2) Short Circuit

Part 3

In middle night around 5:30 am Matt woke up again. He still hasn't gotten used to his sleeping hours here in Japan. As Matt tries to go back to sleep, he noticed that Negi's sleeping bag was empty again. Matt looked around the room to find Negi, and in great embarrassment and a slap on his face, he saw Negi sleeping next to Asuna again.

"No! Not again!" Matt shouted quietly.

Matt went to Asuna's bed, grabbed Negi, and put him in his sleeping bag again. Matt went back to his temporary couch bed and put his hands behind his head. Matt looked back at Negi who is still sleeping.

"Seriously Negi, what do you see in Asuna?" said Matt quietly.

That morning, Konoka got out of her bed and started to get dress. After she washed up, she saw Matt working in the kitchen.

"You're up bright and early, Matt-san," said Konoka.

"Oh, morning Konoka," Matt replied and noticed Konoka. "I was trying to make some breakfast."

"How long have you been up?"

"About two hours, at least."

"TWO hours!?" surprised Konoka.

"Yeah, got up too early, and I couldn't go back to sleep. I haven't got used to the hours here in Japan."

"Oh, that explains it, since you did come all the way from America."

"Anyway, can you help me with breakfast?"

"Sure, what are you making?"

"Omelets."

Konoka then becomes a bit confused after Matt's answer. "What's Omelets?"

"You'll know, and you going to like it."

On their way to the academy, Negi, Matt, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna were discussing to each other.

"Matthew Oda," Asuna said with a grin, "it was amazing that you can cook. That Omelet was delicious." She kept rubbing her stomach after remembering eating Matt's Omelet.

"Yes, indeed," Negi agrees.

"Where and when did you learn how to be a chef?" Chamo asked as he is on Negi's shoulder.

Matt calmly replies, "When we start to learn and live on your own, you got to prepare and study individual adulthood. I learned to cook well and properly in Home Economics back in my home country."

"You truly have a gift, Matt," Setsuna stated. Konoka agrees with her best friend.

"Today's Wednesday," said Matt. "Which means it is the day of the annual science fair."

"Yeah Matt," said Asuna, "you're going to love all the neat gadgets, widgets, and inventions they have at the fair."

"You seem to be in a cheery mood, Red," said Chamo.

"Well, the reason is lately Negi hasn't been sleeping right next to me since the last few nights. It's like he changed his sleeping habit."

"Now that you mentioned it," Negi realized, "I have been sleeping on the floor and in my sleeping bag the last few nights. I wonder why that is? Have I outgrown my sleeping habit?"

While Asuna and Negi were wondering, Matt scrunched up his mouth and looked back and forth at Negi and Asuna. Konoka looked at Matt's face, and she gave a cunning look to Matt. He looked back at Konoka as if she knew that Matt was the one who separates Negi and Asuna apart.

"Soooo… you did it, huh Matt?" said Konoka quietly in a cheeky mood.

"Did what Konoka?" Asuna questioned.

"Oh nothing," Konoka replied. She leans close to Matt and whispers to him. "Thanks for doing that Matt. I won't tell."

"Thank you, Konoka," said Matt in relief.

The gang approached the entrance of the Science Fair, where there were a lot of stands; each has its own machine and gadgets. As they about to enter, someone called out Negi's name. They looked and saw the three cheerleaders from yesterday. Matt started to shake and his eyes widen.

"There he goes again," Setsuna noted.

"Hey there Negi," said Sakurako.

"Morning girls," Negi replied, "I see you're all dressed up for the tryouts."

"Yep," said Misa, "and I think we are going to be on the team for good."

Then Sakurako noticed Matt. She begins to smile and wave at him. "Hey Matt, how are you doing?" She called out to him.

"O-O-Oh, uh, g-g-great, just d-d-doing great," said Matt in fright.

"Aw, you still haven't gotten over your phobia yet," said Modoka.

"N-N-No, not yet. But I-I-I-I will s-s-soon."

"You know," said Misa, "you're a cute guy, Matt."

"I agree with her," said Sakurako, "You look so honest and gentle. That's the kind of a great man you are."

"Oh, thanks for the compliment," said Matt, still shaking and scared.

"Whoa, I never heard Sakurako complimenting a young man before," said Konoka in amazement.

"Yeah," said Asuna, "Matt's one lucky fellow. And I have to agree, he really is cute."

"Well, we better be heading off to our tryouts now," said Sakurako. The cheerleaders took off and waved at Negi and the others.

As Negi and the others waved back at the cheerleaders, someone was walking up to them. "Hey, guys," said a girl in a firm tone. They turned around and it was Chisame.

"Oh, it's Chisame," said Konoka.

"Hello, Hasawaga-san," said Negi.

"I see you all came to see the fair," said Chisame. "I happen to like this fair, so I stop by and looked at all the fancy electronics."

"Hey Chisame," said Matt, who is all calming down from his phobia, "how are you doing?"

"Pretty good Matt, I see you are not scared of me too much."

