Another filler chapter. Though this one dives into some more character development. Enjoy while I go fire up my hard drive for the next one.
"As you can see, the low pressure system passing through Kyoto is going to bump this storm system up over Tokyo and the surrounding areas. The north is going to be hit hard, with Uminari City taking the brunt of this system."
"We never seem to get any snow around here." Konoka moaned.
"That's because the extreme magic of the World Tree keeps the school just a few degrees above freezing." Setsuna replied.
"Well, I guess that makes it easier for the janitors." Luna commented.
The three girls were crouched down around the low coffee table in Konoka and Luna's shared room. Books and papers were scattered across the oaken surface, heaped up on the couch, and piled randomly around the girls. Konoka reached under the table and pulled out a remote control.
"Well, I guess that answered our question about the weather." She announced, clicking the TV off.
"I was kind of hoping for snow actually," Luna muttered. "I never saw it before."
"Not even when you were with Fate-kun?" Konoka asked. Setsuna made a face at Konoka's use of words.
Luna shook her head. "Fate-sama often sent Homura or Tamaki to the northern parts of the Magical World. They were better equipped to handle the climates."
Setsuna cleared her throat, hoping to stear the conversation away from topics such as the toppled crime syndicate. "Well, unfortunately Luna-chan, we don't get much snow around here, as Konoka-san said," Konoka smiled at the more familiar honorific. "At most, we would get maybe an inch or two, and that's not very often to begin with."
Both girls noticed Shiori's downcast expression. "Don't worry Luna-chan," Konoka announced. "If you really want to, Set-chan and I could take you up north once mid-terms are done. I'm sure my grandfather would gladly sponsor the trip."
"Who knows, maybe we could take the whole class." Setsuna agreed. The newest classmate looked up and smiled at them. "I'd really like that."
"Oh, but first," Konoka announced, fixing the other two with a semi-serious gaze. "We need to make Negi-kun proud and pass all of our mid-terms!"
The three girls hunkered down and continued their studying. While their tests were still some weeks away, they were committed to making their old teacher proud. Time passed seemingly unnoticed as the girls continued in their quest for knowledge. Questions were asked, notes were taken, and snacks were consumed as the minutes dragged into hours. Finally, the girls' minds began to wander. Their former razor's-edge focus had dulled to a blunted boredom. Soon, they began to converse and gossip about topics that wedged their ways into their minds, blotting out any semblance of actual learning.
"It seems weird," Setsuna began, looking up from her notebook. "Asuna-san hasn't been around recently."
"I heard from Chachamaru-chan that she's been fighting with Evangeline more often now." Konoka reported.
"I wish those two wouldn't bicker so much," Luna sighed. "It's always much easier when we all get along."
Konoka shook her head. "No, as in actual fighting, like combat." The chocolate-haired mage-in-training looked over at Asuna's empty futon.
"She's been spending more and more time in the Resort, fighting with Evangeline so much lately. Heck, Eva-chan even asked me to heal her once." Shiroi and Setsuna both gawked.
"What's wrong," Setsuna asked. "I can understand the desire to improve her combat abilities, but she is taking it too far. If she continues like this, Asuna-san will burn out."
"Burn out?" Luna asked.
"Set-chan means that, if Asuna doesn't learn how to take it easy, then she's going to work herself so hard, that she might hurt herself."
"Negi-sensei has that same problem," Setsuna sighed. "We must be thankful that Fate is no longer after him." Luna sighed as Setsuna continued in a triad against the 'work' Fate had done and its effects on Negi's mental health.
Konoka looked between her bodyguard and her classmate. "Set-chan, aren't we supposed to return these books to Library Island by midnight?" She asked, hastily changing the subject.
"Oh, you're right Konoka-san." Setsuna realized as she began to assemble the piles of books into more manageable piles.
"Luna-chan, we can handle these," Konoka announced. "You wait here and see if Asuna comes in."
Luna nodded meekly as the duo rounded up their reading material and departed. Luna drew her feet up against her chest. It wasn't her fault that Fate had been labeled a 'bad guy.' As far as he knew; as far as any of them knew, they were trying to save everyone. None of them had any idea that attempting to seal the Magical World would have such drastic repercussions on the Old World. Although, she believed that Dynamis might have known. Though why he withheld that information from Fate was an enigma.
