Disclaimer: I don't own Negima or any of its vibrant character...
Fang Vice Addiction: "By Your Enrapture"
Chapter Nine: Drifting Along this Stream
By Traingham
"Hrmm." Negi grunted softly with a bit of disapproval when another round of shots was placed between him and the black clad woman sitting across from him. This must have been the fourth time he had seen that same bar waitress come by to serve them and it was beginning to unnerve him for reasons that were quite understandable. Well, for one, he certainly wasn't of the age to drink (Something that he still took into consideration despite now being ageless) , and yet, he just downed three shot glasses already, courtesy of his lovely new friend or rather to himself since the money was being deducted from his own funds in the end. In his defense it was done rather reluctantly, but downed nonetheless. Strangely, he didn't feel any different from before. He figured that his vampirism changed a little more than just his physical strength. Still, why was he doing this again? Maybe it was due to the fact that his drinking partner was a little intimidating, for one. The last thing he wanted to do was displease her. Another reason could stem from the fact that this wasn't exactly the sort of meeting that most vampires would feel at ease about. One could call this, 'sleeping with the enemy.'
"What?" Blue eyes narrowed at him from across that table as the word left a pair of lovely lips. The woman moved a stand of her thick, dark hair away from her face before she brought the shot glass to her lips and tossed her head back to drain it. When she tapped the tiny glass back down on the surface of the smooth wood, round ended table she quirked a brow. "Would you stop staring at me?"
Negi lowered his gaze a bit. "Sorry." He apologized, setting his sights on the clear liquid in his shot glass. With the way he studied it one would have thought he was expecting the liquid in the glass to suddenly jump at him with a knife. He wanted to be somewhere else right now. He wanted to lay his head on a pillow for a while and rest his eyes. After his escape from Lucinda's pocket dimension, he found himself a little more fidgety than usual although something like that was fairly natural if one took a moment to review his situation. An all powerful dark mistress (He was supposed to avoid these women) was now fully aware of his existence (They weren't supposed to know that he existed...) and had developed an unhealthy interest in him. (Unhealthy and scary interests.) Said woman was now on a hunt for him, and now he was a tad bit paranoid. Paranoia tended to lower one's ability to sleep and since he was a day walker, well, that was a little unhealthy for him.
"Hey, guy." Negi raised his head when his partner called to him.
"Yes?" Negi asked her, blinking.
"How long do you intend to nurse that glass?" She asked, tapping her fingers upon the table in a rhythmic fashion. At her question Negi decided that it was finally time for him to break this off. His traveling funds were at stake right now, as was his appreciation for women in general. She certainly was an interesting character to say the least, but the chemistry was going awry between them. He just didn't see this going anywhere short of ruin.
Negi waved a hand from side to side with a shake of his head. "You know...I'm fine." He slid his shot across the table to her and said, "How about you have it?"
"No way." She replied with a serious expression gracing her lovely features. "Its your drink." She pushed it back before pinning one of her finger against the table roughly. Negi was surprised she didn't snap it with the amount of force she used. "So drink it."
Negi could still taste the bitterness on his tongue. Did he really want another gulp of that stuff? "Nah." He pushed the glass away again. "I'm going to pass."
His drinking partner blinked a few times with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. "Don't be ridiculous! Don't just let it go to waste!"
"Well, you're the one who brought this on us in the first place!" Negi argued, gesturing to the glass. "You drink it!"
"Are you a man or what?" She narrowed her eyes at him with...disappointment? Wait just a second! What did she have to be disappointed about? They didn't even know each other that well to have the right to be disappointed in one another.
Negi flinched when he felt Chachazero shift around in his jacket. "D-don't pull that on me!" The young magi leaned over slightly with narrowed eyes. "I don't even know how we managed to get this far. It was supposed to be just one drink, right?" And these words were true, so much in fact that the woman could only manage so much as a blank expression in response.
She decided to take an alternate route. "You would deny a woman one of her simple pleasures?" She asked, trying her best to charm him with one of her practiced smiles. That, of course, would mean that this sort of situation was not unfamiliar to her. Imagine her surprise when he said-
"Yeah." Negi replied with a look of skepticism. "Just pick up the bill so I can pay it already." He reached into the inside pocket of his magister cloak with a sigh. Only his luck would stick him in this sort of situation. It must have come with the package deal of being the son of a legend. Sometimes he wondered how much differently his life would have been if he was raised with a normal family...depending on the type of books you read, you already know what path that would have gone.
"You know-"
GULP...
Agh... Her lips twitched downward when Negi downed the shot before she could get her paws on it first. Blinking a few times, she now looked like a little girl on the verge of whining. "Hey," She called his attention when he set down the glass. "I thought you said-"
"I wouldn't want to demean myself in front of you." Negi answered her question sarcastically. He finally decided to scratch at an itch that had been bothering him since the moment she took a seat at his table. "Um...how did you end up losing your money anyway?" His question caused her demeanor to darken somewhat; clearly a subject she wasn't in the mood to touch on.
"Srmdurmkidz." She grumbled quickly in response. She ended her reply by turning her head to the side with a fist clenched on top of the table.
Negi paused for a moment. "I didn't get that..."
"It doesn't really matter!" She answered him woefully.
"Are you crying?" Negi cocked his head slightly.
"No, no," She wiped her eyes roughly. "I'm not!"
The magi sighed, rolling his eyes. "Er, look, I'll take care of it." The chances of meeting this woman again is pretty slim anyway, right?
She regarded him quietly for a moment. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Why?" Negi quirked a brow. I'm beginning to dread that question these days.
"So I can sing melodies of your great generosity, of course." She replied in an amused fashion. "Is the reason for asking a name so important?" She offered him a smirk. "What have you to hide?"
"...Only if you give me yours in return." Negi bargained.
"What for?"
"Why would that be important?" Negi echoed her previous response. "So I can warn others about you in the future, of course." He decided to add on the end to show her that his intentions were just as friendly as her own. At least he hoped they were.
"Katherine." She extended him a hand over the table before she went on, "Katherine Rosenthal."
"Negi Springfield." Negi exchanged, accepting her gesture. Their hands met with a certain firmness that spoke of their friendly intentions, though Negi was sure that he felt a little bit of a squeeze on Katherine's part. Maybe she was still hurting over the drink that got away from her, or perhaps she was just trying to get a further understanding of his character by checking to see if he would squeeze back. Actually there was a lot of things that could have been going through her mind with the simple gesture if one really took a moment to think back on her profession and just who she was shaking hands with. It sure did well to add on to the tension of the situation.
"Nice name." She commented off offhandedly with a subtle smile after letting go. "Nice ring to it."
"Thanks." Negi said with a grin, all the while, trying to make sense of the contact they just shared. It was a little long to be considered a mere handshake, and the young man wasn't exactly dense when it came to matters not pertaining to love and affection. After all, he was Takane's master. Spending time with the blonde magistress taught him a lot about the little things one had to look for when dealing with a shady individual. "Could say the same for you." He winced when he felt a small pinch on his chest. Katherine regarded him curiously when he cast a look at his stomach, or at least that's what it looked like from her point of view.
"Stomach ache?" She asked.
"Something like that." He lied because admitting to her that his familiar happened to be a puppet that was a little on the possessive side would have been a little awkward. In fact, anything that wasn't a lie would have been pretty unwise to talk freely of. Such was the life of a vampiric wizard. "Well," He caught the attention of their waitress with a little hand gesture, pulling out his wallet from the sleeve of his magister cloak. "Let me just get this out of the way."
"You're leaving?"
"I'd like to get some rest before I head on out again." Negi answered her with a pause to yawn. "I've got a lot ahead of me."
"So you're a traveler, huh?" The vampire hunter asked, resting her cheek in one hand. That sure was something else these days. Then again, just by looking at the young magi, one could easily tell that there was something out of the ordinary about him. From his odd hair style to his choice of clothes, there was something surely special about him. Also, judging by how he kept that large walking rod around with him, she assumed that he was doing his travels on foot. What an interesting fellow indeed. She was going to have to pay him some mind, that much was clear in his company.
"Yeah." Negi replied.
The pig tailed waitress came to the table, offering him an admiring grin. "Need something?" She asked sweetly, something that had been lacking in her when she approached the other tables of lecherous men. Meeting someone like Negi in such a place was quite refreshing. Now if only he could ditch the woman, then maybe things would look up a little more. She stole a glance at Katherine while such thoughts went through her mind.
