Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina or Mahou Sensei Negima.

After some rushed explanation, everyone ended up playing Gin Rummy in a guest room. Soma decided to spend more time with Konoka's father, dying to know more about himself and his former life.

"Konoe-dono, theres something else I've been meaning to ask."

"What might that be, Matsumura-kun?"

"Exactly how did the god of destruction get strapped to me?"

"That was my doing. Nagi insisted your father have only the best for you."

"By sealing a demon in me?"

"Don't worry about it so much; Nagi taught me the seal. Like how he made a pact with Abdiel, he said that sometimes borrowed power is the best kind of power."

"Pharsti is already my familiar. What good would attaching a demon to me do? After all, wasn't that godslayer guy the last one with Amon?"

"With his demise, Amon was no longer obligated to be bound to him; that allowed him to run free again."

"Why me though?"

"Your father and Nagi were good friends. He told me to give you Amon as sort of a baptismal present; he serves whoever he is bound to."

"Hmm, pretty generous guy." He dusts off his afternoon yukata. "Sir Negi must be proud."

Chapter 36 – "Breaking the Silence"

Returning to Konoka's side, Soma meets up with Asuna as they were just leaving their friends behind. They were dressed for the occasion in evening kimonos.

"Hey guys, I'm back."

"How'd your talk with Konoka's dad go?"

"I got what I needed to know. Right now I'm trying to figure out what I should do now."

"Setsuna said that you'd wanna go to the Shinmei dojo here in Kyoto."

"Guess' I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Sokkun, you're leaving us?"

"I'm sorry, Konoka-chan. I promise I'll try to visit."

Konoka changes the subject, "I heard from Secchan that you were lying to us. Who are you?"

"You can call me Matsumura Soma."

"Matsumura…? Oh, he was one of daddy's friends! I didn't know he had a son!"

"Yeah, you don't say." Asuna takes the opportunity to ask her own questions, "And what about Pharsti-san?"

"She's not really my cousin."

"Then what is she to you?"

He grins, "She's my best friend."

"So you two are dating?" Konoka teases him.

"Nah, we're just traveling together."

"We're going to go talk to Setsuna. You could come along if you want." Asuna and Konoka started walking off towards a garden.

Soma follows them enthusiastically "Sure thing."

Traveling along a traditional walkway, sakura blossoms fluttered about in the night air. The girls cheerfully admired the sight to behold; Konoka commenting about how the blossoms stay much later there. Staring out into the distance, Soma recalls a happier moment earlier in his life he kept to himself.

Three and a half years ago…

One windy night, Soma sat alone with only of Pharsti 1.0 and the chibi-chans to keep him company. A gust blows into the landlord's room as he continued waiting for his two sempai.

"Damn! It's chilly out…"

"Those two idiots sure are late getting home."

"Sensei is attending some kind of an after school event, Kitsune went barhopping, Haruka-san is actually out for once, Shinobu-chan is doing some after school tutoring thing."

"That leaves Kaolla Suu."

"Speaking of which, where is she?"

"I'm not too certain. Let's try her room first."

He heads to the most logical place to find her. Her dense jungle abode full of the latest in gaming was strangely vacant this time around. Amongst the various banana trees and yards upon yards of extension cords and even the intermittent wild birds, he came up empty. The wind picks up more to fill the air with a chilling environment.

"C'mon, where is she? I'm pretty sure she came home!"

"Why are you so determined to find that girl?"

"I'm bored out of my mind here!"

"Oh, and what am I?"

"A hallucination." He laughs, "Ow!"

"Was THAT a hallucination?"

Turning for the door, he notices something completely off about the background.

"Pharsti, are you getting this?"

"If I'm not mistaken, then the moon suddenly turned red."

"You think it's the sign of the apocalypse?"

"Don't be absurd. More than likely it is one of that crazy little girl's inventions. She's in the house somewhere, just keep looking."

Thirty minutes later, Soma finds himself on the laundry deck. Suu was nowhere to be found, only frustrating him all the more.

"I'm sure she came home. She usually doesn't have any plans!"

"Soma-kun, do you hear something?"

He pauses for a moment to take in the sound; quickly turning around, he spots a silhouette moving inside the shape of the red moon. Its movements looked very reminiscent of exotic dancing.

