Magister Negi Magi is owned by Ken Akamatsu and Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo in Japan, and by Funimation and Kodansha USA in the United States, NOT by me.
Other characters and references are also the property of their respective creators and owners, not me.
Certain situations created by kafka'sdragon for his 'Markham Chronicles Negima' story are used here with his permission.
This (chapter/story) takes place after Tsukuyomi's duel with Setsuna Sakurazaki in chapters eight and nine of kafka'sdragon's 'Markham Chronicles Negima: Other Side of the Mirror,' and before chapter twelve, where she meets Phillip Markham Jr. at an amusement park; and later in the chapter, reunites with her shukun, Chigusa Amagasaki.
Of course; I recommend taking a look at kafka'sdragon's story to learn all the other related details!
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"She turned out to be a better bodyguard; and if I were to admit it openly; friend, than I gave her credit for when we first met."
-Chigusa Amagasaki: Memoirs of a Rogue Mage (On-line publication only)
Not Always a Mage and Other Stories of Mahora.
Chapter Twenty-five: Temptation of Tsukuyomi
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"Is there no one here who is a worthy foe? Are all of you nothing but worthless pawns?"
Screams and flames... all around a little blood-covered twin blade was the destruction she so reveled in… Things she once thought important no longer mattered. All she cared for now was the high that came from besting a worthy foe…
…of course, if any unworthies got in the way; that was just their problem, wasn't it…
Hearing a moan, the twin blade looked towards the sound and saw a young woman with short red hair, lying in a pool of blood, trying to crawl back inside a nearby temple building from the place where she'd been struck down moments before.
Despite the terrible wound showing through the slashed open and blood-soaked Miko Hakama she wore, she was somehow still alive.
With casual indifference, the twin blade walked over and put the long black blade she carried through the wounded Miko's back, ending the girl's struggles forever.
A sudden threatening feeling set the twin blade bounding away from an attack which all but destroyed the building she'd been standing near. Turning towards its source, she practically began drooling at what she saw.
Back-lit by a burning temple building was another girl in a common Miko's hakama. Though her long, flowing black tresses and physical form would have been called beautiful by many who saw her, it was an exquisite martial form and a palpable aura of strength that incited lust in the person whose focus she now held…
Without hesitation the twin blade leapt to the attack. Her opponent easily countered with a move that ended up drawing blood.
Pain only served to incite the twin blade further, and she began attacking the black-haired Miko faster than it should have been possible for any mere human to counter.
All the attacks were blocked, and much to the twin blade's surprise, were finally stopped when she realized a blade had penetrated her chest, straight through the heart.
As her life's blood drained away to the ground, Tsukuyomi felt hot tears begin to stain her cheeks when she recognized who had slain her…
"Aoyama- sa… ma…"
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As she continued dressing in the near darkness of her so-called 'cell' at the Kanto Magic Association, Tsukuyomi's thoughts drifted back to the dream she'd had right before waking up.
Engaging in a test of skill against her former sensei would be a tremendous honor…
At the same time though, she felt shame over even the possibility of becoming so consumed by a murderous blood-lust that Aoyama-sama would be forced to put her down like some rabid cur…
After pulling one last ribbon tight, Tsukuyomi shook her head, trying to drive away useless worries. When they finally faded for the moment, she took out the shikigami paper Aoyama-sama had given her.
Activating it, she instructed the Tsukuyomi copy to take her place in the bed before slipping quietly out of the cell and past the sleeping guard.
Knowing exactly where their swords were was second nature for any Shinmei-Ryu, so Tsukuyomi knew Yosamu Tenku and Ukeire were being kept in a building near the wall surrounding the Kansai Magic Association compound. Slipping from shadow to shadow, avoiding patrolling guards and the occasional Miko, she soon arrived at her destination.
Not sensing any traps, even after waiting several extra moments to check twice, and even a third time, she slipped inside the building, being careful to quietly close the shoji door after doing so.
