Fairy Tail is the creation and intellectual property of Mashima Hiro and Kodansha.
Mahou Sensei Negima! is the creation and intellectual property of Akamatsu Ken and Kodansha.
Irremediably Collateral and Supplemental.
The Lost Episode.
Reunion.
"Finally," Erza Scarlet smiled, as she, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Happy, Carla and Elfman all closed ranks tightly around the two fugitives, weapons at the ready and, in Natsu's case, flaming fists prepared along a huge cocky grin. "The ones in Zootopia might have escaped, but you won't be so lucky..."
Hasegawa Chisame's legs trembled slightly, even as she kept her Artifact scepter firmly aimed at their pursuers, and Suzushiro Haruka, by her side, hefted her spiked mace with a grim, challenging smirk. Both of them had their backs against a huge tree- not World Tree sized, of course, but still large enough as to be impossible to circle around quickly- and were surrounded by those strange people from every other angle, so this scary redhead was correct, escape was impossible now.
"You made a mistake coming to Magnolia, Ala Alba," said the tall, buxom woman at the lead, in shiny silver body armor that accentuated her athletic figure so well. Chisame's heart beat even faster, ostensibly out of primal fear. "Your staining of Ala Rubra's name won't be forgiven, so I swear! Do you know who I am?"
"Why should we know or care?" Haruka said, making everything even worse.
"I am Titania!" the woman said. "I knew Nagi Springfield. He saved my life more than once, and I owe him to redeem his legacy from the likes of you! Now put your arms down and come with us peacefully, or else-"
"Haruka-chaaaaan!" came a loud cry from above the woods, the last thing Chisame had expected to hear. Haruka, however, gave no expression of true surprise, only of pleased relief, as her head whipped back and up. She smiled broadly at the crystal blue sky, where a gigantic quadrupedal furry beast with eyes of fire could be seen, hovering over them with four young people on its back.
"Yukino!" Haruka exhaled contentedly, then gasped as the brown haired, petite girl with glasses on the animal's back leaped out of it, and fell like a rock, only to land easily on her feet between the Mahora students and their hunters, deploying a large, red, white and blue metallic shield before herself, facing the hunting party. "Y-Yukino?!"
Kikukawa Yukino, freckled secretary to Mahora Academy's Student Council, kept the shield steady as she addressed the surprised group of chasers. "I knew it! I had refused to believe it at first... but now I know better! This is my best friend, my mentor, my guidance and benefactor, Suzushiro Haruka-chan! And I know she has committed no crime, ever! So listen to me, Fairy Tail! No matter how many of you stand against me, should you intend to harm her... I swear I'm going to fuck you up!"
"Yukino!" Haruka gasped, appalled.
Chisame blinked. "... wow. When did she become some sort of-"
Another girl landed on her feet by Yukino's side, brandishing a sword. Even though smaller and more innocent looking, her bright red hair lent her a striking resemblance to Haruna's father when splashed with cold water. "If Yukino-chan trusts these girls, so do I!" she proclaimed feistily. "Sorry, guys, but we Magic Knights think and feel as one! Isn't that right, Nanami-chan? Tsuwabuki-kun?"
The huge flying beast came down next, roaring imponently as two other youngsters, a slim refined blonde and a short young man around Negi's age holding a sharp sword, descended from it as well, the former stuttering, "W-Wait a second, Shidou, how do we know they aren't really..."
The tall, busty, blue haired beauty in furs and hat at the back of Fairy Tail's party blinked a few times before leaping over to stand besides Yukino's ragtag new bunch of friends or whatever. She struck a combat pose, tall geysers of water sprouting from the ground all around her. "I don't know what Yukino-sama's allegiance to this peculiar woman is, but should you attack her, you will invoke my wrath as well as Gray-sama's!"
"How come you don't know who this is?" the haughty looking blonde grumbled. "Kikukawa is only talking about her all the time!"
"She is?" Haruka blinked.
The dark haired young man blinked as well. "What? Hey, now, listen, Juvia, I-"
Chisame took another look at him and shrieked. "Gyeee! Wh-Where did all your clothes go!"
