Disclaimer: I don't own Negima! Magister Negi Magi or Ranma ½

Rise of Prodigies

Chapter Twenty One: New Scout

Beta:


"Kuzunoha-sensei! Why are you chasing me!?" Kazumi shouted as she ran away from the blonde haired Kindergarten teacher through the park that surrounded Mahora Girls' Junior High's dorms.

"You know what you did!" The teacher said as she slashed her sword in Kazumi's direction and sent a wave of energy that barely missed her as she ran towards the dorms and hopefully whatever relative safety Negi-sensei could offer.

"Not really?! And why do you have a sword?! Aren't you a Kindergarten teacher?!"

"I'm not here in my capacity as a teacher, Asakura-san." The blonde said as she flickered out of view only to reappear next to Kazumi a second later. "I'm here as the Head of the Kanto Magic Association's Operations Division and I'm here to erase your memory of magic."

"I did nothing wrong! You have no proof!" Kazumi wailed as she continued to run like a madwoman despite her lungs feeling like they were on fire. "And I don't care if you can pull a rabbit from a hat!"

Play dumb, just play dumb. Kazumi kept telling herself. Keep playing dumb and hopefully they'll just give up!

"We have it on record, you foolish child!" The sword wielding teacher said with a disappointed shake of head, though what she had to feel disappointed about Kazumi couldn't fathom. It was not like it was she was the one being chased around and the sanctity of her mind being threatened.

"Then why are we screaming about it in public!?" Kazumi countered, trying a different tack even as she continued trying to run as far away from the pursuing teacher as possible.

"Illusion magic." Another sensei said as Kazumi ran into him. Or a barrier of some kind and landed on her butt.

Looking up, she saw the bishonen Seruhiko-sensei looking at her apologetically.

"Ow." The reporter said as she rubbed her tender rear end, playing it up in a desperate bid to garner some kind of sympathy from the new arrival. Considering how persistent Kuzunoha-sensei had been she had no illusions of working her charms on her, but just maybe she'd manage to get Seruhiko-sensei on her side.

Men were weak to crying weren't they? Kazumi thought as she forced some tears out. She was no great actress and able to cry on demand but considering how worked up she was from the whole deadly pursuit, it wasn't hard at all to muster up a few tears. All things considered, said tears weren't really acting on her part. At least not for the most part.

"Sorry." The male teacher told her with a weak smile as he took an uncomfortable step back from her.

Kazumi was about to lay on the charm when a new voice cut her short.

"Uh, Kuzunoha-sensei, Seruhiko-sensei?" Ranma-san said from where Kazumi just noticed she was sitting in a tree with Eva-san. "What's going on here? You three are making quite a ruckus and even with the barrier you put up I'm pretty sure someone is gonna notice all this soon."

"Nothing you need to worry about Saotome-chan." Kuzunoha-sensei said dismissively. "And especially not you Evangeline."

"'Chan'!?" Eva-san said as she stood up, her eyes glowing red. "What gave you the right to call my apprentice something so demeaning!?"

"It's a term of endearment?" Seruhiko-sensei added, trying to help the situation.

"Well, it's reserved! No one but those close to my Ranma can use it!"

Blushing brilliantly, Ranma-san pulled the vampire back into a sitting position and began hastily whispering to her in a bid to calm her down.

"And they aren't a couple?" Seruhiko-sensei said under his breath. "Who are they kidding?"

"I know, right? This seems to be important. I should go and leave you to it." Kazumi said as she got to her feet to leave, but the pale blond sensei just gave her a dry look. "Yeah, figures."

"Anyways~!" Ranma-san said loudly having apparently calmed her Shishou down, though Kazumi was a little leery of the fact she seemed to have done so by allowing the vampire to bite down on her neck and get a drink of her blood.

The absolute nonchalance she exhibited as a vampire drank from her neck was freaky. Something the two teachers seemed to agree with if the way they were both fidgeting nervously was any indication.

"Why are you chasing Asakura-san?" Ranma-san asked, seemingly completely oblivious to the reactions her actions, or lack thereof, was getting from her audience.

"We need to wipe her memory after the incident in Kyoto." The cold hearted Kuzunoha-sensei informed.