"Bill, please." Negi told her with a smile.
"Ooh." She pressed her writing pad to her chest in an obvious attempt to charm him. "Leaving so soon?"
"Aha." Negi casually turned his attention away from her pressed assets. "Can't be helped."
"If you say so..." She trailed off expectantly. She missed that way a small wooden hand poked out from the inner pocket of the magister's cloak to flip her the bird. Luckily Katherine didn't, either. Negi simply pushed Chachazero's small hand back into the concealment of his cloak as cautiously as possible. He was going to have to have a little talk with his partner later about her manners. She had been getting rather restless ever since they got into town, although that was to be expected now that he really paid a little mind to her situation. Usually he wouldn't have to be so secretive about his relationship with her, but with normal people around their interaction was pretty limited. He was going to have to make it up to her later. Those worries aside, Negi realized that the pig tailed waitress was awaiting a name from his lips.
"Just hand over the bill, sweety." Katherine saved him from answering her unvoiced question. She smiled at the miffed young woman. "He's not interested."
"Funny you should say that, cause-" Both the waitress and Katherine turned to Negi just as he slapped his hand over his stomach.
Silence followed.
"Whew," Negi broke through the tension with a good natured grin. "I guess I'm a little hungry." He purposely patted the spot under his cloak that his faithful familiar was hiding to keep her from tossing any more insults. He wondered why she was being so irritable as of late. You see, the young magister wouldn't have been able to detect affection and jealousy unless it was thrown at him, or if it assaulted him for that matter. In that right, Evangeline McDowell knew exactly what she was doing to make that message clear to him. Perhaps even Mana...although that might lead to something horrifying given the...ahem...complex nature of their situation regarding each other. Fatal attraction, indeed.
"Hungry, eh?" Katherine mused, losing interest in their waitress as she looked down at her own stomach with a thoughtful expression. The hunger didn't really hit her until her fine drinking partner mentioned it. Well, without money-Katherine looks at Negi sneakily- it looked like she was going to have to go with plan B. "You know, there's a really nice pla-"
"Not with you." Negi cut her off with a glare.
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Leaving that place behind...
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Negi's eye swiveled to his side to find Katherine walking beside him casually, all of the equipment hanging from her waist swinging back and forth with a rhythmic click and jingle. While they certainly weren't any tools that one would find dangerous at first glance, Negi had a feeling that they could be considered a threat under her skillful use. It was almost enough to send shivers down his spine. Then again, why was she still with him? He made it clear to her back at the small establishment that he was going to part ways with her, and yet, she didn't appear to catch on too well. Either that or she was attempting to forcefully mooch off of him. That was uncomfortable.
"Hey." Negi called to her with a slight hint of irritation.
"Huh?" Katherine turned to look at him with a face of indifference, almost as though she didn't even happen to notice him. "Hey, Springfield."
"Where are you going?" He asked, getting a disgusted expression in exchange.
"And why would you want to know that for?" The woman asked, narrowing her eyes at him. The tone of her voice was convincing enough in conveying the message that she wasn't comfortable with his question, but he still couldn't be too sure. He did spend most of his life around women, after all. On a side note, he wouldn't think that out loud if all the girls from Mahora was near by. He was smarter than that.
"...So you're not following me?"
"What would give you that idea?" Katherine appeared to be genuinely disturbed by his line of thought. Perhaps this was a coincidence after all...or not.
"So...you're telling me that we just happen to be heading the same way?"
They both made a left turn at the end of the block.
Katherine shrugged her shoulders. "Seems that way."
...I can't really ask much else. Negi inwardly reasoned, following on his path back to the inn that he had himself booked at when he came into town earlier. I guess I'll just keep it casual. We should break off at some point. That was common sense, right? It wouldn't be possible for them to head in to the same place unless she really did happen to be following him like he feared, or if he just had really rotten luck. Now, this might have been saying much about the young magi's outlook on his charmed life, but he really took the latter into consideration because...well...been reading lately? Certainly that sort of thinking wasn't healthy for a young man of his supposed age, but there was no denying it anymore. So when he and Katherine happened to enter the inn together (he held the door for her, actually) he didn't jump back and cry out like an idiot, or any of those reactions that one would expect from your normal leading man in this given situation.
Katherine studied him closely as he walked past her to get to the concierge desk. Are you sure you're not following me?
"Ah, you're back!" The huntress heard the young woman behind the desk greet him cheerfully.
"Guess not." She mumbled to no one in particular, watching the young magi nod to the girl politely before heading up the stairs to head to his room. Of course, I can't just ignore him though. The way he carries himself just isn't natural, but it clearly isn't something he's practiced either. That cloak of his certainly doesn't appear to be something of a common purchase either, and his manners aren't commonplace. Her eyes followed his fleeting form without so much as a blink until he started turning her head in her direction, almost as if he sensed her gaze upon him. She did her best to make it seem as though she was simply checking the time on her watch before approaching the girl at the desk. Any person that would take the kind of abuse I forced on him at that bar clearly has something to hide...or too nice for their own good.
Clearing away her thoughts, Katherine turned her attention to the girl, asking, "Have you gotten any word from my comrades?"
"Oh, you must be Katherine, then?" The girl asked.
"...Yes." The older woman answered when she realized that the girl wasn't going any further without a response.
"The taller man with the blonde hair said to leave the young man from earlier alone." She relayed the message.
"Oh..." She blinked after hearing the message and turned away from the girl before heading up the stairs to the rooms. "Mind it, Wilson." She grumbled in an after thought.
__________________[F]____________[V]____________[A]__________________
Negi looked through the peek hole of his door to check for anything suspicious before sighing and reaching into his cloak to pull his familiar out. From the looks of how she remained with her arms crossed as he held her out in front of him with both hands, she didn't appear to be in the mood to hear any of his lectures. Well, that was too bad because he wasn't about to let her behavior from earlier just slide past. She was going to need to learn how to get a handle on that temper.
"Zero-chan..." Negi called her by his affectionate title for her. "Are you going to tell me what that was about earlier?" He was faced with a defiant expression. At least that was what he interpreted from the way her eyes narrowed to slits. Despite the fact that she was unable to make facial expressions for reasons that needed no explanation, his time with her told him a lot about her mood shifts. Crossed arms and slits meant defiance, apparently.
"Why are you so dense, master Negi?"
"What?" Negi blinked at her tone. She was mad at him?
"That woman was obviously taking advantage of you earlier." The demented puppet waved her arms agitatedly. "When are you gonna wise up?"
"I know that already." Negi told her, walking to the bed at the center of the room. When he took a seat, he set Chachazero down on his lap and slipped off his magister cloak. "Sometimes you just have to be that way for others to get the wrong impression." He explained. "She's not the type of person I want any negative attention from. By letting her take advantage, she doesn't see me as anybody worth paying any mind to." He offered her a smirk that was the equivalent of some sort of self proclamation. "See?"
"Or it could just backfire on you." Chachazero shot him down, getting him to bow his head in an instant. "You know...like it always does?"
"Why is it always so negative with you?" The young magi mumbled dejectedly.
"You need a little negativity to get by in life." The puppet replied, making herself comfortable on his lap. "All of that optimism is gonna get you hurt."
Negi sighed, falling onto his back. He looked up at the ceiling above and rested a hand upon his face for a moment as he lost himself in deep thought. Chachazero, seeing her chance, crawled onto his chest and laid on him. For all the trouble in the world, she would be willing to follow him through them and beyond as long as she was able to spend these quiet moments with him. At first it surprised even her that she would even conjure such thoughts in her mind, but Negi Springfield just had that sort of effect on her. He was her beloved master and any troublesome man or woman that attempted to change that would be on the receiving end of her blades.
"So what's next?" She called her master's attention.
"Good question." Negi replied in low spirits. "The wizards that Nekane told me about weren't in the town she directed us to, and my navigation is limited now that I'm being pursued." That would be referring to the fact that the two almost had a run in with a certain mistress a few days back once they departed from their intended destination. The skies weren't exactly very safe anymore. This was sure to make things a hell of a lot more difficult for him.
"Why don't you try giving Eva-san a call?" Chachazero suggested with a tap on his chest. "I mean, shouldn't she have been a logical source in the first place?"
