O-O wow! so many reviews! Thank you everyone! And thanks in being so patient with this chapter. shakes fist at college> darn you college and your interference with my writing!

Thanks Oka for betareading this! b

GrandMoff : (blushes) that's quite the compliment! Thank you! And i hope you continue to like it!

Painted Tyrant: With any luck, this chapter will also leave you wanting more. I do belive a goodnintyfive percentof the characters I'm going to be using have beenintroduced so with any luck this fic will remain unconfusing.

NewAmericanClassic: Hey fun stuff, I've got all of your attention - I hope this chapter is good enough to keep it!

Teenslayer: Tis continued! Don't worry I'll keep updating, albeit slowly.

Iamet: Nooo not Eva! Anything but her! Hopefully this chapter will please you enough that you don't have to resort to drastic measures.

TweekinTinkaToy: haha this is one of my favorite pairings as well. I'm glad you like it! Cute is good, lol though there's going to be some action as well.

aaaa: a?

xX K-Chan Xx: The wait is over!

Dauthi: haha thanks Dauthi! Hey as long as what it has to say is good, feel free to continue to pull stuff out of your a--

Darkfumae: Huzzah! I've been alerted! Go me! Thanks!

KyaniteD: Thanks! That's what i was going for lol, find a creative way to get them together! (scratches head) Ayeka and Asuna? I must confess, I've never given the couple much thought...

Kieli- OOCness? Where? (looks about) I'd be eternally grateful if you could point them out so i can fix

akichi - Well you did leave a bit of a hint - I'm glad you like it!

Kalcy- thanks! I'm looking forward to hearing your comments!

J - thank you very much! I shall continue to write

spritznar- well here's a start eh? But i'm afraid yo umay have to wait a bit more for the conclusion

Misty Wildfire- I'm glad you found my fic review worthy lol. I agree more Kono/Setsu goodness is a must!

... : Thank yo for reviewing! I hope you continue to like it.

a humble Konosetsu fan: lol one chapter coming right up!

Yuki Myco: (nods) your words are duly noted! Thank you for the comments, I love em! I hope you like this chapter as well.

Rain54- Thanks! The interaction between Konoka and Setsuna is probably the hardest thing to write. Glad i seem to be doing fine tho. Stay tuned to see how it ends! lol

Rayne Sarazaki- just because i wrote one dosn't mean you shouldn't as well! I do hope you post a fic! The world needs more Konosetsu

Astarael00: Thanks! I shall continue!

Flamberg: (blushes) another wonderful compliment! thank you! i hope you continue to like the fic

Yuen: Thanks! I'm all about romance lol I'm a romantic at heart -. Glad you think it suites the genre!

Phew! There! Now on to the fic!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. (sighs)

"Grandpa!" Konoka yelled as she barged into the office, Asuna and Negi rushing in behind her. The Headmaster was sitting in his chair, the back of it facing them, as he was swiveled to face the glass wall. She stomped over to the Headmaster's desk and slammed her hands down on it.

"Grandpa! How could you? How could you send Secchan away?" Konoka wailed, "Just because you can pick my husband, that doesn't mean you can pick my friends! You-"

"I didn't send her away." the headmaster's voice was quiet and tight, and while spoken calmly it had such a heavy current of tension that Konoka broke off in mid-rant and took a step back. She had never heard her Grandfather speak in such a tone before. It frightened her, and from the paleness of Asuna's face, it frightened her as well. Negi swallowed hard but stepped forward, despite Chamo's urgent whisper to get the heck out of there. He was the teacher, and he had a responsibility to both Setsuna and Konoka.

"Then why did she leave, sir?" Negi asked hesitantly. The silence was so thick with tension that Negi felt he could hack it with an axe.

"She left," the Headmaster stated slowly and precisely, as if he was contemplating the words even as he spoke them, "to battle the Duel." Asuna let out the breath she had been holding.

"Is that all? Setsuna-san fights battles all the time. She-"

"Grandpa…" Asuna broke off and turned to Konoka, taken aback by the seriousness of her tone.

"What do you mean she went to battle the Duel?" Konoka asked, her voice was filled with both dread and disbelief. Asuna frowned and glanced at Negi. He looked just as confused as she felt. The Headmaster swiveled his chair around to face them, placing his elbows on his desk and lacing his fingers together.

