Side A : Mahora Sensei Keitaro!

Written by Shaun Garin

Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima! are owned and created by Ken Akamatsu. All characters are used for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 8 : Vampires and Sea Princesses

"Damnit, that's another one." Checking the pulse of the unconscious girl, the long haired doctor sighed. "Three attacks this week alone. I doubt we'll be able to keep the whole secret under wraps for much longer."

"Sensei!" Called out Izumi Ako, startling the doctor out of his thoughts. "We found someone else!"

"How long has she been like this?" asked the doctor.

"Not long Duero-sensei," said Ako as they wheeled in the girl into the room. She was a pretty girl with long brown-black hair and surprisingly carrying a watermelon in a fishnet sack. "She's been strangely quiet through the whole trip to the infirmary."

Dureo laid his stethoscope against the girl's chest and he gasped. "What?" Checking both her wrist and neck arteries, Duero even laid his head against the girls chest and tried to listen. The only reply was a dead silence and he swallowed a lump down his throat. "Please leave, Izumi-chan. Hinata-san, please record the time of death in the log."

Ako went pale and stumbled out of the room as Hinata-sensei started to fill out the notes. "Dead... dead..." she muttered. "Dead... and I didn't even notice... dead..."

"Ako-chan!" called out Makie. "Hmm? Ako-san, what's the matter?"

"Dead... she's dead," whispered Ako, still in shock. "She's dead because I didn't check on her..."

"Ako?" asked Makie.

Ako grabbed Makie into a hug as she started to sob. Makie, not understanding, patted her on the back, whispering into her ear. All of a sudden, there was a terrified scream from the other room and a chipper, "Hello!"

"How long have you had this condition, Otohime-san?" asked Duero-sensei as he filled in the logs. Ako had immediately been brought back and the poor student nurse had nearly broken out into hysterics. Currently, Makie supported her as she went about checking the condition of the newly alive patient.

"Oh my, well, probably my whole life," said Mutsumi as she was checked over several times for pulse, breathing and eye response by a team of people. "My body is very frail and I tend to pass out or even faint for a while. If that happens I have a last Will and Testament in my bag."

'CLINICALLY DEAD FOR TEN MINUTES IS NOT 'FRAIL' AT ALL!' Screamed Ako in her mind but she continued to monitor the girl. Feeling a little jealous of the girl's figure as Mutsumi's shirt was off, Ako continued to check the girl over.

"Fascinating. I've never seen a faux death happen so convincingly. You were clinically dead for at least ten minutes, maybe even fifteen barring the time you passed out," said Duero. "Hikari-san, please continue with the scans."

"Oh my, well I don't really know how it happened. I was always sickly as a child myself," said Mutsumi. "Are we done?"

"Just a moment Otohime-san," said Duero. "I'd like you to stay here for a while, not in the school hospital but at the girls dorms. Izumi-san, are you able to house someone else?"

"Hmm? Well, I'm sure Makie-chan and I can make room," said Ako. "That all right, Makie-chan?"

"Of course!" said Makie. "Maybe you could learn martial arts, you know, to get your body back into shape!"

"Actually her body is rather healthy," said Dureo. "But Martial Arts may be something. Have you two heard of the concept of chi?"

Makie nodded. "I use it when I use my ribbon," said Makie as she lashed out and grabbed a skeleton head and tossed it into Dureo's hands. "I use it normally to get oranges from the Kotatsu but Ku Fei-chan and Kaede-chan are helping me with it. Helps my gymnastics."

"Fascinating," said Dureo. "In that case, please let Ku Fei check Otohime-san over. There may be a solution in the way the human life force or chi works in Otohime-san, causing the fainting and sick spells."

"Yes sensei," chorused the pair of girls.

"This is our room," said Makie, letting Mutsumi into the room. "It's not much but there's space for a futon on the floor."

"Oh my, a kotatsu!" exclaimed Mutsumi happily. "This is just what I need!"

With a soft tearing sound, the watermelon fell out as Mutsumi stepped on it. Landing hard on her front, the watermelon fell onto her head and Mutsumi lay there, dead to the world. Makie stifled the urge to either cry in horror or laugh hysterically as Ako checked Mutsumi's pulse. "Well," said Ako, getting her composure under control with the best professionalism she could muster. "She really wasn't lying when she dies often."

