Side B : Love Negima!

Written by Shaun Garin

Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima are owned and created by Ken Akamatsu.

Chapter 5 : The Mysterious Idol? Her Name Is Chiu!

"After that crazy adventure, it's good to relax," said Negi as he wiped down the floors of the third floor. Running an arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat, Negi sighed and looked out the window. "It's so nice today and it smells so fresh after the rainstorm yesterday."

"Negi!" Negi's head hit the ground as Su jumped on him, accompanied by Sarah. "Hey, what'cha doing manager?"

"Cleaning," said Negi from the floor. "Su, I can't get up."

Su grinned and helped up the younger boy. "I have something that'll help you out!"

"Eh?" asked Negi as Su held out her card. "What? No! Su, it's too big for inside use!"

"Adeat!"

Negi nearly fell over as the giant gun appeared and Su grinned maniacally. "Assistant Sarah, the attachment!"

"Yes, professor Su!" laughed Sarah as she handed what appeared to be a really big rounded brush. Shoving the end into the barrel, Su aimed down the hallway and clicked off the safeties.

"This deck brush has the horsepower of a nuclear weapon!" Cackled Su. "Watch as the Su Cleaning Brush Gun goes to work! FIRE!"

The deck brush burst forth, spinning around at such a high RPM it nearly stripped the paint off the old floorboards. As it stood, the polish was such that the floorboards sparkled. "Victory!" crowed Su as the deck brush scampered around, ricocheting wildly. "Oh no captain! It's out of control, I can't shut down the dilithium crystal generator!"

"NOOOO! The house is going to be destroyed!"

"What the hell's going on up here?" asked Asuna, turning the corner. "ACK!"

Flattening herself against the wall as the deck brush flew out the open window and there was a sound of screaming from the Laundry Deck and the cry of "SU!", Asuna looked out and sweated at the sight of the girls running around in a panic as the runaway deck brush attacked without discretion. "Riiiight. Su, can't you do anything NORMAL?"

"Normal is boring," quipped Su and Sarah nodded.

Negi looked over the city as he stood on a high building near the center of it. Hinata City was a unique city, filled with hot springs and mostly lower-seated buildings. Heaving a sigh, Negi leaned back onto the roof. "It's not that I don't like everyone, but they're sometimes scary."

Flashing back to the last couple of days, it was clear that many of them could handle themselves. A strange sad ache was in Negi's chest as he watched the clouds go by. 'I'm going to miss everyone when they go back to the academy in a few days.'

A loud banging sound brought Negi to a sitting position as he looked over at the beach. Men in hard hats were setting up a stage and he blinked. "Wonder what's going on. A festival perhaps?"

Jumping onto his staff, Negi silently glided down and landed in a secluded area before proceeding on foot. The men were running around, calling out instructions and moving heavy equipment. "Hey, kid, move out of the way!" called out one of the men and Negi jumped back.

"What's going on here?" asked Negi.

"There's going to be an appearance by Chiu tomorrow," said a teenage boy who stood, watching the men set up the stage and the seating area. "She doesn't make many appearances, but she's the most popular Net Idol in the history of mankind!"

"A Net Idol?" asked Negi.

"Yeah, an Internet Idol. Some girls like to dress up in costumes and become famous on the Internet. It drives up popularity and there is a constant demand for Net Idol appearances because no one knows exactly where they are. When they do come out, it's a really big event. Hinata Beach will be crowded with fans as Chiu is out to perform." The teenager grinned and said, "Hey, a friend of mine isn't going to be able to make it for the Chiu performance so I've got this spare ticket. You wanna go kid?"

"Really? You'll give it to me?"

The teenager laughed. "Sure kid. You look like you need the rest. And a cute girl to watch on stage is always fun, right?"

Negi laughed, though his mind was replaying the events of many cute girl encounters in the last four months. "Thank you!"

"Wow, a real performance! I wonder if it's like anything back home in Wales," said Negi to himself as he ran down the streets. "After a week of adventure, it's going to be great to enjoy myself for once!"