"Is that all?" Eva-san drawled as she pulled back from Ranma-san's neck though not before licking it to close the bite wound she'd created. It still left a distinctive hickey looking mark though, not that either girl seemed to care.

"Negi-sensei brought her into our world." Ranma-san said with a thoughtful look. "I think he should have a say in this."

"Trust us, he's going to be reprimanded pretty bad by the Dean for letting Asakura-kun here find out." Seruhiko-sensei said in what was a pretty reassuring tone. He really did live up to his reputation as the Academy's number one most emphatic teacher.

"Hey, Reporter Girl!" Eva-san called out suddenly.

"Yes!?" Kazumi squeaked as she looked at the vampire, who was licking her lips clean of Ranma-san's blood, looking like she just finished a cherry popsicle.

"You wanna risk brain damage?"

"What!? No!" Kazumi cried out in instinctive alarm.

Was that what was really at stake!? The amateur journalist thought with horror.

"Eva-san, you know that only happens in the rarest cases." Seruhiko-sensei said chidingly.

"And we do have professionals on standby." Kuzunoha-sensei added with a frown.

"Yeah, it still happens though." Eva-san said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she snuggled into Ranma-san's side. "So let's avoid the risk entirely and take a page out of Ranma's imouto's book."

"What do you have in mind?" Seruhiko-sensei asked with a frown of his own.


"Thanks Negi-sensei," Kazumi heard Kuonji-san say happily as she approached the area in the expansive Library Island where Ranma-san said their homeroom teacher would be.

"Asakura-san?" The ninja, swordswoman and chef said as she stepped out of the study carrel where their Sensei was and ran into Kazumi. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Negi-sensei. You?" Kazumi asked, her journalistic curiosity piqued.

"Just getting some references to some texts on exorcisms." Kuonji-san said with a shrug. "Sensei is quite an expert in the field."

"Exorcisms?" Kazumi asked, blinking in confusion.

"Yup," the brunette said with a nod. "For if Eva-san breaks Ranchan's heart and I've gotta kill her for it."

"You're joking right?" Kazumi asked her relatively new classmate uncertainly.

If she had been one of her other classmates, Kazumi would be ninety percent sure that was all it was. As it stood though, Kuonji-san had only joined the class a semester ago and thus Kazumi didn't know her well enough to say the same applied to her.

This doubt was further fueled when the other girl replied with a noncommittal shrug and began walking away.

"See you around, Asakura-san." The swordswoman said as she disappeared around a corner.

"Bye," Kazumi waved back feeling unsettled and questioning why the hell she got involved in all this.

Oh right, because I thought it would make me world famous.

Stepping into the study carrel at last, Kazumi found Negi working on something while surrounded by a large assortment of books, which by the titles of the few books she could read were all about spirit manipulation and exorcism.

"Negi-sensei! You've got to help me!" Kazumi begged without preamble.

"Huh? Kazumi-san? Of course! What do you need help with?" Negi-sensei said without missing a beat.

"I need a Pactio ASAP or face possible brain damage!"

"The other mages caught up to you already?" The Welshman asked, as he blinked in confusion for a moment before his face settled into a frown. "I'd have thought they would at least inform me of that and we would all talk it out before they did anything."

"Well, they didn't. And now it's either make a Pactio with you or get my brain frazzled."

"It's not as bad as that. Memory manipulation isn't really that ri-"

"Sensei, please!" Kazumi said, falling to her knees and clutching at the boy teacher desperately.

"Okay, okay. If you're that worried, then I guess it's okay. Chamo-"

"Already got the circle ready, Aniki!" The ermine fairy said with a thumbs up as it clutched a chalk for emphasis in its other forelimb. "All you two need is to smooch and it's done."

"Alri-"

Not even letting her Sensei finish her sentence, Kazumi grabbed his head and pulled him into a kiss.


A few hours later Negi was in the dorm room he shared with Asuna-san and Konoka-san telling them about what happened.

"-And that's how I ended up making a Pactio with Kazumi-san." The boy mage said as he finished the tale.

"He leave anything out?" Asuna-san asked, turning to Chamo.

"Nope." The ermine fairy said in confirmation. "You know Aniki can't lie for nuts. Of course, he's telling the truth."

