Author's Notes:

Whew, quite overdue on this update aren't I? Apologize for the delay, but I've been busy with life and the center part of my state getting set on fire a little bit ago. I'm, unfortunately, not going to back to regular updates yet, but I do have some good news. I got a beta for the story now, thanks to MahouShoujoNeko for doing so. Only the first chapter and this one have been beta'd and updated at the moment. The remaining ones will go up in the near future. It's primarily just polishing and grammar error, so if you've already read them, I wouldn't say going back and re-reading is required.

Secondly, if anyone's attentive and notices Aki-sensei has the same name as her (presumed) ancestor from NoWaYu, that's not a mistake. According to a magazine promo for the WaSuYu TV airings, Aki-sensei's name is the same as Masuzu Aki from NoWaYu. It could possibly be an error, but the people I've seen check it over said it's likely not and it's the only thing to go on for her name, so at this time, that's what I'll be referring to her as.

Oh, and lastly, this story has gotten over 1000 hits! Thanks for continuing to view this everyone!

Looking over the latest report before going to teach her class, Masuzu Aki sighed to herself. The Shinju worked in many ways, ways sometimes beyond mortal understanding, however, the latest decision by the conglomerate of gods protecting Shikoku had left its followers, The Taisha, at somewhat of a loss on how to handle the situation concerning the latest arrivals. It had summoned them to assist the Heroes as a desperate measure and declared that they were not a threat to humanity and could help, but at the same time presented some unknown factors and to wait and see what level of trust would best be placed in them. Therein resided the problem, and what had caused some head scratching.

The Taisha were accustomed to not having had any serious challenges to their decisions or authority in ages and not needing to settle on a compromise. Yet, against the pair of mages, they were the ones in a lesser position of power, especially when trying to walk a line between maintaining their leverage and not making the potential new resource uncooperative, but it wasn't going well. After seeing the display from earlier in the week, the Taisha had thought perhaps they could wait till the two were a bit more desperate for supplies and thus be in a better position to try any negotiations. Such a course felt cruel to her, but it was the Taisha's decision. However nearly a week later and no issues seemed to be arising. Then, there was the attempts to keep interactions with the Heroes sparse. The idea was to prevent them from getting too close, but perhaps also reveal something the girls would then discuss over the Hero chat app, making the Taisha privy to it as well. However, nothing terribly useful had come about thus far.

Masuzu's feelings were a touch conflicted. She perhaps had a bit more of a positive impression than the rest; the duo had managed to save her students after all. Yet, their magic also was terrifyingly powerful, given how the one called Fate managed to kill three Vertexes at once. Perhaps strong enough that, were the Heroes to learn it, maybe it'd solve the issue of how to proceed from here, as most of the organization agreed something needed to be done after Gin nearly died. Maybe they wouldn't have to suffer another attack like that, were it taught. Still, there was one thing which kept Masuzu from fully supporting it.

The Taisha knew the strength of the Heroes could be trusted, but the same couldn't be said for magic. The power bestowed upon the Heroes was immense, surpassing virtually any manmade weapons, yet it was focused and posed almost no risk of accidental damage, one of the advantages seemingly held over magic. Were powers the mages displayed unleashed in the Jukai, who knew the what kind of potential damage could be unleashed. In fact, they would have caused some damage during the first engagement, had Gin not informed Negi about the Forestized world in time.

Perhaps their control would eventually reach a point where collateral damage was no longer an issue, but that tied into the second major point of contention. Practicing summoning firestorms, magma, using live weapons, and physical power which could reshape the landscape It just felt like asking to injure yourself during practice. Perhaps the two mages could heal the injuries, but what of when they left and if the Heroes hadn't advanced to sufficient levels for healing them quickly? Short term it'd be fine, but the Taisha couldn't heal their injuries with the same speed the mages could and posed long-term troubles. Given they could only approximate a general idea of when Vertex attacked, it would be a problem if a Hero became heavily injured shortly before they arrived. The teacher didn't want to put her students in harm's way anymore than absolutely required, but at the same time, they had a possible solution right in front of them and not doing anything could've meant an incident like the last attack, but one where there wouldn't be any last-minute rescues.

Hopefully, some form of agreement would be reached at the next meeting. The recent oracle carried worrying information that meant they had to move quickly…

Gin had thought that things were finally starting to go back to normal somewhat in the last week of school before summer break. She had been very wrong and everything leading up to today, Friday, had been more than a touch eventful.