"Wow; that's pretty awesome!"

"Hmm, a shapely figure I'll admit. Let's go see who that is."

Using the nearby railing to jump onto the edging of the roof, he hurries over to their newfound guest. Soma began to show more and more interest as they got closer.

His jaw drops as he discovers who was there unannounced. The evening cherry blossoms fluttered around as it glances over to him, the shadow was revealed as a tall beautiful dark skinned woman dressed in striking clothing.

"Holy…who's she?"

"Soma-kun, quit drooling. Ask her if she's a relative of Suu-chan."

"Excuse me!"

"No need to be so formal, Soma-Soma."

"Wait, what?"

"You're smarter than that! Don't you recognize me?"

"Sorry, not really ringing any bells."

"It's me, silly!"

"Whoever you are, you're gonna have to try a little harder."

She takes her hands, placing them on his shoulders and hopping on his back and rubs her cheeks against his. The feeling was all too familiar to him, only this time he was beginning to like it.

"Suu…-chan?"

"Now you call me that? You're getting slower, Soma-Soma."

"Slower? You mind explaining how you got…taller?"

"You see when the moon turns red on rare occasions and its light reminds me of my home country, making my skin age."

"I haven't heard of a red moon before! When did this happen?" Pharsti tries her logic at the situation in futility.

The taller Suu-chan gets off him sitting down on the tiling, patting next to her to invite him next to her. Feeling compelled, he complies with her and sits down as well.

"Is there anyone special to you?"

"Whoa, what brought that up?"

She laughs with a more mature sounding voice, "I just thought you'd take me seriously now that I look like this."

"You'd be right." Soma was cornered, "I dunno; other than my mom, not anyone in particular."

"What about Motoko-chan? You sure spend a lot of time with her."

"Yeah, I guess she is pretty special to me."

"Let me ask, why is that?"

"Promise not to laugh?" Soma grips Saiketsu close to him, "I like her cause' she made me see the world in a completely different way. She pretty much built me from the ground up."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She gave me strength that I didn't even know existed, she taught me stuff that made me change the way I thought about everything, and she made me who I am right now." He corrects himself, "Sorry; I must look pretty pathetic, right?"

"Nope," she sounded more like herself "don't think anything of it. I like her too, she was my first kiss!"

"That's the Suu-chan I remember."

She leans over to him, pressing against his chest and bent in close "Do you want to be my second, Soma-Soma?"

"Hell yes…OW!" Pharsti had pinched him, "I mean no! This isn't right!"

"Why isn't it right?"

"Damnit Pharsti!" he scolds her, "I found Suu-chan's redeeming quality and you won't let me enjoy it!"

"Taking advantage of naïve girls is wrong!"

"That's no girl!" he points at Suu from his head, "That's a woman!"

She didn't wait as she simply grabbed the sides of his face and drew him in. He was shaking in the face of adversity as he came three centimeters from her lips when a cloud passed overhead. In a puff of smoke, she reverts back to her cheeky form. Soma backs off from her approach, no longer motivated to kiss her.

"Heh, it wore off!"

Finding an excuse to go, he spots Keitaro and Naru hurrying towards the inn as the wind picks up.

"H-hey look! Sempai's here! I'll go get him!" he hops off the roof and back inside the building.

"I hope you're happy."

"That I stopped you from doing something terrible to that little girl?"

"…shut up."

The male swordsman sighs as he returns to the present. Asuna looks at him strangely, pointing above her lips to signify something. Looking down towards his chin, he sees Konoka asking him a question.

"Sokkun, do you have a cold? Your nose is bleeding!"

"What were thinking about just now?"

"Um…nothing important."

The three of them walked off together, nearly ready to break the news to their friend. Asuna hesitantly readies herself to ask about her best friend's magical powers.

"So…Konoka-chan…"

"Yes?"

She goes back on what she was going to say, "No…never mind."

"Hmm?" Konoka wonders, "You're silly, Asuna-chan."

"Something the matter?" asks Soma.

"Nah, never mind—" a cold, course rock collides with Asuna's head. The group looks up to see some sort of a stone hand sticking out of the doorway. They open it to reveal a stone statue among other stone statues. Inside the room were replicas of Konoka's servants looking as though they were writing around in agony.