Fate. Her entire world. He had found her not long after a group of bounty hunters had ripped through her frontier town, torching everything in their path. From what she learned after, they were after some bounties that had taken refuge in the main inn. To 'punish' those who would harbor 'criminals', they burned the entire town to ashes and murdered everyone. Except her. When she awoke the next morning, Fate was the only living thing for miles. He consoled her, wiping the charred earth clean, save for a single gravestone to serve as a monolithic marker to the slaughter that took place.
It really wasn't fair. People had demonized Fate for what he tried to do. But did they understand? Did they not see just who Fate was? He didn't know any better. Before Cosmo Entelechia's original defeat, Fate did not see anything beside his 'Primary Objective.' However, after witnessing the chaos and sorrow of the world after the battle, something changed. The girls said that was when he grew a heart. Though he did not understand love, he showed it just the same. Not once since traveling with Fate did Luna ever want for anything. Clothes, food, shelter; it was all provided. Fate even made sure each one of his girls went through school. The only reason she didn't go on to peruse higher education was Fate himself.
The girls could all see. Fate didn't take care of them to garner sympathy, or to breed his own harem of super soldiers. He did it because it was the only thing he could do. Something about the final battle with the Ala Rubra had changed him. Now, Fate saw the world through the eyes of a person, not just the golem he was originally made as. Though what made it sad, was that he did not understand the emotions she often took for granted. There were times when Luna remembered Fate sitting stock still for hours on end. When one of the girls asked him about what he was thinking, he simply told them one word.
"Negi."
Negi was what prompted Fate to make his decision. After his defeat, he left for a while to speak with the young Springfield. When he returned, there was something different. Fate seemed, human. She no longer felt that he was looking through her. Rather, his eyes held the same questioning gaze an infant had the first time it beheld its mother.
"I am leaving." He announced. "I now see that there is something different about me. About the human race. It goes beyond Cosmo Entelechia, beyond everything I once knew about man, and myself." The girls instantly asked to come with him. They didn't know anything else. However, Luna was given an option.
The girls of 3-A harbored no resentment toward her. Even the cold Mana was willing to let bygons be bygons, considering that Asuna was returned to them safely. She was offered a place in Mahora, a seat in the illustrious 3-A, and a place in the Ala Alba. Fate didn't mind that she was basically siding with their former enemies. Some of her former 'sisters' did not seem to take her choice to heart, but considering that Fate approved of her decision, they relented. Now, Fate and his minstra were globetrotting. During his time in Cosmo Entelechia, Fate had established a large cache of international currency, along with a wide number of safe houses in dozens of major cities around the world. Luna knew that he would not let his girls go hungry or cold during his quest of self-discovery.
The front door banged open with a thunderous crash. Luna whipped her head around to find Asuna, standing in the doorway like a monolithic statue. She paused for a moment before stepping out of her shoes and into the room proper. Luna could tell that something was wrong. From what she could tell, Asuna's skin was pocket marked with cuts and bruises, many of which were still in the process of healing. Her hair was a ruffled mess; with one of her signature ponytails notably half a foot shorter and she seemed to be walking with a slight limp. Without so much as a 'hello', Asuna grabbed her usual pile of pajamas and began to strip.
It really was quite frightening. From the little time Luna had spent with Asuna, she learned that the fiery red-head was normally a talkative bundle of energy. But ever since the New Year, she had gone from melancholic to downright depressive. The only other person that Luna had seen such, emotional neutrality in was Fate. That thought chilled her to her core. Fate didn't know what emotion was. He was a puppet, a construct created to carry out orders. The idea that a real person like Asuna, who lived through so much, had been reduced to a shell of her former self seemed to make the room's temperature drop several degrees.
"Good evening Asuna-san." Luna greeted as the girl threw her sweat-soaked exercise shirt across the room. Asuna didn't reply. "How was your training?" Again, there seemed to be no discernable response. Luna gulped, deciding to take a different approach.
"I'm sure Negi-san would be proud of you," she told her. "I know he works hard, but I guess he would be happy that you're applying yourself to something." Asuna's knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on her sleep shirt. It was the most emotion any of them had gotten from her in weeks. "I mean, Negi-san trained so hard to protect everyone he cares for, I'm sure he'd be glad to see someone else doing the same."
"That idiot." Luna couldn't help but smile to herself at Asuna's muttered curse.
"Excuse me Asuna-san?"
"That fucking idiot," Asuna repeated, this time with volume. "Just who the hell does he think he is?"
"I don't know what you mean?"