Rounding the corner, Negi suddenly slammed into a girl who let out a yelp as the pair tumbled into the rain gutter with a tremendous splash. "Oww," said Negi and then he gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I...!"

"Urgh," said the girl as she sat up. "It's fine," she snapped, looking into her bags and scowling. "Great. Ruined."

"I'm terribly sorry!" Exclaimed Negi, bowing several times till the girl sighed and stopped him with a palm on his forehead. "I ruined your purchases. Let me make it up to you!"

"No that's fine," repeated the girl. "I'm probably just going to head back home for now. Though it's a waste, coming out here."

"As an English Gentleman I have to repay this," said Negi and the girl looked at him for a long moment. "Please, I feel terrible."

There was a long pause and then the girl said, "Can you get mud and dirt out of a dry-clean only dress?"

"No, but I know someone who can!"

"Here we are," said Negi as he and the girl reached the top of the stairs.

The girl adjusted her mud-speckled glasses and said, "You live here?"

"I'm actually the manager," said Negi with an embarrassed grin.

"You're a manager of a girls dorm. And you're what, eight?" said the girl incredulously.

"I'm nine and a half!" protested Negi.

"Right. Well, who's this person who can help?"

"Oh, she's probably in the kitchen. C'mon!" Running to the door, Negi stopped short and turned back to her. "Oh, I never did get your name, miss."

"...Hasegawa Chisame."

"Nice to meet you! C'mon in!"

"Anyone home?" called out Negi but received no answer or answering kick to the back of the head. "Hmm... maybe they're all out right now."

"Great. Maybe I'll just find a dry cleaners for 4000 yen." grumbled Chisame.

"No! I insist, I can get it cleaned up even if I have to do it myself!"

A sigh. "Fine."

"Hello? Anyone?"

"Oh, Negi, in here," called out Haruka from the kitchen table. She sat there with legs propped up and reading a newspaper. "Hmm? Who's your new friend?"

"Ah, Haruka-san, this is Hasegawa Chisame. I accidentally ran her down when coming home and I need Shinobu-san's help to dry clean her clothing."

"Well, Shinobu and the Library Exploration Team are out shopping," said Haruka and Chisame twitched. "And Seta popped up while you were gone again and he, Motoko, Setsuna, Kaede and Ku Fei went out for training in the mountains or some kind of excavation and dragged Keitaro with them." Chisame twitched and an eyebrow twitched violently. "And Asuna and Konoka went out for ice cream with Su, Sarah, Naru and Kitsune."

"Something the matter, Hasegawa-san?" asked Negi. "You're trembling."

"No, nothing's the matter," said Chisame but inwardly she was cursing her bad luck. The entire crew of Baka Rangers, the Ronin AND the Library Exploration Team, HERE? Of all places? What were the odds!

'Someone hates me up there,' Chisame thought to herself as Haruka eyed the girl over.

"Hmm... well, get her new clothing and she can also use the hot springs to clean that mud out of her hair too," said Haruka. "I'm sure Kitsune's clothing will fit since she's a bit bigger than Naru is."

"Er, right. Hasegawa-san, the springs are this way."

Chisame grumbled to herself under her breath as she sunk deeper into the water. "How the hell did this happen?" she muttered to herself. "I agreed to this performance because I wanted to get AWAY from Mahora for a few days, not sink myself into the place where the lunatic fringe is staying for the rest of the week!"

"Hasegawa-san, I brought some shampoo!" Called out Negi, barging in.

Chisame spat water and turned shouting, "Get the hell out of here! Girls need their privacy!"

"Aiyee, I'm sorry!" Called out Negi as she threw her bath bucket at his head. There was a dull clunking sound as it ricocheted and landed onto the stones with a series of wood on rock CLUNKS.

"Honestly, stupid kid," grumbled Chisame. She looked over and raised an eyebrow as the shampoo he brought was the brand she used. "How? Hmm, I guess he's good for something."