"What're all these doing here?" asks Soma, "Your dad doesn't have sadistic taste in art, does he?"

Meanwhile, Negi and Pharsti strolled down a hall together, discussing today's events and explanations.

The angel asks him "You mean to tell me that Konoe-san is really a magi?"

"I didn't believe it myself, but the elder did say so himself."

"All is well now; you've delivered that peaceful message to the Kansai leader, so everything should go smoothly."

"Still, to think that I had a sister I never knew about; and she's a valkryie…"

"Half-sister" Pharsti corrects him.

A piercing shriek shot through the air as female voices shouted in horror. The two magicians in training cock their heads in the opposite direction and began running back to check on Negi's students. Yanking the door clear open, they looked upon them as they stood still in the dark. Pharsti fumbles for a light switch as Negi asks them about their odd behavior.

"Why are you all standing around like this?"

Pharsti fell to one knee shivering, "Ah…it's so cold in here…!"

"What are you talking about, Pharsti-san?"

"You cannot feel it?"

"Maybe there's a heater in there. Let's turn on the light first then look for it."

Negi finds a light switch on the wall for her, revealing the reason why the girls were standing around motionless. Their skin had turned completely granite, their expressions frozen in the passage of time. Chamo panics as he realizes what has happened.

"Aniki, it's a high level petrifaction spell!"

"No…this is my fault!"

"Negi-kun, calm down. I'm certain the elder can cure them!"

"We let our guard down…just because we were in the head temple!"

"Let us not linger; we must prepare ourselves." Pharsti and Negi call their staves to them, "Mea virgra!"

The two hurry and look to find Asuna who had went along with Konoka. Negi began to contemplate if she had been petrified as well. Chamo reminds him to use his contract card to contact her.

"Asuna-san!"

Hearing his voice startles her, remembering that she could use her card to talk to Negi telepathically.

"Negi? I'm here with Konoka!"

"Pharsti-san and I saw, everyone in the house has been turned to stone!"

"But I thought everything had been settled!"

"No time to think about it. Meet us in the baths we were in!"

Asuna turns to her best friend and grips her shoulders, "Listen Konoka-chan, there are bad people here and they are all after you."

"Bad people, like in Cinema Village?" her heartbeat began to rise.

"We'll protect you, right Soma?"

"Of course we will." He takes out his SOCOM pistol and nods, "Let's go."

"Adeat!" Asuna calls her giant fan to her, taking a defensive position as they escorted Konoka down the corridor.

As the two mages run down the corridor, they end up meeting Setsuna at a junction who almost skewered them.

"Sakurazaki-san?" asks Pharsti, "Aren't you supposed to be with Kagurazaka-san? You were to meet her in the bath."

"Something tripped the alarms I set up! Where is Ojou-sama?"

"She is…"

Nearby, the shaky voice of the elder calls them over "Negi-kun…Setsuna-kun…Pharsti-kun!"

The party of three turned to him, who was now halfway petrified. He was grasping onto the wall for support, trying to resist the spell set on him.

"Elder!"

"It appears as though I have underestimated the temple's protective barrier…"

"Don't talk!" Negi barks "Save your strength!"

"…Beware of the white haired youth……he is no ordinary spellcaster!" he started to choke words from his throat, "It seems as though you're having the rough of it… Contact the headmaster!"

"Konoe-san, we will handle this!" Pharsti tries to reassure him.

"I…am glad. Please…take care of Konoka-chan for me…" the rest of his body became solid stone, sending him in a state of suspended animation. Pharsti contacts Soma to give him the bad news.

"Soma-kun, this horrible!"

"Calm down, Pharsti. What happened? Is Konoka's dad okay?"

"They got him as well! He said to beware of a white haired youth!"

"Shit, we'll just protect Konoka-chan until help comes!"

"Where are you now?"

"We're almost to the baths. I'll keep you posted!"

Arriving in the bath area, the room was empty. Asuna's eyes sweep the room for any signs of danger.

"Negi's not here yet…" she grips her harisen tighter.

"Secchan isnt here either…"

From behind them, a small pool of water forms. Silently, a creeping figure slithered along the ground before it was upon them like a panther stalking its prey.