"You know damn well what I mean," Asuna rounded on her, shouting at the top of her lungs. "That pea-brained child just walked out on me. Walked out on us. He doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself. No letter, no phone call, he didn't even wake me up before he left."
Luna gulped, realizing that she now faced the full assault of Asuna's fury. "I'm sure he had –"
"Don't gimmie that bullshit," she shouted again. "He didn't have any reason to just abandon us. He's just a stupid child who doesn't know a damn thing about the real world."
Asuna's voice began to crack. "Do you have any idea what I'd do to have people like us when I was his age?" Luna saw tears well up in the corners of Asuna's eyes. "Do you know what it was like to see every other girl in the class get picked up by loving, caring parents? Do you know how hard it was being alone, when everyone else had someone? Negi wasn't the only one who had nightmares!" Asuna fell to her knees, crying bitterly. "He's just a kid."
Luna couldn't help but swallow a burning lump of guilt. She didn't know Asuna felt this, deeply, about Negi. Sure she was his aunt, but no one could have guessed that Negi's original partner could be so, maternal.
"He can't even take care of himself. And he won't let anyone do it for him. So how in the hell is he supposed to have a good explanation!" Luna knelt down and wrapped her arms around the crying princess.
"I'm sorry Asuna-san," she whispered. "I didn't know you were so upset." She winced as
Asuna's arms wrapped her up in a bone-cracking embrace. "He was the first real family I knew. I know I said a lot of things in the past, but I never meant any of them."
"You know the old saying," Luna sighed. "You only hurt the ones you love."
Asuna hiccupped and buried her face into Luna's shoulder.
"We were worried about you too," Luna continued stroking Asuna's back in an attempt to calm her. "You've been acting so, so dead to the world that you were staring to scare us. Chisame said that if you were a computer, you'd have a Blue Screen of Death, or whatever that means."
Asuna sniffed and pulled away from Luna. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just, this is the first time I've ever had feelings like this." She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand.
Luna smiled. "You don't need to apologize for anything Asuna-san."
Asuna finally stood back up and picked up her discarded sleep shirt. "I guess I've still got a lot of growing up to do too, huh?"
Luna couldn't help but nod. "No one is ever finished growing up."
"That sounds like something Yue-chan would say."
"Well, she has been helping me study."
"Yue-chan," Asuna asked. "As in Baka-Black Yue-cha?" Luna paused, realizing just how silly it actually sounded. "Well that's certainly the blind leading the blind."
"Well, she does spend more time quoting Confucius and Aristotle than learning English."
"I'm really not surprised.
The two girls shared their first real laugh ever since Negi flew the coop on them. It was the most refreshing sensation Asuna ever had. It helped her swallow her pride, and ask Luna something important.
"Umm, Luna-chan," she began. She could feel the heat begin to blossom across her face. "Look, I know I've been acting like a real jerk lately, but there's something I've been meaning to ask." "What is it?" Asuna coughed rather loudly before continuing. "Well, I wouldn't ask Konoka, considering what Setsuna's like, and since Negi's not around…"
"Asuna-san?"
"Can you please sleep with me tonight?"
"Oh, Asuna-san," Luna stammered as a deep scarlet blush blossomed across her face. "I, I don't know. It's so sudden. We haven't known each other for that long."
"Not like that," Asuna shouted. "I mean."
"You want me to sleep in your futon like Negi-san did?"
Asuna looked up at Luna. "Then why the hell did you,"
"I wanted to see if you'd smile." Luna remarked.
()()()
"Did we really need to take the long way around Konoka-san?" Setsuna asked as the two made their way back into the dorm.
"I didn't want to see Asuna-san when she came in," Konoka confessed as she pulled off her shoes. "I know it's sad, but I want to know what's really wrong with her before I try to help." The two girls entered the dorm proper, surprised to find the light off. Konoka looked up toward the futons, and put a finger to her lips. Stealthily, Setsuna slunk over to Asuna's bunk and peered into the mounds of blankets currently dominating its surface.
A smile crept its way to Setsuna's face. Nestled deep under the covers were Luna and Asuna. The red-head had her arms wrapped around her, with her face nestled up against Luna's neck. The blonde had one arm draped around Asuna, while the other rested gently on Asuna's hands. Setsuna gazed fondly at the scene laid out for her one last time before she came down off the bunks. "Set-chan, what is it?" Konoka whispered. "It looks like Luna-chan has already beaten you to the punch, Konoka-san." Konoka pouted. "I wanted to surprise Asuna-chan with a super-big surprise party with a cake shaped like Negi-kun's head." "Isn't that something the Iincho would do?"