After the incident on Monday, which she'd had to spend a long time explaining to Sonoko that it was all a misunderstanding, Negi had showed up the following day on her school route, true to his word about helping her get to class on time. Gin had tried to shoot him down when he showed up, she felt bad enough about it happening once, but she'd ultimately ended up taking his offer, because as her luck would have it, issues cropped up that would've otherwise made her late once again. But, she'd made a point to avoid a repeat of Monday, taking the wrist instead of the hand. At least she'd managed to invite him along to the Ines trip she'd planned with Sumi and Sonoko after school today, as it was her last day and the rain was supposed to let up in the afternoon as well.

However, in yet another odd twist, Taisha had arrived to pick her up for the remainder of the week. They'd cited the worsening weather when asked, but the outside didn't seem any harsher than normal. The situation felt somewhat off to Gin, but at least she was getting to class early now. It was nice, being able to have more than a minute at best to talk with her classmates before school officially begun. Today, she'd arrived particularly early.

"Morning!" Stepping into the room, Gin greeted her class with energy and a wave. Oddly, the girl didn't get most of the usual return greetings she got in the morning, instead being answered with several curious stares, including an oddly red-faced Sumi. It was enough to make her raise a perplexed eyebrow at the situation. Did she miss some bad news lately or something?

Shrugging it off, Gin started walking toward her seat, only for some of her friends to approach her midway. "Um, Gin-chan." One of the girl's spoke up apprehensively.

"Hrm?" Gin eyed the group curiously, a touch of concern also working its way onto her features."What's up?"

"When were you going to tell us about your boyfriend?"

Gin's whole being froze, her mind trying to process what she'd just heard and decide if she hadn't suddenly gone crazy and started hearing things. No, she'd definitely not imagined what was said. Almost like a delayed reaction, once her brain had a second to confirm she hadn't heard wrong, her cheeks started turning red. "B-boyfriend?! What the hell do you mean?!"

"That's who you showed up with a few days ago, right? You were holding hands in the rain and started making it to class early afterwards!" One of the mob spoke up leaning in toward Gin.

Oh, no. Someone actually had seen her and Negi! In hindsight, holding onto someone's wrist could've easily looked like something else from a distance, couldn't it? Or had Sonoko told them? Blush intensifying on her face, despite any efforts to somehow will it away, Gin started attempting to form a reply, but her classmates had already descended on her like a pack of hungry piranhas, cutting off any of her attempts to talk.

"What's he like?"

"Why's nobody seen him at school?"

"Is he from a Taisha family? Is that why you've been getting dropped off by them? Did your boyfriend send them?"

"Oh, is it like an arranged relationship between families?"

"Eh? Mino-san has a boyfriend~?"

"L-let me talk for-" Gin frantically tried to interject, but stopped dead once she heard the last voice. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Sonoko! What are you doing?!" Gin shot her friend an incredulous, annoyed look between her red face. Sonoko should've known exactly what happened and still joined in on this?!

"Hrm?" Sonoko innocently starred back at Gin as it were obvious. "Everyone else was joining in and it looked fun~."

Gin felt a groan rising from her throat. Leave it to Sonoko to add fuel to the fire.

"G-Gin, w-what's this about having a b-boyfriend?" The sound of Sumi's flustered voice came from behind Sonoko, stammering out the words with difficulty.

Glancing past the group, Gin saw her red faced fellow hero, with a blush that, if how hot her own face was, probably was about the same shade of red Gin herself was. She hadn't felt more embarrassed in her entire life than now!

"It's nothing!" Gin finally shouted, more forceful than she'd meant to, but she couldn't help the extra volume in her voice with how flustered she was feeling. Sure, she could probably be considered popular with the class, but keeping this kind of topic just between Sumi and Sonoko was one thing. Having her love life suddenly become a topic for everyone was too much!

A second of silence descended over the classroom from Gin's sudden outburst.

"Then… Why were you holding his hand and sharing an umbrella?" One of the boys in the class spoke up, sounding hopeful. The rest of the group starred at Gin expectantly.

"Er, that's-" Gin's mind suddenly went blank, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. She didn't have any idea what to say. The Hero couldn't explain what really happened and mention magic, as the Heroes had been told to keep that under complete secrecy. She also didn't really know Negi all that well to even attempt to make up some kind of excuse, not that current events were any help with trying to cobble together something even with what she knew already. The silence was just making it worse, wasn't it?

"Good morning, everyone." Like a ray of hope, the classroom teacher's voice came from the door, drawing everyone's attention and sparing Gin further humiliating questions.

Taking their instructor's arrival as the cue for class to begin, the remaining students made their way back toward their respective seats, some giving Gin a few glances between moving to their seats.

