Chapter 10
A/N: Finally, another chapter! This chapter, in my opinion was the most difficult to write so far. Adding on to it was the start of college education. Well, hope you enjoy this chapter! Hope to hear from you!
It was still late at night, he knew. Though his eyes were closed, he knew. Could be the trace sense of sleepiness that lingered or the feeling that it was too early to wake up, he just knew.
But what bothered him was the feeling that something was amiss. He only felt this edgy when he was lost in the dense Amazon when he had to keep alert at all times just to avoid being attacked and eaten. Right now, this survival instinct must have roused him. Though he may be just being paranoid, it was better to err on the safe side. Not wanting to startle his assailant, he cracked open his eyes slowly, accessing the situation. It did not take long to confirm his suspicions: At the side of his bed, slightly illuminated from the street lights outside his window stood Mrs Chidori, looking down at him.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she started, with a disarming smile on her face.
He waited for her to continue, but she just stood there, arms at her side, watching him. He did not question how she got into his room; after all she was the dormitory manager so he kept his composure, putting on his glasses while sliding back to sit up on his bed, his back to the wall, and asked her calmly, "Erm, may I help you?"
She watched him for what felt like an eternity, "You saw it, didn't you?" her words were calm, more like a statement than a question.
He did not have the faintest clue what she was talking about, "What did I see?" and the next thing he knew, he was looking into the dark void that is the barrel of a pistol.
"This." She spoke firmly, her hand as steady as a surgeon holding a scalpel, "Why were you snooping? Who sent you here?"
"I have no idea what are you talking about." His heart was at his throat.
"Uso da!" The pistol was now pressed onto his forehead. Adrenaline coursed through his body, preparing for fight or flight as he considered his options. His back was to the wall, the left was the window, and at his foot were the sofa and table that leaves his right where Mrs Chidori was. He may have to fight his way out of this. He will need a distraction and remembered his faithful staff near the door. He silently used a spell to move it till it was off balanced and made enough noise to cause Mrs Chidori to look away for a second that was when he took his chance.
He swept his right arm to push the pistol outward, away from him, only to miss when Mrs Chidori was quick to lift it up slightly and aimed the gun back at him. He quickly swept with his left arm and missed again. Left with no choice, he casted a disarmament spell before she could take aim again and this time, pistol flew off her hand but Mrs Chidori took out her trump card; with a swift and fluid motion, her left hand held a knife at his throat. She had bested him in hand to hand combat.
There was a pause, "Forget about this. If you were here to get me, you would have attacked by now." She said, the knife still held at his throat, "If you know what's good for you, you will not mention this to anyone."
She holstered her weapons and turned to walk towards the door. "One more thing, you should try to keep your magic less flashy and more subtle." She smiled at him, a hand on the door knob, "It'll be a pity if you were turned into an ermine, won't it?" She twisted the knob. "Time to wake up, Mr. Springfield."
Negi sat up in bed. If that was a dream, it seemed so real, he could still feel the pressure exerted by the knife blade on his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, the door was slightly ajar and he caught a glimpse of a bushy while tail rounding around the corner.
"Hey Kawashima-kun, seems like Negi-kun is a real ladies man," started a senior teacher with a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee, referring to the events that happened a few days ago.
"And Makino-san have taken an interest in him," Kawashima sensei replied, taking a sip of coffee. "Poor guy," he muttered.
"Hmm, but maybe she'll be different this time round. They seem to get along well."
Kawashima sensei was not convinced. "I think it's just Makino-san being friendly. Besides, Negi do not seem to return her actions."
"Neither did he outright refuse her right? Oh, hey Domyoji-san, back for some weekend work?" Rui shrugged a common gesture for 'it's a living'. "Yeh, our workload had increased from long ago. Gone were the days of plain exercise books to mark. Now with those computers, why did they have to introduce this 'E-learning' doohickey? Anyway, we were talking about a possible office romance."
Rui raised an eyebrow, feigned a little interest, "Really? What's the pairing?"
"Don't listen to him, he's just being mental." Kawashima waved it off, "We were just saying Makino-san has taken a liking to Negi. Well I don't know about you guys but Negi doesn't seem to respond to those advances."
