So I elected to cut that previous chapter short for a reason. Don't worry. This is going to be well worth it. After all, the plot of this fanfiction is geared more towards the romance before, after, in between, and all around the fight scenes. Hence, you get some chapters that wind up to be like this!

Oh, and I think I'm going to make this a lengthy chapter compared to all the other ones.

Also, people were wondering about a previous chapter where I wrote about Yuki and Haruna separately going through some "phases". I took Human Growth and Development back in college, so that's why I added such content to the story. Give some realism between the two characters.

Chapter Seventeen: Beach Part One

"Hey Yuki!" Ayaka called me one day after school. Much to my surprise. "I don't normally do favors like this, but I'd like to invite you out one of these days. It's getting ridiculously too hot to be spending the weekend at Mahora, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in flying out to the beach with me. You can bring Haruna too!"

Normally all of Class 3A would have somehow tagged along, but for this occasion, we were very discreet. Even Haruna didn't want to warn Kazumi. Although, the class reporter had her way of trying to pry out our plans that weekend.

"No no no!" I told her when I went to the dormitory that night to confirm the plan with Ayaka and Haruna. "Kazumi, if we were going on a little getaway, you would already know by now. Besides, I think she wants to ensure that there are no scandals pending."

"Scandals?" Kazumi's eyes furrowed as Sayo hovered nearby. "What do you mean by that?"

"She wants to make sure that Haruna and I are not being inappropriate with one another. Though, you must know that I always treat my girlfriend with respect no matter what."

"She's right!" Haruna's voice broke from behind me, much to my surprise. "Yuki wouldn't do those kinds of things, and I haven't done anything like that to her either."

"And I can confirm that," Konoka's voice said behind me as well. "Secchan and I have the same relationship."

I turned around and looked at them. All four members of the Library Exploration Club were standing there. Obviously because they decided to work a little late into Friday.

"We can attest that they are telling the truth," Yue added. "Right Nodoka?"

The shy girl nodded. "There's nothing wrong, and Class Rep only wants to verify that tomorrow. Which is why those two are hanging out together."

At this point, Kazumi crossed her arms and gave me the look. "Well Yuki, that's good to hear that you're continuing to be the model male student for the entire Mahora Academy. For a school full of 40,000 students, you still manage to stand out."

"The whole Class 3A stands out all the time," Yue contradicted. "All of us have our unique, hidden talents."

"And it got even more complex with Yuki over here!" Haruna cheerfully said, joining my side and taking me by the hand. "I'm so lucky to have the only boy in school available!"

At this point, Kazumi forgot to press onto tomorrow's trip with Ayaka. "Aside from Professor Negi! All of us girls would love to get with him!"

"I'm already spoken for though!" Haruna said, drawing even closer to where our arms were touching. "I'm keeping this one and no one else can have him!"

"And I only want one girl in our class!" I added, smiling without a care in the world. "We're both happy together, so you might as well write an article on it if you like!"

Kazumi shook her head. "Naw! You two are always this happy together! I'm looking for a real scoop if you can find one!"

"I have one!" Haruna blurted. "Two Saint Ursula girls were skipping class today and went out on the town! I have pho-"

Ayaka walked out of the dormitory and quickly diffused the scene. "Okay okay! Kazumi, Nodoka, Yue, if you three don't mind, I want to talk to these three privately. Also Konoka, do you know where Setsuna is? I need her to be here as well."

"Secchan is with gramps right now," Konoka replied. "He needed to have a little talk with her."

Setsuna's been hanging out with Konoemon a lot lately, but that ties into training me. He wants to know how capable I am in the event Kaito returns. Since Evangeline pretty much sent him flying all the way to North America, ending our first encounter.

Yeah. Seriously. Nothing to see here. Kazumi really isn't going to find anything unless Sayo tells her.

The next morning, we met up with Ayaka and rode with her in a taxi to the airport. Boarded a rather small private jet capable of seating at least fifteen people and took off into the morning skies. A clear, warm June day. Not a single chance of rain.

To our surprise, Asuna and Professor Negi tagged along. Konoka must have invited them over as well. And maybe Ayaka wanted to make sure there were more than just her eyes making sure us two official couples were acting appropriately.

