"ABC" - Indicates speech.
"ABC" - Indicates thoughts and feelings.
"ABC" - Indicates shouting or major announcements.
"ABC" - Indicates spoken English.
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Chiu! Diary of a Lonely Girl
A Negima Fanfiction story by RobDaZombie
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Chapter 10
(…♥…)
The sun peeking above the horizon was the makings of a beautiful Sunday morning. The sky was painted in contrasts of pink and orange, and the birds in the trees sung joyously together. For one girl however, she didn't have the luxury for such idle distractions. She had a paper round to be getting on with.
Her long dextrous legs sprinted all around the town, making sure the rolled up newspapers matched the correct addresses from each letterbox. From experience, Asuna knew every route from back to front, and her delivery success was always perfect.
The athletic girl dressed herself exactly the same way every morning. She wore a thick red tracksuit with a hooded top, making her hands and face the only visible features. Strapped across from shoulder to back was her large brown newspaper sack, with the weight of it slowly decreasing with each successful delivery. Whereas most delivery boys and girls rode a bicycle or a scooter, she simply enjoyed her legs kicking the pavement with every stride she took. Actually the real reason was she didn't know how to ride either of them, but decided she needed the extra exercise anyway.
With relief, the girl let out a lingering gasp as soon as the paper dropped inside the final house.
(…♥…)
The shop door swung widely open.
The ringing sounds from her bell ribbons caused the shopkeeper's head to rise. He was in his late twenties, medium build and had thick long black hair that resulted in a ponytail on the end. The shop was essentially his life, devoting himself to make the customers satisfied.
"Asuna-chan! Finished already?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
"Yep… all… done." Asuna replied between breaths.
As the shopkeeper was about to open the till to hand over Asuna's wages, his phone rang. "Hello…? Oh hi… …your son can't make it? Well… yeah… okay… no, it's no problem. Thanks for letting me know."
He placed the phone down, looking at the pile of papers yet to be delivered. Though he was very understanding, he couldn't conceal the disappointed look on his face.
"No problem! I'll sort this lot out!" Asuna grinned, showing a thumbs up. Already she had her rucksack filled with a fresh batch of papers.
"Wait are you sure?"
The shopkeeper simply couldn't believe anyone could ever be so generous.
"Sure I'm sure! See ya later!" Asuna waved, speeding off with a renewed burst of energy.
All he could do was watch in amazement.
"That girl is one in a million."
(…♥…)
After a night's worth of rest, Negi yawned and rubbed his eyes before shuffling his way towards the end of the lower bunk. Fortunately, thanks to Konoka's care and patience, his swollen cheek had lowered considerably, now resembling just a small red mark. He stretched as much as his petit body could handle, before gently wiggling the tips of his fingers. Though he looked adorable in his pyjamas, his hair looked like somebody ruffled it with a rake. Negi shivered slightly when his bare feet touched the solid cold floor.
A delightful aroma of fried breakfast filled the air. Slowly getting himself ready, Negi nearly floated towards the kitchen, where a vision of beauty masterly prepared a pair of eggs on a large frying pan.
"Morning Negi-sensei!" Konoka beamed with the most beautiful eye smile ever seen. Negi nearly blushed at the yellow apron she wore that read 'Kiss the Cook' on the front, with the dot on the 'i' resembling a cute red heart.
"Morning… Konoka-san." Negi slowly replied, still yawning as he stood over the cooking equipment.
Marvelling at the food, Negi walked for a few seconds before sitting delicately on the couch. He offered more than once to help Konoka with anything, but she politely declined.
On a large stool a few metres away was a rather old fashioned fifteen inch television. It used to belong to the dean himself, but he had no need of such devices, so generously offered it to her granddaughter instead.
Negi casually flipped through the channels, experiencing the very essence of Japanese entertainment. Watching the cartoons nearly caused his eyes to malfunction thanks to all the bright colours and flashing lights, so he decided to watch the news instead.
"This is the Sunday update. Tragic news hits Mahora Town. A cloaked man believed to be in his eighties was promptly escorted to hospital last night. He died only two hours ago. So far the man's identity is unknown…"
Negi opened in mouth in shock. For such news reaching his ears was nothing sort of unnerving, although his reaction was nothing compared to Konoka's. Without thinking, her frying pan fell off from her grasp, making a loud clanging sound as it made contact with the floor. Both hands were covering her mouth.
"I… I… I only saw him last night." She whimpered, now sitting adjacent to Negi. "He looked so cold… …why didn't I do anything?"
Her final few words were little more than squeaks of emotion. Negi instinctively put one arm around her, not knowing how to consol another, but trying his best nonetheless. Not before long the two of them gently wrapped themselves around each other, Konoka's tears fell gracefully into Negi's clothes.
"I'm sorry Konoka-san." Negi whispered, trying to soothe his words in a way Konoka did last night.
"It's not your fault Negi-sensei…" Konoka gently replied.