Taking her own seat, Gin inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, slowly feeling the heat from her face starting to vanish. She'd never been happier to hear her instructor arrive. What did she do to deserve this anyway? Negi had helped her a ton lately and she liked him, but just as a friend, right? He'd only been here a week!

Thankfully, this was the last day of school till summer, so she wouldn't have to deal with more the mobs fortoo long. Gin would've died of embarrassment otherwise. Still, she'd invited Negi along to the full tour of Ines she'd planned to give Sonoko and Sumi that had been rescheduled from last Saturday, on account of the Vertex attack and following events. It'd be a good chance to know Negi better and come up with some kind of cover story, since this definitely wasn't going to be the last she heard of this….

Much as Gin would have liked, the rest of the day didn't pass without incident. She'd had to explain the situation to Sumi, who seemed to calm down a bit once it was cleared up. Then, she'd been bothered by her class again during some breaks, which had forced the group to come up with an excuse of it being related to their duty as Heroes, as the class wasn't supposed to ask about that. After that, school had proceeded relatively smoothly and they'd all been able to head to Ines and meet up with Negi once it'd ended. Sumi voiced some protests toward inviting them, but Gin had eventually made her relent, not that it'd helped the occasional suspicions glances she threw toward him.

"First stop on Gin-sama's super special Ines full course tour, the arcade!" Gin proudly declared, gesturing dramatically to the arcade, earning a small applause from Sonoko.

Sumi, on the other hand, looked apprehensive and eyed the entrance suspiciously. "Do we really have to? Ines is fine, but… arcades are a bit frightening…"

Gin sternly shook her head. "That's no good, Sumi. I won't let you have such a wrong impression of Ines."

"It's a first for me too, but I'm looking forward to it~! I always wanted to check it out." Sonoko said with a cheery expression, eying the arcade, and the various sounds and lights coming from within, with wonder. She had some games at home, but that couldn't compare to an arcade's environment.

"That's the spirit!" Gin said with an approving grin and nod toward her blonde friend.

Sumi remained unconvinced, a nervous frown on her face. "But I was told by my parents, if you go to an arcade, you'll turn into a delinquent. You'll waste all your money and ruin your life!"

"Woah, that's some preconception…" Gin blinked, looking more than a touch surprised at the outrageous accusation. Just what kind of people were Sumi's parents?

"I think that's going just a little far." Negi chimed in. "I've been to an arcade before, though only once on a trip to Kyoto. I turned out just fine."

Sumi's eyes instantly lit up, leaning toward Negi with a touch of excitement and wonder in her voice. "You've been to Kyoto before? That was the imperial capital for over a thousand years in the Christian Era!" Her earlier apprehensions about the arcade had vanished entirely.

"I don't know how comparable it might be to the history of this world… But yes, I spent several days there before." Negi said, nodding with a smile. "Would you like to hear about it?"

Sumi vigorously shook her head. She'd never turn down a chance to hear about firsthand experience of the old world, especially of a place with such historical significance to Japan.

"Then, I'd be happy to tell you about it, but it's a rather long story. I'll tell you at the end of the tour, if you enjoy yourself at the arcade."

Sumi's eyes shot toward the arcade entrance, contemplating the offer, her not so internal struggle manifesting as a furrowed brow and pursed lips.

"Come on, it'll be fine! Negi-san's even a teacher! And look at me, I've been here before. My life's going just fine." Gin added, giving her conflicted friend a reassuring pat on the back.

With two examples of evidence against her previous thoughts starring her in the face, Sumi made up her mind. "Gin, Sonocchi, Negi-san, let's go." Glancing briefly back at the group, Sumi practically raced through the entrance.

"Woah, that was sure a quick turnaround…." Gin commented dryly, watching Sumi run inside. She knew Sumi loved history and her country, but she didn't think it'd be that easy to convince her to 180 her mood so fast. Still, even if Negi had to bribe her, it was always nice to see Sumi able to unwind a bit. The girl had issues letting herself just sit back and relax sometimes, and maybe this would be a decent gateway to open her mind a bit.

"Wasshi sure got excited fast. Come on, I wanna play some games too~." Following her friend, Sonoko stepped into the arcade with a cheerful grin.

"Hey, don't leave us behind! I gotta show you where all the best games are!" Gin called out after her two friends, trailing behind them with Negi.

"Bucchi's cute~." Sonoko said, eyeing the stuffed cat plushy Sumi was now carrying as the group walked toward their next destination.

"I just wish he didn't take 3 months of my allowance…" Sumi lamented, looking down at the plushy with a conflicted look and squeezing it for comfort. She was having second thoughts about her acceptance of arcades and if her parents' advice had been truly wrong.