"Just what I said, granddaughter. Setsuna-kun has left to fight the Duel against the Associations. She claimed the Challenge," The headmaster paused, his eyes narrowed as he watched Konoka closely, "last night." All the color drained from Konoka's face and her eyes went as wide as saucers. She shook her head slowly, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing, and clasped trembling hands to her agape mouth.

The Headmaster examined Konoka in her state of shock, and gave a slight nod. A little of the tension eased, to be replaced with weariness. He sighed and slumped back in his chair, swiveling around to face the window.

"The Duel will commence in two days time. Preparations are already being made," he stated. Konoka slowly took a step back, and then turned around. She walked to the door as if she were a zombie, her eyes staring unseeing straight ahead, and her face as pale as snow. Asuna and Negi looked at each other, and then at the Headmaster, who was once again staring out the window. Without a word Asuna and Negi followed Konoka out.

Once out of the office, Konoka collapsed against the wall and slowly slid down until she was sitting with her back against it. Asuna and Negi knelt down beside her while Chamo jumped onto her shoulder.

"Konoka-san, what's going on?" Negi asked as he peered into Konoka's desolate face.

"Yeah, what's all this stuff about a duel? Like I said before, Setsuna-san fights all the time; why does this one have you all whacked out?" Asuna added as she sat and leaned back against the wall.

"This isn't just a duel." Konoka answered softly, "It's the Duel." Asuna rolled her eyes.

"That explains a lot." She grumbled as Negi shushed her. Konoka looked over at Asuna and gave a little apologetic smile.

"Sorry. Umm I'll try to explain." She wrapped her arms around her knees and squeezed tightly.

"My dad told me about it a while ago. It was during one of our talks where he was explaining to me about magic, and the associations, and such. We had sorta gotten off topic and had started talking about the Shinmeiryuu and their relationship with the Kansai and Kanto Magic Associations." Konoka paused to take a trembling breathe, then continued,

"Dad told me that the Shinmeiryuu have a custom that goes back centuries, even before there was a Shinmeiryuu. It started with a Western magician, I think his name was..." Konoka trailed off and frowned a little in thought, "Osprey? Seagull?"

"Merlin?" Negi put in with an exasperated sigh. Konoka nodded.

"Yeah, that's him." Negi shook his head.

"Merlin isn't just any Western Magician. He was THE magician; the first and the most powerful. He lived during the medieval times in Europe. I can't believe you called him Seagull!" Konoka shrugged.

"I knew it was some sort of water bird." Asuna cleared her throat.

"Can we get back to the point please?"

"Right." Konoka continued on staring at the wall instead of at Asuna or Negi, "Anyway, apparently when magic was just becoming big, Merlin saw that the people with magic had something of an unfair advantage over people without it. Merlin was afraid that if a person with magic made an unfair rule or something, then a person without magic wouldn't be able to go against it. Now back then, it was the knights who kept the peace and protected the common people. So Merlin made up the Duel, or the Challenge. Basically, if a knight thought that a person with magic made up an unfair law, he could Challenge them. The knight could Challenge for himself, on behalf of someone, or for a group of people. The magical person would have to choose a Champion, someone without magic who could fight the knight fairly. If the knight won, then the law would be taken away. But if the Champion of the magical person won, then the law stayed. However, Merlin was then worried that knights would be challenging magical people left and right, not because it was an unfair law, but because they didn't like the law. So Merlin said that if the knight lost, then the knight would have to put himself at the mercy of the person or people he challenged. They could do anything to him short of killing him. Banishment, take his Knighthood away, stuff like that." Konoka took another deep breathe, and swallowed hard.

"Apparently the Shinmeiryuu have kept on this tradition of the Duel. One of their conditions in working with the Magic Associations was that they would be able to Challenge the Associations, and that the Associations would have to abide by the rules set by Merlin." Now Konoka turned her head from side to side to meet Asuna's and Negi's eyes. Her voice rose and trembled.

"If what Grandfather says is true, then Secchan has Challenged the Associations! And she did it because of me!" Asuna placed a hand on Konoka's shoulder,

"Hey now, let's not get too hysterical here. Setsuna-san is an awesome fighter! She's good enough that the Headmaster wanted her to bodyguard you remember. If the person she has to fight doesn't have magic, then Setsuna-san isn't going to have a problem."

"That's right, Konoka-san!" Negi added, "Setsuna-san has defeated countless people and demons before!"

