his face, causing his face to blush madly.
He quickly turned away from her and went back to reading.
Thankfully, he only had to wait a few more minutes before Akira started to rouse herself. She slowly opened her eyes, a slight pain in her lower body as she inhaled, "Ugh…wh…where am I?"
Thane glanced over, a sigh of relief escaping his lips at the fact that she seemed ok.
"Library Island. Botany section, rest stop number 224-D from the looks of it"
Akira blinked a few times in confusion before she quickly recognized the voice. Akira shot up into a sitting position and turned to face Thane, who was giving her a smile,
"Hey there Akira, I know you just woke up, but you mind explaining what you're doing down here without a guide?"
The swimmer was way too stunned to form words right now and could only get out a, "Huh?"
Thane turned toward her, some anger in his eyes, "I want to know why your down here by yourself! You could have been hurt down here and nobody would have known it!"
Akira felt herself breathe out in relief inside.
He hadn't discovered that she had been following, but instead of shrinking away and answering, she started to get somewhat angry herself
"Me? What was I doing down here? I could ask the same of you! What are you doing down here Thane? What if you got hurt? Then no one would know about it! Yuna and I Included!"
Thane blanched from her words, but quickly felt his temper increasing again, "Unlike you or Yuna, I can handle myself in dangerous situations! You coming down here by yourself for gods know what is just stupid!"
Akira felt her face flush in anger at his words, they were somewhat true, but the fact that he was calling her weak was making her angry, "I wasn't down here for myself you know! I was down here for an important reason!"
"What could possibly have been so important that you simply couldn't have waited for a Library exploration Member to help you"
"Making sure you're alright!-!-!"
Akira had literally shot up to her feet in anger at the last word,
"Just this morning you Lie to me and Yuna about what really happened last night and then you come down here for god only knows what and keep it from us!-! What in the world is so important that you have to keep it a secret from your friends huh!-?"
Thane flinched at her words.
He had no comeback for that and simply turned away from her, a slight stirring rising in his chest.
'I am your blade brother! What do you hide from me! There are no secrets between us Thane! Have we not been through blood and battle together!? Why do you push me away!'
Thane could only bite his lower lip in anger and shame. A memory from days long past bringing painful scares to bear.
"I'm… sorry…I don't mean to hide things from you and Yuna… it's just… I have reasons for doing things. I have some things I simply can't tell you about right now…"
Akira, who had been expecting a much more aggressive comeback, was very surprised at his subdued nature.
Thane quickly looked back up at her, some steel in his eyes, "But you're right, I shouldn't try to hide things from you or Yuna. You are my friends and I don't want to try pushing you away"
Now it was Akira who was left without a response, her mouth doing a good impression of a goldfish for a moment.
The both of them simply sat there and stared at each other for a few more seconds before Akira let a smile cross her face, "alright then… I'll take your word for it Thane… and… sorry for following you down here"
The older male simply shook his head at her apology, "It's alright. If I had been just a little more truthful with you both, it wouldn't have happened in the first place. But, since I have the book I needed, how about we focus on trying to get out of here eh?"
Akira nodded her head, wanting to get out of the lower levels of Library Island as quickly as possible
"Agreed"
Xx Outside xX
Despite the scolding he got From Yue and the ominous reminder from Haruna, Thane had managed to get what he needed from Library Island.
He momentarily thought he saw a :Quest complete, 337 EXP awarded: Across his vision, but then he simply shook it off as nerves.
Thankfully, despite being just a little unsteady on her feet, Akira was doing well and Thane was helping to escort her back to the dorm rooms. After making their way to the park, Akira had felt just a little dizzy and had requested to sit down for a little while.
"Probably something to do with the spores you breathed in from that plant. Here, let me go and get you something to drink, it Might help you out"
Akira simply nodded her head, feeling just a little too tired to answer him.
Thane quickly started to wander around in search of one of the many vending machines that littered the park. It didn't take very long, thank goodness; and it was even close to where he had set Akira down.
However, there were already two people standing in front of it, one simply standing there stoically, and the other kicking the machine with a savage gusto.
"COME ON YOU PHUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! GIMME MY MONEY ALREADY! OR AT LEAST THE FLOUNDER SODA! PIECE OF SHIT!"
The guy took a few steps back and round housed the thing with his right hand so hard that Thane was sure he was going to put a hole in the machine. However, it looked like the machine had won that round, only sustaining enough damage to dent it.
"Settle down Keima… you might disturb others…"
"LIKE I GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THAT! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!"
Thane could only shake his head at the violent youth.
'like shouting is going to help you… people get so bent out of shape easily'
However; Thane quickly took notice that one of the voices had sounded very familiar. Taking a closer look, he quickly guessed that he was right.
"Juno? Juno Nagase? Is that you?"
The taller of the two males turned his head, if he was surprised from the visit from someone he knew, Thane wasn't sure, the ski cap simply obscuring his eyes. But the smile he gave him told him that Juno had recognized him,
"Ah… Thane-san. Thank you for finding Aina last night"
The other fellow turned his attention to what his friend was talking about, "Oi, Juno, this the guy you were talking about?"
"Yes Keima. He helped me find Aina last night"
"And I told you to put that damned dog on a leash already! You wouldn't bother people otherwise and It wouldn't run away if you kept a better hold of it!"
Thane brought his hand to his mouth and coughed loudly
"*cough!* Sorry to interrupt Juno-san, but who's your friend?"
At the word 'friend' the other guy snarled, "We ain't buddies, so watch it"
Juno, however, smiled. "This guy is my best friend Keima Shisai. He can be a little mean, but he's nice on the inside"
"Oi! I ain't your friend! And who you calling nice!? I'm the meanest sonuvabitch to walk Mahora!"
Despite the bravado, Thane could see a little blush on his face. From what Thane could also see, Keima was shorter then Juno was, but about the same height as Thane himself. Oddly enough, he had what looked to be very clean white hair that he had cut pretty short, but weather it was bleached or not remained to be seen. He also was wearing the standard Mahora male uniform, but he had added his own flair to it by cutting it up in a few places and leaving it opened and untucked. Thane could see he was going for a punk look; he even had the face for it.
But the thing that Caught Thane's attention was his right arm. The sleeve had been cut completely off, but the arm had been completely wrapped in leather bindings and belts. How he was even able to move his fingers was a mystery, but Thane scrunched his eyes up in concentration when he felt that something was… off about it.
Keima, not getting anything out of Juno, noticed that Thane was staring at him, or more importantly, his right arm. He let a wicked smile cross his face and stretched it out for him to see,
"Impressed? This is the arm that beat down over 49 of the strongest people on Campus. The 'Devils striking right' I never miss with it and people never see it coming."
Thane tilted his head, not at the title, he thought it sounded silly, but at the number,
"49? What happened to 50? Or is there just not that many people that are that strong?"
Keima quickly shut up, his already sour face becoming even more so. Juno, however, let his mouth do the talking
"He's only at 49 because he can't beat number fifty. She's too strong for him right now"
Faster then he thought was possible, Thane watched as Keima tried to round house Juno with a hard right.
However, Juno had only barely moved out of the way, the bridge of his nose slightly smoking from the jab
"Keep your mouth shut you bastard!-! He ain't asking for a loss record!-!"
Despite the savageness of the blow, Thane couldn't help but smile at the both of them, "Huh… so who do you keep losing to?"
"Ain't your business!-!-!/ Chairmen Ku Fei of the Chinese martial arts"
Keima was now blushing heavily and threw a few more jabs at Juno, who simply dodged each of them.
Thane was finding the little display funny, but found the one person he couldn't beat more surprising than anything,
"Ku Fei? She can fight?"
Keima stopped trying to hit Juno and glared at Thane like a traditional punk
"Of course she can! She's got to be the strongest person on Campus! And one day I'll take that title! Just you watch!"
Not even giving them a chance to talk, Keima stormed off, punching the Vending machine one last time and getting the drink that fell out of it.
Juno simply smiled at him as he walked away and turned his attention back to Thane,
"Sorry about him, he can be shy at times"
"You call that shy? I hate to see him when he gets angry then"
Juno didn't answer, but simply smiled, "Despite his attitude, I would like it if you also became his friend Thane-san. Other than me, He doesn't have any"
Thane felt just a little nervousness well up in his chest at the prospect,
'I don't think I could survive being his friend…'
Despite the thought's, Thane nodded his head.
"Sure, I don't mind"
Juno gave him another smile and brought out his phone,
"Here, let me give you our numbers then… friends do that right? Keima told me he only wanted my number so that he could fight with me, but I think he was lying"
Thane started to giggle, "Yeah, friends exchange numbers. Here's mine, give it to Keima-kun for me alright?"
Juno flipped his phone closed and nodded,
"Will do. Thanks Thane-san. Give us a call if you need anything"
Thane waved the tall youth off, smiling to himself as he did,
'Keima and Juno huh… they sound like they would be fun to hang out with'
The sound of another can falling quickly jolted Thane out of his thoughts and on to the reason he was here in the first place.
Thane quickly got the drinks he thought Akira would like and hurried back.
Xx The next day xX
Thane quickly moved his head to the side, just barely avoiding the wooden stick as it sailed over. However, his attention was quickly brought back to the person holding it.
Setsuna quickly brought her left leg up in a kick, using the momentum from the swing to get Thane in the side.
Thane quickly brought his own blade to bear, striking at Setsuna's lower body.
The swordswoman twisted her sword and blocked the blow, but she had to cancel the kick in order to have the force to do it.
Thane let go of his own blade and swung his fist at her, a move that was unexpected, but easily countered.
She brought her sword back and made a thrust, intending on striking him in the chest.
Thane, having a sudden moment of clarity and remembrance, twisted his body, a grin appearing on his face, much to the surprise of Setsuna.
Thane quickly backhanded her in the head, sending her to the ground.
Thane stood over her for a moment, his breath coming hard and heavy as the realization started to hit home,
"I… I won?... I WON! For the first time since we even started doing this I won! WOO HOO!"