As she began padding softly across the floor towards an open-fronted storage cabinet for swords, Tsukuyomi suddenly felt a presence that caused her to shudder and tense up.
Not moving a muscle or even batting an eyelash, she carefully reached out with all her senses, probing for whatever had caused the reaction.
Soon realizing it wasn't a person; but instead a thing; Tsukuyomi slowly turned until another storage cabinet holding just a single blade came into view.
Sheathed in lacquered black wood, the katana's cross guard disk, metallic trim, and hilt wrappings were also an equally light-absorbing black… The only bit of color to be seen was provided by the belt-cords, which were a disturbing blood-red.
Despite the blade's ominous aura, or perhaps because of it, Tsukuyomi cold tell it was much more than just a simple weapon... It was perhaps one of the strongest, if not THE strongest ability-enhancing sword she had ever seen… if she were to take it for her own…
As loud to her hyped senses as the trumpeting of an elephant, the creak of a board derailed growing thoughts of lust and desire…
Realizing she had covered half the distance towards the strange katana brought Tsukuyomi up short… ("Aoyama-sama already gave me a worthy replacement for Tairitsu… what need have I for another blade…?")
Unbidden, a voice from 'somewhere,' sounded in Tsukuyomi's head…
("…because with me, you will be able to easily defeat the hanyo…")
Reaching out, Tsukuyomi took another step forward, but was brought up short again by a sudden pain in her chest…
…one that felt like being run completely through with a sword…
Drawing the hand back, Tsukuyomi shook her head. ("No. Doing something like that is cheating. I'll beat Setsuna-sempai fair-and-square someday, or never at all.")
Without even looking at the black blade one final time, Tsukuyomi turned and went to retrieve Yosamu Tenku and Ukeire.
Once the swords were secure at her side, she carefully exited the storage building, and when they met on their patrol routes and began to walk away from each other, dashed between two guards and disappeared over the Kasai Magic Association compound wall.
Back in the storage building, two women dressed in simple Miko hakamas stepped out of the concealment provided by both magic and a shadow-darkened corner. One, a young woman with long black hair, reached out and took the blade Tsukuyomi had rejected from its display rack.
Looking in the direction of the wall that Tsukuyomi had just crossed, the second, older woman had a look of concern on her face. "We're taking a grave risk, Motoko, letting her go like that."
One of only a very, very few who had ever been able to resist the possessive spirit occupying the sword she now held, Motoko Aoyama pulled the blade an inch out of its scabbard and shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, Onee-sama, Tsukuyomi justified our doing so when she passed this final test."
Still a bit unsure, Tsuruko Aoyama gave the future Grandmaster of the Shinmei-Ryu a slightly exasperated sigh, "and if Tsukuyomi had taken possession of the Hina Blade?"
With a single smooth motion and a soft but firm 'chink-clack!' that left no doubt as to her seriousness, Motoko closed the Hina Blade and returned it to its display rack before turning to face her older sister. "Then I would have cut her down myself."
oware
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Author's Notes:
The person Tsukuyomi 'kills' in her dream is a Kansai Mage Association shrine maiden named Yukimi, (a character from various chapters of Markham Chronicles Negima.)
Though I've mentioned it before, I'll do so again; the Tsukuyomi in my and kafka'sdragon's stories is not the same 'I think I'll go kill a bunch of people for fun; since they're just dolls after all…' Tsukuyomi that was in the original Maho Sensei Negima manga…
…though in this chapter the potential was there for her to become that way…
Shikigami paper: Basically the little papers shaped like a doll that were used by Negi to (accidentally) create the fake Negi's before the kissing contest in Kyoto; and later by the group that went to visit Konoka Konoe's home, so they wouldn't be missed by the rest of Class-A.
Shukun: Basically the master of a Shinmei-Ryu bodyguard like Tsukuyomi.
So much for not knowing when the next chapter would be…
As a bit of background information; this story was originally written not long after kafka'sdragon originally released the chapters cited in the prologue notes, which would be about two or three years ago.