"Ha, I haven't seen anyone that could resist Makino-san charms… or, do you think maybe he swings for the other side?" There was a pause as a mental image of Negi winking seductively at them seemed ever so wrong and they agreed with a collective 'nah'.
"Yes well, either way, it's good to see both of them get along with each other well; Ah, the joy of youth."
"Stop making your self sound so old!" Kawashima good naturedly yelled at the retreating teacher before turning to Rui, "Speaking of Negi, where is he?"
"He left early, saying about having something on tonight." Rui replied while preparing a cup of coffee.
"Oh yeh, 'Sing! Mahora'…That reminds me, I have to finish my work if I want to catch the concert. Excuse me, see you later."
If the both of them do get along well, maybe Negi can help me, Rui mused while returning to his seat, warm coffee mug in hand, but the question is: how to bring up this subject to Negi?
Yakumo fidgeted nervously as she waited for her teacher to arrive. She was getting restless and her pulse was quick. She wondered why felt this way when it was just a simple outing with her teacher; though she could just picture Sekai in her mind insisting "It's a date! A DATE!" Sekai had been very supportive when she first found out about Yakumo's feelings. In fact, the class rep had picked the clothes, helped with the make up and even got her the tickets for them for the show; all these were "in the name of happiness" as Sekai had put it. She would admit to herself that she felt something about the young charismatic teacher but she had to clarify something that Sekai mentioned while preparing for the night:
"Hey, Yakumo, I heard from Kasumi that Negi-sensei was with a brunette last week in the church," Sekai started while she softly brushed Yakumo's hair, "she said that girl was his childhood friend, but apparently, they were happily playing in the rain in the afternoon." Yakumo sucked in a breath, not knowing whether it was from that piece of information or that the brush had encountered a knot. Sekai continued "Maybe they are just childhood friends and nothing more, but kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?" She placed the brush down, appreciating her handiwork through the mirror while bringing her lips near the librarian's ear, "I just want you to know that you may have some competition."
Yakumo felt herself warmed at what Sekai was implying but did not immediately deny it. Instead, she absent-mindedly gazed at her reflection. If what Sekai said was true, the logical choice will be to back off and silently watch her teacher from afar. However, she had to know, she will speak with him before making that decision. "Great, let me know then." Sekai said, grinning widely after hearing the reply from Yakumo.
Yakumo checked her watch; it's still early by a few minutes. She then glanced around to where Sekai was. Mixed into the crowd so that Negi could not see her, the class rep was happily enjoying an ice cream cone, throwing an encouraging grin at her the moment. Sekai had been a great help setting this night out with her teacher. Well, the least she could do is to find out some information about the mysterious girl with Negi-sensei.
"Hey there little girl, are you all alone?" Yakumo bristled a moment from the slur tinted voice behind her and turned around to face a pair of slightly inebriated men. The night had barely started and these young men were already drunk, she felt inwardly appalled by their behaviour. When she did not respond soon enough, the one who spoke smirked, reaching out to grab her arm while the other licked his lips hungrily, "Ah, that's good, you can keep us company tonight..."
The concourse was a crowd of excitement as Negi walked through the excited mass of people waiting for their friends. Looking around, there were fans were dressed to support their respective singers and the most prominent was Noto Mamiko with a huge banner held by a group of fans. His eyes not on the path he was walking, he inevitably bumped into someone on the phone. "Oh, sorry," was his immediate response. Hearing the same words muttered at the same time from the other party in a familiar voice, he was surprised to find Nodoka clutching onto her mobile, her glasses slightly askew.
"Negi!" Her eyes widened while adjusting her glasses, "I'm terribly sorry. I should have seen where I'm going, hold on," she picked up her phone again, "Hello? Yes, I'm still here...I had just bumped into a friend...alright; I understand...I'm counting on you. I'll be there soon...see you later." She turned to Negi, "my apologies, Negi-kun, the preparation for the concert is making me distracted."
"It's quite alright Nodoka-san; I know that the library is involved with this event. Everything seems very well organised so far. What was the library in charge of?"