Setsuna, still seeing stars, quickly shook her head and stood back up, a proud smile on her face, "That was amazing Thane-san! How did you know what I would do next?"
Thane looked over at the swordswoman and sheepishly grinned at her,
"well… if you really must know, that move looked very similar to one a friend of mine would do when he was training me"
Setsuna, still somewhat smarting from the blow to her head, sat up in the usual Seiza position and laid her blade at her knees,
"Really? What kind of move was it?"
Thane, also feeling the effects of the fight that he just (narrowly) won, sat down next to her and stretched his legs out to sooth them,
"Like I said, it was similar. Normally when I would draw in close, he would go for a lower body thrust like you do, but he would always telegraph it in his shoulder movements. He isn't aware of it, but I always take advantage of it when he does. It always confused him when I did get him like that"
Setsuna was now slightly curious, "when you say that he used a similar move, did you mean he was a Shinme Ryu swordsman?"
Thane looked her up and down for a second with an amused smile, "I don't think he knows that style considering that he isn't part of this world"
Setsuna blinked in confusion for a moment before she remembered Thane's origin's, letting a blush cross her face from the slip,
"Sorry… I forgot that you're not from here…"
Thane giggled to himself before he waved her concern away,
"it's alright. Even I'm starting to have trouble remembering my home. Getting the chance to explain about it and its inhabitants lets me remember them. But in answer to your question, he didn't use this Shinme School you're talking about. However, he did learn many eastern styles of sword fighting. That's why it looked so familiar to me"
Setsuna blinked a few times in some disbelief, "several different Styles? I can barely use my own abilities, I can't possibly imagine trying to learn several at the same time"
"Not to be rude Setsuna-san so please don't take it the wrong way, but trying to compare you to Him is like trying to compare a butter knife with an Aurum Ash Blade. One will always lose"
Setsuna, despite the fact that she was just called inferior by every definition, couldn't help but be disbelieving in the words he spoke,
"I find that hard to believe. I know at best that I'm just an intermediate, but there aren't that may who could beat me without resorting to trickery"
Thane simply smiled at her, "That's alright, I know you wouldn't believe me based on my words alone. But believe me when I say that he is beyond strong. He stands as the commander of the largest military force in the world at only the young age of 18 in your world. He's defeated dragons with a swipe of his sword and beaten back some of the strongest of Titans! He also holds the credit of retaking the Bridge of Azutel from the forces of the gray and defeating Gumbal the Kingslayer, one of the nine champions of the Gray, By Himself!"
The more Thane explained, the more Setsuna watched as his eyes started to light up in pride.
Setsuna found it rare for Thane to show such emotion in anything, and felt herself start to get pulled into his pace, "If he is so strong, would you mind telling me his name?"
Thane puffed his chest out in pride, "Of course! His name is Oswald! Oswald Shevran! The eighth Sword Saint in Estorian History and My Blade Brother in arms of the Thalamear army!"
Setsuna found his beaming smile to be both refreshing and somewhat cute, even going so far as to smile herself,
"really? He sounds amazing then. But if you don't mind my asking, what is a blade brother?"
Thane blinked a few times, as if she just asked a very stupid question, but quickly remembered that this wasn't Estoria,
"Ahhh… Sorry bout that… A Blade Brother is someone who is paired up with a mage when a Knight-in-training and a Mage-in-training leave the academy. For the Knight, the mage is normally called a Mage Bond. Normally it's determined by lots, but in mine and Oswald's case, it was a little more special. But that's beside the point, the point is, Oswald is a man whom I respect and consider my closest friend! He and I have been through Hell and High water and more than one pissed off Fairy together!"
Thane suddenly jolted out of his exuberance and quickly took notice of the clock, "Ah! Sorry Setsuna! Here I am wasting our training time together about my home! Sorry about that"
This time, It was Setsuna's turn to wave Thane's concern away, "It's alright Thane-san. I don't mind, as a matter of fact, how about we take the rest of the morning off since you beat me? Consider it a reward for a job well done in coming this far. I want to hear more about your friend."
Thane felt a huge grin cross his face at the prospect. Making himself more comfortable, Thane started to recount more tales of Him and Oswald together.
Xx Some time later xX
"And-And Then!-!… *pffft* Ga ha ha! Oswald fell face first into the circle! That was the biggest explosion that Old man Burgs had ever seen in his life! And when Oswald came out of it, he looked as black as the armor he wore! Ha ha ha ha!"
Thane was busy slapping his knee in hearty guff's as he stopped to catch his breath.
Setsuna, one who wasn't known for her laughter, raised her hand to her mouth to quite the laugh that would have escaped,
"Oh my… Ha ha… and you pushed him into it?"
"Ha! Let's just say I was getting him back for an earlier prank he pulled on me…"
Despite the fact that the both of them had been training that morning, Thane had suggested that they make their way home since training was over for the day.
But it wasn't a boring walk home, No; Thane had decided to tell as many stories as he could about Oswald. And Setsuna got an earful of them to. She had found that she was somewhat coming to like this Oswald, feeling that she would like to meet him at least once in her life.
The both of them went on with stories for a little bit longer before the dorm they called home made itself visible
"Ah… were here Thane-san"
Thane looked to the dorm with some slight annoyance, "aww… I didn't get to tell you of the time Oswald got so drunk that he got in a fight with a Dragon roast, and Lost!"
Setsuna had to tilt her eyebrows at that one, "Lost? To a piece of cooked meat?"
Thane slightly huffed at her indignantly, "Hey! It was a good roast! I cooked it myself!"
Setsuna simply shook her head in amusement as she walked in front of him, "You'll have to tell me about it later, for now, I have to go. Good bye Thane-san"
Thane waved her off as she went into the dorms first.
It had been there agreement, when they would get close to the dorm, one would enter first so as not to cause a misunderstanding with everybody else.
Thane had found the idea silly at first, but when Haruna had started to spread rumors about them going out, he quickly agreed to the plan.
Thane counted out the traditional 40 seconds before he himself also entered the dorms. Much to his surprise, Asuna was also in the front lobby, though she was getting the mail and only noticed him when the door had closed.
Thane waved his hand at her and smiled, "Sup Asuna!"
The red head gave him an annoyed look and lightly shook her head, "You're not going to let me live that down are you?"
"Awwww! Come on! I don't mind! It was pretty funny!"
Asuna simply shook her head again and started to go through her mail.
Thane, feeling rather chipper, decided to stick around and talk with her for a moment, "Soooo… you win anything?"
"Not from what I can see… just an ad for the local Starbucks… oh, a sale on eggs… Gonna have to mention that one to Konoka… and… the heck is this?"
Thane peeked over her shoulder, glancing down at what he thought was an overly colored envelope, "Not sure, maybe an invitation to a party?"
Asuna held it up to the light and squinted her eyes, as if doing so would help her out, "Not sure, but I sure as hell can't read it…"
Thane quickly snatched it out of her hands and looked it over before he shrugged his shoulders, "Well no wonder you can't. It's in English… it's addressed to Negi from… the Mage Academy?"
"What?!"
Asuna snatched the letter from him and stared down at it in some anger, "Those idiots! You'd think they wouldn't put their own name on it or something! Or not use such odd envelopes!"
Thane only shrugged his shoulders at her suggestion, "Hey, I ain't in charge of it. But you might want to get that to Negi as quickly as possible, it might be important"
"Yeah… your right…"
Asuna nodded her head a few times before she walked off, not even bothering to say bye to Thane.
Thane, for his part, decided to follow her.
After the second flight of stairs, Asuna quickly rounded on him, "Why are you following me!?"
Thane held his hand's up in an attempt to deflect her anger, "Hey! My rooms on the same floor remember? Plus, I wanna know what it is"
"Ya ever heard of Privacy? It probably has nothing to do with you"
Thane simply shook his head, "So? Still wanna know"
Asuna could only roll her eyes at him and simply went back to walking, trying to ignore him as much as possible.
Thane, however, did not like being ignored.
So he decided to change that.
"So Asuna-san… how has life been with Negi boy?"
Asuna could only flinch at those words, "a living hell for me… The baby brat always always sneaks into my bed! And only because I vaguely resemble his sister or something! You'd think that after 6 years old he'd stop doing something so stupid!"
"Aww… I find that kinda cute, but don't be so hard on him. Some people tend to have some issues with sleeping by themselves."
"You speaking from experience?"
It had meant to be a snarky reply, but much to Asuna's surprise, Thane simply laughed, "Ha ha! Actually, yes I do! You might find it hard to believe, but I didn't stop sleeping by myself until I was 12 years old!"
Asuna actually did a double take, "12!? What are you, a chicken?!"
"Kinda, yeah. I was a big scaredy cat when I was little, everything would scare me! From frogs to dragonflies! But oddly enough, I wasn't afraid of the dark. I was simply scared of being alone"
Asuna tilted her head at the new info, her will to ignore him now gone.
"Why?"
Thane opened his mouth for a second, but quickly closed it,
"Huh… um… that's kinda a personal reason. Sorry but I don't want to tell you… by the? We just passed your room"
Asuna stopped in her tracks, and then turned around to see that her room was a few doors down.
"If you noticed, why didn't you say anything earlier!-!"
Thane's only response was a simple shrug of the shoulders.
Asuna simply pushed past him and quickly opening the door, making all persons within very aware of her, "I'm Home! Hey Negi!"
Thane peeked around the corner and saw Negi, who had apparently being vacuuming, trip over the power cord in surprise from Asuna's sudden intro and yelled out
"I'M SORRY I THOUGHT THAT!"
Asuna tilted her eyebrow in some mild confusion at his sudden surprise and simply crossed her arms,
"What's your problem?"
Much to Thane's amusement, Negi started to flaphis arms in haste, "Uh! Nothing! I'm fine! Is something wrong?"