Negi propped himself on his elbows to regard his familiar with a puzzled look. But why would master be-- The magister sweat dropped in embarrassment when he realized where he had gone wrong all along. Now that he took the time to consider it, the murderous puppet actually had a pretty good point there. Naturally, Evangeline would know a lot about how to track down the 'Thousand Master's' whereabouts or how to reach his contacts since she practically stalked him around the globe before she was imprisoned on the campus. Well...time to make that call.
"Did I ever tell you that you were a genius?" Negi grinned at his tiny companion.
"Probably." The puppet shrugged.
"I wouldn't be surprised." The magi told her, stroking her hair affectionately. The puppet nuzzled his chest in response before she felt him hold her gently as he stretched his arm toward the night table beside the bed to slip the phone from its receiver. After shifting about so that his head was planted on one of the pillows, he let go of Chachazero and dialed Evangeline's number.
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Receiving the call at Evangeline's Residence....
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And so, Evangeline, wearing a black blouse and nothing more since there was really no need to be decent while there was no one else in the house but her faithful servant, Chachamaru, heard the phone ring loudly from the living room coffee table. Now, the vampiress wasn't exactly the type to jump up with joy and slide down the stair rail to answer a phone call from a traveling disciple, but one would question whether that had not been done since the undying wizard had reached the phone by the end of this sentence. She whipped her hair to the side as she placed the phone beside her ear before doing the honors of starting the conversation before Negi could ever hope to.
"Negi, that you?" She questioned rather casually. It wasn't the tone or choice of words that a disciple would expect to hear from his master and possible love interest when she happened to know that he was facing the possibility of being dragged by the the hair to a dark, secluded place at the hands of a dark mistress every waking moment of his life. Then again, memories of those flying lessons bubbled to the surface to remind him about the type of woman his master happened to be. Oh, that night wouldn't be forgotten...never forgotten...the forgetting of that night would never happen...never would the night of the flying ever fall into the forgetting of the-
"It's me." The young magi answered her, rather dejectedly I might add, and it did not go lost on Evangeline.
"--The hell is wrong with you?" It just didn't impact her like he hoped it would.
"I was hoping that you would sound a little happier to hear from me..."
"Well, aren't you starving for attention?" Evangeline said flatly, raising an eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip. "If that's the case, why don't you just come back?"
"N-No way!" Negi replied quicker that she expected him to. It obviously didn't take him much time to refuse the implied offer, and it just kind of grind her gears. Admittedly, this would be the first time she wished he didn't have a spine. "Do you realize what I had to do just to leave in the first place?!"
"Fly away?"
"...So mean..."
"So, did you call me just to bitch?"
"No. I had a dream about you last night that just wouldn't let me sleep properly, and I just couldn't face the day without hearing your voice." Negi decided to reply on one of his bold moments. If he listened closely, he would have heard the faint beat of the dark girl's heart, which was a feat in itself since all who knew her would swear that it stopped pumping blood centuries ago.
Evangeline blinked for a moment as a lovely shade of pink filled her cheeks. "You better." Naturally, Negi didn't quite catch that very well.
"Actually, I'm short of leads right now, so I've hit a dead end." Negi came out clean. "It never really occurred to me before, but you're probably the best person I could think of coming to for answers in this situation."
"Really, Columbo?"
"Uh, yeah. I mean you stalked my father all the time before he imprisoned you here-"
"I DID NOT S-STALK HIM!" Evangeline yelled defensively into the receiver. The origin of the faint bop in the background was Negi's head hitting the bed post in fright, which brought a slightly pleased smirk to the little blood sucker's lips. At least until she heard Chachazero say, "Hell yeah, she was stalking him."
"Shut it, wood chips..."
"Ha, she's embarrassed!" The puppet cackled ruthlessly. "I don't see anything wrong with it. I'd stalk you if I wasn't with you all the time, master Negi." And this was followed by a short silence because that disturbed both the master and disciple. Well, not so much the master as the disciple, but you try imagining how life would be if you were stalked by a psychotic doll.
"Wood chips would be far too generous for you." Evangeline growled menacingly. "Saw dust, you defective play thing!"
"Whoa!" Negi cried out on the other side after Chachazero yelped in surprise. "I'm back on! Seriously! No need to turn her into dust!"
"It's long overdue, boya." Evangeline giggled sinisterly before there was a sudden pause. "And why are you so protective of her?"
"Why wouldn't I be? She's my familiar."
"An annoying one."
"I think it's a cute quality."
Evangeline held the phone away from her for a moment to regard it with a look of disbelief. How was it that he put up with that evil doll anyway? When she first set him up with the accursed thing, she was sure that he would beg for her to relieve him of the sadistic puppet in due time, but it was his third year with Chachazero and all she saw was progress. Progress of all things! Things she had to force the puppet to do was being done for the young man with a cheerful 'Yes, master Negi' or a 'Only cause I like you' or even a 'But you have to strip tease for me later' sort of response. Not only that, but Chachazero was clearly...attached.
Brr... The thought even managed to bring chills to Evangeline. Hell must have frozen over.
Evangeline gave it another go. Negi had to have a complaint about something related to the green haired puppet. "She's practically your total opposite."
"Variety brings color to my life."
Pfft. Life...good one. Evangeline stopped herself from letting out a scoff. "Her interests fall under the category of blood and sharp objects."
"We've got something in common."
"She's cruel."
"So is my master." Negi replied in a casual manner. "It grows on you after a while."
"That's enough of that..." Evangeline really wanted to get off the subject. "So you need a heading, is that it?"
"I need something." Negi replied. "Right now I'm a sitting duck."
"What's keeping you from moving?"
"My latest stalker, apparently." He replied. "I almost ran into her again two days ago."
"Lucinda..." Evangeline spoke her arch foe's name like bubbling venom on the tip of her tongue. Of all the people this idiot could have crossed paths with, he had to meet her. I seriously wanna to punch something right now. "If that's the case you better not do anything to exert yourself or she'll track my scent in your blood from miles away." She smirked at his current predicament. "I suppose that means that your wish has finally been fulfilled, boya." Her tone was sinister.
There was a pause. "What...what wish are you talking about?"
"You get to behave like a normal human again. Isn't that what you want?" The vampiress cackled. "I guess there really isn't much of a flight plan in the works anymore, is there? That is unless you want to go sailing with that staff of yours. The only disadvantage there is the danger of being caught by any mundanes." Unlike natural flying, the boya wouldn't be able to pick up that much speed on his staff, and if he could push himself that far he would probably fall off if he isn't too careful.
"...Great." The frustration was clear in his voice as he responded. This was bound to cause him more trouble along the road. "All of these set backs are beginning to hurt me."
"You can only blame yourself for that." Evangeline countered with a fanged grin before it dropped faster than a rock. "Now, you recall the reason why Nagi earned his title, right?" Saying the name of her former love interest left a bitter sweet taste on her tongue.
"He mastered a thousand spells, right?"
The vampiress placed a hand over her forehead after listening to his answer before replying, "Nooooo. That was a lie to cover up for the actual reason that man whore earned his title." Her affectionate title for the Thousand Master left her lips a little bitterly.
"Man whore?" The magi sounded a little discouraged by that.
"If there's one things Nagi has a lot of, it's connections." Evangeline went on for the confused vampire. "He's rumored to have made contracts with a thousand minstras, maybe even more than that. Of course, the majority of those pactios were made with women, a path that you're sure to follow given the amount of attention you receive from the female populace." She paused for a moment to wait for a response, but Negi seemed to be much more interested in listening than anything else at the moment. "Now assuming that those minstras are as well known as that bastard, it shouldn't be too hard to track them down if you ask the right people."
"But Takamichi and the others have no idea where he could have gone, and they were his closest friends!"
"You'll find that there is a fine line that separates lovers from friends, boya." Evangeline retorted calmly. "Look for a woman and she'll be sure to point you in the right direction."
'Kind of like Eva-san, only she never got that far.' She heard Chachazero quip faintly in the background.
"Zero-chan, keep it down a little." Negi whispered to his familiar, but it was too late to fix it by then. Evangeline had heard just about enough from the sadistic puppet for the day.
