Side B : Love Negima! Special!

Written by Shaun Garin

Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima and Itsudatte My Santa are owned and created by Ken Akamatsu and used for entertainment purposes only. For time line references, this is set during the large time frame between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of Love Negima in an effort to flesh out the universe in the giant gaps.

Special 1: Festive 1999

"It's 1999!" cried Su as the Hinata House went into celebrations with crackers exploding everywhere, sending out festive streams and pieces of confetti.

"It's time to PARTY!" shouted Kitsune as she produced several bottles of beer and wine. "C'mon Naru, join the celebration!"

"I will, I will," giggled Naru as she picked up her own bottle. "So, Negi, how do you like your first year at Hinata House?"

"It's very entertaining," laughed Negi as Kitsune plopped down beside him to watch Su dance around, dressed in a men's school uniform and throwing around her pompoms. Motoko had been fed some alcohol and between the two, they were living it up.

"C'mon Negi, drink, drink up!" exclaimed Kitsune, pushing a drink into his hands. "It's one day, right?"

"Er, I don't really know," said Negi as he looked at the alcoholic beverage in his hands. "Maybe some juice instead."

"Aw c'mon, drink up!" laughed Kitsune as Negi flailed in her arms as she pressed a bottle into his mouth. "Drink, drink!"

"Kyah, stop it Kitsune, he can't take much more!" exclaimed Shinobu and Negi hiccuped.

The boy hiccuped, sneezed violently, sending things blowing across the room and then proclaimed in a loud voice, "Nekane I did NOT hide your underwear!" He then collapsed on the ground, eyes swirling madly.

"Whoops," laughed Kitsune but by then, the Hinata House party was already in full swing.

"The light... it burns..." moaned Negi as he curled up into a ball of misery. "Why won't it stop hurting?"

"RISE AND SHINE, NEGI!" shouted Su and Negi whimpered. "Heya, you okay in there?"

"I had to drag Aniki back upstairs," said Kamo as he rolled over. "He's heavy when he's sauced."

"Ooh, I have a native cure for that," said Su as she threw off Negi's blankets, pried his mouth open and poured a liberal amount of a thick grey substance. Negi went several shades of the spectrum, resulting in plaid and then he achieved a hundred yard dash in six seconds down the stairs and into the bathroom.

"Lemme guess," said Naru as Negi staggered out of the bathroom. "Su's home remedy."

"I have never tasted anything so vile," muttered Negi as he wiped his mouth. "I didn't know if the alcohol was coming in or out one end or another."

"Well, are we going to get a move on sooner or later?" asked Naru and Negi blinked.

"Huh?"

"We go to the Kichijoji Temple every year," said Naru. "It's Japanese tradition you know."

"Oh, sure, let me clean up first."

Freshly bathed and dressed in a simple pair of slacks and a long-sleeved shirt, Negi followed the small group of Hinata House girls. "You're not dressed in a kimono, Negi-san?" asked Shinobu curiously and Negi shook his head.

"Haruka-san didn't have one small enough for me, and for a guy too," said Negi. "I'll probably have one for next year."

"Oh, where's Naru-san?" asked Shinobu. Negi turned around and nearly fell over in shock at the sight of Naru dressed in her clothing she used for studying, complete with her hair in thick braids and wearing thick glasses. "Naru-san, you're not in a kimono?"

"No time for that for Tokyo U hopefuls," said Naru with a shake of her head. "Lets just get this over with."

Kichijoji Temple was crowded with people and Negi looked around the area in amazement. "Wow, where did everyone come from?"

"This is a yearly event, so people from the entire city come here. There's usually one or two shrines but Hinata City only has Kichijoji Temple and Hinata Temple way on the other end of the city." said Shinobu. "I think the first thing is that you should go and get your luck drawn."

"Oh, okay, this is all new so thanks for your help Shinobu-san."

Shinobu blushed and the pair headed off for the fortune stands.

"What did you pull?" asked Shinobu as Negi unfolded his slip.

"Just one second," said Negi as he looked it over. "Whoa..."

