Now I will continue the madness. I plan on finally moving forward here, so watch out, this snail might suddenly grow rockets, and then where would you be, in the dust that's where! Remember the last chapter's title? Pay attention! Let's go!
Now, I am truly sorry, but I must tell you, this chapter was the hardest to type...I left most of my notes in here for you all to see. I started this on the 13th, and I got up to: "Share it? You have your own field; we don't come asking to share yours!" Before I had to stop for the day. The 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th were spent on the few lines before I tell you all that it is the nineteenth. That is a simple statement telling you how difficult it was to type this chapter.
Hey, I'm not letting you go yet! What happened with the 20th up to the 22nd, ehh?
Well....I don't like giving excuses. Yet....I was registering for classes on the 20th, and it didn't go down to well. I had to balance time for school with time for work, and still wind up with full time credit status, or lose FA. The weekends? My home internet is down, and I'm finishing the chapter, oii. I still have to go and talk with the college about overriding a few things so I can go to classes I need to go to on Monday...oii.
+---+
How many times must I tell yee? I do not own Negima silly!
+---+
Chapter Nine: I'll duel you for him!
+----+
"I guess that was a lucky break for Sensei...but where did that weird wind come from anyway? Divine intervention?"
"Maybe, it only blew on them anyway, lucky they have longer skirts. I want to know why Sensei didn't try to beat the crap out of them though...you remember when he fought Ku Fei-san?"
"Oh that? Someone said that was a fluke."
"Not Ku-san."
"Why would she admit a fluke fight?"
'Have YOU ever seen Ku-san lie about a fight?"
"Noo...but..."
"Okay then..."
Asuna shook her head as she changed from her usual uniform to the gym uniform Mahora students wore. If only they knew where that freaky wind had come from...well, let's not even think about that. According to Negi, things got pretty bad when a mage was exposed, yet he had resorted to magic instead of kicking all those groper's asses. He claimed it was because they were students, and he did not, would not; harm them unless it was a formal fight in which they became the opponent. She thought that was just plain gentleman's bull, but she held her peace...after all; the squirt was a dangerous individual outside of class. In teacher mode, he couldn't harm a friggin fly if it was his student. Once he stepped outside of that classroom though...he became...oh hell, she didn't know the terminator or something like that. If he wanted you dead, most likely, you would be dead. It was just that simple. Besides, why would a mage in training expose her only teacher? Exposing him would expose her, and she did not want to end up as...what was the common punishment again? An ermine or something like that? What the heck was an ermine anyway?
"Asuna! What's taking you so long? Half the class is already going up the stairs..."
"Ehh!?!"
+----+
The class, noisy as they where, alerted Negi to their arrival long before the door that opened unto the roof flew open. Negi had used that time to mentally get himself back into teaching mode and to tie down his sanity with a titanium net. This was his class at Gym time, right after lunch when they were most energetic, the outdoor gym was surrounded by gates on every side, they were on the roof after all...can someone say hell in a cell?
The door banging open cut Negi's misery; after all, it's always before the event that the suspense gets yah. During, it's do or die. No time for wasting. Negi sucked in some fresh air and held it.
"Where's the gym teach?"
"I think he's out..."
"So where is the sub?"
"Sigh...here. Lineup will you?"
"Huh? What's Springfield-sensei doing here?"
"I'm your sub, now would you all line up so that I can-"
"Ahh! It's Springfield-sensei and his class...what are you kiddies doing here?"
Do I need to tell you all what the class saw when they turned their heads? Do I need to tell you how much Negi's soul struggled to escape from his body at that moment? Need I say it failed? Must I relay to you the following conversation? Yes? Fine. But mind you, I'll be as bored as a plank by the time I'm done with this...
Negi's soul, not his heart, sunk. He recognized that voice. His head turned along with the unified being that was his class to see three of the high school girls who had been...assaulting...Negi earlier. What's more is that they were here on their gym period, on the field designated for the middle schoolers...
Can someone please tell me that this spells trouble?
"What are you doing here?! This is our court..."
"Well, who says we can't share it hmm?"
"Share it? You have your own field; we don't come asking to share yours!"
"Well why don't you share something else, like your teacher?"
Oh my good god, does she know how wrong that sounds?
Was Negi's only thought as the argument continued.
"What the hell do you mean by that?!"
"Well, we won't come bothering you on your field if you hand over your sensei, that's what I mean..."
"Why the heck would we agree to that idiotic reasoning?"
"Who you calling an idiot!?"
"Well hows about this? We'll duel for him."
"Since when did this turn into Yu-gi-oh?!"
"Who the flip said anything about Yu-gi-oh? A fight or a match is also called a duel, invalid."
"Fine. We'll play for him..."
What the hell? I'm a trophy again!?