He looked down at himself. "Bwuh? Gwaaa! Don't tell me, it happened again...!" he yelled, rushing to cover his naked crotch with his hands.
"Erza-san!" Kikukawa, for the first time ever as far as Haruka could tell, actually barked at someone. "You taught me about Ala Rubra's story yourself! You know well how they were once framed of high treason themselves! I deman you to listen to listen to them now, or I'll force you if necessary!"
Elfman blinked. "Ah... I thought this didn't have anything to do with them being innocent or not, but with the bounty? Listen, Yukino, if they're innocent the courts will decide that, that's not up to us to say..."
"I don't care!" Yukino angrily stomped a foot down. "I'm not taking any risks when it comes to Haruka-chan! Bring on Makarov, Laxus and Mavis-sama herself, my answer will be the same!"
"Wow, Yukino-chan!" Lucy said. "What did you have for breakfast today, nails?"
Erza Scarlet finally sighed and lowered her blade. "That was a different story, Yukino. Ala Rubra were true heroes of great renown who had earned powerful enemies, but why would anyone bother to frame a bunch of undisciplined children?"
"The Magic Knights are undisciplined children ourselves," Yukino hissed. "Are you going to hold that against us as well, even after all the times we've fought together?"
"Speak for yourself, I'm quite disciplined," the blonde with her piped in dryly.
"And really, it's not like Fairy Tail has much authority to speak on discipline, Erza!" Natsu pointed out, lowering his fists and turning them off. So maybe there was a brain somewhere in that skull of his after all.
"78% of all lack of discipline in this team comes from you!" Carla huffed, folding her tiny arms.
"Very well, very well," Erza grunted, sheathing the big sword back, red hair flapping around her gorgeous face, not that Chisame was noticing that or anything. "We will take them to the Guild for questioning all the same, but we won't shackle them or call the law deparments just yet, are you okay with that?"
After a moment of contemplation, Yukino nodded stiffly. "Thank you."
"You are... them, aren't you?" Haruka asked Nanami. "The girls from CLAMP and Ohtori who disappearanced along Yukino in Tokyo Tower? You must be Kiryuu Touga's sister Nanami, aren't you?"
"It's 'disappeared', Haruka-chan," Yukino said.
"D-Do you know Oniisama?!" Nanami cried out while Tsuwabuki pouted deeply.
Suzushiro nodded. "I'm the Mahora School Council Vice President, Suzushiro Haruka!" she smiled proudly as Yukino hugged her tight and tearfully, Haruka patted Yukino's head motherly in response, and Juvia began bristling in jealousy, water sizzling all around her, causing Lucy, Carla and Wendy to edge away from her. "I met your brother while preparing the Mahora Summer Festival..."
"Poor Oniisama! He must be sick worried to death about me...!"
"Um, actually, he seemed fine with it to me. Maybe he's the storkish type?"
"Urk," Nanami said.
"You mean 'stoic', Haruka-chan..." Yukino sighed happily, pressing her cheek against Haruka's torso.
"Ah! Yukino! I missed that, no-body corrects me like you...!"
Erza and Chisame.
"It's been decided, you'll room with Erza," Mirajane had smiled at her then.
"What... me?!" Chisame gasped. "Who decided that, shouldn't she get along that much better with Haruka-senpai?! They're both the same basic overwhelming type!"
"It was decided by the wise Guildmaster himself through the fair and impartial procedure of picking straws," Mirajane informed her. "I will room with Miss Haruka, so don't you think you'll be the only one having a hard time..."
"That's not how drawing straws works! Shouldn't we have drawn them ourselves?!"
Mirajane had shrugged. "That's Fairy Tail's way."
Chisame facepalmed and made a very long drawn, very miserable sound.
Standing several steps away, an unnoticed Yukino bit on her lower lip. Why couldn't SHE be rooming with Haruka-chan..?!
"It's destiny dictating we must remain together, Yukino-sama," Juvia said, appearing right behind her like so much quietly flowing water. "And no, I can't read minds. You're just that obvious through your behavior."
"Ahhhhh!" Yukino screamed. "You were here?!"
"Yes, always..."
Well, Chisame told herself. The more some things changed, and all of that.