"It did take a while to get, but everything worked out in the end, didn't it? I think it's a nice plush." Negi interjected with a comforting smile.

"That's true, but still…" Sumi trailed off. It didn't help her feel better about losing control of herself on the crane machine.

After entering the arcade, Gin didn't waste any time showing the group around to all of the attractions within. Sumi had preferred to mostly sit back and watch, but she'd jumped in a few times. Gin, rather unsurprisingly, won most of the games which involved any competition rather handily, but that'd changed when the group went to a fighting game. Gin put up a fight in the first match with Negi, but on each successive rematch, things got progressively more lopsided, until the boy was almost untouchable by the 4th match, much to Gin's frustration. The mage just seemed to pick things up inhumanly fast. If not for Sonoko and Negi insisting they had more to the tour, Gin probably would've wasted a lot more of her money on trying to edge out a win. With Gin vowing to settle the score later, they'd moved onto the crane machines.

At the next spot was where Sumi found something that caught her eye. In one of the games, there was a plushy which resembled a stray cat that lurked around her neighborhood and Sumi immediately took a shine toward it. With some encouragement, she'd leaped head first into the game. Before she knew it, Sumi had spent a large amount of money on the machine, but at least she'd gotten her prize.

Hearing it'd cost her three months of her allowance, Negi had offered to give her some money as they left the arcade. Sumi had initially tried to deny it, but the other child had insisted and when he pointed out her spending rush meant she wouldn't have any money for the remaining stops, she'd reluctantly relented. Further helping her conscience was that Negi possessed a rather absurd amount of money for a child his age and circumstances and three months of her allowance wasn't much to him. Perhaps it was from the Taisha?

"Oh well, it was learning experience and you still got him in the end, right?" Gin said, trying to reassure her friend. "Why don't we check out a book store or something next? Maybe they'll be some history stuff there." Gin wasn't the most enthusiastic on books herself, but it history was certainly a good way to brighten Sumi's mood.

"Oh, I like that idea. Some new books to read would be nice~." Sonoko spoke up eagerly.

"If we're going to tour most of Ines anyway, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stop there next." Sumi agreed, her demeanor brightening up a touch at the idea of looking more into her favorite topic.

"Woooooow, I didn't think Mino-san would know such a good place for books~." Sonoko commented, looking between the various shelves with a childlike wonder. The blonde had elected to mostly scan for pictures books.

"I couldn't call myself an Ines expert if I didn't know all the ins and outs of it." Gin replied with a smug voice and satisfied grin.

"And history stuff should be right…. Here!" Gin suddenly came to a stop, gesturing to some nearby shelves.

"Ah, thank you, Gin." Sumi said, scanning the various rows for any particular subject that caught her eye. She had to admit, it was certainly a surprise Gin, the one who had the most trouble with studying and academics, knew a good place to find things that would've normally fallen outside her expertise. That was the power of her love for Ines, Sumi supposed.

"I think I'll stay here and look around as well. I'm interested to research this place's history in further detail." Negi said, already picking out something to read from the shelf.

"Alright, I'll be checking out the manga section if you need me!" Gin replied before walking off to pursue her own interests.

With her friends gone, Sumi glanced through the bookshelves, picking out a book on naval history she didn't recognize. However, her thoughts for once weren't entirely about history. This was the first time she had alone with Negi, and she wasn't sure what to think of the other. There were things about them which made her cautious, such as some of the dangerous magic they wielded, the earlier scare about supposedly being in a relationship with Gin after barely knowing them a week, and the last name. On the other hand, Negi seemed to be a genuinely nice person and had a friendly demeanor, even helping her over the earlier mess at the Arcade. And then there was the possibility of having someone with firsthand experience of Kyoto to talk with being dangled over her head… She had said she'd give him a chance, since her friends appeared to trust Negi, so perhaps now was a good time to attempt learning more about them to better judge the situation?

Almost as soon as Sumi had resolved to try learning the other, the sound of rapidly turning pages sent her attention drifting. Glancing to her side, Sumi saw the eye brow raising sight of Negi flipping through the pages of his book impossibly fast, so much that his hands didn't appear to ever stop moving and he closed the book, apparently finished with the entire thing, in mere seconds. With his current task done, the mage reached for another one to devour the contents of.

"H-how did you…?" Sumi slowly said, blinking a few times while trying to process what she'd just seen, all her earlier thoughts pushed to the back of her mind. There was no way he'd actually managed to read the entire book's contents in such a short time, right?