Reading over Negi's shoulder, Shinobu exclaimed, "Kyah, awesome luck? Fateful encounters, reunions, the chance of meeting one's lost past? That's amazing! I only got normal luck."

"... Worst... Luck?" said Naru from the side of the stand and looked over at Negi and Shinobu. "I hope that's not a sign."

"Lets go tie that one to the trees here," said Shinobu. "We wouldn't want you to get worst luck this year, Naru!"

Naru laughed weakly. "Yeah, sure."

"What did you pull?"

"Worst luck."

"Oh dear," said Mai. "Do you want a sudden influx of luck?"

Santa laughed and shook his head. "Naw, I'll be fine. I didn't expect this to happen so we'll go and tie this to a tree."

"Right," said Mai cheerfully. "Oh, what's that?"

Santa looked over and said, "Hey, it's a lion dance! But why now? Someone's got their festivals mixed up."

The lion performer looked over and then it took out into a dead run at them. Santa yelped as the sharp jaws sunk into his head and a tanned and familiar head popped out of the costume. "Hello!" Su exclaimed happily. "You just got bit by the good luck lion! He'll be lucky for a year!"

"Um, he's bleeding," said Mai as Santa twitched on the ground, fangs sunk deep into his head.

After patching up Santa with some good old fashioned medicine, Su looked the pair over and then said, "Heeeey, you're the Santa's I caught on Christmas!"

"Eh? No, not really," said Santa in a panic. "We're just normal people here, really."

"Okay then," said Su as she stood up. "So what's your name?"

"Er..." said Santa and Mai volunteered it for him.

"His name is Hajime Santa and he was born on December twenty-four."

"MAI!"

"Oooh, so in a way, you really ARE a Santa," said Su. "That's coolie."

Santa sighed. "We should get this tied to a tree then. No sense letting something wrong happen again."

"There we go," said Naru as she fixed the tag to the tree. "Hmm?"

A face peered out at her from behind another set of tags and the pair chorused, "ACK, YOU!"

"I think I'm gonna head out, bye!" called out Keitaro and Naru grabbed his shirt collar. "URK!"

"What the heck are you doing here?" demanded Naru. "You're at least an hour and a half away from Mahora!"

"Would you believe the Tatsumiya Shrine is terribly busy and to even get there by midnight, I had to wake up by four am?" said Keitaro weakly.

Naru stifled a giggle and failed, giggling madly. "Oh man, that's just LIKE you! Sheesh, did you even get through your visit yet?"

"Well yeah, I did," said Keitaro. "That's why I was planning on heading home after I stopped by the Print Club Booth I saw a while ago."

"All by yourself? That's kind of SAD don't you think?" said Naru and Keitaro twitched.

"Hey, don't mock my hobby!" protested Keitaro as they headed down the stairs.

At the bottom of the shrine stairs, Naru looked over at Keitaro and asked, "So, is there anything you do besides taking pictures of yourself at Print Club booths?"

"Well, I read a lot," said Keitaro. "And I like the occasional manga."

"Did you read the latest Sayuki?" asked Naru and Keitaro shook his head. She grinned mischievously and added, "You probably like a eechi-style manga like Mahoromatic or maybe even you're one of those guys who lurks around stores, getting up the nerve to get your favorite CLAMP Shojo-manga."

"That's not funny!" sputtered Keitaro, red in the face. "For your information I do enjoy the occasional Takahashi manga and I've been reading Yu-Gi-Oh!"

"So you really are a guy," grinned Naru. "And do you have copies of Ikkitousen stashed somewhere as well?"

Keitaro sputtered. "What about you? I'm sure you just drool over the stuff like Gravitation and Angel's Sanctuary!"

Naru went red and exclaimed, "What do YOU know?" while thudding him on the side of the head with a fist.

Both red in the face, they turned the corner as the Print Club booth came into view. "Well, I suppose I should take my photo now," said Keitaro.

"Wait, hold on. It's too pathetic for you to take it alone," said Naru, still red in the face. "Here, I'll take one with you."