I dressed appropriately too. With a backup set of clothes in my backpack, I walked up the steps and took my seat beside Haruna, who appeared to be wearing a springtime floral dress and a large, straw weaved hat. Her makeup continued to be on point, and I noticed that she had on a pair of brown flats to compliment her outfit.

As for me, I had on an aqua blue Hawaiian shirt and a pair of bright tan khaki shorts along with a pair of white tennis shoes. Beach flip flops were packed away of course.

"I thought Ayaka and Asuna hated each other," I whispered into Haruna's ear as we sat on the plane, flying over Tokyo. "They seem to be rather collected at the moment."

Asuna had on a white spaghetti-strapped dress while Professor Negi had on a navy blue T-shirt and khaki shorts. Then Ayaka obviously had to wear a designer beach dress, which was bright pink and had the label on one strap like the boss she was.

"That's because they're really good friends under all that commotion," Haruna whispered back. "Anyway, I heard your birthday is coming up. Is there anything in particular that you want?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. Strongly for a few seconds, because I really had no idea what material thing I wanted. For someone like me, I already had enough material things. There is nothing else that I could want, and I still treasured that little model of the International Space Station.

My head drew closer to her. Lips closer to her ear. I wanted to make sure no one else heard me when I said it. "All I want to do that day is spend time with you."

Pecked her in the cheek before returning to a normal seating posture. Haruna's eyes widened as she quickly looked away. She had the window seat, so I let her look out the window as I turned to see Ayaka down the aisle, maintaining a rather friendly conversation with Asuna and Professor Negi.

Then there was Konoka and Setsuna near the back. Both were all smiles and talking. A pretty big difference in Setsuna's usual facial expression compared to the way I've seen her act in anime and manga.

Konoka had on a white dress and yellow cardigan while Setsuna had on a light blue summer hoodie and short blue jeans. With a pair of light blue and white tennis shoes.

"So Dean Konoe doesn't really have any issues with us," Setsuna told her. "He was overjoyed to be honest. Now we need to figure out your father."

"I told him," Konoka replied, making the swordswoman slightly back away from her in shock. "Don't look all scared! You've already proven yourself to be the one for me in his eyes."

"I shall talk to him as well. He's your father and I need to be as respectful as possible."

"He knows we made a temporary pactio. When we're fully graduated from Mahora, I want to make a permanent one with you as well."

Setsuna went fire engine red as I turned my head forward and tried hard not to laugh. Haruna's hand touched my face and turned my head so I could look at her. A smile emerged on her face as she drew her head against mine. Forehead against forehead. Eyes closed, but no intent to kiss. Her hand caressed the side of my face, and her other hand touched my shoulder.

"Every second that I'm with you," she told me, "even if we're doing different things and focused on other things, I always appreciate you being around. The fact that I have my very own superhero who saved me twice is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'd be more than happy to be with you for your birthday."

She then let go and looked out the window. "Yuki, look! We're passing Mount Fuji!"

Sure enough, I took a look out the window beside her and saw that tall mountain. The highest peak in Japan. Taller than all of the other mountains around it and completely covered in snow.

At that point, Professor Negi walked over to us. He was all smiles as he spoke. And to my surprise, Chamo was sitting on his shoulder. "Yuki-san! Haruna-san! How is everything?"

"Lovely!" I replied. "You might want to look out a window on the side of this plane. We see Mount Fuji!"

Like the little boy he still was, the professor went to the window in the row next to ours and looked. He was amazed at the sight of it. Same went for Chamo.

Really nothing to see here Prof!

And now for the obvious!

We eventually landed in a small airport on an island that I did not expect to know about. Ayaka says her family owned the island and even wanted direct access to it, so they came up with the idea of flying into the airport. Construction was pretty quick, and there were no people to get in the way and protest, so we were pretty much settled.

We changed our clothes in the jungle. Well, All I had to do was just slip out of my shorts and shoes. Swapped them out for a pair of short navy-blue swim trunks and beach bum brown sandals. My white tank top was now slightly drenched from the heat on this tropical island, but that was okay. We were going to set up shop to hang out.

Ayaka's summer mansion was nearby, but we didn't bother going there just yet. It was still mid-morning and we wanted to spend our time outdoors. For a change from being confined indoors at Mahora Academy most of the time.

"It's a shame we're only staying out here one night," Haruna said as I sat out on the beach waiting for everyone else. "Yuki, well, what do you think?"