Thane moved from behind the door way and waved at the boy mage, "Yo Negi, and I would suppose something would be wrong, considering that the mages of this world have never heard of discretion before"
Asuna quickly held up the letter to Negi's face, pointing at the address, "This! See? Airmail form England! It even says 'Magicians academy' on it!"
Asuna shoved the letter into Negi's hands and continued on her rant, "Seriously! If you want to keep your magical connections under wraps then you guys need more subtle envelops!"
Thane nodded his head at the twin-tail's suggestion, "Amen to that. Now what does it say?"
Asuna rolled her eyes while Negi simply turned the letter over in his hands a few times,
"Not sure… Guess I'll find out in a second"
Both Asuna and Thane crowded around Negi, trying to what the contents of the letter said.
However, when Negi opened it and flipped the letter into a reading position, a small 3-D figure appeared on the paper.
From What Thane could see, she was tall, had bright long blond hair, bright blue eyes and had one of the cheeriest smiles he had ever seen. He felt his heart flutter for a moment before the Picture started to talk
"Hello Negi! It's been a while! How have you been holding up dear?"
The welsh boys face lit up in recognition from the small person, "Hey! It's a magical letter from my sister!"
Thane nodded his head while Asuna, who had only been caught up in the more Violent forms Magic, was very surprised to see this type of magic,
"Woah! Look at that! It's like a mini Hologram or something! That's mages for ya…"
Thane was also nodding his head at the picture, "Hey… this is pretty cool… Normally we use Crystal balls and other stuff to communicate, but magical letters are a pretty new thing for us… By the way Negi, your sister looks Hot. Think I could get her to go on a date with me?"
Both Asuna and Negi looked over at Thane with as much annoyance on their face's as could be had in such a moment, which was a lot by the way.
Thane held his hand's up as if to defend himself from there glares, "I was only kidding… geez…"
Everybody turned their attention back to the little figure on the paper, her words continuing,
"I heard that you had finally managed to become a full time teacher! Congratulations! But this is only the start of your training, so be diligent dear"
Thane found the way that she was trying to mother Negi to be very heart warming, making him think of his own days of taking care of his kids.
The letter continued on about a few more things, something along the lines of how she was doing, how someone by the name of Anya was having it a little tough, but making it work alright.
But it was the next little bit that caught his attention
"Also… I think I might be being a little hasty here, but have you managed to meet your partner yet? Most mages and partners tend to attract each other, so he or she might be someone very close to you… *Giggle* I hope that whoever it is will be a lovely person!"
Both Thane and Asuna looked at each other, mouthing out the same word at the same time,
"Partner?"
Negi however, was busy rewinding the message while chuckling nervously to himself,
"Come on sis… My partner? It's a little early for that don't you think?"
However, before he could do anything else, Both Asuna and Thane put the boy in a head lock, the both of them grinning mischievously, "Ho ho! What's this thing about a partner Negi boy? You've been holding out on us!"
Asuna started to knuckle the struggling youth in the temple, her own tone the same as Thane's,
"Who is she? A lover? Your Fiancé? Is she here in Japan? Precocious ain't even the half of it!"
Negi Finally managed to worm his way out of there double headlock, setting his hair back straight from where the both of them were messing with it, "Come on you two! It's nothing like that!"
Thane tilted his head in some mild confusion, "Oh? Then what is it?"
Negi cleared his throat and started to go into explanation, trying to remember as much of the old tales as he could,
"In order for me to explain that, I'm going to need to tell you a little bit of a story… Now, it's a story that pretty much any mage worth his salt can recite from heart. It's a tale about a Very powerful mage, the very savior of the world and her protector, the Courageous Knight. Now in accordance with that very same story, Mages who seek to go out into the world to Work normally end up finding one who can help and protect them from the things that would normally mean them harm. This person, for lack of a better term, would be considered the Mages Mate, or there Minister Magi. In fact, one can't even be considered a master mage if they don't have one"
Thane started nodding his head while holding his chin sagely, "Ahhhhh… so it's a buddy system then?"
"In laymen's terms, Yeah I guess"
Asuna also started to stroke her chin, but more in curiosity, "Partner huh… is it always a male/female pairing then?"
Negi tilted his head this way and that before he started to scratch his head sheepishly, "Well… yeah, pretty much. Male mages get Female Partners and Vice versa. As a matter of fact, it's almost a trend now and days for said partners to wind up getting married to each other"
Both Asuna and Thane looked to each other while smiling and quickly reached over and started to pinch Negi's cheeks,
"Oh ho! So we were right the first time!"
"It is a Lover then! Oh Negi boy you lady killer you!"
"Ehhhh? So Negi-kun's real Objective in coming to Japan was to find a girlfriend? Well our class alone give's you over 30 girls to choose from"
Negi started to scratch his head again, "Like I was saying… it's nothing like that"
However, while Negi was busy shrugging off the misunderstanding, Asuna and Thane turned their heads like clunky robots at the voice behind them, dread slowly creeping its way up there spines.
Negi quickly noticed that the voice wasn't one that had been in the room previously, and just like the other two, skid back in surprise from the sight of a chocolate haired girl
"Wah! Konoka-san!-!"
"Where the hell do you people keep popping up from!-?"
"Ko-Konoka!? How long have you been listing!?"
Konoka Simply titled her head cutely at the three's reaction,
"Somewhere from around the part about finding Partners. What's in the letter?"
Negi quickly started to tuck it in his shirt while Asuna and Thane moved in front of him to prevent Konoka from getting a better view, "N-Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!"
Konoka, however, felt a mischievous streak start to form in her spine from the supposed secret and quickly turned around and started hollering out the door
"Hey everybody! Negi-kun came to Japan to find a girlfriend!"
All three of them quickly lunged at her,
"Konoka!-!-!"
"That's not true! I really came to be a teacher!"
"Lies! All Lies!"
Konoka, for her part, turned around and gave them the apology sign,
"Take it easy you three, I was only joking. By the way, Asuna, I'm heading off, Grandpa wanted to see me"
Asuna let out a sigh in relief, but quickly turned it into one of annoyance, "Is it about 'you know what' again?"
"Maybe, but I'll see you all later"
And like that, she had her shoes on and was out the door.
As the three of them waved her off, Negi turned to Asuna for some kind of clarification of the situation, "what's 'you know what'?"
Asuna simply waved off his question, "Nothing. But boy did Konoka come out of nowhere"
"Yeah, Thought my secret was out for sure"
Thane nodded his head sagely at the two of them, "yeah, I was afraid I was going to have to snap her neck to keep it from getting out…"
When he turned to look at the other two, he saw the annoyance that was on their faces yet again,
"Jeez! I was only kidding! You two just can not take a joke from me today!"
The both of them simply shook their head at him, leaving him feeling slightly annoyed at them both until they went back in the room.
However, on the very opposite side of the door, one girl had her hand's over her mouth for silence and the another with a cup to the door for better listening.
Fuka looked over to her sister, a wide grin invading her lower face,
"You hear all that?"
Fumika nodded her head, her own grin hidden behind her mouth,
"I heard"
"This is gonna be so big… tee he he he he he…"
However, where Fuka expected to hear laughter from her twin, she instead felt a tugging on her sleeve; forcing her to stop her mischief making laugh and see what the copy wanted,
"What Fumika?"
The twin bun girl was facing forward with her other hand pointed out into the hall, her mouth open and making unintelligible noises,
"aw-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa"
Fuka, very confused at this point, turned her head and stared into two dead set blue eyes that would have been making that noise that indicates that your staring but since this doesn't happen in real life, It won't be put in.
"Eh… AGH!-!-! Thane-sensei!-!"
Thane stared down at the other two while slowly closing the door in an almost threatening manner, "It's not nice to eavesdrop you know… how much did you two hear?"
Fuka, being the one who knew how to BS her way out most situations, quickly took the lead and tried to cover up their actions,
"We were-"
Fumika, who was not so adapt at said situations, spilled her guts before he sister could even get a word in,
"Something about Negi-sensei coming to Japan to find a partner!"
The Older copy glared at her sister with a look that said, 'you numb skull!'
"I see…"
Thane stared the both of them down for a moment, as if to contemplate how best to deal with this situation. After a few more seconds of nervous fidgeting and long staring, Thane let out a sigh,
"Well… it's not that big a deal to me, but this might come back to be a bigger problem than necessary later on, so I would like it if you two forgot what you heard. So, forgive me Fuka and Fumika, But I'm gonna need to do something to you now"
Before Thane could actually do anything, Fuka quickly turned to her sister and gave her a nod
"Quick! Initiate escape plane P!"
Fumika on the other hand, didn't look so thrilled to use that one,
"Does it have to be P? I don't like P… it's Embarrassing…"
"Do you want to get out of this alive or not!?"
Thane had to blink at that one, "Uhhh… I'm not gonna kill ya…"
His words went unnoticed.
"Oh… fine! But you owe me a new pair!"
Before Thane could even ask what in the world they were on about, the two twins moved in a blur, in the next thing he knew, there was something blocking his field of vision via being placed on his face.
The first thing he noticed was the lack of sight.
The next thing was the item on his face.
It was warm, and very soft.
He quickly pulled it off his face and grabbed it between both his hands.
It took him a moment, but he quickly recognized it to be a pair of white and orange stripped panties.
That took his brain a second to process.
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
Before the rhetorical question went unanswered into the silence, Thane quickly noticed that the two twins where running down the halls, Fuka sprinting, and Fumika half running, half skipping while trying to keep her skirt down with both hands.
Fuka turned around and stuck her tongue out at him,
"Ha ha! Plan P was a success! Remember to use that for when you Ma-"
"Fuka!"
"-ate tonight you Lolicon!"
Thane's face quickly went red from both the vulgarity she just used and the fact that she just implied that He relived himself with the thoughts of little girls
"YOU LITTLE HALF PINT! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE SO I CAN SMACK YOU AROUND!AND I AM NOT A LOLICON DAMMIT!"