Nodoka smiled, "We're in charge of the main programme ever since the first time this was held." Negi could detect a little hint of pride in her voice. "Actually, the first year it almost failed to impress. Fortunately, we managed to turn the act around to succeed that the main organisers were so impressed that we are asked year after year to do the main programme. Now in our third year, we will try to maintain the standards."
"Well, judging by the amount of excitement I'm feeling right now, I think it will be a great success with the bands playing and the singing talents," he nodded towards the Noto Mamiko banner, "I'm really looking forward to her performance, talented and beautiful...a great combination." He jested to fit the excited atmosphere.
Nodoka coloured slightly, "I hope that she will deliver too." At that moment, a man in a black cap wearing a matching 'stage crew' shirt had approached from behind and excused himself to speak with her; Negi assumed that it was about the concert. "Sorry, Negi-kun, I have to go now, hope you'll enjoy the show!" She flashed him another smile and followed the man towards the backstage entrance.
A little later, Negi found Yakumo waiting at their meeting place near the entrance. He appraised her attire while greeting her with a smile. She was dressed in a stylish tee shirt and jeans and seemed a little distracted with the surrounding people taking cautious glances at her. "Good evening sensei. I...I had just arrived here myself." She lied. "I think the concert is about to start. Shall we go in now?" She had not waited for his answer before grabbing onto his hand and leading him into the hall. Negi found it endearing that she was blushing under the eyes of the people around her and appreciated the fact that they had cleared a way for then to pass into the hall.
A short distance away, Sekai allowed herself a satisfied smirk; everything was going smoothly. She popped the last bit of the ice cream cone in her mouth and tossed her ice cream wrapper into a nearby dumpster where one of the drunken men from earlier, now unconscious, was thrown into. Perhaps it was too bad for him for his ignorance; despite Yakumo's slim build and gentle appearance, he should not have provoked a third Dan karate master... though Yakumo could have saved him the humiliation of unwittingly getting thrown into a bin.
The performance hall was a huge amphitheatre with a well lit double tiered stage filled with excitement as music was played over blaring speakers, some as big as a man, bringing up the hype as the audience prepared themselves for a night of fun. The last time Negi experienced such an atmosphere was during the Mahora Festival eight years ago when his old student Ako was performing and it was just as electrifying. Just as that night, the area near the stage was beginning to be packed with the early birds to get the best view of the concert. From their position, the stage seemed too far away and Negi could not help but notice the slightly disappointed look on his companion trying hard to suppress.
'Let's not let this ruin the evening,' He said to her, "Let's get closer, follow me."
They shouldered their way through the crowd, slipping through the gaps of different fan groups as they waved their banners proudly and shouting at the top of their lungs. "Sen...Sensei!" Yakumo called out from behind him.
Negi looked back and found her separated from him by a small crowd. Reacting instinctively, Negi reached through the crowd and offered his hand, "Yakumo-san,"
"Eh?" Yakumo blinked a few times before her eyes softened and took hold of it, all the while blushing.
With the experience of moving through the dense fervour during his visit to the many festivals he had been to, Negi made his way to the front of the groups holding firmly on Yakumo's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze before entering a difficult portion, pulling her closer when she returned one of her own.
In the end they managed to get a pair of the seats near the stage, just short of front row but still gave a great view of the stage when the music was lowered down for the emcee to start the concert.
The bands successively came up to perform one at time to put up their performance which were pretty good (except for some which Negi suspected experienced a bad case of stage fright as they shouted into the microphone) while the emcee was supportive and enthusiastic, keeping the audience lively and ensuring a smooth transition between each performance. Even the initially shy Yakumo was starting to lighten up and started cheering.
Suddenly, the stage lights were turned off, and the audience screamed, light sticks waving in the air like coloured floating lights on a vigorous sea. A single spot light was shone on a lone figure on stage. She was dressed in a stylish rock costume grasping an electric guitar in her hands with her hair flowed down to her shoulders and even though she wore a pair of cool sunglasses, the person was unmistakeable as the crowd went wild at the appearance of the esteemed Noto Mamiko. In a smooth, suave move, she reached up and removed her glasses, sliding it into her pocket, extricating a fresh round of excited cheers. She paused for a moment, taking in a breath before speaking into the microphone, "Mina-san! Iku yo!" The stage lit into life and the music started.