Much to my surprise, there she was. With a beach towel in hand, she wore her bikini. Dark gray with pink borders. At this point, I could see her rather curvy figure, and for the first time, I got a really good glimpse of her breasts. They were pretty big. C-sized I think. Her hips were kind of wide as well.

"You're hella cute!" I said, smiling as I caught her eye. "Take a seat next to me if you like."

Her eyes narrowed. "Not so fast Yuki! Aren't you forgetting something?"

Oh great. Here I go.

I reluctantly stood up and unbuttoned my Hawaiian shirt, pretending to be hiding my bare chest as I did so. Once done, I held it as to cover myself when I turned to Haruna, who eyed me with excitement. My senses even picked up her desire to see me shirtless.

Flashed my white tank top as she fell from the shock.

"Yuki…" she angrily said, getting up. "We had a deal. You said it would be at the beach."

I smiled, removing my Hawaiian shirt then pulling off my white tank top. Now I was completely shirtless. Bearing my protruding pecks, bowling ball shoulders, large biceps, large forearms, six-pack abdomen, hips without flab. All of it.

What I did not expect was Haruna, her nose immediately bled and she fell to the ground.

That was right when Setsuna showed up in a dark red one-piece bathing suit and dark gray towel. She eyed Haruna in shock then looked at me. "What did you do to her?"

"I just took my shirts off because I was about to go into the water."

The samurai eyed me up and down as Haruna stood back up. Konoka could now be seen emerging from the jungle, wearing a bikini the same color as Setsuna's. With her was Asuna, who appeared to wear a white bikini, and Ayaka had on a lacy blue bikini as she followed.

Much to my shock, all the girls were checking me out. Like I was something.

"For a fifteen-year-old you're pretty ripped!" Konoka remarked. "Right Asuna?"

She crossed her arms. "Yeah! Pretty much."

I could sense that she wanted to say something more, but it had to do with the class rep being there.

"Well," Ayaka said, catching my eye, "we finally have another boy in class and now everyone's all googly eyed over him. I can see what's the craze, but he's already Haruna's."

Ah, the class rep and her typical voice. For a young lady born into a rather rich family, she was pretty loaded. Flying us away from Kanto in a private jet for the weekend. That's one detail we left out when Kazumi decided to interrogate us, and I think that's why things have been going pretty smoothly.

Setsuna smiled. I can sense that she was relieved to not be the center of the talk. "I think they make a cute couple. Don't you Kono-chan?"

Konoka nodded, taking her by the arm. "You're right Secchan! Haru, don't you ever think of letting him go!"

Wiping her nose, Haruna nodded. "I'd be stupid to do that."

Of course Haru. I can sense it in your thoughts right now. There's no other man on your mind other than me. Your one knight in shining armor who saved your life.

"Well," Ayaka continued, "I just got off the phone with my staff. The mansion should be ready for us by dinner time. In the meantime, my maids and servants who are currently staying on this island will be attending to us for lunch out here on the beach."

Everyone's jaw dropped, so I pretended to join the crowd. Even though I myself came from a family of wealthy, world-reknown inventors, I had to do myself a favor and blend in. After all, the Negiverse was now my home universe. Especially since I can now acknowledge one particular thing.

Haruna is my future, and nothing can stop me from staying here.

Still on the beach. Like I said, this is going to be a pretty lengthy chapter compared to the rest.

As soon as everyone split, I pulled out a Universe 2512 tent from my backpack and set it up. One of my parents' many inventions in our time together as a family. A beach tent that can pop up from a cannister. Small, but it gave a very good amount of shade and even kept me cool in my times out on the beach.

Planted it on the ground, pressed the button, and took a few steps back. One popping noise sound later, and voila! Instant square 12x12 pavilion tent with one side open out towards the ocean. The only difference is the sides were a tough heat-proof metal and not the flimsy tarp-like material most tents in this time and universe would have had.

I quickly brought all my belongings inside and laid down. Wanting to get dibs on my stuff before Ayaka or anyone else tried to get in. Then again, I wouldn't have minded if anyone joined.

Haruna, who was with me, brought her stuff in as well. "This is an interesting tent!"

"Thanks!" I replied. "Dad designed it for our family back in 2512."

I sat atop my beach towel as she took her seat on hers. Both of us were eyeing each other at this point, smiling. Through my senses I knew she wanted to come in for a kiss, so I beat her to it. Went in and planted one on her for a few seconds before drawing back. Her satisfaction rung out in my senses as I did so.