"But… I'm still sorry…"
The dark haired girl slowly looked up to Negi's level. They were so close that their hearts nearly melted into one. Ever so softly, Konoka traced her hand through his face. For Negi, it was a ticklish yet somewhat wondrous feeling, especially for someone so young.
"Konoka-san… what are you doing?"
"I… don't know…"
"You're… close…"
"Mmm-hmm…"
"Um…"
"…"
"I'M BACK!" Asuna yelled as she blasted through the door with rigorous force. Taking three massive strides, Asuna leapt backwards into the centre of the couch, sandwiching herself between Konoka and Negi. "Right! What's on telly… crap, crap… crap… crap… … crap… crap…"
Remote control in hand, Asuna cycled through the entire channel listing five times before she realised the silence around her. She didn't need a thermometer to notice the temperature had increased considerably. Like a spy, Asuna shifted her eyes left and right, catching glimpses of her ever so quiet roommates.
"Say… you're faces look awfully red." Asuna wondered, pausing her channel surfing for the time being. "Anything… happen when I was away…?"
Instantly, Negi and Konoka tightly closed their eyes, shaking their heads in unison.
"Okaaay." Asuna thought to herself.
The door opened again and this time it was Ayaka, who made her usual flowery entrance, along with her roommates Natsumi and Chizuru.
"Good morning everyone, mind if we watch Roses Delight on telly?" Ayaka asked. She then stared in Negi's direction, which transformed her eyes into big shiny crystalline orbs.
Negi managed a nervous smile.
"NEGI-SENSEI!" She spoke, a little too overjoyed for comfort. Her hands were now holding Negi's, not daring to let go for a second. "Negi-sensei! Your lesson on Friday was most inspiring! I've done all your homework, and I've done extra work on top of that as well! And I finished all the projects… you know… the ones that were supposed to be completed for next month, but I enjoyed it so much I decided to finish before everyone else!"
Negi was completely lost for words.
Suddenly the cheerleader trio burst into the scene. Even though it was a Sunday, they were still wearing their cheerleader outfit, complete with brightly coloured pompoms and everything. It was rumoured one time that they actually go to sleep with these outfits on.
"Hey everyone! Hey Negi-sensei!" They all shouted at once, waving their pompoms around in crazy random formations. "We wanna watch Beverly Hills 90702.5!"
However, one cheerleader in particular looked at Negi with some concern. Whilst all the other girls (except Asuna) were naturally excited to see the boy teacher, Shiina took on a more sophisticated role, a characteristic very unlike her.
"Hey Negi-sensei… um… how is Chisame-chan doing?" She asked, making the other two cheerleaders narrow their eyes in confusion.
Amongst the commotion, Asuna's eyes shifted a little towards Negi's direction.
"Oh… Chisame-san… Chisame-san just wants to have some time to herself." Negi replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Figures. All that girl ever wants is privacy." Misa added, and Madoka simply nodded. Although Shiina let the conversation finish, she still didn't feel Negi's answer was a satisfactory one.
Two minutes passed by and Asuna's room had not only consisted of the cheerleaders, Ayaka, Chizuru and Natsumi, but now over twenty other girls as well.
If it wasn't obvious by now, this was the only room that consisted of a television set.
"Oh! I hope I've got enough food for everyone." Konoka said to herself, rushing to prepare multiple sets of sandwiches and other snacks. "Oh no! I forgot about sensei's eggs!"
Eight girls crammed themselves in the couch whilst the remainder hovered behind them.
"Come on! The gymnastics semis will be on in five minutes!" Makie argued.
"We wanna see Yu-gi-oh!" Complained the twins.
"Um… um… um um um umumum…" Nodoka stuttered, embarrassed that she was squeezed next to Negi to the point where she was nearly sitting on top of him. This could have been the result of Haruna's rather forceful shoulder barges.
"Come on Nodoka-chan! Don't be shy! Get real close!" Haruna grinned with a mad possessed look in her eyes.
"…" said Yue, drinking a small carton of liquorice and prune juice.
"How about Pokémon? I hear today's episode Misty faces a really powerful water trainer." Akira suggested.
Everyone looked at Akira.
"Never mind."
"Hey we're watching Roses Delight!" Ayaka complained. "I was here first y'know!"
"Well… we were second!" Madoka shot back, somewhat lamely.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Natsumi stated the obvious.
"Hey! The twenty four hour cooking show is on!" Yotsuba stated.
"Well duh! Probably because it's on, like, twenty four hours a day?" Misa rolled her eyes.
"OH NO! WE'RE OUT OF CHEESE!" Konoka screamed, dashing around with her hands pressed on her face.
The commotion could last forever…
(…♥…)
Outside the sky was a rather dull grey colour, darkening as the clouds prepared to unleash the heavens below them. Soon afterwards a drizzle, followed by a downpour rained loudly onto the roof of the academy. Despite the promising morning, it looked as though today was a day to stay indoors.