Konoka looked over at her bodyguard and smiled. "It doesn't matter now," she replied, moving toward her dresser. "As long as Asuna-chan is happy, then we can all be happy."
Now, as far as my chapters go, its high time for another Omake. This one is dedicated to everyone on the All Purpose Negima Fanfiction Thread on TV . We made our own account, check it out, we're called Ala Iridia, and we're awesome.
OMAKE:
Screw it...
No Limit: "So we're all in agreement, Kono-Set is the official pairing?"
Iniquitus The Third: "Well, that's ONE debate out of the way."
SCM: "And now we get to the fun part."
Anemoi: "I still say Ayaka and Asuna are doin' it nasty-style."
Over Master: "No way. That Chisame girl is defiantly the run-around of the group."
Chisame Hasegawa looked blankly at the chat room she hacked. Ever since Haruna had mentioned her role as a summon golem pimp, she had been wary of exactly who she was pimping. After getting her website back up, she had been stalking the internet, searching for some trace of Haruna's devilry.
Unfortunately, she found it.
Iniquitus The Third: "So guys, I'm working on that Ala Alba crossover with the new Magical Girl show."
Over Master: "Oh not that one."
SCM: "Here we go again."
Anemoi: "THAT FUCKING RODENT THING NEEDS TO SUCK A DICK AND DIE! HE NEEDS TO BE BOILED IN OIL, SHOT UP WITH PLATYPUS VENOM, THEN SHOT, HUNG, SHOT AGAIN, AND FUCKING BURNED."
Japanese Teeth: "Jeeze Annie, what's up with you?"
Anemoi: "The name's not 'Annie.'"
Over Master: "If you keep acting like that, I'm gonna hack your account and change it to that."
It was frightening. She never imagined that their exploits would have that much of an impact. I mean, she knew Haruna mentioned a manga deal with some dude named Akamatsu, but that wasn't scheduled to go through for another few months. This. This was just…
NOT RIGHT!
Japanese Teeth: "Anemoi, don't you have anything better to do than bashing QB again?"
Anemoi: "Well, I have been thinking about a new crossover."
Iniquitus The Third: "Please share. God knows we need it."
Anemoi: Well, you guys know about that new My Little Pony show?"
Over Master: "Wait, you mean Friendship is Magic?"
SCM: "How in god's name were you planning on doing that?"
Anemoi: "That's what I've been trying to figure out."
Japanese Teeth: "That might actually work better than you'd imagine."
Sereg: "What makes you say that?"
Japanese Teeth: "Considering it's an all-female cast, and that one of them dresses up as a Wild West Prostitute once."
SCM: "Wait, are you saying…"
Iniquitus The Third: "Hooker ponies."
Anemoi: "Yes, they exist."
No Limit: "…Screw it."
SCM: "Limit, DO IT!"
No Limit: "Chisame tenderly caressed Twilight Sparkle's face as she took her from behind."
Sereg: "And the Screw It meme strikes again."
"I don't think that's anatomically correct."
Of course. In her moment of utter revulsion, of course she gets her own Greek Chorus.
"I don't see how you can 'take someone from behind' without the proper male anatomy." Satomi announced.
"Perhaps the meme is insinuating that Chisame-san is using some form of device in order to properly penetrate the miniature horse."
Something inside Chisame just died.
Satome and Chachamaru peered over Chisame's shoulders at the flat screen desktop. "Chisame-san, what is this?"
"It appears to be a chat room of some kind," Chachamaru announced. "Though it seems to be having an adverse effect on her."
"What kind of effect?"
Chachamaru held a hand to Chisame's brow. "Elevated body temperature, her heart rate is accelerating, and she is perspiring much more than normally. I believe she is embarrassed by something."
"Chisame, I know I don't go on the internet that much, but what's got you so upset?"
Part of her wanted to ignore the query. Part of her wanted to shut off the monitor and suppress this for the rest of her life. But Satomi asking her unleashed the floodgate. Chisame threw her arms in the air and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"THEY'RE WRITING FANFICTION OF US!"
I have been DYING to write this. Just so you know, the 'New magical girl show' is called Puella Magi Madoka Magica and I've got a real problem with it. And yes, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is FUCKING AWESOME. Everyone should go watch it RIGHT NOW
What are you doing? You think I've got something else to say? I just told you to go watch the ponies.
Still here? You really want me to say something else?
Ok
The game.