+-----+
You must understand me when I say that this has, so far, been the hardest chapter to type for this story...something just...does not want me to type in the volleyball match...so..I think I'll obey it, but I won't leave you all without detail...just to let you know....so you don't harp on me about sketchiness here. If you must know, right now, at this point, it's November 19th. That is how hard it was to type this chapter.
+----+
Dodge ball was the game, and, against Negi's better judgment, he was on the team. Negi shook his auburn head. Idiots. Idiots, idiots, idiots. This was dodge ball....and about twenty five students plus himself were on one team. How the hell was anyone going to be able to dodge anything? Well, not like he cared much. This was a chance to get out of teaching class a....although it did mean he would have to transfer to the high school division...where the girls were older, bigger and meaner apparently...but what could posibly be worse than this class he had?
A class like this one, only having graduated to high school. That's what.
Shit, shit, shit and more shit. Now that he had that image in his head, he couldn't shake it...It was impossible though, these girls, once they were made, the mold for every single one of them broke. There was just no way another set of them could have been created this insane. The world would explode before they even reached the age of one...
"Our serve first."
"Just hit the damn thing..."
Ten people against twenty six seemed good odds...in a fight. Not a friggin dodge ball game....The first throw was not even a throw...it was a simple toss...They knew that the middle school dunces that were class A were at such a disadvantage even a simple thing like that would get out...
Five people out.
Ten to twenty one.
Next toss knocked out six.
Ten to fifteen.
"Hey, how're they doing that?!"
"Idiots! Incho you dolt, more people is a disadvantage, no one can move!!"
"I didn't hear you complaining when we were choosing members!!"
Now they catch on. How nice. A day late and ten yen short. Too bad, ehh? Negi ducked under a toss of the ball, pulling one of his students out of the way from getting hit, but still, that throw knocked out three. Then the three high schoolers did something that made Negi's insides wail. They revealed themselves as champions in dodge ball...dodge ball for heaven's sake! What did they do, eat all the competition at the tournament?! Dodge ball was for kids! Four out. Then Asuna caught the ball and sent it back at them with all her abundant might. The girl caught it easily in the palm of her hand...and she was doing so well, Asuna had managed to almost singlhandedly knock out seven teammates on the other side...
"Your form frankly sucks."
Two out, then....an attack with the sun behind her back....Asuna out...and then a second hit for good measure...hey that's illegal!!!
The team lost hope, and Negi finally snapped out of his trance. That last illegal move hit it home; He did not want to transfer to the high schoolers. Oh hell....
Five to three...finally, space! Shit! Ball! Ayaka out due to some cheesily named; "Triangle Attack."' Then Nodoka...wait, how'd she last so dang long?! Shit...Yuna ran to avoid the ball, but bumped into Ako. Both out by the ball.
Wait...dang it!
Negi vs. the Black Lilly's.
One Vs Three...
"Negi-sensei's as good as theirs..."
"Our serve...sorry little sensei, but I'm just going to have to hit you there and then you're free from that pack of little babies..."
I wonder who really is the baby here, me, my class, or these three high schooler fools...
The ball careened down at Negi's head, and Negi, glancing up, his only thought being:
Ahh, so that's how it is.
Negi, using speed that he had yet to use in this game, shot out from the path of the ball and watched it bounce out. Negi's ball. Negi aimed and threw it, but of course, the three dodged it easily and tried to set him up with the same trick they got Ayaka with on their throw. Key differences with Negi though, one he was smaller, two he was faster, and three, and it obviously missed him.
I just realized how much I don't want to be the boy toy of those three girls.
Another throw by Negi, almost a spike downwards that one of the girls barely dodged. Then the lead set up the attack they had used on Asuna, almost...hastily. Perhaps they had realized Negi was not about to go down without a fight...Negi didn't need to see her past the sun though, he had a whole field to himself....he could use a basic generalization and still dodge the ball, which he did. Negi then succeeded in knocking one of the side girls out.
"Huh? Is Sensei actually...."
"Surviving?!"
Another out, as Negi got the ball back. One on one now....dodge ball became more like volleyball now, as the two went back and forth, dodging, tossing, and the other girl actually tried to spike it at him, but Negi was too quick for that. No spikes from Negi though...too short. One shot almost got him, brushing past his hair.
"Hmm... little Sensei, this is a nice little display of skill here, but you don't need to fight so hard..."
Oh really....
Negi had the ball, and he jumped up, the highest had had so far, and rearing back his free hand sent a spike that nearly toughed the net, but still went over and hit his opponent straight in the face.
"OUT!"
Looks like Negi's staying with class A. Queue the glomps.
+------+
Now, I can write normally....