"Lying by omission is still lying." Konoka-san opined. "And Negi is able to pull that off. Mostly."

"True," Chamo agreed, causing Negi to pout.

Whose side is he on!? The Welshman thought as he shot his familiar a betrayed look.

"Well, I didn't leave anything out this time." Negi said firmly.

"Alright, we believe you." Asuna-san reassured him. "No need to be so uptight about it. We were just asking."

"That's not why I'm, uh, uptight." Negi countered though he was quickly forced to amend his statement when the orangette shot him a disbelieving look. "Not entirely anyways."

"Out with it, brat." Asuna-san said with a sigh. "What else has got you worked up?"

"It's just," Negi began before sighing and looking off into the distance for a moment before continuing. "I guess I'm just a little uncomfortable about my growing number of Ministra Magi. Tradition says that a mage is only supposed to have one and-"

"Don't sweat it Aniki," Chamo chimed in with a chuckle. "Having so many partners is making you stronger, right?"

Negi couldn't help but nod at that.

"Then why worry?" Chamo reassured him. "It's all good."

"Shut it, you little pervert!" Asuna-san exclaimed, her heel delivering a devastating stomp on the ermine spirit even as she pointed a finger at Negi. "I get that you're worried, but just chill! All of us made a Pactio with you out of our own will. Or survival. Or curiosity. J-Just don't worry, alright?!"

"A-Ane-san!" Chamo-kun gasped out, but he didn't look too bothered as the orangette's heel grinded into him.

"Does my opinion factor in at all?" Negi couldn't help but pout.

One of Kazumi-san's egg shaped floating camera golems floated towards him, her voice filtering through its unbuilt speakers. It was quite the interesting artifact.

"Are you really upset about this, Negi-sensei? I mean, you helped out a lot of your cute little students!"

Negi felt a smile tug at his lips, "Of course I'm not! Helping one's students is a teacher's job after all."

Konoka-san looked over to the small golem and tilted her head. "Kazumi-san, why are you talking to us with your golem? Can't you just come over and do it normally?"

"It's practice Konoka-san! I've been playing around with my artifact! Did you know I have a stealth mode on these things?! It's so cool!"

"Stealth mode?" Asuna-san asked warily. "You better not even think about using it to do anything perverted or immoral. No matter how much anyone, especially a certain fairy, might offer you."

That Asuna-san ended this statement by glaring down at Chamo-kun made it abundantly clear just who she thought might end up convincing Kazumi-san into doing something untoward with her new artifact.

Chamo-kun looked like his very soul was leaving him. "A-A-Ane-san~!"

"It's your own fault for being so perverted, Chamo-kun." Konoka-san said with a giggle at the poor fairy's expense.

"You know they're right, Chamo." Negi said, adding his two cents.

"I'm not that bad!" Chamo protested but everyone ignored him.

"Sorry Chamo-kun, but I've gotta agree with them. You kinda are."

Finding that he had no support whatsoever, Chamo deflated a little and proving he was never in any danger of harm from Asuna-san slunk out from under her foot to disappear into a corner to sulk.

A sight that everyone couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Okay, I promise not to use my artifact for anything inappropriate no matter what anyone offers me." Kazumi-san said with conviction. "Not like I can do much anyways. I'm barely managing to control them. Like I said I need practice."

"Practice, huh?" Asuna-san said with a dark smirk. "You don't really need to worry about that. You'll be getting plenty of that soon enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Kazumi-san said warily. "And why does it sound so ominous?"

"You'll see, Kazumi-san." Konoka-san added with a playful smile. "You'll see soon enough."

"Negi-sensei, what do they mean?" Kazumi-san asked nervously.

Negi was on the verge of telling her but the looks from his roommates silenced him.

"Uh, it's a surprise?" He said lamely instead.

"Why am I not reassured? I need reassurance."

"Don't worry too much, Kazumi-san." Negi tried again. "It'll be fine."

By the way her golem looked at him sharply, Negi could tell she didn't believe him. Not that he blamed her. He didn't believe himself either.


"Do I really have to do this?" Kazumi asked in what even she could admit was a whine as she accompanied Negi-sensei, as well as the other mages and Ministras of 3-A for the first time as they headed over to Eva-san's cabin for their daily training.