"Oh my, I passed out again, didn't I?" said Mutsumi as she sat up.

"Otohime-san, please don't worry us like that!" exclaimed Makie.

"Oh Sasaki-san, Izumi-san, I'm sorry," said Mutsumi as she patched up her bump with a cross of bandages. "I'm just such a klutz!"

"Please, call us Makie and Ako," said Ako. "We'll get a key made up for you in a bit so you can come and go as you like."

"Then please call me Mutsumi," said Mutsumi.

Ako sighed. "Hey Makie, aren't body measurements still going on today?"

"Kyah! No! I forgot completely when I went to find you!" exclaimed Makie. She pulled out a ring of keys and removed one of them from her keychain and handed it to Mutsumi. "Mutsumi-san, here's a key. C'mon Ako, we can't be late!"

With that, the two girls ran out, leaving Mutsumi giggling behind them. "Fu fu fu."

"You two are late," remarked Keitaro as he stood guard in front of the classroom.

"I'm sorry Keitaro-sensei," puffed Makie. "there were some problems over at the infirmary."

"That's fine," said Keitaro. "Go ahead, the rest of the class are still going through measurements."

"Hey, Makie-chan! Ako-chan! I thought you two would be skipping," said Haruna in greeting as the two girls headed into the room where the majority of 3-A were in stages of undressing.

"No, there was some kind of crisis over at the hospital," said Ako as she stripped off her shirt. "It was kind of weird."

"How so?" asked Murakami Natsumi as she pulled on her socks.

"Ako found a girl over at Cherry Blossom Street today and she was clinically dead for fifteen minutes," said Makie and Ako went red. Kakizaki Misa gasped in shock.

"Someone was dead?" Misa gasped. "Cherry Blossom Street is where the vampire lurks!"

"EEEEEK!" cried the Narutakis as they scampered away and Nodoka fainted.

"Vampire?" asked Ako, clueless. Asuna rolled her eyes.

"Misa, stop scaring them. But was this girl really dead?" asked Asuna.

"Yes, Mutsumi-san was dead. Well, was is the key word here," said Makie, drawing confused stares. "She somehow dies long enough to be clinically dead because her constitution is so frail. Duero-sensei thinks it's because there's something wrong with her chi, her spiritual force."

"Hmm," said Kaede who finished wrapping her breasts. "A chi block perhaps?"

"Fu fu fu," said Ku Fei. "Perhaps. We'd have to check to make sure but it sounds like her chi is scrambled."

"That can be dangerous too," said Setsuna. "Probably if she's been fainting like this for most of her life, she's probably suffered some kind of trauma as a child to cause the blocking of her chi."

"Aaah, good old 3-A," said Haruna with a grin. "Always in the thick of weirdness."

"Ugh, what a week it's been, eh Tama-chan? First the mess with Su and then today." said Keitaro as he wandered the streets of Mahora. "How did we get ourselves into this?"

"Myuh," offered Tama-chan and the pair turned the corner, nearly bumping into Kazumi.

"Oh, sensei," said Kazumi, jumping a moment. "I, er, didn't see you there."

"Lights out is in a half an hour, Asakura-san," said Keitaro, stifling a yawn. "You should get going home, okay?"

"Sure sensei," said Kazumi as she headed off, pausing to look over at the pair as they turned onto Cherry Blossom Street. "Not yet I'm not," she said to herself, following quickly behind.

On Cherry Blossom Road, Keitaro looked around and sighed. "No sign of vampires tonight, Tama-chan. I dunno but maybe we should just go and get some rest."

"Myuu? Myuuuh MYUUHHH!" cried Tama-chan.

"Eh?" asked Keitaro as a shadow fell over him.

Kazumi skidded around the corner and took in the scene as the terrified yelp rent the air. Swinging her branch around, she pointed it at the vampire who was latched onto an unconscious Keitaro's neck and shouted, "MYAH!"

There was a crack of thunder and Lightning Mana surged forth from her weapon, striking Evangeline who tumbled backwards, blood trailing from Keitaro's neck to her sharpened fangs. "Evangeline, I knew it," Kazumi said. Inwardly she was trembling. After all, no normal girl went around biting people for kicks. And Evangeline took the full Lightning Mana with barely a burn on her body.

"Looks like you won't quit even after my warning," said Evangeline, wiping her mouth. "You know, Keitaro-sensei's blood is very RICH in Mana. It's so delicious. I wonder if you would like a taste?"