Getting out of the water, Chisame set to work cleaning her hair more thoroughly. After she sunk back into the hot spring, she sighed and removed her glasses and set them aside. "What the hell am I doing here? Taking up some strange kid's offer and then landing at a potential epicentre of ground zero."

"Myuh," offered Tama-chan as she floated in the water. Chisame jerked in shock and then grabbed her glasses. "Myuh!" said Tama-chan, waving.

"A... turtle? Oh god, it's HIS turtle." Chisame groaned and sunk under the water.

"Myuuu..." said Tama-chan, mimicking the dive.

Freshly washed and dressed in one of Kitsune's tops and rather tight leather pants, Chisame bound her hair up and then grimaced as Tama-chan landed on her head. "Off," she snapped but Tama-chan held fast.

"Myuh," protested Tama-chan and Chisame decided it was inane to argue with a rumoured hyper-intelligent flying hot springs turtle. Especially that the current rumours around Mahora Academy was that the turtle was smart enough to mark Junior High School English Essays. Moral of that story was never get the turtle angry at you or fail the class. Stifling a groan, she headed towards the kitchen where a welcome smell of food was being cooked.

Looking into the kitchen, Shinobu hummed to herself as she chopped a few vegetables. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes Su," she said and then turned. "Oh, you're not Su."

"Nope," said Chisame.

"Nice to meet you, you must be the girl Negi-san brought home." said Shinobu cheerfully. "I'm Maehara Shinobu. Negi-san asked for my help to start working on your clothing. There's an awful lot of rips in there as well so we're doing the best we can."

"Hasegawa Chisame," said Chisame, sitting down. 'At least she's normal.'

Then, the building shook and a loud cry of "SU! THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!" could be heard with a girl laughing maniacally.

Chisame grabbed the table and cursed. "What the hell was that?"

"That's just Su," said Shinobu calmly as she diced up some carrots and then checked on the Takoyaki she was making.

Chisame twitched. Maybe the little girl WASN'T normal after all.

"Mmm, smells good, Shinobu," announced Asuna as she walked in with Konoka in tow. "Hey, Chisame-chan! What are you doing here?"

Chisame merely buried her head in her hands. "I need to get out of here."

"Nyahahahaha!"

Chisame rubbed her forehead as she could feel a migraine begin to percolate and form at the edges of her senses.

"Careful there, Aniki, that's a high quality silk." Said Kamo as Negi worked the brush through the cloth furiously. "You've never dry cleaned before, have you Aniki."

Negi sighed as he slowed the pace of his furious scrubbing. "No, not really. Isn't it supposed to be an easier way of cleaning?'

"Forget it. Just put it into the bag and then put those things into there." Kamo rolled his beady eyes and sighed. 'Wizards.'

Putting the dress into the bag, Negi went red as a pair of cute panties and a bra went in as well. "Hasegawa-san really have interesting tastes in clothing," he managed as he placed several more items including an overcoat, a blouse and several dry clean only ribbon sets. Pulling out the last item in the bag, Negi stifled a laugh. "What is this?"

"That's a wand, Aniki, from some kind of anime TV series," said Kamo.

"A wand?" said Negi, waving it around. "It's got good balance but how could you stay discrete with something like this being waved around?"

"So says the wizard who carries a staff everywhere," put in Kamo. "But on TV here in Japan, there are shows focused around characters known as magical girls. Maybe Hasegawa-chan is a cosplayer?"

"A what?"

"A cosplayer; someone who dresses up as an existing character for fun and events," said Kamo. He lit a cigarette and Negi immediately quashed it in order to keep the smell from getting onto the clothing. Kamo looked perturbed for a moment before adding, "In any case Aniki, set the dryer to forty minutes and toss the bag in."

"Maaa, Negi-chan," called out Kitsune as she walked into the laundry room. "Did you happen to see where my leather pants and my Do Not Disturb tank top is?'

"Oh, I lent it to Hasegawa-san," said Negi. "I accidentally knocked her down into the mud so I'm cleaning up her clothes."