During the late afternoon, Konoka, Asuna and Negi were finally left in their own room again, possibly due to Asuna completely losing it and telling everyone to leave in a rather ungraceful manner.
"…come on Asuna-san! You have your book project tomorrow! You have to focus and read! And read! And focus!" Negi repeatedly reminded the tomboy, waving his pen around like a composer.
Konoka giggled. "Teehee! Sensei seems to be motivated today!"
"Probably because he had Nodoka's butt on his lap most of the morning…" Asuna grumbled under her book.
"Huh? Oh… haha! Anyway! Asuna-san let's see how your reading has come along." Negi continued, trying to erase that awkward memory in his head.
Tired but willing, Asuna grudgingly complied, flipping over to the required pages. The text book contained shortened versions of many well known stories. The one Asuna was currently trying to read was about a young man named David and a menacing giant known as Goliath…
"The ker…k-ker…"
"King." Negi corrected.
"The king d…dr…"
"Dressed."
"Dressed. The king dressed Da… Da…"
"David."
"David… David… Konoka! Stop looking at me like that! Ahem… the king dr… dressed David in… battle? Battle armour… and har… ha…"
"Handed."
"Handed him a ser-wer… sah…wah…ord…"
"Sword."
"Sword. Handed… him a sword."
(…♥…)
"…and so the mighty Goliath crashed to the ground, his head bleeding pr… profusely from the sudden impact of the hurled stone. Finally and without re-remorse, David unsheathed Goliath's sword and slain the giant. He stood victorious."
Still standing by her desk, Asuna fell silent, as did every other student in the class. With one hand pressed gently on his cheek, Negi found himself gazing on the one and only empty seat. Although Chisame preferred to be ignored, without her the whole room felt more… empty, like she was a missing piece of a puzzle.
It was evident that Negi's mind was completely occupied since Asuna's spoken English were almost on par with some of the higher ranked students. Compared to a few weeks ago, when she couldn't tell the difference between nouns and adverbs, this was a vast improvement.
"Negi? I've finished." Asuna softly added.
Hearing her voice, the numbness of Negi's arm almost gave way, nearly causing him to fall flat on his face.
"Heh sorry, sorry..." Negi laughed nervously, focusing back to reality. "(ahem) and the morale of that story is no matter how large or small you are, anyone is capable of overcoming even the toughest of challenges… thank you Asuna-san. That was… that was good."
Asuna promptly sat down.
"Good?" She thought as she crossed her arms. "Good?! He was all over excited at my progress last night. What's with him?"
Drumming her fingers on the desk, Asuna instinctively turned around.
"No way… don't tell me he is still upset about her?"
As soon as Konoka finished her reading, Negi cleared his throat before asking the next girl. He decided to select each girl randomly.
"Let's see… who wants to go next?" Negi asked himself. "How about… you Chisame-san?"
Confused whispers echoed throughout the classroom. Upon a second of realisation, Negi's throat became extremely dry.
(…♥…)
By the time the lessons finished, Asuna simply had enough. She felt she was too easy going with Chisame two days ago, but to remain in isolation from everyone else was just too much for the orange haired girl to take.
Again and again, Asuna banged on Chisame's door as loudly as her fists could bare. Her relentlessness caused Konoka, Negi and many of her other classmates to approach the hallway, all of them looking on in a deeply concerned way. There was also a brief moment of Negi pleading Asuna to stop, but she wasn't going to have any of it. Asuna didn't care if Chisame was sick or otherwise. In her eyes she needed to be punished, or at the very least, have an explanation ready.
Slow footsteps approached the angry girl. Only Asuna was unaware that Takamichi had arrived at the scene.
All of a sudden, Asuna felt shivers down her spine. The strong but gentle hand of her former teacher softly placed itself on her shoulder and stayed there for quite some time. Asuna froze for a few seconds before turning around to stare at the calm and collected face of the man she knew all too well. His sleepy eyes, the misplaced stubble and that warm smile. Even though she remembered every fine detail, Asuna was still unprepared to see him this close. One look at him was enough to turn Asuna's face into cooked beetroot.
He never said a word, but Takamichi's body language was enough to know that he was in charge of the situation. Asuna gulped and took a wide step backwards. Instinctively, so did everyone else.
With the palm of his hand, Takamichi pushed the door with considerable force, instantly breaking the locks on the other side.
Naturally the girls were in a complete state of shock. Negi tried to assure his class that everything was going to be alright, but deep down he was worried sick.
Takamichi and the others were only greeted by the wind drafting through the open window, obviously suggesting Chisame's sudden disappearance. With the exception of her rucksack, everything was cast to one side, as if nothing else mattered to her.
Takamichi turned around to face Negi. He was never one to lose his composure, but this time his eyes had the look that commanded absolute attention.
"Negi. Tell your students to go back in their rooms. I will inform the dean at once."