Before he could take off after them to complete his threat, his brain quickly went through a scenario,
'wait…chase after two girls that appear to not have hit puberty yet with a pair of panties in my hands while they run away from me will more than likely put me on a one way trip to the slammer…'
Thane nodded his head at the twin's tactics,
"Touché… well played Fuka... well played…"
Thane watched as they disappeared around the corner, allowing him to bring his attention to the pair of panties in his hands.
From what he could feel, they were still kinda warm, and from that, he could differ that they had belonged to Fumika, mostly because she had been the one running kinda funny. Thane tried to ignore the images that where going in his head of the fact that she was now running down the halls with only her plaid skirt to cover her lower body and started to stretch them a little bit,
"Now what the hell do I do with this?"
with no answer forthcoming, Thane simply shrugged his shoulders and put them in his pocket, going back to the problem with the twins.
'well… they only heard the little bit about the partner stuff, So I guess it won't be much of a problem… no use in chasing them anyway… Guess I'll hang out with Asuna and Negi then'
And with That thought done, Thane turned around and went back in the room, not knowing the true horror that would be unleashed form his negligence in less than 15 minutes.
Xx 15 minutes later xX
Thane was walking beside Negi, the young welsh boy carrying his staff in both of his hands as he felt a long sigh blow from his lips,
"Man… that was a close one…"
Thane nodded his head in agreement, "yeah, no joke, the way that those girls just pop out of nowhere when you least want them to makes me think that some of them aren't exactly human"
"I think you might be exaggerating it a little, but I can agree with you… good thing she didn't find out either, else I would be busted in more ways than one…"
Thane looked over to his right at the younger boy, some slight curiosity on his features, "How do you mean?"
"Oh, just my grandfather said that if anybody ever found out about my magic, he swore he would be the one to enact the mages punishment on me himself"
The shiver of fear that ran through his spine simply further increased Thane's interest, "and what's the mages punishment?"
Negi looked back up at the older male in slight confusion before he remembered Thane's true origins,
"Oh… right, you're not from around here. Well, if a mage is ever found out, he normally gets placed in temporary confinement and gets turned into an Ermin…but that makes me think, what about your world Thane-san? What happens to mages who get found out in your world?"
Thane could only tilt his eyebrow upward in some amusement, "Nothing, magic isn't kept a secret in my world. Anybody and everybody can use the convenience of magic when the need arises"
Negi blinked a few times in some wonder at that, "really? How do you prevent all the misunderstandings?"
"Ha! I can tell you one thing right now Negi. Estoria is far too rich in magic for people to have any kind of misunderstanding with others; we have spells and other devices that can tell what spell and where it was used if necessary. But our History, unlike yours, has had magic worked into its very foundations. Even the earliest texts from the age from beyond recorder Estorian History state that the old tribes had been using magic to fight battles and heal the sick. So in all honesty, I was very very surprised when I had heard that Magic was kept a secret in this world. I actually got a little angry at first… needless to say, it was a big culture shock"
Negi could understand that. From what he could tell, for Thane, it was like being taken out of a civilized country and being thrown back into the middle ages,
"I can't imagine how you could cope with it…"
Thane smiled down at the boy and ruffled his head, "easy, I cope because you would get in big trouble if I didn't. Can't break my promise to see you through your trials now can I?"
Negi smiled a little at The older youths duty bound spirit, feeling a just a little more motivated into his own work, pumping his fists in renewed vigor,
"Right! I can't let things like partners and other such stuff keep me from my Goal! I'll focus more on my duties as a teacher and worry about finding a partner at a later date!"
Thane raised his own hand in the air at the youth's enthusiasm for his work,
"Right!"
The two males nodded their heads in unison, feeling that they may have bonded in a working spirit.
"NEGI-SENSEI!"
Both males stopped there bonding session long enough for the both of them to turn around. And what greeted them was something they were not expecting,
"Please make me your princess Negi-sensei!"
"No! Me! Make your partner Prince Negi!"
Both Thane and Negi felt there jaws drop from the stamped of girls coming at them both,
"Waaaaaaaaah!?"
"OMG WTF!?"
They had booth tried to escape from the large amount of female bodies, but they had very little time to do it in and had been caught unaware, so they really didn't get very far before they had been cornered into a telephone pole and quickly being pestered with questions,
"You said you're looking for a partner right!?"
"Is that a girlfriend!? Fiancé?!"
"When's the royal ball you two?"
"How the heck should we know!?"
"Is it true you're a prince Negi-sensei!?"
"That staff is like an imperial scepter right!?"
"Thane-sensei is really your royal advisor right!?"
"Make me your princess!"
Thane, having had enough of not knowing what was going on, quickly started to pull his hair out,
"What the hell are you all on about!?"
That got them nowhere.
However, Thane did see two familiar faces in the crowd and instantly knew where all this mess came from,
'Fuka and Fumika… I should have hogtied them when I had the chance!'
"Thane-san! What are we going to do!?"
Unfortunately, Thane did not have an immediate answer to Negi's question, as he was also busy trying to formulate a plan on getting out of there. His answer came to him when he reached into his pocket for some answer and found it there.
Perhaps going for the oldest trick in the book might not have served well when dealing with love crazed girls and their fantasies, but unexpected things tend to leave even the most delirious people in momentary shock.
Thane quickly pulled the item out of his pocket and threw it at the faces of class 2-A,
"LOOK! A Distraction!"
it might not have worked if it hadn't been such an unusual item.
Thane had thrown Fumika's Orange striped panties into the faces of all the girls, leaving nearly everybody momentarily stunned.
Everybody except Thane and Negi that is,
"HAUL ASS NEGI BOY!-!-!"
The two of them quickly took off from a gap that was open on their left and ran like their lives depended on it.
The rest of the girls shook themselves out of the oddity of the situation and noticed the two males getting away,
"Runaway prince and magistrate! After them!"
Thane looked behind him and shouted out at them,
"Couldn't you have been distracted for another two seconds at least!?"
"Wah! This is bad!"
Thane quickly turned his attention front and center and kept pace with the young welsh boy
"You're telling me!"
The girls watched as the both of them quickly rounded the next corner like trained racecar drivers and disappear. The girls simply gave chase and rounded the corner, expecting to see the two males running,
"Prince Negi!"
However, they were surprised when they didn't see either of them back there.
"They're gone!"
"Where did they go?!"
"Search for them!"
As they spread out to look for them on the ground, the two males where looking down from Negi's staff, Negi ridding While Thane was hanging off the tail end with his right hand,
"By the nine, how the heck did this happen!?"
Negi quickly took off in another direction, trying to get as far away from the girls as possible,
"I don't know, but this thing has taken on a life of its own! It's out of control!"
"You ain't kidding! We need a hide out for a while… oh and Negi? Thanks for the save, and sorry about the jumpy start"
The welsh boy looked behind him and nodded his head at the hanging youth,
"No problem, it was all you could do to keep up"
The both of them looked out into the far reaching Campus of Mahora, trying to find someplace that they could use for refuge,
"What about the shopping district?"
Thane shook his head at the suggestion, "No way, they know it better than we do, they would corner us in ten minutes flat"
Negi looked out and then saw one place that he hoped would work, "Ah! What about the school then? It should be empty until the semester starts back tomorrow!"
Thane nodded his head at the idea, the simple brilliance of it leaving him in awe,
"You're a genius! Nobody in their right mind would go to school on the holidays! Well… except for us crazy runaways but that's not the point"
Negi quickly flew his staff in the general direction of the school, only taking a few short minutes to get there.
As soon as they were close enough to it, Negi started to lower their altitude until the both of them could safely jump from the staff without injury.
"Phew… should be safe here…"
"Eh!?"
The sudden sound of surprise caused both males to turn their attention forward and into the school.
From what Thane could see, she was very pretty, dressed up in a bright blue Kimono with white lilies etched into the blue and a pale pink sash keeping it from opening up, her chocolate hair was held in place by two red needle ribbons that gave her a good look,
"You guy's surprised me! Where did you come from?"
Both Thane and Negi for a second time that day had their mouths open in shock.
Negi's thoughts on this subject?
'Oh great! Now I've done it! I've shown my magic to a complete stranger!-!'
Thane's thoughts?
'HOLY FLIPPEN BBQ!-! WE ARE SO BUSTED!-!-!'
Thankfully, Negi had the presence of mind to try to come up with an excuse for the supposed wingless flight,
"I-I have no idea who you are, but you should know that there's a circus in town!"
Thane, also pretty desperate, tried to help out by throwing his own ideas into the mix, "Yeah! The Dragon circus! Very popular! For pets and children of all ages!"
"Guys! Guys it's me!"
Her words, however, went unnoticed by the duo,
"We're acrobats! It was all an act! Wire work ya know!?"
Thane also started to flap his arms as quickly as Negi,
"Where the famous twin acrobats of the circus, the Heji brothers! I'm the pretty one by the way"
'might as well as score some points with this chick'
However, much to their surprise, The girl started to talk in a Kyoto accent, unlike in her proper lady like manner of speech moments before,
"It's me you two! Me!"
The two males stopped for a second, suddenly recognizing the voice for who it was,
"Huh?"
"What? You sound like…"
They looked her up and down a few times before recognition kicked in,
"Konoka-san!"
The girl smiled at them both as she nodded her head,
"Right! Where did you two come from? You just appeared out of nowhere and surprised me! Oh… and Acrobats? Sh'right!"
Negi let out a sigh of relief and started to wave his arms around in an animated fashion,
"So you didn't see… great! Nice Kimono by the way!"
Thane nodded his head in agreement,
"Yeah! Very pretty looking!"
Konoka simply nodded her head at the both of them, the praise received and noted,
"Thanks you guys, but what are you two doing here?"
"Well you see…"
"The thing is…"
Before the both of them could even begin to explain the situation, the sound of several pairs of feet where heard behind them.
At first, Thane thought the girls had already found them, but the sound of several deep male voices removed that fear.
"Konoka-sama!"
"Where did you go Konoka-sama?"
An unlady like "Crap!" escaped from Konoka's mouth as she heard the voices while Thane and Negi simply where confused,
"Who the heck are they?"