"Hrm?" Negi looked away from his search, focusing toward Sumi with a curious look. "Oh, the reading?"

Sumi nodded her head with a blank expression in response.

"The same way I do most of what you've seen. It wasn't that big of a book." Negi answered with the most casual voice imaginable while going back to his search, leaving the implications quite clear

Sumi continued to blankly stare at Negi. This kid either wasn't human or magic could be used for some impressively mundane things, or both. Both seemed like a safe bet at this point.

"Um", Sumi started apprehensively, watching Negi move for a third book by the time she'd found her words. "Are you by chance interested in history as well…?" Much as she loved to discuss the rich history of her country, she sometimes felt like her discussions, which were more like lectures, with Sonoko and Gin were rather one sided. Gin wasn't the most academically interested, while Sonoko tended to space out and let her do the talking, even if she could've perhaps kept up with the material. She'd never get tired of sharing her love for the topic, but having someone who could actively engage in discussion with her about it would've been nice to have. Negi seemed like quite an intelligent individual and even became a teacher, so perhaps she could find it in him? She wanted to try learning more about them, and what better starting place than one of her more comfortable topics?

"I think it's quite interesting, one of my favorite subjects personally." Negi replied, reaching for his fifth book while smiling toward Sumi. "The gradual progression of society to the current day, how much one can learn from events long since passed, discovering the person behind various historical figures and their more famous accomplishments. I could spend a long time just researching it."

Sumi couldn't help the rapidly growing grin on her face. Oh, yes, this was definitely the kind of answer she'd been hoping for. But she couldn't be satisfied yet! There remained one burning question which she needed answered.

"How familiar are you with the Showa period?" Sumi energetically asked, leaning toward Negi with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Decently." Negi commented with a nod, picking up a 7th book. "I made it a point to study as much of Japan's history as I could before I came to teach. I assume it's one of your favorite eras?"

Ordinarily, Sumi would've launched into excited questions to see how much Negi knew, it sounded like she might've finally had someone who'd engage her in a conversation about history! However, there was something which made her raise an eye brow from the implications. Negi had said he'd researched Japan's history before he came to teach. Did that mean he'd come from overseas to teach? She'd let some of her other suspicions of his origin slide after coming up with a few reasonable explanations and helping with the Vertex, but worrying facts just continued to stack up…. No, she had to be overthinking things. He must've been researching the topic for the sake of teaching it, right?

"Hey!" Gin's voice came from down the aisle. "You find everything you want?"

Turning toward the source, Sumi saw Gin holding a manga volume, alongside Sonoko, who was similarly holding a colorful looking book. Had she really been standing here that long with Negi or were her friends just quick at finding something? Maybe Gin was just anxious to get out of the store, perhaps.

The Hero looked down at her naval history book briefly before glancing back to her friends. "Um, sure. I'm ready to leave if everyone else is."

"Hm, where to go next…" Gin mused looking around Ines for where the next stop on their tour would take the group. She was almost reaching the end of showing off Ines highlights.

After the bookstore, further locations proved to be rather quiet compared to the first two. Gin had brought the group to some of her favorite locations, from stores for video games, toys, the best food, Ines had stops related to a sea of different interests and it was why Gin loved it so much. There had been one notable thing across their visits though, and that was the small hoard of various items Sonoko had amassed between stops, of which Negi had offered to carry.

"How about-" Gin started, only to stop herself when she noticed Negi eying something in the distance. Following his sight, Gin saw the mage looking at a clothing store.

"Hey, Negi-san." Gin spoke up, drawing the boy's attention back toward her.

"Hm?"

"You wanna go clothes shopping next?" Gin asked. She wasn't much of a fashion person and generally wore what was comfy more than anything over stressing over looks, but if someone on her tour group wanted to go somewhere, it was her job to make the trip fun!

"Ah, that. Well, I was thinking of picking up a few new outfits if I'm going to be staying here long, considering I only have what I arrived with." Negi replied. "But it's not too important. I wouldn't want to side track your tour and I can come myself if you had other places to show off."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Gin said with one of her usual grins. "I'd be a bad tour guide if I didn't show you around where you wanna go."

"Clothes shopping sounds fun~!" Sonoko beamed. "Some more summer clothes would be nice~." The girl may've already had an extensive wardrobe of outfits, but she'd never say no to collecting more cute ones.

Gin immediately felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at the glint appearing in Sumi's eyes once Sonoko finished her sentence. She was starting to get deja vu

"Well, if it won't be any trouble. If any of you see an outfit you like, I'll pay for it. Consider it thanks for showing me around." Negi offered with a friendly smile.