"This will be your bed now," the redhead said dryly as soon as they'd entered the bedroom, pointing at the single bed on it. "I like sleeping in early unless I'm drinking, so I can be up early and get things done. So you'd better not be the wasteful, late frolicking type, and everything will be fine..."
"Um, don't worry, if there's no Internet here, I don't see the point of staying up late," Chisame said, then her face twitched slightly with withdrawal syndrome asserting itself again.
Erza looked at her. "What is 'Internet'?"
Chisame sighed. "Never mind. You'd just think it's a stupid thing anyway. Thank you for giving me your bed, I understand you aren't used to sleeping on futons here, so-"
"What is a futon?" Erza asked again, sitting down on the bed and beginning to pull her shirt off. "And you must be misunderstanding things again, I'm not going to be sleeping on the floor, like a dog, in my own room. You're skinny, so you shouldn't be taking too much space. You don't kick in your sleep, do you?"
Chisame hiccuped helplessly as the buxom woman unzipped and pulled down her skirt next. "N-No... Wait, I'm not all that used to sleep with others, I mean, I kinda am now, but that doesn't mean I like it, maybe I should take the floor!"
"Why would you? I don't kick either. I think," Erza said while reaching behind herself, unclasping her white bra. "And it'd make me a bad hostess, and the Guildmaster would chide me," she scoffed, now skinning off the panties before the blushing younger woman, then casually throwing herself onto the bed, facing the wall and pulling covers up herself. "Good night, then."
"Where, where is your nightgown, though?!" Chisame cried. "Or a pyjama, at least?!"
Erza glared back over a shoulder. "This is how I can sleep. How do YOU do it?"
Chisame walked to a wall and began bashing her head against it.
"I don't get it," a confused Erza asked. "Is that part of your nocturnal ritual?"
"... Haruka told me that you were the closest to Nagi Springfield's son," a voice woke Chisame up in the middle of the night.
Chisame bolted up, sitting on the mattress as if just hit by lightning. "E-Ehhh?!"
"I always wanted to know how a son of Nagi Springfield would be," Erza said, still facing the wall and still naked under the bedsheets. "A real one, that is, not one of those pathetic pretenders trying to get fame on his name..."
"W-Well, it's nowhere as glamorous as you'd think," Chisame, who had been forced to sleep in her underwear due to the lack of any proper nightwear in the room, said uncomfortably. "He's still just a child and acts like one. He doesn't like showers, just baths, and while he isn't picky with his food, he-"
"I met Nagi Springfield once, when I was only a child myself. He was the most wonderful man in the world..."
"Um," Chisame grimaced at this unexpected show of devotion from the ever stern woman. "I'm not going to call you a liar, I've never met him myself, but perhaps you should know about a record of sorts we saw that had him-"
"He was the most wonderful man in the world..." Erza said again.
Chisame seethed to herself. "Look, I'm not going to call you out on your heroes, and I guess you could pick them worse, but please listen to-"
"The most wonderful man in the world..." she repeated like a broken record.
Chisame blinked, looked down at her in the cold darkness of the room, and after several moments, curiosity triumphed over fear. The student leaned closer, and got a glimpse of Erza's oddly smiling face, her eyes still closed, and a tiny snot bubble popping in and out of her nose as she drawled, "Most wonderful man..."
She... She just talks like that when she's sleeping?! Chisame pulled back as if dodging poison, skin crawling.
Erza stirred in her dream and tightly hugged her pillow, destroying it in an explosion of feathers. "Thanks for saving me, Thousand Master..."
Oh crap, Chisame thought. She'd better never cross paths with Eva...
I've just jinxed, ain't it? Idiot!
"Erza-san," a baggy eyed Chisame asked that morning over breakfast. "What do you think about the Thousand Master?"
Instantly, a terrible silence fell all over the huge table, interrupting all discussions and ongoing fistfights. Even Makarov had suddenly begun to lightly choke on his mouthful. Gray and Natsu were frozen in the middle of pulling onto each other's faces, and Juvia became literal ice saving Yukino from being spoonfed another all too large ration. Elfman slipped quietly under the table, and Locke, after a moment of panic, coughed into a fist and quickly excused himself for the bathroom. Out of all the Guild Members, only Lucy looked mostly confused rather than disturbed, cocking her head aside. "Eh?" she asked.