"Well, I think I helped you enough!" The chibi-vampire yelled through the receiver, doing her best not to crush the phone in her hand. "God speed, boya. You'll need it!" And with that she slammed the phone onto it's charging dock. She whipped away from the offending object quickly to find Chachamaru standing behind her with a rather cold look in her eyes. Of course, you would have to be Negi or Hakase to catch it because they were just about the only people who really cared enough to study the gynoid's expressions.
"What is it?" Evangeline asked with a sigh, looking up at Chachamaru's face with a hand on her hip. It really wasn't a mystery to the vampiress just what the gynoid wanted. She may not have been one to study her emotions, but Evangeline knew very well what were her wants. Negi usually seemed to be at the top of that list, soon to be promoted to the gynoid's needs list.
"That was Negi-kun?" Chachamaru asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"Yeah."
"Did he not ask for me?" The hope in Chachamaru's voice was well hidden.
"He didn't have time." Evangeline offered her the vague response before brushing past her and heading for the door of the house to leave. She was in the mood to play some 'Go' and vent some of the steam that was building up in her chest. Chachamaru heard her mutter something about the young magi on her way out, something about a craving that was beginning to bother her.
Putting the thoughts of her mistress aside, Chachamaru simply stared at the phone with her hands folded along her lap.
...and she waited.
Negi stared at the phone blankly before turning his head ever so slowly at Chachazero. "She hung up..."
The puppet cackled, "Think I might've gotten her a little angry?"
"I don't think there's really a point in answering that question." Negi replied sarcastically before he dialed the number in another attempt to reach his master. "I hope she picks up. She isn't really planning on leaving me with this much information, is she?" A small voice in the back of his head was telling him that she probably was, but the stubborn part of his mind agreed. Wait, wait...what?
"She'll ignore us, you know." Chachazero told him with a little wave of her hand.
"No words from the traitor." Negi responded to her words. Chachazero simply rolled her eyes at her master as he waited on the line for the vampiress to answer his call. She spent more than enough time with Evangeline McDowell to know how to get on her nerves. She perfected it to an art, and a look back on 'Eva 101' clearly stated that the vampiress would now be in no mood to do anybody favors, even if that someone happened to be her disciple, who she had more feelings for than she would ever admit to. That, my friend, was saying something, however, one would have to wonder, if she had been capable, what kind of expression would have popped up on the puppet's face when Negi breathed out the words, "Thank god."
This was incredible...unbelievable, actually. Eva really decided to pick up?! Chachazero suddenly had a good grip on the young man's shirt as her little, blood stained world was given a sudden jerk. Of all the things that could bring upon the apocalypse-
"Hi, Chachamaru." Negi's words set the puppet's world back in order.
Oh, never mind. It's HER... The sadistic puppet relaxed and slumped over on his chest. ...Why'd she have to answer the phone?
"Negi-kun, you've exceeded the acceptable number of days between each call." The gynoid began, her tone holding a slight hint of unpleasantness. "I would appreciate it if you kept me updated more often. You've caused me an unnecessary degree of worry."
Negi sweat dropped at her words. An irritated gynoid usually led to a rocket punch, something that the young magi had come to know in his years with Chachamaru. He just hoped she wasn't taking note of how many she owed him or he wasn't going to be able to work up the courage to return. Those hurt! "I'm really sorry if I caused you any sort of stress, Chachamaru!" Although I'm a little curious about how she could ever be stressed out. "I've been on the run a lot lately, and I don't think that will change anytime soon."
"Trouble, I see...I cannot say that I had not foreseen this."
"I figured you would say something like that." Negi massaged the back of his neck sheepishly, ignoring the way Chachazero started tapping his chest with her fingers, staring at him without so much as a blink. It was enough to give someone goosebumps. "By the way, is Eva there?"
"The mistress left to attend her usual 'Go' club gatherings. She didn't appear to be in the mood for talk when she took her leave." There was a purposeful pause from the gynoid before she added on, "My assumption is that you may have been the cause for that."
"Yeah...sort of." The magister replied sheepishly, heaving a sigh after his reply. Well, it looked as though he was going to be wandering on his own from this point. Staying around this town any longer would only put his well being in danger. The mistress was far more active in the evening, so he couldn't linger around any longer or she would manage to pin point his location much easier. The chances of him getting away from her a second time now that she was aware of his blood's unique chemical effects were rather slim, and the idea of being her personal squeaky toy wasn't very appealing. Say what you will, you didn't experience what he did, and if you did...well...everyone has their own opinion. "So that's it, huh? I guess I should have expected as much...I'll call tomorrow, then-"
CHANCE!
"I would be more than willing to serve as an informant for you, Negi-kun." Chachamaru caught him quickly before he could bid her farewell. "While I may not hold the wisdom that the mistress possess in these certain matters I can assure you that my abilities to procure the proper information you require would be of an invaluable service to you. It would be my pleasure to be of some help."
Negi sat up straight in bed, almost sending his familiar toppling off of him. "Really, Chachamaru?! You'd do that?"
"For you, there is no need to question the lengths I would go." Chachamaru replied, leaving no room for doubt on his part. Her voice did take on a curious tone, though. He wished that he could have been there to see her face as she replied. "I do require a form of payment, however." Her final words to him got him to blink in curiosity. He wasn't under the impression that this was some sort of business transaction. Negi would have to admit that this really caught him off guard. He really couldn't think of anything else to say besides-
"Um...so what would you like?" Chachamaru never really asked him of anything, so this was sure to be interesting. He subconsciously reached to pass a finger over the chain that she gave him as a parting gift, the weight of the key hanging at the end becoming more noticeable now that he had the gynoid on his mind. A key...a key...now that it was on his mind, what was it for? Was it for a door? He wasn't sure if Evangeline allowed any of her servants any actual privacy, and it wasn't as though a locked door could keep the chibi-mistress from entering a room so that could definitely be ruled out...unless Chachamaru had some kind of remote shack hidden in the forest that surrounded the cabin, which would have been, sorry to say, a little creepy.
Er, n-never mind that, for now... The young magi sweat dropped, pulling away from his thought flow to listen to his friend.
"For every time you ask something of me, I would like for you to do me a favor." She replied.
"What kind of favors?" He asked curiously.
"There is no need to ask now. I will have them ready for you when you return." Chachamaru replied. "Do you accept my terms? I won't allow you to back out once you've accepted."
Well, with the way you're offering your services now, it's making me kind of nervous. Negi thought, but what did he really have to be afraid of? Chachamaru was the most reasonable individual he'd ever met, and she sure was no Evangeline McDowell. Being in her debt was nothing to be wary, right? What's the most she could ask for? Hm...well, what would she ask for? Er...that was the question, wasn't it? She didn't eat (Unless Hakase managed to install an entire digestive system within her) or...she didn't eat. Beyond that the possibilities stretched pretty far. Oh, what the hell.
"Heh. Where's the harm in it?" Negi answered her cheerfully.
"Answering that question would compromise me."
"What?" Negi could have sworn he heard her say something, but she said it too quickly for him to make out.
"Your business is appreciated." Chachamaru lied. "Now then, how might I be of service to you?"
"W-wow..." Negi raised an eyebrow for a moment as a smirk ran along his face. Yes, they were friends, but he didn't expect her to be at his service so quickly. Then again, nevermind that, it was silly. "Um..." For some unexplainable reason he felt a little nervous to answer now that she asked. Hmm, what was it again, "Oh yeah, um, I need to get in contact with one of my father's partners. I'm sure if I do that it would give me an advantage in finding him."
"That should be simple." Her response nearly made the young man pump a fist in the air from excitement. For the first time in days things were beginning to look up. Suddenly the fact that he had a maniacal mistress breathing down his neck didn't sound so bad anymore. As long as he was making progress, he was doing something right, but not exactly; the whole bit about the maniacal mistress breathing down his neck...still very bad. "Will I be able to contact you again through this number?"
"I think it would be better if I contacted you." Negi replied before something very important came to mind. "By the way, the partners must still be here in this realm. Any contacts beyond the mundane world might be harder for me to find. Until then, I'll do a little searching on my own."
There was some silence over the phone for a moment before Chachamaru responded, "Would it not be better if you returned? You can head on out again after I gather enough information."
"That wouldn't be a good idea..." Negi suddenly felt the eyes of a certain dark skinned beauty burning holes into the back of his head. Not only would a sudden return defeat the purpose of things, but the girls were probably still in the mood to shed some blood...he knew Mana might be. "...even if I wanted to, I would only be putting you guys in danger if I did."