Oh, no. Gin knew exactly where this was headed. "Tha-"

Sumi's hand instantly clamped down on Gin's mouth. "Thank you, Negi-san." Her voice barely kept her growing excitement in check.

"Come on, Gin. Let's see if we can find a summer outfit for you." Sumi said with an uncharacteristically excited grin, hooking one arm around Gin's and dragging her off

"Oooh~, good idea." Sonoko echoed Sumi's enthusiasm, albeit more subdued, hooking her arm around Gin's still free one and joining in on dragging their friend to her doom. "Maybe we can find a swimsuit for Mino-san too, it is summer~."

Gin's cheeks started turning bright red. Getting made to play dress up doll for Sumi and Sonoko again was bad enough, but now Sonoko was bringing swimsuits into the mix when Negi was shopping with them?! "S-Sumi, So-Sonoko! Do we have to do this again?!" Gin loudly protested, nearly dragging her feet to try slowing down.

Negi watched the trio cheerily, well not so cheerily in Gin's case, make their way to the store he'd been looking at. "They sure seem excited."

"Not as good as the ones from Sonocchi's house… But these are a good fit as well!" Sumi commented, snapping a seemingly endless number of pictures with her phone.

Gin whined softly, face tainted lightly red. She really should have expected this kind of thing to happen when they went clothes shopping. Sumi and Sonoko, though largely Sumi, just loved to put her in any dresses and cute clothes they could find. More girly clothes just didn't suit her, no matter how much her friends tried to convince her otherwise! At least it was just Sonoko and Sumi, and not their fourth party member as well.

After entering the clothes store, her friends had wasted no time picking out various dresses and dragging her away to the changing rooms to force her into them. Negi had gone off on his own to look around, given that the kind of clothes he sought weren't at all in line with what they were looking for.

The latest outfit her tormentors had set up with was a long sleeve tan sweater that stopped and parted around the sides of her hips. Accompanying it, was a pale black undershirt ending in a ruffled skirt going past her knees. Completing the look, were pure black stockings stretching up to just below the hem of her skirt.

"I think Mino-san looks cute~. A simple style fits her well~." Sonoko casually commented, furthering the blush on Gin's face.

"I'm not the one we came to the clothes store for, you know!" Gin protested between Sumi bouncing around every side of her, snapping pictures.

"We can't let this opportunity go to waste!" Sumi shot back instantly, a wide smile on her face. "Gin, it's the middle of Summer and we need to ensure you have appropriate clothes for it!"

"I have shorts for that!" Gin yelled back.

"Speaking of it being summer season. We should move onto the swimsuits next while we're here~." Sonoko added, pulling up one of the frilliest and girly looking swimsuits Gin had ever seen, frills and hearts covering almost every inch of it. It was certainly to Sonoko's fashion sense, but…

"No way am I wearing something like that!" Gin yelled, firmly shaking her head in the face of the mere idea. Gin had to draw a line in the sand somewhere. "I already have one anyway!"

"Awww…." Sonoko whined, looking dejected. "But I think it suits Mino-san so well and it's too small for Wasshi."

Gin's response was a loud groan.

A knock came from walls, followed by Negi's concerned voice. "Are you alright? I heard shouting."

"Fine!" Gin interjected before anyone else could speak up. Maybe she could use this as something to speed up leaving if Negi was finished with his shopping.

"Spring-san, good timing~!" Sonoko said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. Gin could also see the lightbulb appearing over her head. "Stay there for a second~."

Gin only had to wait half a second before Sonoko's plan became terrifying clear. "Hol-"

Sonoko threw the curtain to the changing room aside with one quick motion of her hand, revealing Negi standing on the other side of it.

Gin whole body froze. She didn't blink, she didn't move a muscle, she didn't even dare breath, her entire form still as a statue. Even her mind went blank.

"S-Sonocchi, what are you-" Sumi stuttered, briefly snapped out of her photography craze by her friend's brazen behavior of throwing open the changing room curtains with a boy on the other side, even if everyone was decent.

"Hm? Were you thinking of buying that outfit, Minowa-san?" Negi, surprisingly unphased at the situation, leisurely commented, scanning his eyes over Gin's dress.

Realizing she was being addressed, Gin's mind achieved a snap back to some semblance of coherency, if barely. Her thoughts were still spinning from the act Sonoko had just pulled. "I-um-" Gin stammered, feeling her face progressively heat up with each attempt to speak. "These kinds of clothes don't really suit me…."

"Really?" Negi tilted his head with a perplexed look. "I think it looks cute on you."