"Oh?" said Kitsune, leaning in and ruffling Negi's hair. "Well looks like Negi-chan's growing up, bringing home girls after 'accidentally' knocking them into the mud! My my, you are such a little pervert, Negi-chan!"

"Kitsune!" Protested Negi as Kitsune ruffled his hair and held him fast to her chest, smothering his face into her breasts. "It's not like that, I'm an English Gentleman!"

"Ooh, well I think your little 'English Gentleman' is having a growth spurt!" giggled Kitsune and Negi could smell the alcohol on her breath as she grabbed his pants.

"Geez, Kitsune, get a room!" exclaimed Naru, appearing out of nowhere and hitting Kitsune across the head with a paper fan. "Honestly, she's insatiable. Negi-bozu, your guest needs a place to stay."

"Oh, well, I think there's one more room available on the third level," said Negi and Naru shook her head.

"No, Su blew that up a little while ago," said Naru. "Something about testing out modifications to her Adeat weapon."

"Rgh," grumbled Negi. "I'll put her up in my room and I'll sleep in the lobby."

Chisame sighed as she lay in bed. Pulling her glasses off, she set them to the side and stared up at the roof with a jagged hole worn through the floorboards. 'What the hell am I doing here? I can't stand these people at all! So why did I accept their invitation to stay over night? Ugh, I must have been drugged during supper or something to have willingly accepted to do something like this. I'm surrounded by the whackos of Mahora Academy and the actual residents of this Girls Dorm are completely insane!'

Turning over, Chisame sighed and got out of bed. Replacing her glasses onto her nose, she opened her door and walked to the railing to look at the scenery. Granted it was not as brilliant as the lights of Mahora, but in a way it had its own country charm. 'Tomorrow and then its the performance and then I can go home. I can't let them know that I'm actually a Net Idol.'

Letting out a soft sigh, Chisame turned to go back into her room and then nearly jumped a meter. "Miyazaki? What are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't sleep," said the timid girl. "It's hard for me to sleep anyhow without my pillow and I forgot it back home. So I watch the stars."

"Oh," said Chisame. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. Miyazaki Nodoka was one of the most sane people in the Academy, if horribly shy. There were very few people whom Chisame could feasibly hold a conversation with without feeling the urge to kill the speaker or herself to break free. Turning back to the scenery, the soft glow of the Hinata House's lights seemed to warm the area as the ever present scent of the hot springs was on the air.

"It's nice," said Nodoka. "It's a shame we'll be heading back in a couple of days to Mahora."

"It is almost the end of the break," allowed Chisame. "So... we'll be class 3-A."

"Yes," said Nodoka. But then she smiled, something rarely seen on the timid librarian girl. "It's been... something of an adventure actually. It's very nice for everything to be peaceful."

Chisame raised an eyebrow. "I suppose." After a moment longer of gazing into the skies, Chisame cleared her throat and said, "I'm going to head to bed."

"Ah. Sleep well."

"Good morning Chisame-san!" Greeted Shinobu. "Breakfast is ready, so please go right ahead."

"Thank you," allowed Chisame as she sat down. Most of the girls from her class were awake with the exception of one or two who were sleeping in. Taking a sip of her miso with clams, Chisame cast a glance over the assembled girls who were eating at the table and laughing and chatting with everyone.

At the end of the table, crowded with three mismatched seats on the end were Kagurazaka Asuna, Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna. Konoka and Asuna were best friends but Setsuna barely spoke to Konoka from the length of time the girl with the sword came to the school. Currently, Setsuna was even laughing and being fed pieces of food by Konoka as if they had become best friends within a week once more. On the other side of the table were two of the residents, Su Kaolla and Sarah MacDougal. Su looked like she was from at least a tropical climate due to her very deep tan, a tan she had only seen once before on Tatsumiya Mana. She was the one who reputably blew up the room that was now under repair on the third floor and her partner in crime was a little ten year old girl from California. Sarah was something of a tomboyish and rather crude girl when things came down to it.