"What was that?" Chachamaru's voice suddenly sounded a bit tense.
"Sooo, you get to work on that, Chacha-chan!" He cooed to her sweetly much to the disgust of his familiar. "I'll get back to you!"
-and CLICK!
"We're back in business, Zero-chan." Negi told the puppet cheerfully after he hung up on her younger counterpart. He scooped her up into both of his hands and frowned when she didn't respond to him, simply staring at him with slits that could shoot lasers through the toughest metals. In short, not happy. "Wha-what's the matter, now?" When she still didn't offer him an answer, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Hmm...would this have something to do with Chachamaru?"
"What about that blow up doll?" Chachazero asked him in a dispassionate tone of voice.
"...I don't understand why you always have to talk about her like that." Negi chided the puppet. He was pretty sure that she didn't behave this way towards her counter part when she was still Evangeline's familiar, but then again, he hardly saw much of her whenever he trained with the Undying Wizard. "What has she ever done to you...that you haven't pushed her to do, that is..."
The puppet shrugged her shoulders, closing her eyes. "Master Negi, do you know what holds you back most?"
"Hm?" She changed the subject. Why?
"That thick skull!" The puppet answered him, flailing her arms like a mad woman. "Tell me, who do you see in your future, huh?"
"Who are you talking about?" Negi blinked a few times. "More importantly, what are you talking about?" He narrowed his eyes at her to emphasize how lost he was with her words, so Chachazero gladly took a moment to show him what she meant, courtesy of a little hand gesture that nearly left the magister speechless. He just forgot who he was dealing with sometimes. Chachazero could easily fall into the category of a blunt object, though she'd probably impale you on her buster sword if she knew that you referred to her in that way.
A blush crept up on his face. "Th-th-that isn't r-really something that I'm, uh, worried about r-right now! There's ther th-things that I should b-be-" He stopped in mid-sentence to tap Chachazero's hands apart. "Would you stop doing that already?!"
"Who's it gonna be?" Chachazero asked, resting her chin in one hand as she eyed him from his grasp. "Eva-san? It's gotta be, right? I mean, why else are you doing all of this for her?"
"Don't you think th-that's reading in on this a little too far?"
Chacazero went on, "Or maybe the captain, right? Long legs, lips, a tight waist. Hm, I've seen the way you look at her stomach sometimes. The girl takes care of herself, eh?" The puppet ran her hands down her neck before stopping them over her chest. "Isn't she one of the girls that ranked in the boob squad?"
"The b-what?! What are you going on about?!"
"I thought you knew." The puppet tapped her fingers on his hand impatiently. "Man, you don't pay attention much, do you?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Sakurazaki looks like she's got the hots for you too. I'm sure if you lure her in Konoe would follow right in with her. Any guy would kill for that threeso-"
"That isn't even-"
"Enough?" Chachazero inserted her own word of choice at the end of his sentence. "Well you could always go for those four that came after you back at the campus. I think they were probably planning on taking advantage of you anyway. S'pecially that gymnast. With all of that practice, could you imagi-"
Negi shook his head quickly. "N-Never!"
"Kay."
That was surprisingly easy. For a second there I was sure she was going to keep on going with this all ni-
"Cause I'm gonna get to you first." Chachazero told him casually with a wink.
...nightmares are going to haunt me tonight...
"Somehow, I don't recall when my business ever became such a big factor of interest to you, Wilson." A curt statement was made by an irritated, feminine voice from around the corner of the hall that the door to Negi's hotel room happened to be on, which also happened to be the hall that lead out to an overhead view of the lobby, and the stairway leading down to said floor.
"Yeah, well it did when I started noticing one of your worst habits." A masculine voice retorted in a voice that spoke of annoyance on the owner's part, yet there was a noticable hint of caution, almost as though they were doing their best not to overstep their boundaries with the person they were talking to. "And when I saw your eyes on that unfortunate young man after he mistakenly bumped shoulders with you, I knew that you were going to do it again."
"Do what again?" The feminine voice questioned with a hint of feigned artlessness before the two who were engaged in conversation stepped into the hall, side by side.
"Mooching." A tall man with slicked blonde hair, slightly bushy eyebrows and rectangular, rose tinted shades told Katherine Rosenthal as he waved one calloused hand back and forth to keep her attention from wavering. She had a tendency to let her mind wander if she found nothing stimulating about the conversations she was engaged in, which, unfortunately, was most of the time. He was a man of medium build as one could tell by the way his weathered jean jacket fitted over his upper body, or it could have just been the body armor he was wearing underneath. He had a leather strap around the left leg of his cargo jeans, attaching somewhere along his waist, and he walked with a somewhat noticeable limp. Almost everything about the man seemed a little worn despite his youthful appearance, with most of the attention to his features usually being brought to the jagged scar on the bridge of his nose. His name was Wilson Schultheiss, Katherine's closest mate.
"I think you're being a little extreme with your choice of words, pal." The lovely hunter told him with a casual shooing gesture. "I like to think of it as a way of being rewarded for my services to the people. After all, where would they be without me?"
"What have you been doing since before we met up? Just answer me that and I might drop the subject." Wilson tried to persuade her, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. The way he appeared, raising his eyebrows with his shades on made him seem a tad comical. Then again, the woman never did take him seriously when they were off the line of duty, anyway.
"Having a drink at the local pub."
Wilson sighed, adjusting his shades. She didn't even try to lie...
"How many?"
"How many what?"
"...Katherine...." He growled. "You do remember the regulations, don't you?"
"Just hold on for a second." She stopped, giving him a rough shove on his side. The man would have run right into one of the hotel doors had he not expected this sort of reaction from her. They had so many of these arguments already that he knew just what to expect from her sort of temper. "Do I look like I can't manage myself?" She snapped at him, gesturing to herself with a hand on her chest. Her partner's shades were the only things keeping her from kicking him in the shin. He couldn't help it when she brought his attention to those...ahem...assets, even if it wasn't intentional.
"Should you be asking me, or your liv-"
"I guess I'm hoofing it, then." Wilson and Katherine glanced to their right when someone decided to leave their room, drawing their attention with their musing. Negi shut the door with a sigh and adjusted the strap keeping his staff in place before his heightened senses alerted him of being watched by someone. It wasn't the kind of presence that made him jump, but it was still uncomfortable.
He looked at them...
...They looked back.
Negi's life must have been at some comedy club doing stand up...
"...Katherine?" The vampire questioned the unwelcoming sight of his drinking mate. Was she on to him?
The vampire hunter frowned at him, hands on her hips. If there was ever a moment that he wasn't needed it was most certianly now, so why the hell did he have to show his face? Well, time for evasive maneuvers...
"Do I know you?" Katherine did her best to convey the message that THEY DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER.
Negi's wallet, apparently, did not want to play along. "Um, don't you remember...earlier?"
She glared at him out of Wilson's view as the blonde man started to piece things together. "Perhaps you have me mistaken for someone-URK!"
"Ha, ha."Wilson placed a hand on his partner's shoulder and gripped it with a vengeance. "Not to worry, friend. She remembers you very well." He tapped her forehead with his free hand and grinned at the young magi as a vein bulged on his forehead. "That's just the voice of greed talking to you, but it'll shut up right away...won't it, Kat?"
"Negi..." Katherine narrowed her eyes at him with a frightening smile. "So good to see you!" Negi Springfield, being a young man who found himself in the pleasant company of women on a daily basis, found that he needed no translation for the sugar coated words that left her mouth, but just in case the readers wanted a hint...
Translation: "Closed casket?"
__________________[F]____________[V]____________[A]__________________
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Turning away from the beginning of that wonderful relationship...to bring you an unhealthy one....
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The large, dome like chamber was really something out of an old, classic movie, alive with sounds of chatter as all of its occupants stood around in small groups with stories to tell and issues to resolve. They all dressed elegantly in white and black robes with glasses of wine and other sociable drinks in hand. It was all so tame and orderly that one could not help but wonder if all of the people were somehow hanging by strings attached to their heads, doing only as the unseen puppet master willed them to. The stage was set, circular tables set all around the chamber decorated with colorful flower arrangements, with chairs surrounding each one of them to accommodate the standing guests should they see fit to pull away from their fellow conspirers. A bar was stationed at the far left side of the chamber with servants awaiting the orders of any thirsty nobles, and to the far right were the gourmet dishes set upon a long table that practically stretched from both ends of the room with chefs tending to all of them. The actors were present, Kotaro Inugami finding himself playing one of their roles much to his chagrin and building anxiety. All that was left was for the show to go on, and his dear mother was more than pleased to make that happen.