It was a fast paced piece and he thoroughly liked it.
Kawaita kokoro de kakenukeru
Gomen ne nani mo dekinakute
Itami o wakachiau koto sae
Anata wa yurushite kurenai
Muku ni ikiru tame ni furimukazu
Senaka mukete Satte shimau
on the lonely rail
Watashi tsuite iku yo
Donna tsurai sekai no yami no naka de sae
Kitto anata wa kagayaite
Koeru mirai no hate
Yowasa yue ni tamashii kowasarenu you ni
my way kasanaru yo
Ima futari ni God bless…
During the instrumental portion, the band played expertly, not missing a beat during the bridge as the spot light on them intensified. The speed of the lead guitarist was amazing with his fingers danced through the frets as the bass maintained the rhythm.
Todokete atsuku naru omoi wa
Genjitsu tokashite samayou
Aitai kimochi ni riyuu wa nai
Anata e afuredasu Lovin' you
Semete utsukushii yume dake o
Egakinagara Oikakeyou
for your lonely heart
Yamete uso wa anata rashikunai yo
Me o mite kore kara no koto o hanasou
Watashi kakugoshiteru
Kurai mirai datte
Tsuyoku natte unmei kaerareru kamo ne
my wish kanaetai no ni
Subete wa God knows…
Anata ga ite Watashi ga ite
Hoka no hito wa kiete shimatta
Awai yume no utsukushisa o egakinagara
Kizuato nazoru
Dakara watashi tsuite iku yo
Donna tsurai sekai no yami no naka de sae
Kitto anata wa kagayaite
Koeru mirai no hate
Yowasa yue ni tamashii kowasarenu you ni
my way kasanaru yo
Ima futari ni God bless…
The audience went wild when the music ended, cheering loudly and slowly but steadily unanimously singing the chorus of the song in a harmoniously chaotic fashion before ending with a great round of applause and cheers.
"That was a good performance, Yakumo-san. Thank you for inviting me." They left the performance hall in high spirits. "Too bad we couldn't meet with the class." Negi mused as they walked out together.
"Um, yes, it was a pity." Yakumo replied softly. It was interesting to see one who was so full of life and excitement within the last hour turn back into the shy girl in front of him. In fact, she was quite thankful that they did not meet with the class. It was no secret that Negi was quite popular in the class, there was much talk of students who plan to get closer him. She can trust her close friends Sekai and Hikari about tonight, but who knows how the rest would have reacted if they saw Yakumo taking the first step.
Just as they entered the concourse, there was a bustle of activity just the side of the main entrance. Apparently, it was an impromptu autograph session and just as luck have it, the person in the center was none other than Yakumo's idol! Subconsciously, she felt for her Noto Mamiko CD that she carried with her in hopes to get her autograph.
"Why don't you go ahead? It's not everyday you'll meet a celebrity." Negi suggested with an encouraging grin.
She took a glance at the crowd, and as luck had it, Miss Noto's personal assistant had began declining people for autographs, citing that the idol had to be on her way to the backstage where the concert security prevented the fans from entering . Though she may be a librarian, she was not authorized to enter the backstage to chase her idol. And so Yakumo could only watch as her good chance to get an autograph had slipped away. And being an elusive idol, it was impossible to get the autograph outside the concert scene.
Negi was sympathetic but an idea struck him. "There is one person who can help get what we want. Nodoka-san is one of the organizers, maybe she could help"
"Eh? But I don't want to trouble the chief." Yakumo waved her hands franticly.
"Well, there is no harm asking, is there?" Negi waited as Yakumo gave it some thought before nodding lightly in agreement. He flicked out his hand phone and dialed for the head librarian. "Hello Nadoka-san…Allow me to start by telling you that that was a marvelous performance… Well I know that you're busy right now but I would like to ask a favor from you…"
They met near the backstage entrance where the security was keeping a careful eye on them. Nodoka appeared with a few strands of her normally neat hair sticking out of her pony tail, probably from being busy the whole night. There was a flash of surprise when Nodoka saw Yakumo standing next to a smiling Negi. "Well Nodoka-san, as mentioned earlier, we hope to get an autograph of Noto Mamiko. And since you have access to the backstage, we were wondering if you could help…"
Yakumo shyly held out the CD to her superior, mumbling a barely audible 'Please' while looking down humbly. Nodoka looked from the disk to the blushing Yakumo and finally to Negi, keeping silent till just short of letting the moment become awkward before replying graciously with a contained excited look on her face, "Sure." She took the disk into the backstage, only emerging a minute later with the sought after autograph.