"I'd try to keep that at a minimum today though," Haruna warned. "This is Class Rep's territory."

We turned to look out towards the ocean, but Konoka and Setsuna were already near the opening of our tent. Setsuna's face was red while Konoka took her by the arm and giggled. Did they see us?

"Mind if we join you?" asked the mage. "You seem to have a big enough tent!"

I nodded. "Sure! Make yourselves at home!"

They shared a towel nearby us, and as they settled in, Ayaka followed. She surveyed the interior as Asuna and Professor Negi followed. Therefore, I allowed them to set up their stuff as well. Eventually, it wound up to be all seven of us in a circle.

The maids and servants were nice enough to serve us lunch. Instead of dining at tables, we sat on our beach towels and enjoyed the trays of food and drinks. And the tea especially.

"Now that we're all stuffed and settled in," Professor Negi spoke, getting us all into a little conversation as Chamo sat on his shoulder, obviously blushing at the sight of all the girls in their swimwear, "Ayaka-san and I had a little talk. I am well aware that the four of you have gotten into relationships, and I would like to make it clear that I see no problem with it. However, as your teacher, I must also advise you to keep all public displays of affection at a minimum."

The four of us nodded.

"I haven't seen any issues between these four," Asuna said, apparently defending us. "I understand that Mahora has its rules, but no one has seen any of these four breaking the rules. Besides, wouldn't Kazumi make a scoop about it if there was anything?"

"That's the point!" Ayaka told her. "Scandals and gossip are what keeps Mahora Academy connected, but exposed PDA would not be something Class 3A wants to be known for."

"Which is why we're out here having this talk!" Professor Negi said, obviously trying to stir the two away from arguing and looking me in the eye. "We have our only male student in my class, and it's already known that he's in a relationship with one of my other students. Yuki-san, I was present when you went and rescued Haruna-san on Library Island. Is there anything else I should know aside from that time and the dodgeball incident?"

I shook my head. "Nothing inappropriate has happened."

"I heard you spent the night at Evangeline's cabin at one time," Ayaka said, looking at Haruna, who nodded. "Did anything happen?"

"Ooh!" Chamo remarked, making kissy faces. "Do tell? Was there anything juicy about that?"

Asuna pounded him in the head as she irately looked at me. "Ignore the perverted ermine Yuki. I do have to say that I remember and you were lucky it was a weekend! If you two are planning on doing all-nighters, I'd highly suggest you don't do it the night prior to a school day!"

Haruna and I blushed.

"There was nothing like that going on!" I insisted. "Haruna was still recovering from her accident at Library Island and it got really late!"

"So it was a safety concern," Ayaka said, now appearing to survey the event. "Where exactly did she sleep?"

"In my bed," I responded, "but I placed pillows down the center so we were separate."

Haruna nodded. "Yeah! Yuki's a real gentleman!"

Ayaka smiled at me, rather impressed. "Well, it looks like I've underestimated you Yuki." She then turned her head to Konoka and Setsuna. "Now, you guys next!"

I could hardly help but to just watch. Haruna filled me in on what went down after Zazie rescued the Library Exploration Club from a chaotic scene and brought them to us as we trained. It turns out that the forest area where us fighters trained was actually Kaede's. Honestly, I thought it was Mana's.

To me, they look alike enough to where I can easily mistake the two. Haruna says I should study their hair a lot more thoroughly. And the fact that Mana runs around with guns while Kaede's a ninja.

Asuna and Professor Negi looked at each other while Chamo anxiously awaited what was about to be said. Seconds later, all three of them were straining to hear what was going on. Haruna looked at them in surprise, and Ayaka gave them a rather fierce look as though they were about to get in trouble for something.

"Since the dean appears to approve, I'm not going to say much."

Everyone's feet stuck up in the air after that.

Seriously, this isn't a Konosetsu fanfiction. And no, I don't plan on doing one in the future.

"Damn!" I wholeheartedly exclaimed as I walked out to the ocean water. "That was a long as hell talk!"

"Tell me about it!" Haruna responded, following me then standing by my side. Her face was still red from our little revelations, but I feel as though the conversation outcome was pretty good. "I'm just glad Kazumi isn't here."

"That would have been the day!" I added. "The whole class would have joined us."