Cute. Gin felt her heart stop the second she'd heart that word, like someone had gripped it into a tight fist, but also something else she didn't quite know how to put into words. It was embarrassing as hell to hear it coming from Sonoko and Sumi, but hearing it come from someone who'd she just recently gotten to know, a boy no less, felt completely different. Her face felt so hot, Gin could've been set on fire and not felt any different.

"See~." Sonoko said with a relaxed voice and satisfied smile. "Mino-san looks cute in a dress~."

Gin wondered if Negi knew any magic that'd let her disappear on the spot.

After clothes shopping, Gin had led the rest of the group to a few more minor spots before finishing the tour, leading the group outside Ines and toward home. Somewhat to Sumi's surprise, Gin had actually chosen to get the outfit Negi had commented on. Sumi wasn't going to complain, but she didn't think Gin was ever going to see reason and admit she could look cute. On the other hand, not buying anything they tried on would've been considered rude and Gin looked like she wanted to get out of the store immediately after the stunt Sonoko pulled.

Still, at least she'd gotten to hear about Kyoto after the trip was finished! The girl had done much reading on it, but now she had someone who'd seen it with their own eyes. It certainly sounded like quite a trip, from the kidnapping of one of Negi's students and the political tensions between two magic associations. The fact it was given as a school field, even if part of the reason was to deliver a message to try and ease the conflict, would've raised a few questions about the kind of school Negi taught at, but those were all pushed to the back of her mind to instead ask about the sights and various historic landmarks, comparing it to her knowledge to see how well the Kyoto from Negi's world matched hers. That line of discussion had quickly overtaken all the other talking points of the trip. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end eventually.

"Washio-san." Negi spoke up from behind the small mountain of trinkets and objects Sonoko had picked up, taking advantage of one of the small breaks between her questions.

"Yes?"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm for history and to learn more, but it's getting late and I need to be leaving soon. We should be getting close anyway, right?"

"Eh…?" Blinking, Sumi glanced around and noticed that Negi was indeed correct, and it wouldn't be long before they'd split up, Gin's house being in a different direction than her's and Sonoko's. Just how wrapped up in the story and questioning had she gotten?

"Damn, I don't think I've seen anyone who lasted that long talking history with Sumi…." Gin dryly commented, legitimately impressed.

"I like to see Wasshi's less serious side like this, it's cute~." Sonoko added.

Sumi felt her face heating up from the whole ordeal. How embarrassing, letting her guard down like this around someone she'd only known for a week, even if it was about history…

"But, if you're this that interested, perhaps I can show you the memory another time and let you see for yourself."

"Show us the memory…?" Sumi questioned, raising an eyebrow. She didn't know what to expect from magic, but at this rate, little would surprise her.

"Correct. One of the things mages can do it share their memories. It's kind of like…" Negi trailed off for a few moments, searching for the best way to describe the ability. "…A very immersive movie, where you're able to be there and experience what's happening, instead of just watching it on a screen, even if it's not exactly real."

Sumi went dead silent, even stopping her walking out of shock. She could potentially see what the rest of Japan looked like with her own eyes. Not limited pictures or simple text descriptions, but almost like an in-person experience! This could've been a once in a lifetime opportunity, a dream come true for someone like herself!

"Movies~!" Sonoko cheered. "That sounds like it'd be fun, getting a chance to see what the outside world would've looked like~. I wonder if I could bring popcorn…."

"You can do that with magic? Why didn't you just show us instead of talking about it!" Gin excitedly said with a grin.

"Negi-san!" Sumi practically shouted while running up to the other kid, getting as close as she could with the Sonoko's things in the way, even pushing a few into Negi. All her previous notions of dignity and shame over the earlier incident completely abandoned in the face of this chance. "H-how soon do you think you could share this? Would it be possible for you to come over tonight?!"

"Wasshi's inviting a boy over already…" Sonoko commented, looking a touch surprised by the sudden development, compared to her usual tendency to jump on these situations.

"Woah, that's kinda sudden, don't you think Sumi!?" Gin said with an incredulous look, cheeks a touch red.

Realizing the implication of her friend's words, Sumi's eyes went wide and her face started turning red. "I-I don't mean anything by that!" The girl said, immediately backing away from Negi, like he was some cursed object. "It's ju-"

An explosive sneeze suddenly cut off Sumi's words, followed by an intense rush of air that nearly knocked Sumi off her feet and sent a few of the objects Negi carried tumbling to the floor. But that wasn't the most worrying thing. It was the sudden breeze she felt between her legs. Gasping in horror, Sumi's hands immediately went to her now flipped up skirt, pushing it down into its normal position.