"Yes," almost everyone chorused with playful smirks.

"But I'm just a scout type." Kazumi protested. "I don't need training."

"Everyone needs training to master their skills." Sakurazaki-san said with an amused shake of her head.

"Yeah." Kagurazaka-san added with a grin. "Natural talent only goes so far."

"It's not so bad, Asakura-san." Konoe-san said with a grin. "Eva-shishou's uniforms are very pretty."

"Uniforms? We have to wear uniforms!?"

"Shishou just likes us to look the part as her apprentices." Ranma-san said in defense of the ancient vampire.

"Yeah and getting you all dressed up like a goth loli has nothing to do with it, eh, Onee-sama?" Paru teased her sister.

Ranma-san just smirked. "You do realize half the dresses I wear for training come from my own collection right? Shishou just gave me a chance to dress up."

"Don't remind me," Paru said with a groan. "Why do you have to like dressing up so much!? You take up so much space in our closet!"

As the Saotome sisters fell into squabbling, Kazumi turned away from them to keep questioning the others.

"So anything else I should know besides needing to cosplay?"

"You technically don't need to do it since you aren't one of Eva-san's apprentices but-" Negi-sensei said before trailing off as a frown settled on his face.

"It's better you do." Akashi-san added. "Or Eva-san's liable to get ticked. At least if Ranma-san isn't distracting her too much that day."

"Okay~." Kazumi said, nodding uncertainly. "Anything else?"

"There is the blood tax." Akashi-san smirked. "You feel light headed at first, and then it's nappy time."

"And then its training for several hours after that." Sakurazaki-san added with a nod.

"To be fair, it helps train us to deal with fighting when exhausted." Kagurazaka-san offered with a feral grin, her eyes dancing with mirth at Kazumi's expense.

"Or blood loss!" Konoe-san said with a giggle.

"Don't worry." Honya-chan chimed in whilst offering a comforting smile. "Eva-san doesn't take our blood often. She mainly drinks from Ranma-san and occasionally Negi-sensei."

"It's not all bad," Paru spoke up having apparently concluded her argument with her sister. "The weather in Eva-san's resort is always nice."

"Unless Shishou wants to change things up and have us fight in a typhoon again." Ranma-san said with a tired sigh.

"Or sandstorm." The twintailed orangette added.

"Or blizzard." The basketball star chirped.

"She can do that!?" Kazumi gasped.

"The resort is a sealed environment. Shishou, as its owner, can make its weather however she likes." Negi-sensei confirmed. "Don't worry though. She likes the default tropical beach setting so she won't change it unless she has to for training."

Kazumi just gulped and nervously nodded.

"Do I want to know anything else?"

"You might end up at the edge of death's door occasionally." Ranma-san added as if that wasn't utterly horrifying. "But don't worry. Konoe-san will patch you up in no time."

"Count on me!" The aforementioned healer said confidently.

"And for any cases that Konoka can't handle, Shishou has a doll for it." Negi-sensei added. "Though why a vampire has a healer doll I-"

"We ordered it from an artificer in the magical market," Ranma-san said with a wistful look. "You know when Shishou and I went shopping there the other day? I pointed out it was better to have a backup if Konoe-san was unavailable for whatever reason."

The whole group, save Kazumi, shared knowing looks and giggles at that.

For her part, Kazumi was too terrified to be amused by how Ranma-san was being all dreamy about her date with Eva-san. In fact, she was seriously considering just running away. She was just making her move when Ranma-san grabbed her arm and pulled her along with the others.

"Why are you smirking like that?" Kazumi asked the petite redhead.

"You'll find out soon enough, Asakura-san," Ranma-san said, her smirk just growing wider.

"Sensei, I'm scared. She's scaring me." Kazumi whimpered to the small British teacher.

"Relax, Asakura-san." Negi-sensei said reassuringly. "At least she's not getting Zero-san to mess with you. Then you should be scared."

"Sensei, that wasn't reassuring. At all."

Her homeroom teacher just shrugged with a mischievous smirk.

I'm doomed ain't I? Kazumi thought to herself with dread as the group walked within view of Eva-san's cottage and the fate that awaited her within. Someone! Anyone! Save me! Kaa-san!