Konoka, for her part, grabbed the both of their hands and took off with them in tow,
"Run now! Explain later! Short version? I'm being chased!"
"Actually…"
"So are we! Now let's book it!"
Much to the surprise of Negi and Konoka, Thane picked the both of them up from around the waist and took off up the stairs. After a few more minutes of running, they eventually managed to make their way to the class room where Thane spotted a confused Sayo sitting in her seat.
Thane placed the both of them down and looked out behind him, making sure that they weren't followed,
"alright you two, stay here while I go make sure they didn't follow us ok?"
Negi and Konoka simply nodded their heads at him.
Thane turned around, but not before making eye contact with Sayo and motioned for her to follow. The ghost girl got the message and followed behind Thane, eager for contact and to know what was going on.
After they went down the hallway a good distance, Thane stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to Sayo.
"Hey there Sayo-chan, how have you been?"
The ghost girl nodded her head at him, "Oh… pretty alright I guess… just kinda lonely is all… I haven't had anybody to talk to all of spring break after all…"
She wasn't intending for it, but those words where driving a steak through the heart of the pale youth.
"Oh… I… see… sorry about that… I… didn't mean to ignore you for the week…"
Sayo looked over at her teacher, simply smiling at him, "It's alright Sensei, I know you tend to be very busy"
Thane felt his heart start to die a little more on the inside.
'I haven't been that busy at all… she's too kind to a fault… it's killing me here…'
Thane reached out and took her little finger in his hand, a smile coming from his face and a little surprise coming from hers, "well… I still feel a little guilty about leaving you alone for all of spring break. Tell you what, I still have something to do this afternoon, but I would really like it if you accompanied me for the rest of the day, so what do you say?"
The ghost girl blinked in surprise for a few seconds before a small sheen of silver covered her cheeks in embarrassment.
Sayo started to fidget in the air before she gave her reply,
"S-sure! I would like that!"
Thane smiled at her broadly before he nodded his head once, "alright then, let's first make sure that we weren't followed."
Sayo, not sure what he was talking about, simply followed him as he turned around. The both of them walked around the halls of the school in silence, Thane making sure that nobody was there while Sayo simply tagged along with him. However, all that time taken to ensure they hadn't been followed was all for naught as they came back to the state of a very messy classroom filled to the brim with the girls of 2-A and several of the men who were talking with Konoka.
So Thane and Sayo did the smart thing and got out of there before anybody could notice them.
After making their way out of the school building without being seen, Thane and The ghost stood out in front of the gate, the both of them rather quiet. Thane finally had enough of the silence and simply spoke out,
"So Sayo, I know I said that I don't have to be anywhere for a while, but do you perhaps want to go anywhere in particular? I'm kinda drawing up a blank here"
Sayo, for her part, simply shook her head at him, "Um… I don't really mind what we do… but, if it's not too much trouble… perhaps we could simply… walk with each other? Around campus I mean?"
Thane titled his head this way and that until he finally nodded his head once at the idea, "Sounds grand! Well then Sayo-chan…"
Thane held his arm out for her, a gentlemanly smile on his face, "Shall we walk then Oh lady Pale?"
Sayo blushed again with a girly smile on her face and took his arm gleefully; savoring the contact she could get from him.
The two simply walked like that for several hours, the both of them finding simple pleasure in walking and talking. Thane, for his part, would tell Sayo little stories about his past few days during spring break, indulging her with other little details when she asked question.
Sayo for her part would tell Thane about all the funny little things she had seen on campus over the years.
However, it had started to Dawn on Thane that he had yet to tell Sayo his secret of being from another world. This in turn made him start to think about Sayo and if she was keeping any of her own secrets.
Namely any about her own death.
He remembered her saying things along the lines that she had said that his eyes had looked familiar. Thane still had no idea what that even meant or why since he had never seen her before, but he started to figure that he should find out.
"Hey Sayo-chan, can we sit down for a second? My legs are starting to get tired"
The ghost girl blinked a few times before she remembered that Thane was still physical and needed to rest, "Oh! Of course! Sorry about that"
Thane waved her concern away, simply opting to sit down on the closest park bench, but he also took some effort to go out of the way of most other places so he could take the time to talk with Sayo, he did have a lot to ask after all.
The both of them sat on the iron bench, Sayo enjoying the time she spent with Thane while the Male simply looked out into the sky while leaning against the bench. This went on for a few more minutes before any interaction was initiated, mostly by Thane,
"Sayo-chan…"
"Yes sensei?"
Thane noticed the sweet expectancy she had. He couldn't help but smile on the inside, her behavior was always so sweet, even after being alone for so long,
"I have a question for you… but… I'm not sure how I should go about asking it"
Sayo felt puzzled by Thane's sudden change in tone, it was unsure, and somewhat hesitant.
"Alright, feel free to ask me any questions you might have Sensei; I'll answer to the best of my ability!"
Thane moved his lower lip in thought, his questions forming in his mind.
"Well… You've been dead for sixty years right? And you know I'm not that old correct?"
Sayo nodded her head, not exactly sure what he was getting at.
"Well… you said on the first day we met that to you… my eyes where familiar… But I'm not that old and… I'm not from around here. Why did you say that?"
The ghost girl blinked a few times before she turned her attention to the sky, her thoughts running through her head. There was silence between the two of them for a little while, the air buzzing with the energy of spring.
Sayo breathed out a few times before she shook her head, "I'm…not sure Sensei. Your eyes just seem very… memorable to me for some reason…like something one tries very hard to remember but it continues to elude them for the longest time."
"A long forgotten memory you mean?"
"Yeah! Like that! But… why are you asking?"
Thane was silent for a few more minutes before he let his words slip from his mouth, "Because, I think that it might have something to do with the way you died"
The silence that followed was almost as loud as the buzzing insects.
Very much so.
Thane was afraid that he may have just stepped on a land mine, but if the question was already asked, he may as well as continue,
"I know that it may be something of a hard memory for you Sayo-chan, but I would like it if you told me about your death"
Thane looked over at her, noticing her eyes where hidden and a sinking feeling growing in his gut
'I may have gone too far with that'
After a few more seconds of the Ghost not saying anything, Thane felt like that her should perhaps abandon this line of thought for another time, "Um… listen, maybe-"
Before he could finish his thought, Sayo spoke up, and he shut up faster than he thought possible
"Sensei… I would like to… really, I would… but"
Thane felt his gut clench, he could never handle the faces of hurt people. It always made him feel very very guilty. However, when he looked over at Sayo, he had been expecting a sad or even a pained face. Instead, she looked rather sheepish,
"I… don't exactly remember my death… he he… sorry"
There was another silence, this time in Thane taking a moment to register what he just heard
"Oh… well then… That Kinda makes my question moot then doesn't it"
Sayo simply giggle again, "A little bit… but why are you curious about it all of a sudden?"
"Oh… mostly because of the thing about my eyes really, I was just curious is all"
Sayo simply shook her head at him, "That's alright, but to be honest Sensei, I don't even remember my death. I just found myself like this one day, and for the past sixty years, I've just been alone, or I was until you came along"
Thane felt himself blush from her bright smile and tried to distract himself by scratching his neck
"I see… well, I guess, since you don't know, we really don't need to sit around anymore then do we? How about we go ahead and head on to the next destination shall we?"
Sayo agreed quickly, just happy to experience more warmth from his touch again.
However, Thane's thoughts where on Sayo and her odd predicament,
'so she doesn't remember then… this is going to take some work then, but not right now, for the time being, I'll simply let it be…'
Xx Several hours later xX
Thane looked out into the woods with some slight worry on his face, "Ya know… the few times that I have been here, I've always had a guide… Not that I'm saying I'll get lost or anything! I just don't want to… you know; go down the wrong path or anything!"
Sayo, for her part, simply tilted her head innocently, "Why would you go down the wrong Path? It's a straight road to Eva-san's cottage."
"Well… animal paths ya know!? Little bunny trails and deer trails tend to build up over time and create divergences that will lead souls like me astray!"
Sayo wasn't sure, but in her ears, that sounded like a flimsy excuse to say that he gets lost easily.
She wasn't going to point it out however,
"Alright… would it be better if I took the lead?"
Thane could only shrug his shoulders in a bad attempt to cover his relief, "If you feel like it, I wouldn't mind"
Sayo giggled inwardly, she knew he was lying, but again, she wouldn't call him out on it.
Everybody had there quarks after all.
The both of them made their way into the forested area, Sayo leading Thane while the Youth simply followed behind quietly. In less than twenty minutes flat (A feat that would have been impossible by himself) the very edge of Eva's cottage made itself visible.
Thane stopped for a moment and pulled out a bag of books and notes he kept with him.
Sayo noticed that the Title said something along the lines of
:Seal research for Eva:
Sayo would have paid it more attention, but the fact that he opened the book before she could read anymore hindered that little thought
"Alright Sayo-chan. I'm going to go ahead and head on. I think it might be best if you went ahead and head for home. It's starting to get late"
Sayo felt her mouth turn in a downward direction, "Really? Do I have to?"
Thane chuckled a little to himself before he responded, "Well… you don't have to, but it's going to be dark before I get done here. Are you sure you want that?"
Sayo felt her ghostly spine tingle a little from the prospect, "Oh… um… well… I guess if I have to…"
Thane felt a pang of guilt run through his body from the dejected look on her face and started to stroke the top of her head in an attempt to remove it, "I know we didn't hang out that often this Break, But I promise that I will come and hangout with you tomorrow. Thankfully, the new term starts tomorrow, so lot's more chances to see you!"
Sayo wasn't entirely convinced, but he had never broken a promise to her yet, so she nodded her head,
"Alright Sensei. I hope to see you tomorrow, be safe and Take care"
Thane waved at the ghost as she floated away, a smile on his face as she did. After she did vanish from sight, Thane took a deep breath and turned to face the cabin,
"Alright then… let's get this show on the road…"
Thane took only a few seconds to get to the top of the steps and in front of the door. He quickly rapped his knuckles on the wooden door, the resounding knock of flesh on wood sounding awfully dim.