"Must you sit like that?" Kotaro looked beside him to find Tomoko directing a malign glare at him. He half expected her to break her charming illusion once more to strangle him in plain sight, but the smile that crossed her lips had an even greater effect than that. It was expressions like the one she had on now that sent chills down his spine. It made him wonder just what she was scheming in that devils workshop that she so inappropriately called a mind. "How do you expect to win my father's favor if you continue to behave like some sort of knave?"
Kotaro blinked. "...A what?"
His fiance stared at him for a moment before translating, "A bad man."
Kotaro rolled his eyes. "What makes you think that I want your old man's approval?" He crossed his arms, glaring at her with daggers in his eyes. "And when did I ever say that I wanted to marry you in the first place? Have you lost your mind, woman?"
"First of all," The illusion had finally cracked again as she reached out for a handful of his robe to pull him towards her, "You will not refer to me as 'woman'. I have a name, and you'll address me by it-," she smirked at him in a concupiscent manner before she added, "-lovingly, no less."
"Who do you think you are?" Kotaro gripped the wrist of the hand that held him, glaring at her narrowly.
"I'm the girl that you left behind." Tomoko's tone suddenly plunged into a very dark place. It was the kind of place that certain people went to when they weren't in the mood for an argument. You didn't mess with those certain people, by the way. "I've turned down every money grubbing suitor that tried to take my hand in marriage and even a few who genuinely had affections for me when I had finally come of age. I've stomped on every given opportunity of being a spoiled little 'princess', as you see fit to call me, in order to train under the arts and become more like a member of your family, and for what...?"
Kotaro swallowed hard, wanting very badly to go to his happy place sometime soon. Preferably now, while he still had a firm grip over those defining jewels that made him the healthy young man that he was...
"-Just so you can return one day and tell me, screw you?" The lovely young woman's face shifted from downright demented to purely angelic at that snap of a finger. Of course, now one of her claws happened to be poking his chest through the cut of his robe and it was, needless to say, uncomfortable. "Make no mistake, dear. You will have my happy ending..."
Kotaro opened his mouth to reply, but that was all he was capable of at that moment, staring into the eyes of his lovely fiance, and make no mistake, she was lovely...
Kanako glanced over her shoulder from afar to check on her brother's behavior and gasped softly when she saw the scene unfold. Dismissing the young man that was doing his best to hold a conversation with her, she tapped Caska on the shoulder to get her attention. Her tomboyish sister pulled her wine glass away from her lips in response and turned her head slowly to regard her. Her attitude stemmed from the fact that she had to be present for the banquet wearing a dress of all things. Her pride just wouldn't let her accept this punishment.
"What?" Caska asked with displeasure.
Ignoring her sister's rude response, Kanako gestured to the young couple sitting at the table in the distance. She managed to catch them just as Kotaro let his mouth hang open in fear. "They seem to be getting along well, don't you think." For once, she appeared to be pleased with her younger brother.
"Are you sure that isn't one sided?" Caska asked sarcastically, watching how Kotaro's ears drooped.
"Ugh." Kanako grunted with disgust at her sister's words. "Why ruin the image like that? Just because you're not doing too well with Kamui doesn't mean-"
Caska scowled, "Do you pay any attention to your brother's feelings at all?"
"What is that supposed to..." Kanako trailed off when she saw that their mother had begun to approach them. "Later..." She hissed through her teeth, putting their little argument on hold.
"Ladies," Yuzuki Inugami stepped in with her ever present smile, "Is there a problem?"
"Not at all, mother." Kanako quickly replied with a bow of her head.
"All sunshine and pups, here." Caska answered with a fake grin.
"Lovely." Their mother said pleasantly. "Your older sister will be present soon. Be sure to greet her."
"Yes, mother." Kanako bowed again.
"Ma'am." Caska did a little salute, eliciting a glare from their mother before she turned away from them and went off to join another group of elders across the room. If there was one thing all of Yuzuki's children would have to admit about her, it was her ability to weave a masterpiece, and all of the rest of the nobles were practically getting caught in her masterful threads.
"Would it kill you to respect your own mother?" Kanako berated her sister.
"I won't take my chances finding out." Caska flashed her a smile before walking off to the table Kotaro and Tomo were sitting at. Kanako could only watch her walk off and fume.
Tap--Tap
Kotaro looked over his shoulder absently to find Caska hovering over him. Tomoko, realizing that something caught her beloved's attention looked over her own shoulder to regard her future sister-in-law. "Hey there, lil' bro. How goes your bonding?"
Kotaro blinked an SOS.
"Great." Caska slapped his shoulder roughly, "I'm proud of you. Now, putting that aside for the moment, I just wanted to give you the heads up. Junko is coming."
Kotaro suddenly sucked in a belly full of air.
"I knew you'd be excited." The older Inugami smiled deviously. "Well, don't be a stranger." And with that she gave him a light pat on the head and proceeded to embark on her journey towards the bar for the elixir of life. The only thing that stood before her and enlightenment was an ocean full of sharks and piranhas, and, if she was unlucky, her own fiance. Then, almost as if on cue, Kamui entered the room through the entrance followed by his brother and Junko Inugami. Their eyes met and the chase was suddenly on.
"Shit." Caska hissed before she did her best to disappear in the mass of nobles. Kamui followed right on with a smirk.
Kotaro suddenly wished he had done the same thing once his fiance politely waved at his older sister, Junko, drawing her attention to the both of them in the process. The eldest of Yuzuki's children offered Tomoko a nod of acknowledgment in return with a small smile as she brushed two long bangs away from her right eye, however, that melted away when her silver eyes fell upon Kotaro. The color immediately drained from her face, almost as if she had been touched by a ghost. What...was...he...doing...here?
Dammit, dammit, dammit... The young dog demon inwardly chanted once his older sister whispered something in her husband's ear before she turned on him again and made a straight bee-line for his current position. The woman was so focused on reaching him that she didn't even pay her own mother any mind when she called to her.
"Kotaro." Junko called his attention softly, placing one clawed hand on his shoulder since he turned his back on her when he saw her coming for him. Knowing that ignoring her would only make things worse for him in the long run, Kotaro sighed and twisted his upper body around so he could see her. Time away didn't change her appearance in the least. Despite the fact that Yuzuki married her off to that asshole that Ryota called a son, he could still see that she retained her spirit, though given his current situation that could work against him. She was a tall woman, slender body, and legs that were made for the runway. Her spiked hair feathered around her face gracefully, spreading in all direction from the back fo her head. She was every way that he remembered her.
"Sis..." His words were spoken genuine and with the slightest hint of affection, something that was absent whenever he addressed his other two sisters. A long absence followed their exchange as Junko took a moment to swallow. It wasn't until Tomo started to look between them that the woman finally decided to say something.
"...I thought we'd never see each other again after you disappeared," Junko paused in a manner that made her brother's fiance get the impression that she was doing her best to bite something back. Something was up, "...but here you are...just sitting around like...a day has not passed that you and I have embraced one another."
This still feels a little off. Tomoko thought suspiciously. For a woman who has been known to speak so fondly of her little brother, this reunion felt a little down played...
Junko, noticing the inquisitive look that the elder's daughter was directing at her, gripped her brother's shoulder a little tighter and forced him to stand up, saying, "Kotaro, I would like to speak with you privately." By the looks of the tears stinging the young man's eyes, her grip must have been pretty painful because they sure weren't tears of joy. Kotaro, offering no sort of protest to her capture, oddly enough, allowed himself to be taken away. His sister took long strides to the doorway, doing her best not to draw any more attention to the both of them, however, all was going smoothly until-
"Junko," Yuzuki stepped in their way with her hands held at her lap, and a pleasant smile on her face, "What is going on? Did you not hear me calling for you earlier?"
The eldest of her children directed an icy glare at her, replying, "Mother, just a moment ago I discovered that my brother had returned after a long absence. Now, please step out of my way. I would like to have a talk with him in private." Not waiting for a response, she made a move to walk around her, but their mother stepped in the way yet again, the pleasant look on her face melting away for an expression far more suitable for the matriarchal authoritarian.