One of the Negima movies had the beginning where the entire Class 3A packed up on Ayaka's jet because Kazumi found out about the trip plan when it was intentionally just supposed to be Professor Negi. Thanks to my quick thinking we averted that disaster!

"Ayaka would have had a field day!" Haruna remarked. "She's really into our professor you know."

"I know," I responded. "Her and Natsumi have a slight little competition going on for him."

And he gets Asuna. Another storyline had him go after Chisame. The alter alias and world reknown internet idol Chiu.

Haruna's eyebrows raised. "I had no idea you were keeping track of that."

You're a character in a book and an anime. Of course I'd keep track of it. Just not the Chisame part. Had me confused in the anime because of the difference in hair color from the manga.

"Well," I remarked, "I keep track of quite a number of things. Like the fact that you're always into books and writing and drawing and creating things."

No need to use telepathy to tell she was flattered. Her hand slipped onto mine and our fingers intertwined as we continued to walk, and she drew a little closer as we went. However, she slightly tightened the grip on my hand and I felt a tug.

I stopped, realizing that she stopped as well. At that point, I turned to her and took notice to the gaze in her eyes as they caught mine. Therefore, I faced her directly and took her other hand into mine. My telepathy indicated that there was something she was longing to tell me, so I didn't say a word.

"Listen," she began, "Yuki, there's something I need to tell you. I know everyone is around here somewhere, but I can't hold this any longer." Her breathing shifted, and it got even heavier. "Yuki, I'm not going anywhere. I don't care how dangerous things get for you out here, and I want you to know that you're all I see in my future. Next to everything that defines me, I can't imagine my life without you in it."

"Are you proposing?" I asked. "Because I know for a fact that we eventually get married, so yes!"

Her mind was definitely on me, but she was taken aback by what I had just said. Yes, Haruna, we do get married. Kaito told me.

"What!?" she blurted out.

"That enemy Evangeline drove away a year ago told me," I revealed, face now reddening at what I was going to say next, "and yes we do have children."

Her face went a little red as she let go. However, she wasn't drawing away from me. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and planted a kiss. I held her by the waist in support, but we didn't exactly make out. We just held it for several seconds. Until someone interrupted us.

"You guys are so cute!" Konoka exclaimed from behind Haruna. "Right Secchan?"

"Kono-chan!" Setsuna replied. "Um…guys…you might not want to be doing that over here!"

Haruna and I quickly broke off and turned to them. Konoka pointed over towards the mansion area, prompting me to look in that direction. Asuna was having another row with Ayaka as Professor Negi was trying to break them off.

"She started a fight to distract Ayaka," Konoka told us. "That's why Secchan and I are waiting until nightfall."

My face went super red as Haruna laughed. So did Konoka and Setsuna. Therefore, I followed suit and did the same thing.

The fighting quickly ended once Asuna noticed us laughing at the shore. She ran over to us as Ayaka and Professor Negi followed. However, she ran so fast so she could buy a few seconds to warn us.

"Watch it with the kissing!" she hissed. "We'll talk about it later!"

Unaware of what was going on, Ayaka beamed at us. "What's so funny? We could hear you laughing."

I quickly tried to make something up. "I was joking about-"

"How he managed to spare me from taking a dodgeball to the face," Haruna said. "He took it to the face for me and inadvertently made me the winner of that game!"

Konoka and Setsuna laughed, and so did I.

"It's not too soon!" I called out as I laughed. "If it wasn't for that game, Haru and I wouldn't be dating!"

"I thought it started after you rescued her in Library Island," Ayaka said. "That's what Kazumi's been reporting."

"It was at a hush at first," Haruna explained. "Yuki and I were already dating then."

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Setsuna's jaw dropped. "She had me fooled!"

"Secchan!" Konoka sheepishly responded, turning to Haruna and I. "That's the first time I heard that from my samurai! You two are the best!"

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Professor Negi asked, obviously clueless about putting two and two together.

Asuna rolled her eyes. "You'll understand when you get older. Anyway, Ayaka, weren't you saying it's time to go to the mansion?"

"Yeah!" Ayaka said, realizing that it slipped her mind. "My parents called about twenty minutes ago. They arranged for us to alternate between here and indoors. Let's go cool off in the mansion! Come on!"

At that point, Ayaka led us into the mansion.