This is a preview of the upcoming chapter. I thought I'd give you guys a taste of what to expect.
There are many sights worth seeing in the world. Whether it's the Pyramids of Giza, the Leaning Tower, New York City, or the Mahora festival, there are truly unforgettable sights. Sakurazaki Setsuna was scouting ahead of Mana and Nanase Haruka in search of their wayward teacher when she came across one. Standing before her was Vash the Stampede holding her naked sensei by his ankle and dunking him upside down into a nearby stream with one hand and holding a bar of soap in the other. Without thinking she dashed behind a tree before peeking around to get a better look.
Vash was dunking the struggling Negi into the water before pulling him out and scrubbing him with the soap. Negi-Sensei was waving his arms and shouting something, unfortunately Setsuna couldn't understand what he was saying. She didn't speak English. Vash simply laughed, twisted his arm so Negi rotated so he could start scrubbing his-Setsuna immediately ducked behind the tree again with a red face. Vash wasn't scrubbing anything inappropriate but by turning him he inadvertently gave Setsuna a perfect view of Negi's naked body from the front. She breathed in then out deeply. Now was the time for professionalism. She can be a teenage girl later. Forcing herself into a detached mode, she focused on the issue at hand. Vash the Stampede was in the clearing ahead with Negi. She needed to rescue her wayward teacher, no matter his state of dress, or undress as it were.
Setsuna had a walkie-talkie on her to contact the other two but right now she couldn't use it. She was close enough to be heard if she used it and when it came to Vash they would need the element of surprise. Gulping a little, Setsuna peeked around, forcing herself to stay in a professional mindset and to not get distracted by Negi's body. Huh. Did the kid work out? He looked like he was actually in pretty good shape.
She reached down to the walkie-talkie to turn it on. She tapped out that she found both of them in a code she and Mana had developed working past jobs together to communicate when words wouldn't, or more accurately, couldn't be used. She used the palm of her hand to feel vibrations from the device as Mana tapped back her acknowledgement and that she too had found them. Blinking, Setsuna glanced across the clearing and saw Mana was sitting in a branch of a tree just opposite her and preparing her sniper rifle. Setsuna also noted that both her handguns were sitting in her lap. The bushes somewhere between them shook and Setsuna saw Haruka's head sink into the bush quickly. It seemed all three of them were here now.
Vash had pulled Negi out of the water and was throwing him his clothes to put back on. If only they were speaking Japanese so Setsuna could hear, ah, never mind. They just started speaking it. "Don't let fear keep you from acting kid. Your parents were constantly in situations where their lives were in danger. If they panicked and ran at the first sign of being out of their league, the world would never have been saved." Setsuna unsheaved yunagi. She could see Haruka had also pulled out her curved knives. The tapping in the walkie-talkie told her Mana was taking aim with her magic dampening rubber bullets on Vash's head, preparing to take him down as quickly as possible. All she and Haruka had to do was wait for the signal and they would charge in from the sides. Hopefully with everything happening at once they could take Vash down before anything unfortunate happened to Negi.
"You keep talking of both my parents? Why hasn't anyone else ever brought up my mother?"
"Probably because she's the Queen of Calamity. She doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation outside of those who knew her personally. Even you, kid, thought her a horrible person, asking why your father married her."
Setsuna's eyes narrowed. The Queen of Calamity was Negi's mother? That would mean he was the crown prince of Ostia. Or rather, the largest chance of restoring the kingdom. Politicians would be targeting her teacher. He would certainly need a bodyguard. Setsuna's felt her heart beat faster at the possibilities of finally finding someone to serve. All she would need to do was, well, first she had to get him away from Vash. You didn't get a 60 billion drachma bounty on your head by being easy-going. Setsuna shifted slightly, she could see Mana lining up the shot. Rescuing Negi-Sensei against probably the most dangerous man Setsuna has ever faced, if reputation was speaking and not the klutz she was looking at. The branch Mana was on shook slightly as she leaned forward.
Setsuna wasn't sure how as the slight movement could easily have been just the trees blowing in pretty decent wind but the moment Mana's branch shook Vash was alert and looking right at her. Quicker than the eye could see a gunshot was heard as Vash leapt to the side grabbing Negi and pulling him down along for the ride and holding Negi in front of him as Vash landed on his back. Cursing under her breath, Setsuna gripped Yunagi and ran into the clearing barely a step behind Haruka.
Vash, using the momentum from his dodging Mana's shot, flipped Negi over him and Negi went flying into the river crying something in English. Setsuna eyed Vash and the direction Negi was sent and made a snap decision. "I'll secure Negi. Be right back," she called out to her companions. Sheaving her sword, she placed it on the rocks so it would not get swept in the current, she jumped into the river and swam to where Negi was treading water and making his way back.
"Sakurazaki-san! What's going on?" Setsuna grabbed Negi around his waist and held him to her and started swimming back.