"Is it so pressing?" Yuzuki asked. "There are more important things that need your attention at the moment."
"What could be more pressing than my own brother?" Junko retorted, looking to her mother narrowly. She waited patiently for the elder Inugami to open her mouth before ending the confrontation, hissing, "I won't allow him to be another chess piece." Satisfied with the look on her mother's face, Junko brushed past her feeling herself walk a little prouder.
Well, now that that's over...
"ACK!" Kotaro nearly bit his tongue when Junko grabbed him by the collar with both hands and slammed him up against the wall. The look of fury that his lovely sister had on her face brought even more panic to his heart than Chizuru's impish smiles. Despite that, he still wanted to get a say in this meeting. "Hcwell..." Kotaro choked in a high pitched voice. "...nfice tshoo scee youz too, shis."
"Kotaro," Junko's voice rose as she bit her bottom lip in anger, "I'm not going to take any bullshit from you right now, so hold it. I mean it, kid. Throw something else at me and I'll give that spoiled girl a reason to think twice about wanting to marry you." When Kotaro started turning red, she let go of him and allowed him to gasp for breath before placing one hand against his chest and pinning him to the wall. "Now, what the hell are you doing back here?"
Kotaro did his best to stare her in the eyes. "I was hoping-"
"Hoping?" Junko cut him off incredulously. "You returned here with hope? Hope for what? Hope that, that woman who claims to be our mother would change?!" Her eyes sharped upon him dangerously as a cynical smile crossed her lips twistedly. "Wait, no, don't tell me...you were hoping that she would let you continue training under her, weren't you?" She waited for an answer, demanding, "Yes?!"
Kotaro nodded his head quickly.
"I figured." The intensity in her voice went cold, dropping too quickly much to her little brother's discomfort. "Well now, looks like all you managed to do was get caught in the family matters again, and to make things even messier, Tomoko has seen you." Junko leaned in so that her face was only an inch away from Kotaro's. "Do you realize what that means?"
"...Wha..." Kotaro cleared his throat. "What? What does it mean?"
"You're fucked." The lovely dog demon smiled maliciously. "That girl almost broke to pieces when you left. She would have ran off into that snow storm after you if it wasn't for me, kid. Oh yeah, it was a huge mess after you went off and disappeared. I don't think I was able to get much sleep for an entire week because I kept on thinking that she was leave her room in the middle of the night and kill herself out there, and here's the cherry on top of it all..." Her voice got eerily low. "She almost got passed it. She was just about to get over you, and...I find you sitting with her at a table a month later."
Kotaro, once again, was at a loss for words. "WOW." Was all the young man to mouth as his brain nearly imploded.
"Exactly." Junko nodded before a tear came to her right eye, catching her brother off guard again for about the fourth time in the time span of twenty minutes at most. "We spoke about this before you left, stupid. I told you never to...look back..." Her voice started cracking and she let her head fall forward onto his chest before crying audibly. "D-Do you even realize how much it killed me to just let you leave? You're the closest thing to family that I've got, but I knew it was the only way to let you live a life of your own, and...a-and your dumb ass just had to return!"
"Junko," Kotaro tried to put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her but she nearly clawed his neck.
"No! I should kill you myself so I can just end my own misery!"
"U-Um, lets not do that..."
"You better leave this place!" Junko gripped him by the collar again and lifted him up off the floor.
"I-I'm d-doin' my best to plan an escape." Kotaro assured her nervously.
"And you better take her with you this time, too!"
Kotaro blinked a few times, "H-Her? Her? Who's her?"
Junko scowled at him frighteningly. "Your fiance!"
"WHAT?!"
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Mahora Campus, cause we've got issues, too, jerk face....
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Welcome to some random cafe in the city of Mahora. Here students came to hang out, away from campus and 'the responsibilities of being a student / that really annoying roommate that wants to become a little more than friends, but you're just not feeling it and want them to stop before you come out and hurt their feelings'. They came here to get a job for a little money on the side every weekend, have an excuse to get out with some friends or that cute crush that looks at them from across the student cafe, and sometimes they even came here to plan secret meetings because Takamichi-sensei had the rest of the magical teachers on campus on the look out for any weird operations that involved some of the students leaving to embark on a mission to find their cute, nocturnal teacher, dammit. Did he realize how little screen time they'd been getting since the main character blew the scene? It was getting kind of lonely...oh...and they missed him a lot, too.
Asuna, Konoka, Kaede, Ku-Fei, and Kazumi waved at Yue, Nodoka, and Haruna when they walked in through the cafe entrance, eyes darting around for a glimpse of them. The librarians perked up at the sight of their classmates and quickly took a seat in the both across from them. Readers wondering why Konoka Konoe was around, sans Setsuna Sakurazaki, should know that the lovely swordsman was against the whole idea of the meeting and decided not to join in, even going so far as to discourage them from going on with it because it would technically be against Negi's wishes for her to be cool with that. Makie was currently busy at gymnastic practice, The Dekopin Rocket was having a jam session, Akira was practicing her laps at the pool, Zazie, Misora and Hakase were off doing their own thing, the twins were supposed to be present (probably catching up as I type), Ayaka and Chisame were unreachable, and Sayo was there, too, but I forget to type her into scenes sometimes cause she's invisible. Takane and Mei didn't count because they were already doing some planning of their own, and Evangeline and Chachamaru's positions on the subject were...complicated, naturally.
Asuna tapped her foot feverishly as her eyes darted from the door of the cafe to the window and back. "Where the heck are they?" She asked out loud, her agitation stemming from the twins' inability to keep on schedule. "Takamichi is going to get pretty suspicious when he realizes that a large group of our class suddenly disappeared from the campus."
"We'll start without them." Kazumi told the magic canceler. "They don't necessarily have to listen to everything."
"So what is this meeting about?" Yue asked, moving the divider on the table side to side to amuse herself.
Nodoka leaned forward, her head poking out from behind the short librarian's shoulder. "Does it have anything to do with Negi-kun?"
"Got that right." Kazumi replied with a wink.
"Asuna and I have already disussed the traveling plans with the class president." Kaede informed them. "Naturally, she supported the idea to track him down one hundred percent. She'll be handling things as far as that goes."
"Awesome!" Haruna grinned excitedly. "We're finally going to go out and drag our man back!"
"That's right!" Konoka nodded zealously, flames crackling in her eyes fiercely. "He's going down." Her choice of words made Asuna cringe.
"Um, I don't think we're going that far, Konoka."
"I don't have time to bleed." Konoka improvised aftar a pause.
"If you say so." Asuna gave up.
"Setsuna-san is coming along, right?" Yue suddenly asked, realizing that she was missing from the group.
Silence....
"Well...about that..." Asuna went on awkwardly.
"She isn't coming." Konoka answered with a straight face.
"Unfortunate, but true." Kaede said with a nod. "We haven't confronted Mana about it yet."
"...Could be risky." Ku-Fei said, clearly not feeling to good with the idea of infomring the lovely marksman about their plans. From what Setsuna told her and Kaede, Negi Springfield was a testy subject around the lovely priestess. With Mana there was no teeling how she would react. Years of concealing her true nature under a chilling grin kept her fellow classmates from fully understanding how the gears in her mind meshed.
"Yes, but we have no idea what Negi-kun has gotten himself into. Should the time come that we're forced to defend ourselves, we'll need some back up."
"I no -ahem- I don't doubt your words, but...Mana?" Ku-Fei still didn't feel very comfortable.
"She has come to our aid before." Kaede argued.
"But she's also gone up against us, too." Asuna provided a counter point. "Did the festival two years ago slip your mind already? Pay her the right amount, and she probably wouldn't think twice about kicking a sick puppy." Her words made Nodoka whimper at the thought, but past experiences with the mercenary proved such cruel words to be true.
"Problem solved, then." The kunoichi smirked like a fox. "We'll pay her."
"There are some things that money can't buy."
"Mastercard?" Konoka questioned, quirking a brow.
Kaede and the rest of the girls perked up at the unexpected response. They all looked a each other with expectant looks, waiting for someone to fess up for that discouraging reply. When that didn't work they all looked to the entrance of the cafe to find Fuka and Fumika standing there with nervous expressions on their pale faces. It wasn't until they realized that there was someone standing behind the two of them that they immediately understood what was going on. The twins were followed...