+---+
Negi sat with his laptop open, leaning against a futon and allowing the dying sunlight from a window to play on his face and stab at his eyes. They had finally come in and made a place for Negi to stay, building a platform over a closet, a ladder resting along the side to grant access. A futon and a couple shelves before the ceiling cut him off, but at least it was high enough for the six-year-old to stand in. It would stay that way until perhaps when he reached eleven or so, then he'd have to bend and the place would become too small. Negi had already set it up for himself here, as the rest of his luggage had come. Four bread boards, connected together, sat on one of the shelves, turning that shelf into a proper workbench, Capacitors and resistors neatly arranged next to transistors and inductors, with a selection that would keep any engineer, from the budding to the expert, happy for quite awhile. Wires of all sizes littered the area, but were still kept in their basic color code together. Underneath this shelf, USB cords, open surge protectors, a floppy disc drive and a whole other assortment of supplies sat in a clear bin. Books were piled on top of it in the space between the bin and the shelf's bottom.
On another shelf, prominently displayed, was Negi's throwing knifes and stars, kept in prime condition next to a steel box that anyone, seeing what was next to it which happened to be rounds, would know held his gun. HeartBreaker hung off the side from a hook. Above this, his small chamber pot hung off another hook, and an assortment of charms, ingredients and the like hung from other little hooks. Books were piled under this shelf too, but, while the other shelf had books on engineering and programming, this one held books whose covers were held shut by charms of Negi's. These were books of magic.
A shelf right opposite Negi's futon held a drawing pad and a notebook full of writings and calculations. Negi was both an artist and a freelancer writer, so his notebooks always had something interesting in them...More books under here contained drawings and art supplies, or the occasional classic novel. A man of many talents. Besides this, the rest of Negi's things were either in his magical little box or neatly assorted on remaining shelf space. Negi looked down at his computer again and clicked resume on a practice drill he was doing.
X^2= -1 x=?
Negi rolled his eyes to the sky. This was useless. His computer spouted questions that it itself could not answer as a last resort. X squared is equal to -1, so x is equal to the square root of negative one, an imaginary number. If he answered this question, the computer would put forth a famous "Domain Error" on him.
"Whatcha doin' sensei?"
Negi looked up from his screen to see Konoka half on and half off the ladder, her arms resting on his "floor" so to speak. Negi raised an eyebrow at her and answered:
"I'm trying to pound out the secret of life from this computer, and it's not giving me the answer. Care to tell me if you know it yourself?"
Konoka made a face. Every time she tried to start a conversation with him, Sensei came and tried to bite her head off. His acidity burned her no matter what...unless she asked him for help on some kind of homework that is. Then he became all nice and cuddly.
"Sensei, can I just once hold a conversation that doesn't have anything to do with school, without getting burned by you?"
Negi's eyebrow fell to join his other one and he closed his laptop. His arms came and crossed themselves over his chest.
"Try me then."
Konoka blinked. Now, most might look at Konoka and think her naive, maybe even a bit dense. But there was a brain behind those ever-ready puppy eyes of hers. She just bode her time with it, and normally kept things to herself. This boy though, she got the feeling he needed some therapist to come in and break him down, make him cry, to heal him. She could do that, when she wanted to, all she needed was to find his soft spot. This was the perfect time too, with Asuna staying after school for a Math drill. Operation open Negi was primed and ready for take off...
"Springfield-sensei..."
"Please. If you want to be conversational, drop the Springfield will yah? It's top-heavy."
"Ooooookay then...Negi-sensei?"
Negi did not give any indication he heard her except a simple nod. There was something...odd...about her face. It was as if it had taken on a mission, and it made Negi put up his guard. He knew this girl to be devilish when she wanted to be. She was a cherub with a wood nymph's heart...
"Negi-sensei, what did you do in Wales?"
"I was a teacher there too."
"Really? That's really....cool. When'd you finish school?"
"I never did. I taught at the very college I went too. I graduated, but I never finished school. Even now I'm in school, aren't I?"
"....So when did you graduate?"
"...Officially or unofficially?"
"...What do you mean by that?"
"I went for a double major, twice. All at once. I have four degrees, but I graduated one time. Yet I finished course work and was unofficially already in the field with something they call a "probationary degree" for quite a few months before officially graduating..."
"Four majors?!"
"Computer tech/electrician, Linguistics/Teaching, General Medical and Sociological/Psychological. One reason I am both your English teacher and a Math tutor for so many of your friends who come over nearly every day. Computer techs need to have quite an extensive knowledge in Trigonometry, Calculus and above."
"So you're a regular boy genius huh? What do your parent's think of that?"
Negi's red eyes looked up at her to lock on her own face in full. They had been flitting about the room, but now they focuses on Konoka with such a severity it almost made her shiver.
"I wouldn't know. I never knew them. I'm an orphan."
That did maker shiver a little. Not only what he said, but how he said it. His face had been deadpan, and his voice was almost...serrated. Those eyes almost seemed to take on an aura of subzero cool, and they were laser aimed at her own eyes.