Erza stared at Chisame with dreadful intensity for a moment, then simply shrugged it off and continued eating. "I met him once or twice. Not a bad person, but kind of overrated if you ask me."
The other Guild members except the still puzzled Lucy all dropped what they were doing and stormed out of the room in a frantic stampede, but aren't they all? Who's ever heard of an orderly, controlled stampede?
"Have I missed on something all the time I've been working here?" Lucy asked no one in particular.
"Looks like it," Chisame said. "By the way, I wanted to ask you something, would you have a night gown or spare pajamas I could use, please?"
You, Too?
"Chisame, come along," Erza said, walking out without looking back. "I'll show you the city."
"Yeah, yeah..." Chisame exhaled, following her.
Jiiiiii.
"Chisame, I'm hungry," Erza decided, stopping polishing her armours. "Let's go for a meal."
"All right..." Chisame said, going after her.
Jiiiiii.
"Chisame, come here," Erza commanded from her room. "I bought a new dress today, and I want your opinion on it."
"Fine, if I must..." Chisame put the magazine down and stood from the couch.
The sound came along again, but this time Chisame did stop and look back, glaring in annoyance at its source.
"Jiiiiii," Haruka said with a smile.
"I must say you've surprised me, Senpai," Chisame told her dryly. "I wasn't aware you were capable of ever doing sarcasm..."
The Deer in the Headlights.
"Why do you act so weird around Erza-san?"
Chisame liked it better when the Vice President tried to speak in big words. Then she'd be frustrating in how she'd be all but impossible to understand, but she was even more annoying when you could tell what she was asking you.
Chisame turned back from the large pile of plates she had been washing and glared at the busty blonde. "I don't act weird around that woman."
"Yes, you do!" Haruka insisted. "It's so strange because you're never that way around anyone! It's as if she scared you, but simaltuneously you couldn't stop looking at her when she talks to you. It's… It's… ah hah! Like a deer!"
"A deer?"
"Yes! A deer caught in the carlights!" Suzushiro said, apparently very happy at finally getting the comparison that had been eluding her so long. "I don't get it. Do you hate her, or she scares you, or what? Because not even Eva-san makes you act like that. I'm kind of worried by now, actually."
"You. Worried about me," Chisame said dryly.
Haruka nodded. "You're my comrade in arms, the most important person for Negi-sensei, and the only link to Ala Alba I've got left now. Why wouldn't I care about you?"
Chisame winced uneasily at this statement, phrased so plainly and with no hesitation. "I don't know, it's just… hell if I can figure that woman out, at least with Evangeline you can tell she's going to be grouchy all the time. Erza-san is annoyingly friendly and casual one moment, then a drill sergeant, she's kinda too… intense, but unlike Saotome, you just can't push her back."
"Oh, I see," Haruka nodded. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. Especially for someone like you!"
Chisame frowned again. "What was that supposed to mean, now?"
Haruka flippantly turned around on her heels, starting to walk out the kitchen. "You take everything as a personal attack, don't you? Relaxate every once in a while, Chisame-san." Before Chisame could tell her that she of all people was the least entitled to ever demand relaxation and calm from anyone else, Haruka favored her with a smile shot over her shoulder, which almost made her look like President Fujino for the briefest of moments. "Then again, I guess that's why Sensei can't just push you back neither."
And she left, leaving Chisame standing there, utterly confused.
"What… What did you mean with that last part…!?"
Haruka kept on walking, soon reaching the spot where Natsu stood indolently by a wall, noisily picking a chicken—or a bird kind of like a chicken anyway—leg clean. "So," he asked out a corner of his mouth, "what'scher verdict then?"
"Heads over heels, " Haruka sighed, never stopping and walking past him. "And honestly, if even you and I have picked up on it…!"
Comrades.
"Hey, Chisame," Natsu craned his head into the dinning room, just as Chisame, Haruka, Yukino, Erza and Lucy were eating. "Gramps says you'd like to see this."
They followed him into the main hall of the Fairy Tail guild, where most guildmates were gathered around the gigantic crystal ball showing a magi-transmission. Chisame's eyes lit up.