"Sorry, I'm not into becoming undead myself," said Kazumi as she took out her camera. "If you don't mind, I'll get a photo of you now. Say cheese."

"I don't think so," said Evangeline and she whipped her arm forward. There was a sharp CRACK sound from the thrown pin that had penetrate the lens and made the camera spark. "A pity that you decided to work against me. Until next time," said Evangeline, taking to the skies.

"MYAH!" cried Kazumi, launching several bolts of Lightning Mana at Evangeline but the girl merely laughed and soared out of view. "Damnit. Tama-chan, go get help!"

"Myuh!" said the turtle, saluting as Kazumi knelt down and checked Keitaro's pulse. It was strong fortunately as she checked the punctures on his neck.

Wiping the blood away from his neck, Kazumi scowled at the lack of wounds. "That's odd... did he heal quickly?"

"KAZUMI-CHAN!" shouted Asuna as she and Konoka ran up. "Where's the emergency, Kazumi-chan? What happened to sensei?"

"It's a long story," said Kazumi as the girls lifted him into their arms.

"So Eva-chan is a vampire?" gaped Asuna. "Then lets haul her undead backside into the authorities or something or stake her or something like that!"

"Calm down Asuna," said Kazumi. "We don't have the proof."

"Proof?" demanded Asuna. "What the hell kind of proof do we need, a photograph? You're a photographer! And look, sensei was attacked, what MORE evidence do you need?"

"Asuna!" cut in Konoka and the other girl quieted down.

"I tried getting a picture," Kazumi said, thinking forlornly of the wreck that had been her digital camera. "But she broke my lens on my digital camera. The biggest clincher of this is that while sensei is unconscious right now, he didn't even get a good look at his attacker. AND look." Kazumi reached down and removed the bandages from Keitaro's neck. "Nothing. Not even a scar. Face it; Keitaro-sensei heals TOO FAST for us to get any evidence he was attacked."

"Damnit!" said Asuna, thwaping a fist into her hand. "There must be something we can do."

"Nothing we can do right now, Asuna," said Konoka. "Kazumi-chan, are you going to be all right going back to your dorm room now?"

"I'm sure," said Kazumi. "Eva-chan doesn't live in the dorms anyhow most of the time. But I'd feel better if there was a guard or something."

"Hmm..." said Asuna. "Fine, I'll stand guard for about two hours. No worries, I can sleep later on."

"You sure?" asked Kazumi. "You definitely don't want to fall asleep the night afterwards."

"I'll be fine," said Asuna. "I'll just blow off my job tomorrow morning."

"I'll come and relieve you in two then," said Kazumi, scowling at the thought of the situation spiralling out of control. "And then I'll go and grab Sakurazaki-san for the rest of it."

"I'll let her know in four hours then," said Konoka.

"Good morning, I just got out of the ba-ath," sing-songed Mutsumi as she walked into the room she shared with Ako and Makie.

"Good for that," said Makie sleepily as she staggered into the room. "Ku Fei-chan and Kaede-chan stepped up training this morning. I'm beat."

"It's the weekend," said Ako. "Are you planning on doing anything today, Mutsumi-san?"

"Oh my, I'm not sure," said Mutsumi in her absent-minded manner.

"Just why are you here then?" asked Ako curiously.

"Um, well, lets see..." Mutsumi dug around in her bag and then came out with an Exam Ticket. "Oh here we go. I'm trying for Tokyo University!"

"Hey, you're doing the same thing sensei is," said Makie from her bunk, her words muffled from her face being pushed into her pillow. "Sleeeeeeep."

"Oh my, someone else is going for Tokyo University as well?" asked Mutsumi.

"Yeah, lets go visit him. I'm sure they're up by now." said Ako. "Coming Makie-chan?"

"I'm too tired for that," said Makie. "Can't I just call in sick?"

"Fine," sighed Ako.

Several knocks on the door later and Konoka opened the door. "Oh hello Ako-chan. Who's your friend?"

"Hey Konoka," grinned Ako. "This is Otohime Mutsumi. She had a rough encounter a couple of nights ago."

"Eh?" said Konoka. "Please come in. Mind you, sensei's asleep."

Walking into the room, the girls looked down on Keitaro who slept, uncaring to the world. "That's odd," said Ako. "Doesn't he usually go to Sasaki Seminar by now?"