"That was fast." Negi commented as Nodoka returned the disk to an awestruck Yakumo.
"I just happened to be quite well acquainted with Noto-san." Nodoka replied, smiling lightly before looking behind him, "So where's the rest of your class?"
"Well, it was a pity we didn't manage to meet them on time for the concert so it's just Yakumo-san and me." Negi smiled sheepishly, "But we still enjoyed the concert."
"That's good. So, what did you think of Noto-san's performance?"
"It was great! I liked how the performance was carried out, the singing was just amazing and the band was well coordinated. Yakumo-san, don't you agree?" Yakumo, who was absorbed with the autograph ever since Nodoka pass it to her, started when Negi called to her only replying with a series of nods to signify her agreement. "Please pass on our regards to her!"
"I will remember to do that." Nodoka said checking her watch, "Well I have to go now. I'll see you around then, Negi-kun. You too Yakumo-san, see you on Monday." She bid them goodbye and returned to the backstage.
"Well Yakumo-san, isn't it great that you've got what you wanted?" She nodded again, still holding and admiring the autograph on the CD. Negi could not help but chuckled, "Alright, it's already quite late; I'll escort you back if that's fine with you."
This time, she managed to take her gaze away from the autograph and faced Negi. This was her chance! After the concert, her crush had offered to walk her home…just like a real date! She could barely suppress her nervousness as she blushed, answering with a soft "alright"
They walked side by side along the towards the student dormitory, cutting through the park, chatting quietly. The ground was covered with orange autumn leaves on the ground, crunching with every step, dancing in the cool autumn breeze. Negi found that Yakumo was interested in manga drawing; in fact she was helping a senior from another school to edit his works. In turn, Yakumo asked him an unexpected question, "Negi-sensei, do you...do you have a girlfriend?"
Negi was taken aback, but he did not see any harm answering it honestly, "No, I don't."
They walked in silence for a few moments. "Is there...anyone that you like?" Yakumo finally mustered the courage to ask.
Negi, for all his experience, knew where this was leading to and he knew he had to avoid making himself seem available. "I do not have anyone in mind at the moment. Even so, at this time, I'm thinking of just making friends first."
Yakumo was unsure how to respond to that. "That's just so sad. Ah well, why don't you hang with us?" They turned their attention to the person who spoke to find a small gang of four advancing to them menacingly. "I hear from my brother here that you're quite feisty." The same person spoke, apparently the leader of the group. "I like feisty."
Negi stepped forward, "Who are you and what do you want?"
The leader laughed heartily, joined by the rest in the back, "We're the Roving Marauders and this woman here had insulted one of my brothers. If you insulted one of us, you're insulting all of us. Now we can be reasonable, we just want her to talk. You're not required here."
Negi looked back to check on Yakumo. He had no idea what she did to gain their attention but he would not let them have their way with her.
"Oh, tough guy eh?" two of the gang members positioned themselves behind Negi which he figured that those two were there to restrain him if their leader could not handle the situation. "I know how to deal with tough guys." The leader threw a punch to Negi's abdomen which Negi easily dodged and positioned his leg behind his opponent's knee, providing a sharp push from his shoulder and the leader was floored instantly. The two others behind him must have been stunned. "What are you looking at? Get him."
Negi spun to face the two who were behind him. Their movements were unsteady and untrained that the first ruffian was quickly taken out by an uppercut and he managed to stun the other with a knife stroke to the collarbone in a follow through twirl.
