A/N: These updates are a day early, but I will be extremely busy tomorrow with family business, so I am posting now instead of making you wait. For those that might have been following the votes, there was a three way tie between Ayaka, Chachamaru, and Setsuna as to who would escort Negi to the dance. Special thanks to ArmorOfGeddon, whom I asked to cast the deciding vote since him/her (?) was undecided. Anyway, I don't own Negima. The closest thing I have to it is the manga series in paperback. I DO however own my own set of robes and a spiffy wand. :)
Chapter 10. Mana (Part 2)
The park was crowded when Negi and his friends arrived. Several couples had shown up for the dance competition and the number of onlookers was pretty large as well. Negi looked over at Setsuna who seemed to be distracted.
"Something wrong?" Negi asked seriously.
"We're being followed. I felt the presences back at the restaurant, and they followed us here." Setsuna reported.
Negi looked back the way they had coma but couldn't see anyone. "Do you think it might be that crook that tried to rob the restaurant?"
"Maybe, but I wouldn't expect someone like that to want revenge." Setsuna said watching the darkness.
"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" A cheesy announcer intoned over a microphone at the far end of the dance floor. "Everyone please get in line to get a number for the dance competition."
Mana and Serizawa got into line and Negi got in place a few couples back from them. Setsuna looked around one last time and turned to Negi. "I'm going to check it out, you wait here and I'll be back before you reach the front of the line."
Negi nodded and Setsuna was off into the night.
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Ayaka was chomping at the bit like a champion thoroughbred ready for its first run. She had followed along quietly with the library gang and now seeing Negi look so sexy standing there with an equally sexy looking Setsuna set her blood to boiling. She cracked her knuckles and imagined the smaller girl's neck between her fingers.
"Setsuna is separating from Negi!" Haruna reported.
Ayaka glanced up and noticed the girl headed away from her 'date' for the evening. "Come on, I'm going to have a little "talk" with Setsuna! She's probably headed for the bathroom." Ayaka announced.
"Better pack a lunch sister, cause you're gonna be there a while." Haruna said sagely.
"What are you talking about? I know she practices Japanese fencing, but she doesn't have a sword and I happen to know a little about martial arts myself." Ayaka retorted hotly.
"Not nearly as much as she does." Yue replied seriously. "I've seen her fight, she'd tear you apart. Don't forget she did rather well in the tournament at the festival."
Ayaka struggled to get her anger under control and tried to calm herself. "Well I'm at least going to go talk to her. We'll see where things go from there. The bathrooms are this way; if we hurry we can get there before she does."
"Yue, I've got a bad feeling about this." Nodoka said worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Ayaka's blood won't even show on that red dress of Setsuna's." Konoka said calmly.
"Who's side are you on anyway, Konoka." Ayaka shot back over her shoulder.
"My own." Konoka replied with determination as the five of them slipped through the crowd.
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Setsuna tracked her targets to the women's bathroom. She was certain that they were waiting for her. The winged swordswoman looked around to make certain no one was around before pulling out her pactio card and activating it. She then slowly moved into the restroom ready for trouble. What she found was Ayaka.
"What are YOU doing here?" Setsuna said in surprise as she quickly tucked her sword behind her back.
"I could ask YOU the same question." Ayaka shot back angrily. "All this time I've supported the love you have for Konoka and then I find out you've been secretly dating Negi-sensei. Do you have any idea what kind of scandal this would be?"
Setsuna sighed, typical clueless behavior for Ayaka. "You've got it all wrong class rep."
"She does?" Haruna said stepping behind her. Setsuna turned to see Yue, Nodoka, and Konoka enter the bathroom behind her as well.
Setsuna quickly averted her eyes when she saw Konoka come in. Setsuna hadn't wanted Konoka to know about the date, but she had seen her. She was going to explain things after tonight, but she really didn't want to face her best friend right now.
"So if you're not on a date with Negi-sensei, then please tell me what you're doing here dressed to kill with him on your arm and getting ready to dance." Ayaka demanded.
If only. Setsuna thought as she glared at Ayaka. The moron wasn't making this any easier in front of Konoka. "I'm a chaperone. Mana didn't want to be left alone with her date tonight so she blackmailed me and Negi into coming along. Neither of us had any idea what was going on until tonight, and for your information Mana picked out the dress."
Ayaka seemed to falter for a moment. "So all that stuff you said about 'love at first sight' at the restaurant…"
"It was all Mana's idea to make Serizawa-san think we were really there on a date and so that he would keep it quiet. Negi and I aren't a couple and we aren't in love. We just thought that if word ever got out about this then everyone would go ballistic, much as you've already done." Setsuna said staring down the class rep.
Ayaka looked ready to kill, but for once it wasn't Setsuna she was directing her anger at. "I'm going to kill those twins. By now they've got the whole dorms talking about it. Very well, for Negi-sensei's sake I'll go quell these wild rumors."
Setsuna could tell there was more than a little relief in the class rep's voice as she left the bathroom. Haruna looked around and then suddenly grabbed Yue and Nodoka. "We better be going too!" She said before tearing out at top speed.
Setsuna looked back at Konoka who was looking at the floor sadly. Setsuna felt like dirt. "I'm sorry Ojou-sama. I wanted to explain things too you properly before now, but I didn't have time. I'm sorry if you had any intentions toward Negi-sensei and I made you jealous…"
"I'm not jealous because of you." Konoka said quietly. Setsuna saw tears fall from her face and it twisted inside her.
"Ojou-sama, please, the last thing I've ever wanted to do was make you cry." Setsuna said miserably.