"I-I'm so sorry about that!" Negi said in panic, now in his long haired lightning form and frantically waving his hands. "I-It happens when I sneeze and something fuzzy bru-"

"Y-Y-Y-You-" Sumi loudly stuttered, cutting off the mage, feeling her face hotter than it'd been in her entire life. Her mind was spinning, trying to grasp what just happened. Negi showed amazing control with his magic, from healing, telepathy, sharing memories, and immense physical power. She was supposed to believe this mage, this boy would accidently lose control from a simple sneeze? He had to of intentionally flipped up all their skirts! "YOU WESTERN PERVERT!" Sumi screeched at the top of her lungs

"Huh?!" Negi said in shock, defensively taking a step back from the volume of Sumi's voice.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Sumi continued, letting all her fury pour into her voice. She couldn't believe this westerner had managed to trick her! She was beginning to trust them too! It all made sense to her enraged mind. The last name, the studying Japanese history before coming to Japan, and now this! The politeness had to be just an act, waiting for an exact moment such as now!

"I didn't mean to, I swear! It just happens!" Negi protested, face turning deeper crimson and growing more flustered by the moment.

"You transform and do…. That just by accident!?" Sumi fired back accusatory, disbelief clear in her voice. She didn't want to hear any excuses. How did one possibly do something like that accidentally?

"I-I know it looks bad." Negi stammered, returning back to his normal form, face bright red. "But I'm being honest!"

"Um-" Gin's uncharacteristically meek voice spoke up from behind Sumi.

Turning around, the girl could see her friend pressing their skirt down with both hands, face a deeper crimson than Sumi had ever seen from her. Standing beside Gin, even Sonoko had a slight blush on her face, though she looked far less embarrassed than either her or Gin.

"If it was really just an accident…" Gin added, finding a bit more strength in her voice, though still lacking much of her usual fire.

Sumi's eyes shot back towards Negi in a fierce glare. She'd never seen her usually loud and energetic friend that embarrassed or red faced. This was clearly a traumatizing incident for her, and Sumi wasn't going to just ignore this humiliation! But not now, now, she wanted to get as far away from the western pervert as she could, in case they felt like taking further action to degrade her group's dignity. She lacked tools to provide proper punishment for the twenty-nine different measures of revenge flashing through her head at the moment anyway.

"Gin, Sonocchi, we're leaving." Wasting not a moment more, Sumi spun around and started walking away, craning her head back to keep an eye on Negi for any further antics.

"U-um, what about Nogi-san's belongings?"

Not stopping her movements, Sumi pivoted back toward Negi, walked up to him, wrenched the load from his hands, spun around once more, and resumed her walk home with some difficulty. The objects were much heavier than Negi carrying them had made it look.

She heard Sonoko and Gin say a quick goodbye a few additional words she couldn't hear, the latter's still much weaker than her usual voice, before joining her.

"Hey, uh, lemme take some of those…." Gin spoke up, walking up to her side. Her face was still quite crimson, but the blush was slowly starting to fade.

Knowing they still had a bit of walking to do, Sumi gratefully let Gin, alongside Sonoko after she offered as well, take their own share of Sonoko's shopping hoard.

"The nerve of him." Sumi spat with a huff, finally starting to feel some of the heat from her face vanish. She was a failure of a Yamato Nadeshiko for allowing this to happen toward not just her, but her friends as well.

"I haven't seen Wasshi this mad in a while." Sonoko replied, looking at her friend in concern.

"You saw what he did, Sonocchi."

"I diiiiiiid~." The blonde replied level headedly. "But, maybe we should at least let Spring-san explain himself."

Sumi looked at Sonoko like she'd just insulted udon.

"We don't know everything about how magic works~. Maybe he was being honest. Remember what happened when they showed off some~?" Sonoko added, speaking with the maturity and wisdom her normal spacey demeanor hid.

Sumi groaned, shaking her head. It wasn't an impossible thing, but there were too many holes for her liking. "I'm never trusting that Western pervert again."

Sonoko hummed in thoughts for a few moments. "Theeeeeen, how about we have a sleepover tonight~? It's the first day of summer break~."

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Gin finally spoke up, grinning and regaining more of her usual spirit.

A sleepover? That was rather a rather sudden and out of nowhere subject change, not that it was too surprising from Sonoko, but maybe it wasn't a bad idea, since it'd been a while since their last one. "I guess it's a good idea."

"Yaaaay~." Sonoko cheered. "I wonder what we should do first…"

The rest of the conversation on the way toward Sonoko's house devolved into idle chatter of their plans for the night.