There was a familiar face in the broadcast, one she could recognize even through the aging effect since she had seen it that way before, too. A handsome, manly face with an added slight scar running down a cheek, where Sextum had sliced him during the Gateport battle. Her heart started beating much faster and louder, although not enough as to hide a soft gasp she could hear from behind her, in Erza's voice. It was a short, simple name, a predictable enough one after rooming with her for two weeks.
"Nagi...!"
"That's him? No, that couldn't be him, he'd have to be much older, wouldn't he?" Lucy wondered aloud. "But then, it must be..."
Chisame felt a strong hand almost crushing her shoulder, and without needing to look at her, she put her hand on top of Haruka's and squeezed it.
"It's him..." Haruka said reverently.
"The boy," Mirajane said evenly.
"Y-Yes," Chisame made a small choked sound. "Could you... Could you rewind it, please? Wh-Where is he even supposed to be?"
"The New Ostia Tournament," Makarov said with unusual gravity while Laxus rewinded the transmission. "It would seem this young friend has walked directly into the jaws of the wolf..."
"He's just painted a huge bullseye on himself, too," Juvia opined with studied cold detachedness, taking a moment to look at Yukino without her habitual exuberance when it came to her. "Any idiot could read between the lines of this..."
"Did you just say 'Nagi Springfield'?" a dark skinned blonde fairy in a black bikini and glasses was asking him excitedly, holding a microphone close to his face. An aged up Inugami was also there, standing several feet away from him, whatever. "That's the same name of the Thousand Master! I knew it, you are his living image! So, what's the deal? Are you one of his sons? Are you actually the legendary master, back from death or a self imposed exile?!"
"Please don't say it's just coincidence, please don't say it's just coincidence, please don't..." Chisame muttered under her breath, her face red.
'Nagi' laughed uneasily and put a hand behind his head. "No, I'm sure it's just a strange coincidence...!"
"You little shit," Chisame took a hand to her face.
"Nobody would ever be stupid enough as to believe that, what is he thinking?" Evergreen asked, arms folded.
"Well, he is just a child after all," Tsuwabuki said with an annoyed frown.
"Wow..." an impressed Hikaru said. "I never imagined he'd look like that as an adult! No wonder Chisame-san fell f-"
Nanami put a hand on Hikaru's mouth. "I'm doing you a favor, even though I shouldn't..." she growled while keeping the redhead's lips shut.
Negi grinned and gave the cameras a thumb up. "If my friends can hear me now, I'm with Number Eight, Number Four, Number Thirty Two and Rito-chan! They're all okay and long to see you again! You're welcome to come to the tournament so we can talk about the old times, whenever you want!"
Gray lifted an eyebrow. "What did he mean by that?"
"The numbers are those of the class roster," Chisame said. "Eight is Kagurazaka, Four is Ayase, Thirty Two is Skuld, and Rito-chan is Haruna's pet name for the Perverted Beast. At least he named him in a way that would make others think he's talking about a girl."
"It's a risky gamblage, but now I see what he's doing," Haruka said, going into full Student Council Politician Mode, which meant the usual goofiness was cast aside, other than the malapropisms, for a ruthless analytical view. "He knows he can't be attacked at the middle of such a massive gathering lasting weeks and attracting people from across the whole world, not without risking too much collaborational damage and bad PR. Moreso, just like always, he's putting finding us as his top priority, even over his own safety..."
"Collateral, Haruka-chan," Yukino said dutifully.
"The name of Nagi is constantly being used by charlatans trying to draw attention upon themselves," Erza said. "By actually going the opposite way and saying they aren't related, he's making it clear to you that he's not just another pretender..."
"I can't believe it. The moron isn't even using disguise glasses!" Chisame said.
"Disguise glasses are such a common disguise tool that anyone using them becomes automatically suspicious," Makarov said. "They are good for hiding yourself in the Old World, but- Where are you going?!"
Chisame was turning sharply on her heels, stomping towards the door. "Do you even need to ask? Thanks for everything, but we're leaving so I can give that idiot a good kicking over being so careless! Move your ass, Vice Prez, Kikukawa! Shidou, Kiryuu, you'd better come along too if you want to return to Earth..."