"Amateurs." The person behind the two girls forced them to step forward so they could enter. "You could have been more careful about how you orchestrated this meeting." Mana Tatsumiya unbuttoned her white jacket and parted both sides so that her inner pockets were more easily accessible.
"Captain..." Kaede frowned at the sight of her. "By the sound of things you aren't just dropping by for a pastry, are you?"
"You've been found out." The lovely marksman informed them just as Setsuna and Chachamaru walked in and assumed there places at the sides of both twins. The swordsman was wearing a suit similar to Tatsumiya's signature battle uniform. Chachamaru simply had on a white dress shirt and black tie accompanied by a black mini skirt and same color stockings. She had decided to come in a younger body, it would have seemed, her hair done in pigtails bound by two black bows.
Asuna gasped at the sight of the crow demon. "Setsuna...did you...?"
"Seruhiko-sensei is to blame for your cover being blown." Chachamaru cleared up for the red-head."His suspicions appear to have been spot on."
Ku-Fei rose up from her seat, "But why, Setsuna-san? Why you with Mana?"
"Takahata-sensei had the three of us hired to thwart any plans you might have to leave campus, or the country for that matter."
"That still doesn't explain this betrayal!" Nodoka boldly cried out. "Negi-kun might need us!"
Setsuna held out a hand to quiet her. "I made a promise to him. I intend to keep it."
"He doesn't need all of you doting on him." said Mana. "He's a big boy now."
"You..."
"No." Kaede placed a hand on Asuna's shoulder before the magical sword wielder could do something as foolish as to rush the lovely marksman. If she still had a hard time with Setsuna during mere training sessions, then there was no hope of her going up against Mana. The shrine preistess was leagues far above her at her current level, and it would take a significant amount of skill to take her on if the red-head's power alone could not back her up.
"Well then, if you're all done here I'll ask that you all please return to campus, ladies."
__________________[F]____________[V]____________[A]__________________
She would endure all forms of pain and torture if it would bring her the pleasure of being reunited with him again. She would bow down to the woman who she loathed if it would allow her to be held in the arms of the master she adored. Words of ridicule and discouragement compared to nothing in her mind if it would eventually allow her to hear words of tenderness and praise from the one who left her behind. To Takane Goodman there was nothing that would stop her from seeing Negi Springfield again, but death itself, and seeing as how she had managed more than a week of Evangeline McDowell's suicidal training regiment so far, perhaps even death would falter before her determination. It was all mind over matter...
"Although my body would beg to differ...." The blonde magistress groaned throatily, falling onto her back. About half of an hour must have passed since she returned from the dark mistress's residence. Now she was laying across the slanted roof of the dorm building that her and Mei were assigned to by the headmaster, following along in her usual post training ritual of basking in the moonlight motionlessly. A single twitch from her pinky would be enough to have her entire arm spasm in pain, and curling forward to sit up was a big mistake that usually left her feeling as though someone was trying to rip through her stomach, crying out 'FREEDOM!' at the top of their lungs. Then again, there were times when she expected 'her' to pull of such a grotesque act; the dark angel that stared back at Takane Goodman from her seat on the throne within the deepest reaches of her soul.
"You give me such morbid descriptions, you know that?" Dark Takane spoke from deep within.
"They fit you well." Takane quipped.
"Now, now. There's no need for such open hostility."
"I'd rather not have a conversation with you right now."
"You should know better than to try and ignore me. I'll just bother you until you respond."
"Sometimes I regret being turned." Takane grumbled. "You're like a really bad roommate."
"Oh, would you quit whining? That isn't the type of attitude that will bring us closer to master's heart."
"And what would you know about getting closer to his heart? All you do is try to murder him." The blonde magistress retorted before looking to her left side and flinching. Sometime during their conversation Dark Takane decided to come out and join her on the roof in her spiritual form. Her spiritual appearance had gradually shifted since her first time appearing before Takane. Now her platinum hair looked slightly disheveled, overshadowing her glowing, crimson eyes and her skin was much paler. The one thing that had not changed were the clothes that she chose to appear with. She still retained the same Ursula campus uniform with the nurse cap, though one could argue that it was a much darker version with stitched patches and tears in the most inappropriate places. It unsettled the blonde magistress to think that her soul had such a chilling appearance. What was that saying about her? Would there be even darker side effects as the years passed? Was there more to becoming a vampire than having her own personal, sadistic tormentor? Could she switch with someone?
"I heard that."
"I was hoping you would." Takane quipped to her dark self.
"ONESAN!" Both Takanes flinched at Mei's call. It came from down below.
The vampiress blinked a few times, trying to find out how she would go about doing this. Sure, just staying up here would keep her from having to suffer the worst pain in her life, but she couldn't ignore Mei forever. The girl tended to be pretty touchy whenever she didn't pay attention to her. She figured she just had some kind of sister complex. (Read Love Hina for more) When Mei called out to her again the blond magistress licked her lips and shrugged her shoulders before-
PAIN! OH GOD, THE PAIN! WHY, OH, WHY WAS IT SO DAMN PAINFUL? EVER PUT OFF WORKING OUT FOR ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE COMING BACK ON THE WEEKEND AND THINKING TO YOURSELF, 'I'm gonna be feelin' sore in the morning' ?! IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE THAT! IT WAS-ARRGH! STOMACH MUSCLES SCREAMING-CONTRACTING-PLEASE JUST END IT ALREA-
"Oh, that wasn't so bad..." Takane sighed, tears streaming down her eyes...until she realized that all of that happened after just sitting up. She looked to the side to see how Dark Takane was doing to find her unconscious. Well, that would shut her up for a while.
Ok...
....Ok...
........Round Two......
Curl the legs in...and....and...GET U-
"Onesan?" Mei cocked her head to the side when she heard some whimpering coming from the roof. "...Are you alright?"
To Be Continued...
The whole concept of fate is something that I'm not particularly fond of although the people I'm surrounded with on a daily basis swears that everything happens for a reason and that everyone has their own day to die and so on, Well, ironically I find that I'm applying that concept to this story in some subconscious manner...eh, whatever.
Anywayz, Negi Springfield has met with Katherine Rosenthal, and so far there hasn't been any fireworks at all...because she and her fellow hunters haven't met the young man's newest aquaintance. Apparently, a shoot out with a Dark mistress on a moving truck can force people to make life altering decisions. Meanwhile at Mahora things finally start to get very personal as the girls try to fight their way off the campus. Things can escalate into a personal war rather quickly though when you're up against three of the most frightening students on campus....Girl Fight?
Chap. Notes:
1) Originally that small Takane segment above us was a full blown 6k words when I first started working on this chapter. In fact it was quite the opposite in regard to the light tone that I used. One example, up there Takane and her alter ego appear to tolerate each other to the point of mere hurtful teasing. Well, in the original version I had them loathe each other to the point that her dark ego declared that she would simply destroy her from the inside and take the body for herself. (Said with a smile.) Oh yeah, and I let an important turn point for Mei slip out, but I decided to leave it for a much later chapter.
2) Thought that it was weird that I started the chapter with Negi and Katherine knowing each other off the bat? Yeah, well if you read the large introduction I had planned out for her on my second run through of the chapter you would probably understand. It pretty much consisted of,
1- A private flashback.
2- Her fateful encounter with Negi
3- A sequence involving the loss of her money.
4- Her meeting Negi sitting outside the bar on one of the public benches.
5- Her wicked persuasion and so on. While it fleshes her out rather well I figured it would be too much.
3) The Mana scene was much longer, too. By then I figured that I was giving her too much screen time. Oh yeah, that white jacket she was wearing in the cafe; check the Christmas chap. Those holiday chapters actually do tie in with the main series in different ways. Take the Chisame section in the valentines chap, which turned so many heads. Well, I said that I would eventually reveal what happened in the two year period back in chapter one, and if you noticed I threw in some hints that her relationship with Negi was pretty deep starting in the first chap, as well as some growing affection in the final chapters of the previous series. (Increased effort in class, sudden companionship, and so on.) Why else would she have been so demanding of his whereabouts from Setsuna (Going so far as to walk up to her and confront her. Notice that everyone else was rooted to their seats?) in the fifth chapter? No one else found that odd? Oh, well. I'll illustrate that scene in the next holiday special. Should be fun...
Take Care,
Traingham...