For a few minutes, he simply stood there and waited for Chachamaru to open the door (He knew That Eva was the type to never do it herself) but after a few minutes of this, he decided that nobody was coming and tried to open the door himself.
Much to his surprise, it gave away easily.
From what he could gather, it was unlocked.
He quickly peeked inside, and the moment he did, he regretted it.
Sitting on the couch that he had tumbled over last night was Evangeline. But that wasn't the odd thing. The whole reason he instantly regretted opening the door was that she had apparently been playing some games of some sort, this indicated by the controller in her hand and the open bag of apple crisps on her side.
But that wasn't the odd part.
The odd part was that she was lying on the couch, stark naked and seemingly not having a care in the world, or that's what he guessed her reaction had been moments before.
Her current reaction was one of surprise, which quickly melted into an embarrassed fury
"WHAT THE HELL!? You ever heard of knocking you idiot!?"
Faster than he thought possible from a sealed vampire, she was already on her feet and had almost glided across the floor at impossible speeds, slamming the door in his face and sending him flying into the dirt behind him.
Thane shot back up, his face red form both embarrassment and pain. He quickly started to rub his stinging nose, hoping that it wasn't broken or fractured in anyway.
By the time the door was flung open with a fully clothed Eva standing there, Glaring at him, he had already managed to get back up and had his stuff sorted and straightened out again.
The both of them simply stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Thane attempted some conversation,
"Um… hi… Eva-san… Sorry about that, I uh… was coming over to show you the… results of my work from yesterday… and I thought you uh…might want to see?"
She was still glaring at him, her obvious exposure still the more important thing on her mind, but, even she couldn't deny the man for long, not when he might have a way to break her seal.
A simple huff was his answer and she made her way back inside, leaving the door open in invitation.
Thane hesitantly made his way inside, not sure if the short vampire was going to simply tear his head off the moment he made it inside.
Thankfully, that wasn't what happened, but the vampire still wasn't happy with him, something that was made very apparent when he saw her sitting at the table, still glaring at him.
Thane quickly made his way over, not wanting to anger the vampire any further than necessary.
"So uh… I haven't made much progress in the actual release of the seal itself…"
He noticed the twitch in her eyes, and quickly started to make his point,
"But! I have been looking into the process of the seal itself, I'm still unaware of what the second component is that was used, but another method has made itself known to me. I came here hoping that my research might be more fruitful if you looked over it? Check and see if you agree with the ideas. You are a resident of this world, and you might notice any flaws in my theories…"
He left the implication in the air, something That Eva did indeed notice. Despite the rude intro to her evening, McDowell felt some slight elation at what he was suggesting,
"So… if what you are telling me is correct, you may have found another way. A loop hole of sorts?"
Thane pulled out all the notes and diagrams he had on the subject along with a few books,
"In theory. But, that's what I'm here to prove. If the theory is true or not"
Eva looked at all the papers he had, somewhat confused by the amount he had in comparison to yesterday.
"Why so little this time around?"
Thane stopped for a second, her bad mood still playing itself in his mind.
"well… I… kinda needed a quiet place to work. I haven't gotten that much done today, plus, as I said, I might need your help if I run into anything That Might need some cross referencing. I would hope that all your years alive would have given you a library like knowledge of what I'm working with"
The Mage started to stroke her chin, but eventually stopped and turned her head to the game she was still playing.
"Fine, work here if you want, and I'll help you if necessary. But if you bug me anymore than necessary, I'll make you regret it"
Thane nodded his head in confirmation, watching as she got back up and went right back to playing her game. Thane watched her play for a little bit, the small moving characters on the TV screen only looking somewhat interesting. From what he could see, it was a war game of sorts. A Real time strategy if what Yuna said was true. But since it had nothing to do with Eva's seal, he quickly ignored it and started his work.
It was defiantly a long going process, that much could be said about it.
The both of them where like this for at least four hours, Thane only stopping long enough to get something to drink, or to ask Evangeline a question. To Thane, all this research and cross referencing was somewhat fun in his opinion. He hardly got to do this while he was here, and he would be just plain stupid if he didn't take the chance to study up on new magic's.
Eva, for her part, would simply play her game. This one map had been giving her trouble, and she was finally starting to conquer it. Only stopping to give Thane an answer to his question, or to get up and stretch her legs for a little bit.
After another hour or so, Thane simply had to stop for a moment,
"Now let's see here…"
He pulled two blank pieces of paper up side by side and extracted a pencil from his bag, "If this one is the usual seal…"
He sketched out a large circle with all the arcane ruins he remembered from the Eva's seal.
He then placed the other piece of paper on top of it, adding more stuff, "And if this is what I think it's going to be…"
he quickly jotted out several more things, running his hand over his drawing a few times as if to better imprint it on his mind,
"Then… it might look more like this perhaps?"
He pulled out another blank sheet of paper and sketched a crude drawing of the two together, but he quickly scowled at it and shook his head,
"If I wanted to blow up a chipmunk maybe…."
He placed it down on the table and started to erase all the marks, but leaving the circle unchanged.
"No… but maybe…"
He quickly started to write again, but stopped when his own mind reached the conclusion before his hands did.
"Crap… won't work… ugh… why does this have to be so hard…"
Thane placed his head on top of the table, right next to the paper and blew on it rather loudly
"This isn't going as well as I had hoped…"
Thane sat there, staring into the Kitchen with as much attention as one of the students from class, which wasn't a lot and blew on the paper again, this time sending it airborne with the other one.
He watched them flutter to back onto the table, the bottom one slightly shifting under the breeze of the other two, leaving them all obtuse on top of each other. He looked at them, feeling somewhat dejected, or he did.
Until he looked at them more closely.
He slowly got back up, a confused expression on his face as he stared at them intently, "wait a minute… no… but… could it work?"
Thane stared for a moment longer before he hesitantly grabbed the first sheet, folding it into a triangle shape and leaving only about a quarter of the circle on paper, he then did the same for the other two pieces of paper, placing them all together and staring down at the result.
It took his brain a moment to realize it, but then it hit him square in the face, "Like half and half… only use a part so as not to have the same formula… That's it!-!-!"
Thane grabbed a brand new piece of paper out from his page and quickly started to sketch out the whole of the circle, making many notes as he put it to paper.
After what had to have been forty minutes of doing this, making a few corrections to the notes and the seal itself, Thane finally was staring down at the work, a triumphant smile on his face
"I still don't know what the second element is, but this is the counter! This is the loop hole! Ha ha! Suck on that!"
Thane quickly ran over to where Eva was, excitement in his steps as he did, "Eva-san! Eva-san! I figured it out! It's-"
However, when he rounded the couch, he found the small girl sitting there hunched over, her face hidden behind her long blond hair.
Thane went quiet for a moment before he titled his head in confusion at her.
"Eva-san?"
It was then that he started to notice a noise from the television, turning his attention to it. From what he could see, all the little blue guys (Her units) where getting killed off in a spectacular manner by all the red guys. (The AI)
Thane blinked in confusion a few times before he turned his attention back to her, "hey… Eva"
He knelt down and pointed to the screen "hey, all your little buddies are getting killed off you know"
He examined her for a second longer before he noticed something about her face. Her eyes where closed and her chest was raising and falling in a steady rhythm and her face was rather peaceful.
Thane blinked a few times in wonder before he felt himself smile.
"Out like a light…"
'Aw… she looks kinda cute like this, ya know… for a vampire I mean'
the sound of another of the units dying at the hands of an armored Samurai forced Thane to look at it. Eva's members where dwindling, and fast. So instead of letting the man slaughter continue, he looked back down at the controller in her hand, reaching out for it and to figure out which button did what,
"well… I suppose I should pause it… but how do you do that? Is it this one? Eh? No… that did nothing… um maybe… gah, no not that one either… Maybe I should just take it from her"
He had been finding it hard to move her fingers out of the way, and the fact that he didn't know which of these old buttons was the pause for this game was annoying, so he opted to try to take the controller from her.
However, whether it be from her latent strength or her desire to simply hold on, Eva simply would not let go.
Thane actually tried to tug it from her in his frustration, but, in doing so, caused the girl to fall over and into his chest,
"whoa!"
He quickly caught her; else she would have kept falling and hit the floor. And the last thing he needed was an even angrier Evangeline.
But in doing so, he put himself in somewhat of a compromising situation. As far as he could tell, Chachamaru had gone out somewhere; he hadn't bothered to ask Eva, so that left him alone with her. That was a good thing, else The god's only know what kind of conclusions the Girl would have jumped to.
But she was close, waaaaaaaaaaaaay to close for his liking.
Her head was just right under his chin and he had both his arms wrapped around her small frame. Doing the first thing that came to mind, he slowly flipped her around, making her back lean against his chest and tried to gently rouse her by shaking,
"H-hey… wake up Eva… all your little guys are dying, plus, I have something to tell you"
He found the lack of volume in his voice to be somewhat worrying. He gently pushed his finger against her cheek, hoping that that would wake her up, but he very quickly became distracted by the feeling of her blond locks on his fingers.
They had been so very soft.
She had obviously spent a great deal of time making it nice, and the only other person he could remember who went to such lengths with their hair was his child, Levi.
Almost unconsciously, he started to run his fingers through her hair, feeling the soft texture as he gently glided it across his fingertips.
He was starting to feel strangely warm in his face, and he felt that he might not be getting as much air to his lungs as he should have.
But that wasn't on his mind, the only thing he could currently see was the golden hair in front of him
'it… it feels so much like Levi's… I wonder…'
he slowly, very very slowly brought his face closer to the top of her head, feeling his breath start to quicken at the next thought
'I wonder… if it smells like it to…'
He gently let his face become immersed in her hair, the gentle silky feeling it generated swimming across his face like a sea of silk. He took several smalls breaths of her hair, of her scent, and felt himself start to shudder a little. She smelled strongly of a rose. Odd considering that she didn't have any.