Next to them, trading gossip were Saotome Haruna and Konno Kitsune. Kitsune was a resident and Chisame suspected her name was a nickname as no one really called their daughter Kitsune. Although her expressions lent themselves to a fox-like look with her eyes closed and the mischievous grin on her face at all times. Haruna was from her class of course and was the biggest gossip monger of them all. If you let her in on a secret, it wouldn't BE a secret within fifteen minutes. It was part of the reason why Chisame closely guarded her status as an Idol as she didn't need half a dozen fans on the campus itself following her everywhere she went. The Net Idol Chiu was a hot topic amongst the people of Mahora and many people would have paid a fortune to know that moody Hasegawa Chisame was the gorgeous and witty Chiu.

"Good morning everyone!" Exclaimed Negi, bounding into room with a lot more energy than needed so early in the morning. "Breakfast looks so good, Shinobu-san!"

"Thank you," said Shinobu as she spooned more rice into his bowl.

"Oh, everyone, there's a concert at the beach today!" Added Negi and Chisame nearly performed a textbook spit-take. "The Net Idol Chiu is going to be there today!"

'It's just an appearance, not a concert!' Thought Chisame angrily.

"Really?" Exclaimed Naru. "Oh, she's my favourite!"

"Hehehe, Naru tried the whole Net Idol thing once," laughed Kitsune. "Although she couldn't even get halfway to the popularity of Chiu."

"It must be a wonderful thing to be so famous," sighed Shinobu and Chisame could only gawk. Were ALL of the girls fans?

"Negi-bozu, take me with you!" Added Makie, suddenly appearing behind him and kicking him into his breakfast.

Getting up and wiping the miso from his face, Negi sighed. "Well, there's supposed to be tickets sold."

"A hundred and fifty yen a ticket," said Chisame, drawing attention to herself and immediately wished she didn't say anything.

"Wow, Chisame-chan, are you a fan as well?" asked Asuna curiously. "I remember that Kazumi often shows us the newest pics and downloads the latest song mixes from Chiu's website."

"I, er, um, well, I just know. It's hard not too with all of those Fanboys running around. Excuse me, I need to get my stuff."

"Aw, Chisame-chan are you headed out now?" asked Konoka.

"I don't feel well and traveling makes me ill. I'll see you all later." With that, Chisame stormed off.

"Hmmm," said Haruna. "She's hiding something from us. Get out your book Nodoka-chan!"

"Aweeee? No! That's an invasion of privacy!" Protested Nodoka and Yue nodded.

"Gotta get outta here before they drag me to my own appearance," grumbled Chisame as she stomped into the laundry room and pulled the dry cleaning bag out of the dryer. Making a quick check, everything seemed to be there. Practically ripping the costume out of the depths of the bag, Chisame shoved it into her backpack and zipped the bag shut. Slinging it over her back, she pushed the doors open and headed out the main doors.

"Hasegawa-san!" Called out Negi and Chisame fought the urge to run away very fast. "Hasegawa-san, where are you going?"

"Just... back to Mahora," said Chisame. She held her hand as it trembled.

"Oh, well the girls and I were going to go to the concert," said Negi and Chisame fought the urge to yell that it was merely an appearance. "I was wondering, would you like to come along?"

'NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I CAN'T GO WITH YOU GUYS, YOU'LL DISCOVER I'M A FREAK!' Screamed Chisame in her head. What came out of her mouth surprised her to the point of near speechlessness. "All right."

'I need to get my head examined,' thought Chisame.

"CH-IU, CH-IU, CH-IU!" The crowd of people chanted.

Asuna whistled as she gazed over the multitude of people. "There sure are a lot of people out here."

"Stick close, Nodoka," said Yue and Nodoka pulled in closer to the group.

"Wow, it's fifteen minutes and they're already demanding Chiu's appearance," said Negi. "Isn't this neat, Hasegawa-san?"

"Yeah... great." Chisame's eyes darted around, looking for a way out of the crowd. Being in the middle of the thick crowd that was constantly moving about, it would take a lot to get through. "Excuse me, I need to go to the washroom," said Chisame as she started to elbow through the crowd.