Asuna snaps around and swung around to retaliate against their new enemy. Soma grabs Konoka and ducks under Asuna's swing to give her enough room to work with. He rolls forward with her and turns around with his pistol held out.

"Nice," comments the newcomer "you reacted like a trained warrior."

He was small, wearing schoolyard clothing and an unenthusiastic expression. Without moving an inch, he continues his statement.

"You still aren't up to protecting ohime-sama. Go to sleep, won't you?"

A powder fills the room, Asuna and Soma forcefully inhaling it, their feet quickly turned to stone followed by their torsos.

"Shit!"

"Sokkun! Asuna-chan!"

Suddenly, the stone around Asuna shattered along with her clothing leaving her completely naked. She watches as Soma was slowly becoming more and more fossilized.

"Soma-kun!" Asuna tries to cover herself, poorly.

Konoka shrieks at her friend's dismay as she stood unable to do anything. Soma was able to turn he head around to see her about to be grabbed by a very large winged demon.

"Konoka-chan!"

A light pierced through the rock, on his left hand the Judgment Ring began to spin. The rock shatters instantaneously with his yukata intact, turning back around and giving the encroaching fiend a solid punch to the forehead that sends it reeling back past a paper wall. The boy takes Konoka's hand and runs out of the room with her to get away.

"That's the guy with the Judgment Ring she mentioned. No big deal; just a minor setback."

"Pharsti! They're here!"

"We'll be there. We'll meet you and Konoe-sama—"

"Forget about me! Help Asuna; she's fighting the white haired kid!"

Konoka kept close to Soma, with his gun up at the ready; he looked upon his left hand in wonder.

This is the second time the ring helped me. I guess God has something planned for me, huh.

"Sokkun, what's going to happen to us?"

"I'm not gonna let them take you, not without a fight anyway."

Down a four way junction, they run into resistance as zombified soldiers blocked their path from the front, behind, and to their right. With his right hand Soma grips the SOCOM pistol, and his left Konoka's hand. Taking a running start, they bolt left and down a right turn. A single soldier spots them, getting shot in the foot to stop it dead in its tracks before taking a boot to the face and a collision with a wall. The two take another turn left and find an exit outside. In an open air rock garden, more soldiers met them with swords raised with the intention of turning Soma into a pile of blood and guts.

Holstering the SOCOM under his yukata, he places his hand to his magic pocket and draws out the P-90. Several more coming their way, a squeeze of the trigger shreds through the bodies of three as the merchant had advertised. Turning to where they came out of, he takes down two more before turning back and shearing the face off another. The magazine runs dry with a click as he held his position while looking for a way out.

Their company wanted Konoka alive, as they surrounded them on all fronts without actually advancing. Knowing that they wouldn't harm her, he took it upon himself to thin their numbers with some headway with the help of his sword. Drawing out Saiketsu, he chanted to himself a personal incantation.

"Excalibur, to me!"

The brilliant sword appears in place of Saiketsu, shimmering and ready for use. He turns around and tells Konoka to wait where she stood, distancing himself and her to give himself space on all sides. A skeleton attacks him from the left flank, blocking appropriately and making the rusty katana shatter inexplicably against the fine sword. Tearing the carcass a new hole in the head, he takes his SOCOM and shatters another into pieces. Several more bum rush him to overwhelm him with numbers with the main group retaining their primary force; Soma slices off the legs of one to line him up with other like pins in an alley. As it fell, he sends it flying with one Naru Punch into others.

A scream from behind him alerts him to Konoka being taken away. Konoka was struggling to get off a monkey demon's shoulder, pounding at it as she yells for help. Taking aim, he shoots it in the foot to make it trip and applies liberal shots to its head cavity. He backs over to Konoka to keep them off of her as more yellow monkey sprites attacked them. One casts a staff on him and pressed on the attack as Soma was goaded into defense. Slapping the staff to the side, Soma made use of it and thrusts his left leg up at an angle and propels the ape into the air along with him.

"Raimei…"

It started with a reverse body spin and kick using his right leg to send it higher up then higher again with another spin with the opposite foot and a heel kick to the spine. Another spin kick up is followed by Soma grabbing its foot and spinning forward at such a speed that it looked very much like an electric fan spinning. Soma lets go and it is sent plummeting to the ground at ninety eight miles per hour with a boom following its impact.