Thane took another small sniff of her hair and started to run his fingers through her locks, wanting to touch more of it. It was at this point that a good deal of his self-control was starting to fade, and he even started to pet her head.
He quickly stopped, and even regained some of his lost senses when she made a small noise.
It was a sigh, a small and content sigh, like a child in the arms of a parent as they showered her in affection.
At this point, common sense was making an exit stage left.
He started to pat her even more, a smile starting to come over his face as he kept on, taking small smells of her hair and continuing to smother her in affection like a small doll.
It was at this point that, just as Common sense started to open the exit, Reason and Consequence decked him in the face, sending him back center stage.
Thane stopped dead cold as he suddenly remembered just who was in his arms. She may look like a ten year old girl, she may look peaceful when asleep, but in his arms was an 800 year old Vampire, one with considerable power and Ego.
'What the hell am I doing!-?-! She could kill me if she caught me doing this!-!'
Now, instead of trying to pet her like a little doll, he was considering the thing in his arms like a time bomb, ready to blow if just one thing went wrong.
Thane very cautiously removed his arms from around her small, feeling a small amount of sadness from the action.
'Now to get her off'
Sometimes, life can make things easy, or it could make things very hard; and sometimes, it just likes to screw with people.
Just as Thane was about to try to pick up the diminutive Vampire, he felt her shift on his body, somewhat turning and gripping onto his jacket like a child.
Thane felt his eye twitch. He quickly examined her over a few times, trying to find a way to get her off without rousing her now, but from what he could see, it was doomed to fail.
'Ph-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ck…'
He stared down at her with as much terrified annoyance as possible, but it quickly started to melt away when he saw the sleeping face of what in his eyes looked like a little girl.
'I'm going to so die… and you know what? If I'm going to die, then I'm going to enjoy every moment of my last few hours, or minutes, of my life!'
With a determination not seen in only the most diehard of people, Thane got back to cuddling the little girl in his arms.
If he was going to die, he was going to die happy!
However, the girl didn't wake up, and Thane started to feel sleep start to overcome him from being so warm.
It went like this for a few more minutes before Thane was fast asleep with the girl in his arms.
Xx sometime later (an hour) xX
Heavy.
Eva felt something of a pressure on her upper body, shifting her from a totally asleep status, to a half awake one.
"Ugh… wah…"
she opened her eyes in a bleary fashion, the world looking a lot like when she's had one to many sips of sake.
She blinked her eyes, trying to get both her sight back and to try to think a little more coherently. After a few more seconds, she started to take in a little more of the things she was feeling around her.
First, the pressure she was feeling on her upper body.
It felt a lot like a bar was there, only softer and warmer.
The second thing she noticed was the position she was feeling herself in.
She was on something soft, and sitting up from what she could feel. It was also warm, very comfortably so, so much in fact that she felt like going right back to sleep.
But that thought was quickly squashed out.
The other thing she noticed was her right hand, it felt like it was clutching something soft, a lot like a blanket.
The last thing she noticed was the thing on her head, whatever it was; it was beating a steady rhythm on the top of her head. It took her a moment, but she felt it moving her hair slightly every time it hit.
The only thing her mind was drawing was that this was an odd situation she was in, whatever it was.
'No reason to not know any longer now is there.'
She opened her eyes, the world finally coming into focus for her. The first thing she saw in her left eyes was a blue jacket; her right eye saw that she was staring out into her room while on her side.
'Ok… I guess I feel asleep…next to the couch… on a puffy warm beanbag with a jacket over it… ok, something doesn't make sense here'
Eva pushed herself away from whatever it was she was laying on, the top her head brushing against something, but she didn't pay it much mind.
What she did pay mind was the sight she saw.
Lying there, his arms around her body in a comforting manner, was the pale assistant teacher of her class fast asleep and looking content.
Her mind momentarily froze.
Something about this whole situation was very odd.
It took her mind a moment to register what it was, but it quickly sank in when it did.
This was humiliating and very embarrassing.
She felt her cheeks flush, and her body start quake in anger
"You… You!"
she was livid.
Seal or not, this guy was dead with a capital D.
Thane, for his part, was half roused from his slumber, only vaguely aware of the true danger he was in
"Huh… who's… oh… Levi… right…"
Much to the vampire's disbelief, Thane wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her close, starting to stroke her hair and whispering, "it's aight… winter's not so cold when we're together… just stay close to me and I'll keep you warm…"
Eva would have torn his head off, ripped his guts out and strewn them across her yard in bloody glee.
But the petting!
For some damned reason, it just felt so nice!
She wanted to beat him to a bloody mosaicked mass for this indignation, and yet at the same time she was starting to feel comfortable, the way his fingers just seemed to sooth her scalp with the gentle touches.
She felt her anger starting to dissipate and her mind start to lull back into a complacent sleep.
That is until the sound of someone moving out of the kitchen distracted her.
"Ah. I see that you are awake Mistress"
Eva jolted upward, throwing Thane's arms off her body,
"Chachamaru! What the hell is going on here!?"
The Gynoid simply walked over to her mistress and bowed, "I am sorry. As you know, I was on charge the whole time, but my sensors still told me that Thane Sensei had arrived, else I would have gotten the door in order to save you the embarrassment."
Eva felt her anger kick start at that.
"After you and he had your conversation, you had gone back to playing games as he continued working. I believe that at some time or another, you had fallen asleep. Most of your units are dead by the way due to that"
Eva glanced over at the TV and saw that she had indeed let a good deal of her forces die.
Damn, now she was going to have to start the level over, just another thing to add to her rage.
"At some point, Thane-sensei had apparently figured out something as he tried to rouse you from your sleep to tell you, but tried to pause your game for you, in which he was successful, but at the extent of you falling in his lap."
"I did what?"
"You fell in his lap. Weather it was from the close proximity or other such things, I am unaware. He tried at first to get you off, but eventually, I believe he gave up and simply let it stay that way, eventually falling asleep himself"
while all of this conversation had been going on, The person they had been talking about was starting to rouse from his slumber, and awake he did, only to feel that something was out of place.
"Huh… what…"
Eva glanced down at the young man she was sitting on, an evil smirk starting to quickly form on her mouth, "Oh? Finally awake are we?"
The sound, the very tone of her voice, sent a chill down his spine and he quickly was wide awake, his eyes wide as he stared at the Vampire in his lap and his face losing all of its color, or what little it had.
"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-EVA-SAN!-?-!"
The vampire moved in closer to his face, her smirk now more of a grimace, "Well now… I hope you had a good rest, and I surely hope you were comfortable with a little girl on your lap"
Eva's knuckles started to crack as she flexed her hand.
Thane knew he was dead.
Deader than dead; beyond cadaver dead.
If he could come up with a new word for it, he was pretty sure he was cadaverized and not even aware of it just yet.
So he decided to shoot himself in the foot,
"Yup, very cozy"
Eva flinched, and Chachamaru probably would have as well if she had the capability to do so.
Eva lurched forward, Causing Thane to close his eyes in fear of his impending death. He had stared down horrible abominations in his time on Estoria, but the sight of a ten year old girl terrified him more than ever before in that moment.
However, where he was expecting a hand being driven into his chest cavity and ripping out his heart and other internal organs, he instead felt two sets of hands on his face and violently tugging on his cheeks.
"Owowowowowowowowowowowowowow owowowowow!-!-! Hat urts!-!-!"
"Good you Lolicon!-! Teach you to mess with me!-! The only reason you're even breathing right this second is because Chachamaru said you may have discovered something!"
she quickly let go of his cheeks and brought her face a mere inch away from his, her eyes eager for that knowledge,
"So spit out what you found!"
Thane, for his part, was just a little too distracted by the proximity of her hair, suddenly remembering how soft it had felt in his hands. He quickly squashed that thought as he remembered that it was thinking like that that had gotten him in this mess in the first place.
"Um… yeah… I'll show you… just as soon as I'm capable of moving again…"
The Vampire was slightly confused until she realized that she was still sitting on top of him. Eva hopped off of him, taking carful measures to hop on his lower abdomen as she got up.
"Oof!"
Thane started to rub his stomach, yeah, he deserved that one.
Thane quickly got up from the floor, wanting to get out of range of the Vampires hands and feet as quickly as possible.
Eva, for her part, was happy to see the fear in his eyes as she sat at the table across from him.
Thane quickly pulled out several pieces of paper and the diagram he had made and showed it to her.
"This is how we work past the seal"
Eva, though familiar with the seal itself, wasn't sure what she was looking at. To her, it looked like he took the original seal and pretty much hashed it together with a few others she didn't recognize.
"The heck am I looking at here?"
Thane smiled at her, "Our loophole."
He pulled out another sheet of paper, this time with writing on it and handed it to her, "My botched attempt at removing your seal yesterday started to get me thinking about a few things, first and foremost, the second element. No matter how hard I tried to figure it out, it eluded me. So I abandoned any and all attempts at trying to remove the seal. But that left me with a sticky problem, if I wasn't going to try to remove the seal itself, how was I going to go about it then? Then it struck me dead in the head. We bypass all the normal methods and go for one that plays perfectly into our hands"
Eva looked up at the youth, excitement starting to grow in her gut. Thankfully, she was wise enough to keep it hidden,
"And what method plays into our hands?"
"You being a vampire"
Now Eva was confused, "Um… this seal restricts my vampiric abilities or most of them anyway. Thankfully, on nights of the full moon, I regain some of my Vampiric powers back"
Thane nodded his head, "Exactly! Now, it didn't occur to me at first, but it's thanks to that that we now have a way to get rid of your seal…"
Thane let himself stop; enjoying the dramatic pause he gave himself and wanting to revel in the glory of it for a few more seconds.
Eva, however, was far too impatient for the wait,
"well? What is it?!"
Thane's face momentarily frowned, but he let it pass, "The Caster. He or she used blood as a catalyst."