"I don't know…" Chamo crossed his arms from where he sat on Konoka's shoulder and took out a cigarette, " Konoka-neesan's marriage must be a big thing, otherwise I don't think the headmaster would be forcing her to do it. And despite how good Setsuna-neesan may appear to us, she's still just a student. I'd bet my best pair of undies that the Associations are gonna get a full Shinmeiryuu master in on this. The Associations just won't be able to let insubordination like this slide."

The silence that followed Chamo's statement was heavy. Konoka's grip around her knees tightened so hard that her arms trembled as she stared at the wall, biting on her lower lip. Asuna tolerated the depressing silence for as long as she could stand, then she stood up briskly and dusted off her knees.

"Well! We'd better get going!" Asuna's chipper voice broke Konoka out of her thoughts. She looked up at the other girl in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Asuna placed a hand on her hip and smirked, "Well, how else are we going to get this mess sorted out? We need to head over to wherever this duel is taking place."

"But…we don't even know where it is…" Konoka whispered. Negi scrambled up and grabbed his wand.

"Leave that to me! I'll find out and meet you back at our rooms!" And with that he ran off with all the energy of his ten-year-old body.

"Hey, Aniki! Wait for me!" Chamo shouted and leaped off Konoka's shoulder to bound off after him.

"Konoka." Asuna's voice was soft as she reached out her hand to the other girl. "It's like you said before, Setsuna-san is doing this for you. The least we can do is go support her." Konoka looked up at Asuna, then dropped her gaze to the hand she offered. The young mage took a deep breathe and closed her eyes. The image of the first time she had heard Setsuna laugh, in the Kyoto Field Trip popped up. And then she heard Setsuna's voice, "I will always protect you." Konoka opened her eyes. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in Asuna's.

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The fire crackled and hissed, casting a warm glow around the campsite. Two fish sizzled in its dancing flames, and the hand that turned the sticks they where on was confident and familiar with the task. Satisfied that the fish were cooking evenly, Setsuna sat back and listened to the sound of the stream flowing by, and the crickets singing to the night in the woods around her. She had made good time. She would be at the duel site by noon tomorrow. She would use the rest of the day to settle in. The last day would be spent in seclusion for meditation, as was the tradition. But for now…..Setsuna reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out two small pieces of paper. As she stared down at them in the glow of the firelight, she couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. The first scrap of paper was the photo print picture of her and Konoka when they were on the Kyoto fieldtrip, the second of the two of them at Cinema town. The pictures were well worn and crinkled at the edges, from the many times they were stuffed into a pocket, or placed under a pillow. As she gazed at Konoka's smiling face, she let the memories wash over her and fill her like a bucket in the rain. More than anything in the world, she wanted to make sure that Konoka would always have a reason to smile. And the selfish part of her wanted to be the reason for that smile. Her fondest wish was to be by Konoka's side forever, to share her life with her. However, more than that, she wanted Konoka to be happy, forever. And that happiness….Setsuna reached out and traced the smile on Konoka's face with a finger tip. That happiness was worth more than Setsuna's own life.

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"After we get off this train we should take this one here. Then we should get a motel or something. Then tomorrow we can catch a cab the rest of the way. Then we'll have to walk a bit…" Negi explained, pointing with his finger at the map he had spread over his and Asuna's laps. Both their heads were bent over it, following the path of the train they we're on.

"But I did get Takamichi to give me a map to where the headquarters are, so we should be fine. We ought to get there tomorrow, midmorning if we wake up early enough." Negi finished, and started to put the map away. Asuna looked up, ignoring Negi's and Chamo's bickering about how to refold the map, and eyed Konoka. The young healer was sitting across from them, her eyes trained on the window with her chin propped up by her hand. The other hand was clenched in her lap.

"We'll be there before the Duel starts" Asuna stated softly. Konoka's eyes flicked to her, startled that Asuna had correctly guessed what she was worrying about. Konoka nodded and smiled at Asuna.

"Yeah I know. I know we will. Thanks." Asuna grinned back, then reached over and snatched the map away from Negi with an aggravated sigh.

"You're such a child. Here, I'll show you. You just follow the lines, stupid"

Konoka's gaze trailed down to her lap, and her hand tightened over the scrap of paper she held. Her thumb traced over the lines of Setsuna's face in the photo print picture they had taken together.

Please, wait for me Secchan.