"…rendan!"

Another entrance to the garden catches his attention, cut off by a few dozen zombies. Taking a hint from the likes of Bruce Campbell, he puts back Excalibur and takes out the M4 shotgun. Carrying Konoka on his back, he makes a mad dash for the doorway while blowing holes in the resistance. Two more shots make the chamber run dry, forcing him to improvise with several more in their path. A giant rock cried out in opportunity, Soma taking his Naru Punch to it, using it as a transitory projectile to plow through the last few in their way. As they enter the hallway, Soma tosses a grenade over his shoulder. After a short delay, the fragmentation grenade explodes behind them with one of the ceiling beams seal the doorway behind them to give them a temporary break.

"Sokkun, what are those things?"

"You wouldn't happen to have a cemetery around here, would you?"

"No, we have an underground tomb."

"Damnit…" he gripes as he puts more shells into his shotgun.

Konoka grips his arm, "Is Secchan…?"

"Don't worry;" he reloads his P-90 "if I know her, it'll take more than just a couple of monsters to stop her."

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That kick, and when you threw him into the ground!"

"Oh that; that was a little remix on a move a friend of mine gave me called the Raikoukeru (Lightning Kick). I just dressed it up a little and it got turned into Raimeirendan (Thunderclap Combo)."

"Are you lying again?"

"Like Pharsti always says, I've got nothing to hide."

"Then why are they after me?"

Soma tells her straight up front "They want your magic power. That's where we come in; we're going to stop them from abusing you." He reloads his SOCOM and the slide slid back into place with a click. "C'mon, let's keep moving."

"There is a safe room behind the art gallery. We can hide there!"

"You remember where it is?"

"Yes; follow me!"

Negi's party of three continued navigating through the hallways to look for Asuna, coming into a dining hall. Dishes were spilled all over the ground as the remains of a banquet that was to be prepared for them. Inside, there were onmyou dogs that were munching on their former semblance of a meal.

"How far have they gotten in?"

"No time to think about it; Negi-sensei, prepare yourself!"

The party decides to wreck shop and expel them. Taking notice, the dogs turned to them and attacked as well. Setsuna being their defensive lineman, she leads off by indenting the face of a shadow cloned canine with her left fist and chops another in two. Negi goes into close quarters combat with the aid of enhancing himself with magic.

"Sim ipse pars per decem secundās. Negius Springfieldēs!"

Slamming a fist over the head of a dog, it dispels into black smoke with another jumping through its remains. A magical arrow pierces right through it to scatter as well; Pharsti joins them into the fray, scanning the area for more enemies.

"Pharsti-san, could you check on Matsumura-san?" he asks while he kicks another dog into the table.

"Of course." She concentrates and homes in on Soma, "Soma-kun!"

"Not now! I'm seriously occupied at the moment!"

Soma hacks the arm then the collar off of an imp, escorting Konoka through the gallery. He sweeps his shotgun forty five degrees in two directions to check for more.

"Okay, are you sure this place is safe?"

"Mm hmm, we're almost there."

While they continued forward, Soma kept his eyes open for anything that might come at them. What he wasn't prepared for was a claw smashing through the wall and sending him slamming against the neighboring wall. Said claw grabs Konoka and the rest of it emerges from the wall and revealed the same monster that wanted to capture Konoka a few minutes ago.

"Augh…Konoka-chan…!"

Konoka reached for him, "Sokkun…! Help me!"

Cradling its package in its muscular limbs, it sunk back into the wall without delay with Konoka screaming in her wake; Soma staggers to his feet from the rubble of a statue he helped demolish.

"Konoka!" suddenly a red aura surrounded him; he darts towards her captor and loosed his most trusted technique this time with scarlet waves gathering around his hand.

"Narusentou! (Naru Punch)" An enormous round hole grew continually expanding from his fist hitting the concrete leaving a deep gash in the structure. The aura disappears like fire dying from an extinguisher.

"Fucking bastard…!" Soma looks to his shotgun, now with a dented chamber rendering it useless; he contacts Pharsti with the bad news.

"Soma-kun, what is it?"

"No good… they got her."