Three weeks later, even as a storm raged in the skies, Fate Averruncus hovered over Mahora with a butterfly sitting on his shoulder and surveyed the campus town far below. He stood unmoving and unfazed even as he was soaked by the sheets of rain that fell all around him and lightning flashed scant feet from his position.

"I do not understand, Master." The loyal servant of the Mage of the Beginning said as he held up the artifact known as the Demon-sealing Bottle. "Why would we need to use them? Even going as far to steal this prison of theirs from the Kansai Magic Association? Is this not too troublesome?"

The butterfly flapped its wings for a moment as if in reply.

"But they are weak." Fate argues with a narrowing of his eyes. "They were after all captured by mere mortals."

The demons in the bottle having gotten sealed after rampaging through Britain sometime after being part of and surviving the operation that the Master had used to initially set up the son of the Thousand Master as a potential seed.

The butterfly again flapped its wings.

"I see, master." Fate said with a nod. "You are, as always, correct. They would indeed be a good check for the two's progress. I take it that is why we are only releasing them now?"

The butterfly took flight and circled Fate's head before once more landing on his shoulder.

"Though I do have one last question if you would indulge me master."

The butterfly flapped its wings once more.

"Why allow the dog half-demon to come and assist the two seeds?"

The butterfly walked around Fate's shoulder in what seemed like a dance.

"As a control to better measure their current strength?" Fate asked with a blink. "I would not think such would be necessary."

The butterfly did one more dance and Fate nodded.

"'Better safe than sorry'? Your wisdom is great as always, master. I apologize for questioning it." The earth mage said with an apologetic nod to the butterfly. "I shall release them now."

The butterfly flapped its wings once more.

"In front of the half-demon boy?" Fate said with a blink. "Are you so starving for amusement, master?"

The butterfly radiated displeasure.

"Apologies master," Fate said with a playful smirk even as he offered his master another apologetic nod and finally unstoppered the Demon-sealing Bottle before hurling it in the direction of the half-demon rushing towards Mahora.


It was a stormy day and Kazumi was looking forward to being able to take a Sunday afternoon nap before evening training in Eva-chan's resort. Yes more training! On a Sunday! Who knew becoming a Ministra required so much effort? If she'd known she'd never have accepted.

Oh, who was she kidding? Considering a memory wipe, with its potential for brain damage, was on the cards so she had no other choice.

Sighing in frustration, she reflected on the training she'd gone through in the last three weeks as she finished up some of her homework.

From the grueling runs that Asuna-san was making her do to get in shape - Not that she was complaining too much about those. They were making helping her butt look fantastic! - along with dodging Ranma-san's sick puppet when it would try to stab her, she was fitter than ever.

Then there was learning basic magic from Paru along with Akashi-san, Konoka-san and Honya-chan. She'd nearly lost her eyebrows from that basic fire spell! Though honestly none of the spells she'd played around with felt right to the reporter. Something that when she asked Paru about the mangaka had simply told her was normal and that she would find her niche eventually. Fat load of good that did her now though.

And don't even get her started on having to endure the puppy love between Ranma-san and Eva-san. It was teeth pulling at how the ancient loli vampire could be so inept at just getting the petite redhead. All they seemed to do was snuggle during 'training'. Though Eva-chan really liked hunting and pinning the girl down too, something which she usually followed up by stealing a sip of blood! So lewd! Especially since Eva-chan always left Ranma-san with a hickey afterwards.

"Pillows are nice." Kazumi mumbled into hers, treating it like she was seeing a friend after a long, grueling trip as having finished her last assignment she stumbled into her bed. Something she deeply welcomed.

Training had been thoroughly draining and had especially left all three of Eva's apprentices seeming out of it at times during class. Even their Ministras, like her, had been left exhausted, though thankfully to a lesser extent. Asuna-san, Paru, Setsuna-san, Honya-chan, Yuna-san, and Kazumi herself did join the apprentices in their own training. But unlike their Magisters didn't get put through the same hell by Eva and so came out of it feeling better. It wasn't all bad though.