Thane felt this revelation wash over them, but the reaction he got wasn't what he was expecting
"Yes, and? Even I was aware of that"
Thane blinked a few times blankly, "You were already aware of that?"
Her stare told him the answer.
Thane simply shook his head, "Alright… I thought you might have figured it out if you knew that much… but apparently not… We use the blood of the caster to break your seal!"
She still looked confused, "I'm not sure where you're going with this"
"*Sigh* alright… allow me to explain… you are a vampire. You drink blood. Caster used his blood to seal you. You drink his blood, you become too close to an essential component of the spell for the seal to continue to work effectively and-"
Eva's eyes instantly lit up in clarity,
"The seal breaks!"
"Bingo!"
Eva was momentarily delighted at the simplicity of the method, but her memory of who cast it quickly darkened her mood,
"Wait…no… this method is impossible"
Thane blinked in shock at her sudden proclamation, "What? Why! Everything is in the work! I haven't messed up with anything!"
"No you fool! Your work is spot on, the caster; however, I know is six feet under and pushing up daises"
There was momentary silence, "Oh… shit…"
Eva shook her head, "Is there another way for this to work? Any alternatives to this spell?"
Thane bit his lower lip for a moment before he nodded his head, "Maybe… perhaps if… yes! Yes there is a way to salvage this! A relative!"
"Would that work?"
Thane quickly nodded his head, pulling out some sheets of paper and examining it, "Yes… it should, I'm about 98.9% certain that it will. But the person has to be as close in relation as possible, like a sibling or-"
"A child of the person perhaps?"
Thane Blinked a few times.
He hadn't expected that answer from her, "well… yes actually, a child might actually work better than a sibling. The closer the relation, the better."
Eva glanced at him and then out into the room, a smirk growing on her face,
"I see… that's good then"
How Ironic for her that his son just so happened to be close by, and would be just the release to this seal.
"How much would be necessary?"
Thane blinked, a most confounded "Huh?" coming from his mouth.
"How much blood would it take to release this seal?"
Thane opened his mouth for a second, about to reply before he actually thought about it, "Huh… um… well… this is just conjunction, but since the blood is about half the original, and you're going to need a lot. I'm afraid that you might need to drain the person of nearly all their blood. But that's just speculation on my part; it might break with the first drop for all I know. Magic's funny like that"
Eva nodded her head in agreement.
Magic did tend to be chaotic at times.
The both of them sat there in silence, their own thoughts racing in their minds.
They were both interrupted when Chachamaru just seemed to appear out of nowhere and placed a tray of tea on the table between them.
"You both appeared in need of some refreshments, so I took it upon myself to make some tea for you both. Green tea for you both"
Thane blinked a few times before he smiled at the ever stoic girl, "Thank you Chacha-chan; that was considerate"
The girl bowed again before she stood beside her mistress, the small vampire taking a few sips of the hot tea.
Thane, for his part, simply let it set for the moment, his thoughts elsewhere, "So… Eva-san… what's the next course of action?"
The vampire stopped sipping and glanced over at him.
The both of them staring at each other for a moment before Thane turned away in embarrassment, his earlier bout of slight insanity surfacing.
Eva simply huffed out loud, "You mean in regards to the seal? At this point in time, nothing really."
"But shouldn't we be looking to see if this guy has any siblings or children?"
"No need. I know he has a single child, and I know where to find him. Actually, at this point in time, there really isn't anything more for you to do."
Thane was mildly surprised to say the least, he hadn't been expecting her to already know all that kind of info, but didn't press for it,
"So… will you be needing my help in securing this person?"
He didn't notice it, But the vampire hesitated for a moment, not sure if he would help with this or not. But before she could start any suspicion, she quickly shook her head,
"No, that won't be necessary. Just leave the rest to me from now on."
Thane blinked a few times, not really sure what to think about that.
Eva noticed his somewhat confused expression and spoke up, "Don't think I'm just blowing you off, I'm actually very grateful for what you've done for me. It's just, this last little bit won't require your help is all"
"Soooooo… does that mean I can still come and hang out with you on a later date?"
The vampire was actually somewhat surprised at that one, "You… want to come and hang out?"
"Yeah, I feel that we might have become just a little closer is all. I guess I kinda want to see if you consider me a… friend?"
He left the question hanging for the vampire to answer.
Eva, in her long life, didn't believe that having friends was a good thing, or for that fact, very helpful.
But, she found that she couldn't just think of Thane as a simple stranger.
He had, with no reward for himself, gone and simply helped her simply because he felt like it.
But even then, she couldn't consider him a friend, the word simply made her skin crawl.
Eva pondered on it for a moment longer before an answer made itself known to her, "Not so much as friends as…associates maybe?"
Thane tilted his head, not really dejected at the avoidance, "I can agree with that"
Thane drank his tea in a single go, getting a confused look out of the Mini-vampire,
"I hate to run, but I'm already under scrutiny from my dorm mates, and I promised to be more punctual with them from now on. So, I'll catch you tomorrow in Class Eva-san. Sleep well, and call me up if you start having trouble with the seal again"
Thane grabbed the papers up off the table and put them away, waving the both of them goodbye as he left the cabin.
Eva watched the door close with a click and simply stared at it for a few long hard minutes, the dead silence of the room only being broken when Chachamaru spoke up,
"why did you not ask for his assistance Mistress? He seemed willing enough to help you"
Eva simply shook her head, "I know he's willing to help me, but I'm pretty sure he's just as willing to help out That Brat as well. I can tell right now, he's the type of guy who hates breaking promises, and I know for a fact that he intends on helping the Child teacher."
Chachamaru sent that through her data banks for a moment, the result of such an action quickly displaying itself to her,
"I see…"
Eva sipped the last of her tea and snapped her finger's, a cloak hanging from the wall floating off the peg and onto her shoulders as she stood up,
"It's a good thing I started gathering magical power 6 months back. I had only intended on teaching the boy a lesson, but now I can catch him and drain him of his blood, releasing me from this seal entirely… Come! We need just a little more power…"
Chachamaru complied with her mistress ad opened the door for her, the both of them fading into the long shadows of the late evening forest.
Xx Thane xX
The Pale youth walked lazily along the road, his thoughts on the earlier talk with Eva playing in his mind,
"Well… if she doesn't want my help for the last bit, then I won't stick my nose In it more than necessary… but it kinda makes me feel dejected in a way"
Thane simply shook his head, "No matter, as the old saying goes 'leave a giant to step on his own toes' wait…I don't think anybody knows what that means here…"
The Pale youth simply shrugged his shoulders, the walk back to the dorms rather uneventful and almost boring. Or it was, until he met someone he didn't expect to see standing outside the doors
"Oh? Hello there Madoka-san. Back from Karaoke already? I was expecting you and the others to be out till it was well past curfew"
The cheerleader turned her attention to Thane, and for the first time, he noticed something large in her arms. From the looks of it, it was a very large box, as big as her front and just barely under her eyelevel.
She shuffled the box around in order to talk better,
"Oh, hello Thane-sensei. We had intended on staying out longer, but my dad said he wanted to give me something and that he had shipped it a few days back. He told me it was going to be here today, so we came back and found this large box with the mailman."
Thane nodded his head, his curiosity starting to urge him into finding out what was in such a large box " I see…Sooooooo… know what's in the box?"
"No, not yet. I was just about to take it upstairs and open it myself. Misa and Sakurako already went ahead of me to open the door"
Thane nodded once in understanding and then came over, "want me to help you out? I can carry it for you if you like"
"really? You would? That would be nice. I'm not sure how well I would have made it up the elevator by myself"
Thane took the box from her hands, surprised at how light it was. He actually shook it a bit and only heard a rustling, "Huh… why such a big box for something so light?"
The cheerleaders' only answer was a shake of her head. The both of them made their way to the elevator, Madoka helping to Guide Thane along as he made extra sure to be careful. Thankfully, Madoka's room wasn't very far from the elevator itself and they quickly made it to the room without any kind of hassle.
Madoka took the box from his grasp, a smile of thanks on her face, "Thank you Sensei for the help, I can manage from here"
"No problem, was happy to help. I'll see you tomorrow Madoka-san"
But before he could leave, Madoka quickly stopped him, "ah! Wait Sensei! Remember those CD's I told you about? Sense your, how about I give them to you to listen to?"
"Sure, sounds cool! I'll wait right here then"
Madoka nodded her head and made her way in the room to retrieve the music.
It took a few minutes, and Thane was sure he heard someone yelling out 'he's not my boyfriend!', But Madoka came back, blushing a little and looking a little miffed
"here you are Sensei, sorry about the wait"
Thane took the CD's from her out stretched hand and nodded in thanks, "No problem, and don't worry, I'll get them back to you in one piece"
Thane noticed Misa in the back, grinning smugly, "God, already exchanging stuff with Him Madoka? Why don't you just get a room already and marry him?"
Thane didn't stick around for the ensuing argument that was going to happen. He had seen it too many times to know when to leave.
He quickly made his way back to his room, feeling as if his day had had a great deal of merit to it
'fixed that problem with Eva's seal, Got to know Madoka a little better, had an adventure In Library Island, got to see Sayo-chan after so long, and best of all, I only got lost twice today! Yup, been a good day today…'
Thane smiled as he opened the door to his room, his thoughts on how tomorrow was going to be just as good, if not better.
57,505 words... Christ almighty... My hand... she hurts...
well now all! now we are going to get into some of the serious story! some of the major turning points in the life of Negi! But what will this Do for Thane?
Next time I can get a chapter out! The Vampire Arc! Let's be there shall we?
By the way, I went back and fixed up some of the older chapters, cleaned em up a bit is all. It's not major or anything, just a smoother read.
Edit: Also, something I wanted your opinion's on! The two new characters I Introduced, Juno and Keima. What was your reaction to them? do you think they should be removed, or do you want to see where they go from here on out? Leave it in the reviews! and feel free to ask me questions about the story itself!