"…I see. Regroup with Negi-kun; we'll have to come up with a plan of action."

Soma looks to his hand to see gravity pulling his blood to the floor; he sees the hole he made in the wall and his hand began to tremble.

"What the hell was that just now?"

Referring to the usual place, he asks Mari for a status report.

"Daimyo, we have the data you requested."

In the study, Mari hands him a dossier with information loading the insides. He flips through the book looking for something that would jump out at him and give him an answer. Getting his wish, he found two words obligingly making themselves noticeable.

"What's a magic circuit?"

"According to the data we received from Pharsti-sama," Mari takes a metal pointer to a diagram that appears in thin air "a magic circuit is the system in which mana flows through the human body's circulatory system parallel to chi flowing in the muscle fibers. Other versions take this theory such as the Chakra networks or Qi gong power points, but this appears to be the most accurate description."

"What's this data telling me? What happened just now?"

"An unknown source of mana divulged itself at that moment. Unless our readings are off, they say that you had two magic circuits."

"A second one?" he asks, "Where is it?"

"We don't know. It went under our radar as quickly as it came. It's as though it were a black box of sorts."

"I'll figure it out later. Right now I have to meet everyone in the bath area."

Soma turns back and heads for the baths. Negi's party meanwhile arrives at their rendezvous point.

The little mage opens the door to find his pact partner lying completely naked and wet on the floor alone.

"Asuna-san!" Setsuna gasps as she saw her friend lying completely exhausted on the floor.

Negi asks, "What on earth happened?"

"By the looks of things it almost looks like rape…" Pharsti said brusquely.

She dizzily wakes up to return her look, "Where's…Konoka?"

Pharsti heavy heartedly apologizes "I'm sorry, they took her."

"This is my fault…" Asuna faintly responded "if I protected her better, then she…"

"Shh, concentrate on getting your strength back."

"Be careful! He might still be here…"

A cold wind catches Setsuna's attention behind them. Spinning around she deflects the hand of the said white haired mage, but from her position was unable to defend against his other hand slamming into her diaphragm sending her soaring across the room to crash against the back wall and bounce over to another.

Taking discern of loud bang nearby, Soma quickly dives through the paper door to his right to find everyone had gathered as they said they would.

"Sir Negi!" he drew his SOCOM pistol and looked around the room to find Asuna naked on the floor, and Setsuna hacking and coughing against a wall.

"How dare you…you turned my friends to stone, kidnapped Konoka-san, hit Setsuna-san, and did God only knows what to Asuna-san! As their friend and teacher, I won't forgive you!"

"And what will you do about it, Negi Springfield?" the boy mused "Not defeat me I hope. Your efforts are futile."

"Pretentious, aren't we?" Pharsti snaps at him.

"You aren't ready to face me yet…" water swirled around him, slowly sucking him into the floor and he disappears out of sight before the group is able to react.

"Asuna-san, are you all right?" asks Setsuna as she staggers to her feet and grips her side.

Negi wraps his friend in a towel, one thought cycling through his mind; Soma bows to him in regret.

"I'm sorry, Sir Negi. I couldn't stop them."

"There's no time to lament over what already happened. Matsumura-san, let's go get Konoka-san."

"Wait, I'll come as well-aah!" Setsuna falters from an injury to her recent punch to the diaphragm.

"Not to worry, I can handle small injuries."

Alongside Pharsti, Soma reported to her about the recent events.

"Something happened not too long ago."

"What exactly?"

"Mari said you took notes on something called a magic circuit."

"Yes I did. What about it?"

"She told me that for a moment I had two different circuits inside me."

"But that's impossible. Where would the second set go?"

"She called it some kind of black box. The thing comes and goes when it wants."

"We don't have enough time to experiment. We'll just have to postpone an investigation; for now we need to get Konoe-san back."

"Going in straightforward would be suicide-ah ha!" Chamo has a brainstorm mid-sentence. "This just might work!"

"What's on your mind, rat?" asks Soma crudely.

"You like Negi-aniki don't you, Setsuna ne-san?"

"What does that mean?"

"I was thinking that…you'd plant a big o'l wet one on aniki!"

Pharsti considers, "I see, for a pactio."