"Really?" asked Keitaro as she shoved him into the booth. A click and a flash later, the pictures spat itself out. "Wow, my first picture with a girl!"

"Too bad it was a girl like me," said Naru, sticking her tongue out at him as Keitaro fished out his Print Club album and stuck the picture onto a fresh page. Taking out a pen, he scribbled down the date and noted, "With Naru" under it. "So, you heading back now?"

"I gotta, classes won't let up and I need to finish reviewing for the second mock exam," said Keitaro with a sigh. "Must be easy for someone like you who's top in the class."

"Hey, I study a lot," said Naru. "You should just try to learn to focus, you know?"

"Yeah," sighed Keitaro. "So I noticed you were here with your friends and a kid. Is that the kid who's running the dorm?"

"Yeah, he's kind of a weird little kid," said Naru. "But he's dependable."

"That's good," said Keitaro. "Well, I gotta get going. I'll see you on Monday at Sasaki Seminar."

"Hold on there," said Naru as she got up. "We're going to have a New Years Day party at the Hinata House. Why don't you stop by for a while?"

"God I would love too and actually stop by this time around, but there's a stack of essays to be graded. Sorry. Maybe next time."

Naru smiled. "All right. Maybe next time we'll be pounding at your door to get you up before the shrine fills up."

"Right. Well, take care Naru-san."

Naru leaned back as she watched the residents party loudly as Kitsune fed each and everyone alcohol. Rubbing her forehead, Naru got up from where she sat and said, "I'm getting some air."

"Oi, Naru, get some more drinks from Haruka, would ya?" called out Kitsune and Naru grinned before heading out the door.

Outside, the cooler air prickled at Naru's skin as she loosened her hair from the thick braids. As she took off her glasses, a figure moved at the edge of her sight. Placing them back on, she quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Keitaro who was sitting in the sandbox, his fingers moving in the sand. "What's he doing here still?" she wondered as she walked over.

Keitaro ran his fingers through the sandbox, staring into the fine grains. "It was here, Tama-chan," said Keitaro. "Here was where I made the promise."

"Myuh?" asked Tama-chan and Naru paused in her walk towards him.

"I know it's weird, but this is where Mai said that the lines of destiny wove itself. It's kind of odd really. Why would I be drawn here all the time?"

"Myuh," offered Tama-chan and Keitaro chuckled.

"Hey," said Naru and Keitaro turned. "I thought you'd be back at Mahora by now."

"I... kind of felt like I had to come here," said Keitaro as he stood up and stared at the sandbox. "Lots of memories here. And then... Christmas Eve."

"When you were in the dorm," said Naru. "I still owe you for sneaking in here, acting like a looter."

"Hey!" Protested Keitaro. "I was just..."

Naru smiled before she said, "Thanks for the watch."

"Huh?"

"The watch you gave me for Christmas," said Naru, holding up her wrist to show it off. "I didn't think you'd actually leave one here but you know..."

"Oh... well, yeah, I did," said Keitaro, flustered. It was in truth Mai who had pulled it from her sack but obviously it had been labeled from him. "I guess I should head out now."

"Wait... it's getting late. Why not stay for the night? Of course..." said Naru, blushing. "You have to sleep on the couch in the lobby, right?"

"But, it's a girls dorm," protested Keitaro and Naru scowled. "All right, all right! I'll just sleep in the lobby and be done with it!"

"Hmph," said Naru as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Naru," said Motoko the morning after. "There is a man sleeping in the lobby."

"That's just Keitaro, the owner," said Naru. "He'll be on his way."

"He looks... like the one who broke in on Christmas," scowled Motoko and Naru shrugged. "You do not want me to remove him?"

"No, just let him rest. He'll be up and about soon enough," said Naru.

Suddenly, from the lobby there was a cry of "PHRGH!" as there was a tremendous explosion and another cry of "Kyah, Su, don't shoot him!"

Naru rolled her eyes. "And a good second day of 1999 for you too, Keitaro."