"Hey, that's right!" said Chamo in a surprise, "How come?"

"Well, Chisame read about my sad story, and she completely understood me. So she couldn't be a mean girl to me."

"Wow, Chisame," said Setsuna, "I didn't know you care."

Chisame blushed in embarrassment and looked away. "N-N-No, that's not it. It's just… it's sad to hear a guy who just lost his parents, that's all."

Matt slowly scratched his left arm and replies back at Chisame, "Well, thanks for understanding me. I think you're a kind girl."

Chisame looked at Matt, and then she blushes a little. "I read your flyer, and it seems to be an interesting club."

"Are you planning to join in?"

"Uhh, I'm still thinking."

"Hey, what are we standing around here for?" said Chamo growing impatient, "Let's go check out the fair."

"Oh right," Negi speaks up. "Maybe we'll find Satomi and Chao along the way."

"You're looking for those two?" said Chisame, "We'll follow me. I know where they are."

Negi, Matt, and the girls followed Chisame into the fair.

As they walked into the fair and observe the stands, they saw many fascinating electronics. One machine can read and show a person's future, while another shows a computer that reads people's minds.

"It feels like I traveled to the future," said Matt in astonishment.

"Well Matt, everywhere you look, these are students with superior minds," Chisame replied. "They even pass their classes with flying colors."

"Man, is Mahora Academy something or what," said Matt.

As they all walked through the fair, they finally reached the stand where Satomi and Chao are where a crowd is gathered around near the girls. The judges of the fair are also with Satomi and Chao.

"There they are," said Asuna, "and the judges are there too."

"It looks like they're about to start their demonstration," said Negi.

"Yeah, I-I think you're right," said Matt as he squinted his eyes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said Chao Lingshen making the announcement with a mic, "We are very pleased that you showed up to see our latest invention. Our last year's invention was a smash hit, and this year we're doing it again. Satomi, the stage is all yours." Chao handed the mike to Satomi as she was about to stand in front of the audience.

"Thanks, Chao Lingshen. I hope you are ready to be excited and mind-blown," said Satomi taking her speech to the audience. "Does anybody here have short-tempered anger issues?" After Satomi's question, some of the people in the audience raised their hands. "I see. Well, what if I told you there is a way to calm your anger in like five seconds?" The audience is anxious to find out what Satomi meant. "This new machine Chao and I invented will guarantee all your anger problems will be gone forever. BEHOLD." As the two girls removed the cloth cover, there on the table is Satomi and Chao's "Rage Neutralizer 200." The audience and the judges were astounded.

Negi, Matt, and the girls tried to see the machine, but they're too far away to see it due to the huge crowd blocking the path.

"What is it, Matt? Can you see their invention?" Konoka asked.

"I can't tell," Matt replied, considering he's the tallest person in the group. "I can see Satomi and Chao, but I can't make out the appearance of their machine."

Satomi continued on with her speech, "With this handy machine, it stabilizes the anger and upset nerves in your Central Nervous System, and you feel like you're a happy-go-lucky person again."

While Satomi continued to talk about her and Chao's machine, two girls in the very front of the audience and right next to Satomi are arguing about having extra space between each other.

"Move over pigtails! You're taking my room!" said the first girl.

"Pigtails!? You're the one who started it, Blonde!" said the second.

The two continue to fight until they got Satomi's attention. "I see we have some volunteers to help our invention. Girls, why don't you come up here and help out with our demonstration."

The two girls stopped fighting and angrily walked up next to Satomi. The girls were facing the other way from each other. As the girls were all set, Satomi turned on her machine. The machine revved up, and its lights went on.

"Alright everyone, the moment you all been waiting for is here," Satomi announced.

The audience quietly watched to see the machine will go into effect. Matt told Negi and the girls that Satomi and Chao are now demonstrating their machine. Chao got the remote and pushed the button. The machine bursts out waves coming from its dish and aimed directly at the angered girls. The two girls were immobilized. Everyone waited quietly to see if the machine put into effect. Then after a few seconds…,

Something went wrong.

The two girls fight again with more rage and anger. They started a catfight ripping their dresses and hair. Satomi and Chao are confused and couldn't figure out what went wrong.

Satomi called to Chao, "Quick turn the machine off!"

"I'm on it!" Chao responded. Chao tries turning the machine off, but when she flicked the switch, the machine didn't respond and continued to shoot beams at the two fighting girls.

Just then, the machine started to shake and began to give off sparks. It went jumping up and down as if it was going out of control. The machine's wave beam antenna started to spin around as it hit the audience, including judges. The whole group started to go on an angry riot fighting each other.

As Matt saw this unbearable sight. He called out to Negi and the girls, "Negi, girls, quick! We have to get outta here fast! Their machine is going out of whack, and it's causing everyone to create a slugfest."

"What!? That's awful!" Konoka replied.

"Wait, what's a slugfest?" Negi questioned.

"Details later," Matt replied. "C'mon, follow me." Matt grabbed Negi, and Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Chisame followed Matt Oda to a safe hiding place.