Honya-chan and Yuna-san's magical abilities were growing pretty steadily thanks to tips on magic from Negi-sensei and occasionally Ranma-san and Eva-san. That is when the two could stop being all lovey dovey with each other to remember the others existed. Even with just Negi-sensei's coaching though, both her classmates had begun demonstrating real proficiency in their magic.

Honya-chan had already mastered Sagitta Magica, Series Ignis (Magic Arrows, Fire Series) and was growing closer to doing the same with the slightly more advanced Apes Igniferae (Crimson Bees). Akashi-san for her part had rather unconventionally chosen to master the Tarda (Slow) and Festina (Haste) spells. Though she was also experimenting with the Deflexio (Wind Shield) and combining it with her Artifact in some way. Kazumi would have loved to know exactly how but the basketball star was being super secretive about whatever she was cooking up.

At the same time, Asuna-san and Setsuna-san had taken to regularly sparring, with Setsuna-san teaching the Magic Canceler about swordplay and even to Kazumi's untrained eye the orangette was starting to gain some real skill.

Kazumi herself had mainly benefited from joining Paru, Yuna-san and Honya-chan in practicing with their artifacts by organizing mock battles with themselves on one side and the Magisters, Asuna-san and Setsuna-san or some combination thereof on the other. Paru focused on using these sessions to learn how to coordinate her golems like an army while Yuna-san honed her overall combat skills by playing direct attacker. All the while, Kazumi and Honya-chan focused on supporting the others with their information gathering abilities.

The two of them were, in Kazumi's totally objective opinion, a real killer combo with Kazumi's camera golems providing the visuals and the usually shy girl's mind reading complementing each other pretty nicely. Though Honya-chan had also started experimenting with ranged support via her fire spells which just made them even more dangerous.

Or should I say makes Honya-chan more dangerous? Kazumi pondered as she shifted her position on her bed.

The purple haired girl was really starting to get scary.

Why are all the cute ones so scary? Kazumi thought with a pout. And yes, she thought Honya-chan was cute. So sue her for being able to appreciate the female form alongside the male one! She was a journalist and being able to appreciate the aesthetic quality of both sexes came with the ballpark.

Back on topic, Kazumi! The redhead chided herself as she pulled her thoughts from spiraling in a direction she didn't think she was ready for quite yet.

While the Magister v. Ministra battles were intense, they had nothing on the spars Eva-chan regularly made Ranma-san and Negi-sensei take part in. All while her third apprentice stood on the sidelines clutching her long white staff with a spiraling design that ran along its length and was topped by a large cup like object over which floated a white pearl flanked by a series of white angel wings that her grandfather arranged to be crafted for her so she could heal any injuries the two might sustain. A task that the slave driving vampire demanded the poor healer accomplish within three minutes of the combatants sustaining it.

A feat Konoe-san had increasingly struggled to do as the mock battles had grew more and more intense, especially as Ranma used more and more of the Corrosion element spells she'd learned from the Book of Origins

And blimey! But those spells scare the crap out of me! Kazumi admitted with a shudder.

But even to Kazumi's untrained eyes, all the effort was paying off. It was clear that the three were growing stronger by leaps and bounds.

Was it because of their pedigree? But Ranma-san doesn't come from a long line of mages, right? Or maybe they were all geniuses and the rest of us are just average?

A knock to the door pulled Kazumi out of her reflections. Blinking, the redhead rose to her feet.

"I wonder who that is." Kazumi said to herself with a frown. "I'm not expecting any visitors. Is it a delivery?"

Whatever the case, it's best to at least check what it's about. Kazumi concluded. It shouldn't be anything dangerous. Campus security would've dealt with something like that long before they got anywhere near the dorms.

Feeling confident in that assumption, she opened the door ignoring how lightning flashed ominously outside just as she did so.


Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!

This was a fun segway into the next incident our gang of heroes will run into. Having Kazumi run around trying to not get brain scrambled was fun. At least she doesn't become a drooling idiot now!

Nameless: So Kazumi has joined the madness that is Negi's 'harem'. How will she fare? Let's just say we have plans for her. Very interesting plans. Mwahahaha!

Yeah, the plans are fun and interesting. You'll have to wait to see! Though Kazumi's despair over all the training is hilarious to us.

Nameless: Especially considering what happens to her later on. Evil smirk.

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!