"Eh? Hasegawa-san, it's about to start!"

"I need to go!" Protested Chisame as she shoved through the crowd. Someone bumped into her and her bag came loose. From it, the wand spilled out but Chisame was sucked back into the crowd of people.

Making his way through the press of people, Negi picked up the wand. "Hasegawa-san!"

"There's barely enough time to get ready," Chisame thought to herself as she slipped into the small cornered off room set aside for her dressing room. Quickly, Chisame threw her bag down and pulled out her make up kit to start applying it while pulling her shirt off over her head.

"Um, Hasegawa-san?" Chisame nearly fell over in shock as Negi stood behind her, holding the wand in his hands. "I'm sorry, but the door was open and... is this a bad time?"

"What... are you doing in here!" Shouted Chisame as she pulled Negi inside and slammed the door shut. "Did anyone see in here? DID ANYONE FOLLOW YOU!"

"Aaaawwwwkkk," enunciated Negi as he was shook hard. "No no! You dropped this and I thought you needed it."

Chisame sighed and let go of Negi. Snatching the wand from his hand, she put it onto the mirrored table. "Fine. Now go."

"Hasegawa-san... you're Chiu, aren't you?" said Negi. "I mean, I did your laundry and found that really cute dress in your stuff and well..."

"This... does not get out, okay?" said Chisame angrily as she finished applying her make up. "Turn around, brat."

Negi obliged as she threw the dress and blouse on. As Chisame adjusted the ribbons, Negi said, "You know... I have to wonder why you hide like this. You're pretty and all, even without the make up."

Chisame reddened a bit but adjusted her clothing a bit more. "Those girls out there, are my classmates. My class is as weird as I come and I try my best to be normal. If word got out that I was Chiu, the most popular Net Idol in the area, they would label me as one of the weird people. I work too hard to be normal damnit and I don't want that illusion to break."

"But it's a shame," said Negi. "You are very pretty and what's wrong with letting people know you're a Net Idol? After all, look at the day today. It's almost as pretty as you."

Chisame let out her breath in a sharp exhalation. "You wouldn't understand."

"I see. Hasegawa-san? You do have my support though, and you're welcome back at any time, especially as yourself." With that, Negi headed out of the dressing room. Chisame watched him go and sighed, slumping into the nearest chair.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Cried the announcer. "Please, give it up, for the worlds most popular Net Idol, CHIU!"

The crowd exploded into cheering as Chiu walked onto the stage, a smile on her face. Waving to the crowd, she brought up the microphone and said, "Hello Hinata City, Chiu is happy to see all of you!" The crowd cheered louder as she cried, "Thank you for coming today! I'm glad to see all of you here and well..."

Out of the corner of her eye, Chisame saw Negi standing behind the curtain. He smiled and gave her a wave and Chiu blushed. "Well... I didn't plan on it, but maybe, I could sing a song or two."

With people cheering and a tap of the button of the sound system, Chiu launched into her first number of the day.

"Oh wow, that was something!" Cheered Makie as the whole crowd headed back for Hinata House. "The way she sang, it was like being at a concert!"

"I admit it was exhilarating," said Motoko with a nod. "It was my first concert as well."

"Hey, Chisame-chan, you missed a great concert! What's wrong, the bathroom exploded?" teased Asuna.

"Heh. I got sidetracked," said Chisame and she met Negi's eyes.

"Oooh, so that's where Negi-bozu disappeared to!" Proclaimed Kaede and Negi made a "Gack!" sound.

"So how was he?" asked Haruna and Chisame went completely red. "I want details! DETAILS!"

"Get away from me!" Cried Chisame as she was chased by the girls from Mahora back to the dorm.

"Negi," said Seta and Negi looked up at him. "Good job."

"Eh? I didn't do anything, Seta-san," said Negi.

"On the contrary. I think you did a remarkable job."

"Come back Chisame-chan! We need as many details as possible!"

"Get away you crazy people!"

"Nyahahaha! Engaging the Mecha Kamo-kun Version 1.0! Capture mode!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"