"As usual, I don't exist, I see," Tsuwabuki sighed, right before Erza all but shoved him aside, catching up to Chisame and grabbing her by an arm.
Chisame glared back at her, without any hint of her usual awkwardness towards the redhead. "Let me go, now. Even if it's dangerous, I don't care if you're Erza Scarlet or Wonder Woman, I'll just walk all over you if you try to stop me!"
"It's not that, you idiot," Erza said dryly. "I'm going too."
"Ah!" Natsu brightened. "Awesome! I always wanted to fight in the Tournament!"
"Nobody is saying that you will go!" Erza snapped at him.
Juvia hissed, swiftly flowing from her chair to Yukino's side, holding a groaning Gray by an arm and pulling him with them. "We will, though. I'm not abandoning Yukino-sama, and that's final..."
Erza stared at her. "You can go wherever you want. But you'd better not stand in my way or else-"
The whole guildroom shook and rattled, making Lucy and Wendy shriek briefly, and then everyone glanced back at Makarov, who stood with his arms folded behind his back, a scowl on his face, and a foot poised to be slammed down once more.
"Erza," the elder said. "Ultimately, it is me who takes the decisions on who is assigned to which missions, in the event of disagreements between the ranks. Do I actually need to remind you of that?"
Erza paused, impressed by his sudden intensity, and then actually lowered her head, with a tense expression on. "No."
"This isn't a mission, though," Cana pointed out. "It's just Erza and Juvia wanting to go see some fights and meet someone."
"I want to go too!" Natsu protested.
"Collectively, we made an oath of protecting Chisame and Haruka over our guild's debts to Nagi Springfield and his kin," Makarov said. "That duty is more urgent now than ever. It's not a mission born from a monetary obligation, no. It's more important than that."
Yukino blinked. "Sir..."
Haruka gulped. "Chief-san, I-"
Makarov raised a hand to impose silence. "Erza, you will lead a bodyguarding team of yourself, Gray, Juvia and Wendy. Natsu can accompany you on the condition that he does NOT join the tournament."
"Eh, why not?" Natsu asked.
"Fairy Tail only joins tournaments involving Guilds, and this is not supposed to involve officially recognized organizations. To join, you would have to quit Fairy Tail first," the small old man said.
Natsu made a disappointed face, and then grinned wickedly. "Okay, so what? I'm sure I'll get into many fights regardless, and with no rules to follow, to boot! That'll be much better!"
Lucy sweatdropped. "The scariest part of that is knowing that you're absolutely right..."
Chisame bit on her lower lip. Erza wasn't letting go of her yet. "Oh, you absolute idiots..." she said. "This... This isn't necessary at all..."
"Don't be like that, guys, you'll make Chisame-chan cry," Levy said with a smile. "You know how they are, Chisame-chan, always needlessly dramatic..."
"You're just as bad..." Chisame said, taking her glasses off and rubbing her eyes in annoyance before any wetness could leak out. "Thank you... all the same..."
"Bring him here after you're done there, okay?" Cana smirked. "I really wanna see if he's just as cute in person!"
"We'll forge him into a real man among men!" Elfman said, jarring his fists on his hips.
"That... That is what we're afraid of, actually..." Haruka said with a glare at the chuckling Cana. She sighed. "Okay, Hikaru, go bring Kirara! Natsu, you won't start wailing if you have to ride Kirara, will you?"
"Ehhhh... Actually... Motion sickness is still motion sickness!" the Dragon Slayer said. "That won't change if I'm riding a beast instead of a train!"
"Well, that's okay," Gray shrugged. "Erza's developed a new way to make sure you don't get it during trips."
"For real?" Natsu asked. "What is it?"
BOOOONNG!-!-!-!-!
Erza stood now behind an unconscious, collapsed Natsu, with a gigantic spiked mallet bigger than herself and marked '10 TONS' in a hand. Everyone else, except Gray, sweatdropped. "Well, whaddya know, it actually works so far...!" Titania pondered aloud.
Wendy winced. "I... I think I'll just cope with the trip the traditional way, if you won't mind...!"
To be Continued.