"Sensei had a rough night," said Konoka. She pitched her voice low. "You know the vampire rumour?"

"How could I forget?" said Ako, sweating.

"Sensei... got attacked last night."

"EEEEEEH!" cried Ako in shock. "Sensei was!"

"Oh me oh my, he looks so cute when he sleeps!" interjected Mutsumi, causing the girls to pause and get a "Riiiiight" expression on their faces. Mutsumi sat down beside him and the turtle on his stomach looked up and chirped. "Oh hello! How are you doing Tama-chan? I haven't seen you in a long time!"

"Hmm, you know Tama-chan?" asked Konoka.

"Yes, I watched over her when she was born and then gave her to a nice girl named Miyazaki as she and her friends were looking for a present when I was here taking my exams. I wondered if I'd see Tama-chan again sometime."

"Myuh," said Tama-chan and Mutsumi giggled.

"Oh me, oh my, I'm surprised. So he's a friend of Naru-san's? Third year? That's silly, I'm a fourth year right now!"

"What the heck, she can understand Tama-chan?" gaped Ako. Konoka smiled.

"There's a surprising amount of people who CAN," said Konoka happily.

"Where is that idiot?" wondered Naru to herself. "He usually doesn't miss the seminars."

As the end of class bell rang, Naru fished out her cell phone and dialled up a number. Letting it ring a couple of times, the other end picked up. "Hello?" asked a girl's voice.

"Hello? Who is this? Is this Keitaro's cell?" asked Naru.

"Oh Naru-san! It's me, Konoka."

Naru breathed a sigh of relief. "Konoka-chan, I was wondering why Keitaro wasn't here at Sasaki."

"Keitaro-sensei... is ill. It's more magic stuff and well..."

"Eh? More magic stuff? Like what exactly?"

"He... got attacked. By a vampire."

Naru's phone fell from her suddenly nerveless fingers and it clattered on the floor. The speaker squawked "Naru? Naru-san? Hey, is everything all right there? Naru?"

Regaining her composure, Naru picked up her phone and placed it back to her ear with trembling hands. "Is... he all right?"

"Yes, but he's unconscious. Ako-chan said that victims wake up several hours after the attack so it's not just Keitaro-sensei. Asuna, Ako-chan, Kazumi-chan and a friend of Ako's, a girl named Otohime Mutsumi and I are working to find out what Evangeline-san wants."

"GEH!" Cried Naru, thinking she heard wrong. "EVA WHAT!"

"One of our classmates, Evangeline is the vampire, according to Kazumi-chan. Although we have no hard PROOF since most of it is inconclusive but it's still crazy. Naru-san, are you all right? You sound like you're running or something."

"I... I'm fine," said Naru, getting control of her breathing. Evangeline? Eva-chan? A vampire? Couldn't be. "Hey, um, send Keitaro my regards and hope he gets better."

Hanging up, Naru slumped against the classroom wall. 'Eva-chan? A vampire? Couldn't be. I must have been hearing things too much. Still, maybe run this by the pervert ermine.' With a much heavier step, Naru headed for home.

"Sensei, sensei, time to get up." Konoka sighed and shook Keitaro twice. "Sensei!"

"He's not getting up," said Asuna. "He's actually still out of it?"

"I know. What are we going to do for class then?" wondered Konoka.

"How about we get Tama-chan to teach?" said Asuna wryly and then Konoka grinned. Asuna balked. "You're not SERIOUSLY considering...!"

"C'mon, this'll take some work," said Konoka, grabbing Asuna's hand and running out the door.

"Class, please, settle down," called out Shizuna-sensei as 3-A found their seats. "Keitaro-sensei is sick so we have brought in a new teacher for the remainder of his illness. Please welcome your Substitutes, Miss Otohime Mutsumi and of course, Tama-chan."

There was a deafening silence as the pair walked in. "Oh me, oh my," said Mutsumi, tapping a hand to her head. "I didn't think that I could do this but Konoka-san insisted. Tama-chan and I will be your professors for the day. Please get out your English Neo Horizon Textbooks and turn to chapter 5. There will be a ten point pop quiz afterwards."

"Myuh," said Tama-chan and the girls scrambled into action. In the back rows, Evangeline was laughing so hard she fell out of her chair.