Konoka suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around Setsuna. Setsuna was accustomed to Konoka's needs for physical reassurance when she was upset so she just held her close. "I was jealous of Negi-sensei." Konoka said finally.
The impact of Konoka's words took a moment to settle in on Setsuna. In confusion she pulled Konoka back to look into her eyes. "What?"
"Set-chan, I was jealous of Negi getting to be with you like that. When I heard you say that you loved him at the restaurant my heart nearly broke. You've always been my dearest friend, and ever since that time I dressed you up as a samurai at the movie village I kept imagining you as a man. Recently though, I've started having dreams about you as a girl too. Set-chan, I don't understand what I'm feeling, but I think I'm falling in love with you." Konoka said bursting into tears and burying her face in Setsuna's shoulder.
Setsuna nearly fainted. She had always loved Konoka and had dreamt of what life would have been like if she had been a boy too. She wondered at how obvious it must be how the two of them felt about each other if even the clueless members of their class were in on it. She then remembered all the o-miai that her grandfather kept setting her up on and wondered just how perceptive the old man was after all. "Konoka, I don't understand it either, but I promise you I care about you more than anyone else in the world and I would gladly die for you. Please don't cry. I'll do anything to make it up to you."
Konoka smiled and it felt like a weight had been lifted from Setsuna's heart. Konoka then got a mischievous look in her eyes that Setsuna had come to be very leery of. "I have an idea."
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"Now that those three are out of the way, it's time to play 'fairy godmother'." Haruna said rubbing her hands together like a mad scientist.
"This does not bode well." Yue said turning to Nodoka.
"I'll keep Setsuna busy here. One of you is going to go be a substitute for Setsuna in the dance competition." Haruna said with a maniacal chuckle.
"I can't!" Yue and Nodoka cried in unison.
"Let me put it this way," Haruna said grabbing the two around the shoulders, "either one of you is going to get a dance with sensei, or I'm going to go do it."
"A romantic dance with sensei?" Nodoka said flushing.
Yue looked ready to collapse and Haruna thought she was going to back out, but at last she turned to Nodoka. "There's only one way to settle this, Nodoka." Yue said holding up a fist to her friend.
Haruna was shocked into silence for the first time in her life imagining her two friends resorting to blows over a man. Nodoka however got a sudden look of determination in her eyes. "You're on Yue, I won't lose to you!" She said as she too raised her fist.
Haruna stepped back wondering where these two clones had come from and where her two friends were. She watched in morbid fascination as the two readied themselves. At some sort of signal, the two quickly pounded their fists… into their palms three times.
Haruna let out an explosive breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Rock beats scissors, here I'll draw you a quick disguise. A dress and a wig ought to do the trick."
Haruna quickly disguised her friend and sent her on her way. She then turned to her other friend who was looking towards the dance floor. "I guess I'll see you both back at the dorms." She said sadly.
Haruna watched her go and shook her head. She was just about to head back herself when an arm grabbed her from behind and a hand clamped over her mouth.
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Negi waited for what seemed like an eternity for Setsuna to return. As he had gotten close to the front of the line, he had let others go ahead of him so he could wait for Setsuna. He thought he saw her briefly near the women's restroom, but it was some blonde girl wearing the same dress.
Negi was just about to go look for her when a small voice and a tug at his sleeve caught his attention. A young raven-haired girl about his age was looking at him shyly. "Um, excuse me, I was wondering. I don't have a partner for the dance so I was wondering if you would be my dance partner."
"I'd love to miss, but I already have a date." Negi replied politely. The girl's voice reminded him of someone however. He couldn't place it though.
"Oh, you must be talking about Setsuna-san." Someone said behind him.
Negi turned to find the same blonde girl he had seen earlier standing behind him in line on the arm of a slender young man. "Yes, have you seen her?"
"She tore out of here in a hurry. It looked like she was chasing someone. She said to tell you that she'd see you back at the dorms." The blonde girl said helpfully.
Negi thought that she too sounded familiar, but after being around girls all the time he supposed that the voices did tend to blend in to each other. The young man said nothing, but just nodded with a smile. He was striking in a black tuxedo with a red tie and cummerbund. He had a long ponytail, wore glasses, and moved gracefully next to the young woman.
"So can I be your partner?" The girl asked again sweetly.
Negi was next in line and it would have certainly been bad to run out after Setsuna especially since he didn't know what direction she had headed off in. "Certainly." Negi said, though he was anything but certain about it.
Negi caught a glimpse of Mana, who looked stunned for some reason, but who only smiled when she saw Negi looking in her direction.
"Here you are young man; you and this lovely little lady will be number thirty one. The dance will begin in just a moment. The judges will be eliminating dancers through the course of the evening and the final couple will get the trophy and have their picture taken." The man behind the desk stated. Negi signed his name and the girl signed hers before the man behind the desk handed them their numbers.
Negi took the numbers and gently attached one to the back of his impromptu date and she pinned the other one to his back. He then escorted the young girl out to the dance floor. He met Mana and Serizawa on the way.
"Shame on you Negi-sensei," Mana scolded, "making Setsuna cry like that. She probably ran all the way back to the dorms with you flirting with other girls."
"Bit of a player after all?" Serizawa said jokingly. "And at your age too."
Negi was blushing heavily. "I guess I'll have to go talk to Setsuna when we get back." He said dumbly.
A/N: Well, we're halfway through the date. Stay tuned for the conclusion in the next chapter. I should be posting it at the same time as this chapter…