Chao called Satomi out loud, "I can't get it to turn it off! Quick Satomi! Pull the plug out!" Satomi nodded and went to the outlet that had the machine's plug connected to it. Satomi pulled it out, but the machine didn't stop. Satomi was now even more scared and confused. The machine continued to bounce and fritz until suddenly it created a bright flash. The light was so bright it blinded Satomi, Chao, and the audience. As the flashy light disappeared, the machine suddenly stopped, and everyone suddenly stopped fighting.

After everything was settled, the audience started to insult and jeer at Satomi and Chao. One of the judges regained his conscience and scolded the two girls, "Is THIS your idea of entertaining, you incompetent, four-eyed, jerks!"

Satomi fearfully replied, "No, this was not supposed to happen… The machine must've had a short circuit."

Chao stepped in the conversation, "Yeah, please don't hurt us. We promise we'll fix it back into perfect condition. I swear."

The judge crossed his arms and glares at the two girls. "You're lucky enough that I'm in a jolly good mood today. I'll give you a second chance, and I'll judge your machine again on the last day of the fair. But if this happens again, you two are forbidden to enter the Science Fair competition… FOREVER. You understand?" Satomi and Chao nodded in fright. "Good, have a good day to you two." The judges walked away and moved on to the next contestant. The audience looked at Satomi and Chao in a mean look and started to walk away. Satomi and Chao were very depressed. They never felt so scolded and humiliated.

As everything's all cleared up, Negi, Matt, and the girls came back to the scene to see Satomi and Chao sitting on chairs, feeling so gloomy. The group walked over to the two girls and started to chat.

"Everything alright, girls?" Negi asked.

"Oh, hey Negi," said Satomi feeling depressed. "No, we're not fine. We never thought our machine would go so haywire and make us get into a lot of trouble. We feel like losers."

"I just don't understand it," Chao said in confusion. "We tested the machine yesterday, and everything's seemed to be perfect. I couldn't understand why our machine goes wild like that, especially when we can't turn it off by pulling its cord."

"I'm sorry to hear that from you girls," said Konoka.

"Yeah, me too," said Setsuna.

"If we don't get our machine fix really soon, we won't be in next year's Science Fair, and everyone will blame us for our mischief," said Satomi feeling even more depressed. "We really need some help."

"Help you say?" said Asuna. "You know there's a person here who can help you with that."

"Really?" Chao replied, "Who Asuna?"

"Him." Asuna pointed towards Matt Oda, and Negi, Konoka, Setsuna, even Chisame looked at Matt and smiled.

Matt is feeling a bit scared when he sees Satomi and Chao's face. The two girls looked at him at a distance, and Chao questioned him, "Who are you, mister?"

Matt took a deep breath to endeavor his phobia. He starts to speak to them, "N-N-Nice to meet girls. I-I-I am Matthew Oda. You can call me Matt for short."

"Matthew… Oda?" said Satomi with curiosity. When she heard that name, she begins to think as if she heard that name before. Then in a snap, she realized something. "Hey! You're that guy that solved the kidnapping incident. You made the Mahora's headlines."

Then Chao Lingshen twitched and was surprised. "Hey yeah!" Chao said in amazement. "So you're that kind gentleman that the victims were talking about. Wow Oda-san, it's nice to meet." Chao sticks out her hand towards Matt, but he is a little bit scared of Chao.

"Go on, Matt. Shake her hand," said Asuna encouraging Matt. "She is a very nice girl, and a smart one."

Matt looked at Chao then at her hand. He is still a bit scared, but Matt used his hand and shook Chao's hand. Satomi walked up to Matt and shook his hand too.

"It's nice to meet you Oda-san. I'm Satomi Hakase, no. 24 of class 1-A."

"And I'm Chao Lingshen, no. 19 of class 1-A too."

"I heard you girls are really smart students," Matt noted. "And when I mean smart, I mean really smart students."

"That's right Matt-san," said Chao with a smile.

"Asuna said you can help us with our problem, right?" Satomi questioned.

"Of course," said Matt in honesty, "you're talking to the person who can solve any mystery and any problems whenever I come across."

"Really Matt?" Chao questioned. "What are you?"

"Why I am…" Matt pulled out his magnifying glass, flicked in the air and spins it, and grabbed its handle. "Matthew Oda, a great mystery solver, and the Mystery Club leader. Whenever you have a problem or needed help, the Mystery Club and I are here and at your service. We are ready to tackle anything we come across."

Satomi and Chao were amazed. Negi, Chamo, Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Chisame were surprised to see Matt in action.

"Since when does Matt Oda-san did a bold speech like that?" Asuna questioned.

"Maybe he was practicing it while he's all alone in his club," Chamo suggested.

Negi and Setsuna giggled in embarrassment.

"Doesn't matter," said Konoka as she smiled. "All I know is he'll solve this mystery and save Satomi and Chao's life."

Chisame looked at Matt for a bit. Then she quietly said to herself, "I hope so."