"The Dean sent us to bring you back. He was worried." Another gunshot rang in the night. Setsuna pulled herself and her boy-teacher ashore and looked to see the fight. Haruka was slashing skillfully with her knives this way and that way, clearly using her speed and her skill in wind magic to try and force Vash into a clear line of sight for Mana to hit, only for him to do some miraculous dodge at the last second. "Stay here Sen..." Setsuna cut herself off. She could feel Negi's...thing against her hip as she was still holding him close. Negi in turn, however, was blushing beet-red. Setsuna was still wearing her school uniform and her vest had been undone in the current and her white shirt underneath was now completely see-through. She pushed Negi off of her. "Get dressed Sensei. We'll keep this miscreant from doing anything that we'll regret." Setsuna grunted, forcing herself to use a cold-voice despite the humiliation she felt, buttoning her vest up again.
Negi cutely tilted his head, "Miscreant?"
Don't Setsuna, don't think he's cute! He's graduated a Magic Academy, he shouldn't be in this position, focus on that, not on how he looks, she thought to herself. "Later Sensei." She picked up yunagi and charged. Haruka's slashes still had not hit Vash, but her wind magic, extending the reach of her blades and sending out sharp blades of magic had cut up his trenchcoat a bit. She worked with Mana enough to know she had positioned herself to maximize her field for shooting and almost nowhere Vash could turn would he be in a blind spot of Mana's. Setsuna raised her sword ready to hit him with the blunt edge, going for a knockout. A gunshot rang out. Vash fell over, well, tripped over Negi's shoes which were still on the ground. The magic cancelling bullet hit the ground right in front of Setsuna. She leaped backwards to avoid any potential fire only to kick herself. Mana wouldn't waste ammo.
Recovering quickly, Setsuna slashed in unison with Haruka as they stood side-by-side and force him into a corner. However Vash was had picked up some branches and was swinging them wildly as if they were swords himself. He had no real skill or precision that Setsuna could pick out yet somehow neither she nor Haruka could land a hit. Vash jumped forward and rolled between them, coming out of his combat roll he threw one branch at them and the other up in the air, where it promptly shattered upon getting hit by another bullet from Mana. Vash pulled out his own gun and a bra.
Wait, what?
"Missing something?" Vash said with a grin. Setsuna blinked whist Haruka's face turned bright red as she stared at the garment.
"GYAAAAA!" Haruka charged Vash with absolute rage this time. Vash sidestepped her initial charge but now positioned himself where Haruka was now in Mana's line-of-sight.
Vash dropped the bra on the ground. "Is it too late to talk about this?" Setsuna came forward and readied herself.
"We're here to rescue our sensei. Release him and come with us." Setsuna was eyeing the clearing they were in. Vash was no longer really in it as he now was just barely in the treeline on the edge, which would be giving him plenty of cover from Mana. He seemed to be mostly toying with her and Haruka and would that stupid grin ever leave his face!?
Vash leaned against a tree. "Are there insurance girls at Mahora?"
Haruka almost-literally growled at him. "You'll want to hire a lawyer instead of an insurance adjustor. Molestation of girls, little boys ("That's not true," Negi said,) theft of my bra! Not to mention the bounty for a whole host of crimes." Setsuna nodded her agreement. That last one in particular meant that Mana was never going to leave Vash's trail now that she had him in her sights.
Vash sighed, aimed his gun above their head and fired in a split second. The sound of branches falling from a tree behind them and hearing Mana go "oof" made Setsuna and Haruka look behind them. The branch Mana had been sitting on looked like it had been shot from the tree and so the branch, with Mana on it, both fell to the ground. Mana dropped her sniper and picked up her handguns and walked towards them, one of her eyes glowing purple.
The sight of her glowing eye made the now-dressed Negi nervous. "Umm, Tatsumiya-san, what are you-" He was cut off by Setsuna holding an arm in front of him. Haruka looked down at the young teacher.
"Do not concern yourself with it Sensei."
Vash, for his part, reacted very differently. "HOLY CRAP, DEMON! DEMON! THE EYE OF DOOM COMES FOR ME!" Vash started running in circles around a tree and waving his arms around.
Setsuna raised an eyebrow at his antics. "What do you see, Tatsumiya?" Mana stopped between Haruka and Setsuna and had a big frown on her face.
"This doesn't make sense. When I'm looking at him it's like I'm looking at a plant, however there is something odd..." Mana suddenly stiffened. "His prosthetic left arm is also a gun and his right arm holds a great deal of power."
Haruka glanced out the side of her eye at Mana. "How much power are we talking about?"
"Enough to destroy all of Mahora in less than five seconds if he so chose."
Setsuna stiffened herself. The humanoid typhoon could destroy the school-city that quickly? "Then we need to take him out for all the students safety."