"Negi-sensei, watch out!" The fourth person of the gang made his move, swinging a pipe widely. It seemed that he was more skilled as he did all the basic follow through with every swing. Knowing that he was disadvantaged in range, Negi took an evasive stance, with arms tucked in and fleet footed steps until he found an opening and kicked, hard into the side of the pipe wielder. The piper wielder grimaced but was still standing and he took another swing. Not wanting to prolong the fight, Negi made to move behind him in one of his frenzied swings and took him out with a chop to the base of his head.
Negi turned to Yakumo as the pipe wielder crumpled onto the ground and spotted the leader with a switchblade advancing to Yakumo from behind, "Yakumo-san!" She reacted to his warning and saw a switch blade getting close to her. Instinctively, she kicked the blade off his hand and another kick to the groin where he finally fell, writhing in pain.
"Let's go!" Negi held onto Yakumo's wrist and hastily lead her away. They ran till they reach a short distance the student dorms. "What was that about?" he finally said, slightly winded after checking that they were not followed.
Yakumo took a moment to catch her breath too, and recalled the events before the concert as they walked to the dormitory doors.
Negi was stumped. He took a few moments to study Yakumo closely, 'who would have known such a petit girl would have such potential?' Finally, he chuckled softly as Yakumo blushed at his reaction. "Well, Yakumo-san, if there's something I've learnt, I've learnt not to cross you in the future."
They finally arrived and stood outside the dormitory entrance, "Here we are, Yakumo-san, back at your dormitory. I had a great evening even with the short scuffle with those men. Maybe we can do it again?" He smiled boyishly. "Well, I'll be heading back now, good night."
Yakumo nodded and watched as Negi took a few steps away before calling out to him. "Sensei! Thank you for tonight, I enjoyed it very much! Good night!" She waved him good bye and ran into the dorms, smiling as if it was the best evening she ever had.
Negi allowed himself a smile too as he made his way back to his dorm.
It was late when he returned; the dormitory was quiet as usual. Crossing from the student's dorm to the teachers' dorm took awhile and it was no surprise that no-one was awake and the ground floor lights were turned off, only the lighted stairs provided some light. As Negi made his way to the stairs he suddenly walked into someone…or something in the dark and the impact unbalanced him and he fell to the ground. He could have sworn he felt a thin layer of short fur. It was way too big to be Adonis even if for some reason his fur became shorter and was too stocky to be a human. A few seconds later, the figure turned.
"I must be dreaming." It looked like a giant mouse of some sort standing on two legs with a bowler hat and a bowtie. Not knowing how to react, both of them stared at each other. Seconds ticked by when finally, the giant mouse turned and opened the basement door, closing it behind.
'First the weird dream, then the concert, then those ruffians, now this? It must be just my imagination. Yes just my imagination' Negi agreed with himself and dismissed what he saw, heading back to his room for a good night's rest.
A/N: Hey all. Yes I know that this song will be difficult to imagine the real Noto Mamiko to sing but this is fiction. What's important is what's written right? Anyway, here are the lyrics for the song. It's "God Knows" from the series "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" Hope you like it! Hope to hear from you!
God knows…
Vocals: ENOZ featuring Suzumiya Haruhi
I run with a parched heart
Sorry, I couldn't do anything
You won't even let me
Share pain together with you
To live purely, I turn my back
Without looking back and leave
on the lonely rail
I'll follow you
No matter how bitter it is, even within the darkness of the world
Surely, you're shining
I'll overcome the limit of the future
So that my soul won't be destroyed due to my weaknesses
my ways will overlap
Now, God bless us two…
Thoughts that grow hot when delivered
Melt into reality and wander
There's no reason to my feeling like seeing you
It overflows to you, Lovin' you
At the very least, while I only draw
A beautiful dream, I'll chase you
for your lonely heart
Stop it, telling lies isn't like you
Look at my eyes and let's talk about things from now on
I'm ready
Even in a dark future
I'll become strong and my destiny just might be changeable
Even though I want to fulfill my wish
God knows everything…
You exist, I exist
And other people disappeared
While I draw the beauty of a faint dream
I trace my scars
So I'll follow you
No matter how bitter it is, even within the darkness of the world
Surely, you're shining
I'll overcome the limit of the future
So that my soul won't be broken due to my weaknesses
my way will overlap
Now, God bless us two…