"Bingo, Pharsti ne-san!" he congratulates her. "What with Setsuna ne-san's ability to use chi and you and Soma-aniki unable to form a pactio, it's only the right thing."

"Get serious!" Asuna shouts, "Kissing is serious stuff!"

A familiar clanking grew nearer from the door they just came from. Entering the room was none other than their friendly neighborhood merchant ready to do business. The group turns in astonishment at the oddly dressed mystery man.

"Asuna-san, get back!"

"It's okay Sir Negi," Soma holds an arm out to stop him "he's friendly."

"Don't mind me, I let myself in. But I tell ya, the hospitality is terrible!"

"How the heck do you keep finding me?"

"I told ya, I go where the money takes me."

"Hmm, your timing couldn't be better. I could use some ballistics right about now."

"Oh, really now?" he swings his coat wide open, "Got some rare things on sale, stranger."

"What are you doing, Matsumura-san?" asks Negi.

"This guy stockpiles weapons and sells them for insane prices," Soma spoke Japanese to avoid offending the meek merchant "but they're good stuff."

"I almost forgot, I've decided to offer service as a gunsmith along with being just a salesman. Got something that needs tunin'? I could put a lil' more oomph in that pea shooter ya got."

"How's that?"

"Some special parts I just received. I can increase the firepower quite a bit for the right price." He opens a box to reveal a set of custom made gun parts for the SOCOM pistol.

"Kay', how much?"

"This time, fifteen thousand."

The others twitched at what they heard, aside from Asuna who was failing English. Quickly, the merchant disassembles the pistol and replaces the slide among other parts. He hands it back to him without delay and with a jovial laugh.

"Heheheh, thank you…"

Asuna was skeptical, "You really think that a few parts will—"

A loud blam accompanied an explosion that shattered the nearby rock into sizable chunks following smoke emanating from the gun barrel.

"…Never mind."

"Like what you see, stranger?"

"Oh yeah; it aint enough though. What else you got?"

"Loose with your wallet today, eh stranger? I might have just the thing." He pulls out a SPAS-12 automatic shotgun, "They stopped making this beaut' few years back."

Soma thought for a moment, "I don't suppose I could pawn mine in exchange."

"Hmm, what're ya sellin'?"

Taking out his M4, he doesn't show that it was broken on the inside.

"Ahh! I'll buy it at a high price!"

"How much are we talking?"

"I see about twenty thousand. This one here is the same price, so we'll just exchange."

"We're gonna need something bigger than that!" Asuna looks again to see him buying yet another gun, this one being a rifle.

"An excellent gun! You've got an eye for quality!" the said rifle was a G36 with a custom scope that set him back thirty two thousand.

"We're still gonna—"

"Stranger…stranger! Now THAT is a weapon." That time he held up an RPG-7 rocket launcher.

"I'm saving this one for that damned kid."

"Overkill, much?"

"Negi-sensei, Setsuna-kun, I'm ready whenever you are."

"Almost; I just need to finish working on Setsuna-san's injury."

Chamo hops off of Negi's shoulder and onto Soma's, "Soma-aniki, I just remembered. I got something for you!"

"What'd that be?"

"Sit tight; lemme summon it!"

"Summon?"

The ermine drew a circle in the ground using chalk, clapping his hands together to conjure a white light that exploded to show a large silver revolver with a gold devil's head crest emblazoned on its grip.

The rodent proclaims, "It's called the Hellion!"

"This looks like a regular old three five seven magnum."

"It's made of the same material as Pharsti ne-san's staff. It'll fire regular bullets, but I had this one special ordered!"

"What's so different about this one?"

"I didn't know what element to make the magic shells so I got the non elementals. These babies pack as much punch as twenty eight of aniki's magic arrows in one shot!"

"That's all well and good, but what's the catch?"

"I couldn't afford spare ammo, and they only take ermine dollars. You've only got six shots."

He muses "I shouldn't need that many, right?"

Setsuna stands up from her recovery, "We've wasted enough time!"

Negi and he wore an almost similar scowl; Soma tosses off his yukata to show his tactical clothing underneath.

"Setsuna-san, Matsumura-san, Pharsti-san, let's go! Asuna-san, you wait here."

The four walk out followed by Asuna who hastily put on a set of clothes.

"Wait for me! I'm fine now!"

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