"So you're like Asuna..."
"Oh? I was unaware that she was an orphan. If the topic ever comes up, I'll remember to steer clear of the mention of parents."
"...What about your friends?"
"What friends?"
"...Don't you have any-?"
"No. I had colleagues, students and acquaintances. I have no friends. Only one man has ever called me his friend. Even he can't really say that though."
"Who?"
"Your very own Takahata-sensei. I've known him before coming here."
Maybe it was all the time she spent with Asuna, but the mention of the gentlemanly Sensei sent up Konoka's invisible antennae.
"Really?"
"Yes. He knew my foster sister."
"Oh, so you did have parents!"
"No. My foster sister was my cousin. My mother...no one knows what happened to her. My father was never even seen with her when she came to my village with me...My cousin's mother took me in, but...not long after, both of them, and my foster sister, died."
"Ohh...why? What happened?"
Negi's subzero stare instantly turned blazing hot, almost to the point of roasting Konoka alive. His face took on a darker hue. Ohh, Konoka had found Negi's soft spot alright. Too bad Negi's soft spots were protected by his internal defense; roasting anyone who came near to them alive in their shells.
"You don't want to know...I guarantee you that."
+----+
"How is the operation proceeding Chachamaru?"
The addressed robot looked up from a laptop computer screen, the numbers and information being relayed reflecting upon her artificial eyes. Those same eyes produced a double layer effect, themselves showing relayed information as the mechanical mind behind them made a quick estimate. Deadpan face met a one full of character and devilish menace.
"Smoothly. The blackout is set for tonight, at nine PM sharp. It will endure until midnight. Target will be patrolling the grounds and will be at the frontal gates by approximately nine o' five."
"Perfect...oh, and I see that brainiac girl finally got rid over your overtly accurate measurements."
"Once you complained about my accuracy for about the three hundredth time, Hakase took the liberty of reducing my decimal place statements to around the hundredths place, and installed many words into my systems as to which I can give..."ball park figures" with...."
"Excellent. Oh, just to make sure...what was that thing again? Oh, right, that idiotic term...tell me, what is Pi equal to?"
"3.14...."
"Nothing else?"
"You requested I stop at the second decimal place master, does the answer I gave you displease you?"
"Oh no.... not at all, continue your work, enough talking."
"....Yes master."
+---+
"I don't like where this...conversation...is going Miss Konoe."
"I only asked a simple question Sensei."
"If you are attempting to find my soft spot, or trying to break me down, I suggest you cease and desist. I am a licensed Psychologist in my own right."
"What would give you that idea sensei?"
"Your method is one of an individual who has natural skill, but no actual taught technique. Your questions probe and dance oddly, flicking from one point to another, your thought of testing areas, but if you were truly able in what you are trying to do, you would not need to do this...To answer your question once again, I had no friends. I graduated at the top of my classes, after coming years earlier than anyone else had in the history of my school, and I graduated early, with four majors. I had no friends besides my books miss Konoe, but I had an abundance of enemies."
The dorm room door opened, and in walked a very tired looking Asuna. With a plop, her book bag landed on the ground near the door and she herself took a couple steps before allowing herself to collapse on the couch. Her only comment to the other occupants of the dorm was muffled through cushions, but could be discerned as:
"Algebra...kills."
Negi looked across the room from his vantage point and, seeing the clock, got up from where he was sitting and cast around for his suit and towel, along with his toiletry objects.
"No, Calculus II kills the unwary individual. Now, if you will excuse me Miss Konoe, I have patrol duty today, and I want to get my shower over with before lights out, thank you very much."
Abandoning the ladder that Konoka was standing on, Negi took his things and jumped down from his standing point to the ground, landing softly on his feet as a cat might. He landed lightly, and whether that be because he was so small and light, or the fact that he used his towel as an almost substitute parachute to slow his fall a bit when he jumped, Negi simply walked out the room, escaping from interrogation and leaving Konoka with a very tired Asuna to look after.
+---+
Looks like I'm finally moving, huh? I wanted to put Eva's fight in this chapter too, but once again, my chapter has come out longer than expected...and taken more time than estimated...ehh. If you all are wondering what happened to Negi's burning tongue, it's in his mouth, stuck to the roof of his teeth. It has to replenish its store of acid from his mucus glands that are nearest to his brain. Best acid comes from there you know. You can expect Negi to be his full, burning mouthed, sarcastic and dominating self by next chapter, in time to unleash hell on Eva. How will these too caustic individuals collide? Is there enough lye in the cupboard to dilute them? Is there enough Ammonia in the world to dilute these two when they clash? Better get your gear on...as they say were I am, as simple and rude as it seems..."Some f%ki&g sh3!s about to go daaowun!" Fits perfectly.
See you. Stay alive, like the Bee Jees.
