Side B : Love Negima!

Written By Shaun Garin

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

Chapter 6 : Truth and Fiction! The Story Of A Screw Up!

The day started out like any other at Hinata House. With a bang.

"OH GOD!"

With a tremendous crash and a gush of water, Seta's van smashed into the pool, bowling over a poor Nine and a Half Western Magi. "Oh, sorry about that Negi-kun," said Seta as he got out of the van and helped Negi to his feet.

"Owww, somehow I think I'm actually getting used to it, Seta-san," said Negi, rubbing his bruised everything. Wind Barriers barely did anything during life at Hinata House and it was getting to the point where Negi was seriously considering using something else. Like conjured rock walls. "Somehow I think Wind Barriers aren't going to help."

"Try focusing it in one spot to reduce the impact," said Seta helpfully. "Is Sarah around?"

"Papa!" Exclaimed Sarah running up and jumping up into his arms. As Seta reached down to catch her, Sarah sprung into a kick to the back of the head. "Papa I told you that you can't go around smashing things recklessly! It gets us into trouble!"

"Ah, Sarah, I'm sorry," said Seta as the girls walked in.

"Hey, Seta," greeted Kitsune. "What's up?"

"Good timing actually," said Seta. "I've been talking it over with Haruka lately and I was planning on leaving Sarah here in the care of Hinata House."

"Huh?" asked Naru. "You want to leave Sarah here?"

"Papa? What? Why?" exclaimed Sarah.

"It's not good for an impressionable young girl to keep following me around on such an unstructured lifestyle," said Seta, rubbing Sarah's head. "It will be good for you here with people to help you and support you. Don't worry, I won't be gone long in between trips, I promise."

"Papa, you can't leave me here!" Protested Sarah but Seta was already halfway into the van. "PAPA!"

"Have a good time, Sarah!" Called out Seta as he backed up and zoomed off over the hill.

Sarah dropped to her knees wordlessly as her eyes watered. "Um, it'll be all right Sarah, we're here, right?" said Naru.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Taking off like a shot, Sarah ran down the stairs of the Hinata House.

"Poor Sarah," said Shinobu. "Negi-san, go after her!"

"Eh?" asked Negi but was immediately cowed by the girls glares. "Right, I'm going. Yeah." Summoning his staff to himself he hopped onto the staff and tore off into the sky.

"It's not fair," said Sarah as she hugged her knees to her chest. "Papa you idiot. Why'd you have to leave me here with them?"

"Sarah!" With a soft thump, Negi landed on the soft sand. "Sarah, everyone's worried about you. Can you come back to the House?"

"Why should I? Sure my papa left me there but I'm not like you freaks!"

"Eh? Why are you calling us freaks anyhow?" asked Negi.

"Look at the people in the house. One's a raging drunk nymphomaniac, another's an insane maniac, Naru likes to punch you around like a pinball despite you being MY age and YOU! That stupid pactio thing during Kyoto! All for what? That was a first kiss and I doubt it's going to matter any more, you fucking jackass!"

"Now hold on a bloody minute!" Snapped Negi angrily. "For one, you were the one who said it was just going to come anyhow and MADE the damn thing!"

"Says you, you stupid ass!" Sarah was getting so angry, her language became cruder and she slipped into English. "You, of all people, some kind of high and mighty wizard telling me what to do? I'll tell you something you nancy boy English Bastard, my mother was twice the wizard your father was!"

"How dare you..." seethed Negi as he slipped into his accented English. "You don't know how my father was like!"

"I know the stories," snarled Sarah, stomping over to stab him in the chest with one finger. "Sure everyone calls Nagi Springfield the Thousand Master but that's because no one knew what he was capable of! He was the master of FIVE OR SIX spells TOPS!"

"I don't believe you," growled Negi. "How would you know? You weren't there."

"No... but my momma was. And Seta and Haruka. And they knew! They knew that your dad was nothing but a Magic School Drop Out who had the tendency to make ANY spell he used go wildly out of control! You know those invading armies of Magi he stopped? He was doing a credible imitation of bloody Vash the Stampede - Running for his LIFE!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut UP!" Screamed Negi. "You don't know! You weren't there! Your mother could be lying, Seta could by lying you stupid bloody American girl, you know nothing of tact or the truth! You... you..."

Sarah stared at him and he stared back. Both of their faces were stained with tears. And then, Sarah drew back her hand and screamed "JACKASS!" And Negi was sent flying onto his back from a mighty punch. With that, she ran off as Negi realized what he had just done.

"I'm such a bloody moron," whispered Negi as he let himself cry. Overhead, the rain began to fall.

Sarah sniffled as she wiped her tears away with one hand. More came to replace them as the torrential rains came down, pelting her and soaking her to the bone. She didn't care as the rain plastered her clothes to her body, the way that it drove like needles into her skin with the rain so cold. As she walked along the streets of Hinata City, her tears came once more as she looked up into the skies. "Momma," she whispered.

Memories were there, memories of a pretty blonde lady who sung her to sleep. Memories that were abruptly cut short when her mother died a scant five years into Sarah's life. But the songs she sung at night comforted her, even though they were hazy and indistinct. It had been a night like any other when her mother had died. Sarah had only been five when it happened.

Magical Wasting. A terrifying disease that had come during the war. The war had been terrible for people on both sides of the community and to demoralize and weaken ranks from inside out, a condition was created. Magical Wasting drained the life from the person, the very essence of Mana that resided within everyone. Seta told her exactly how she died the day afterwards. She had cried herself to sleep in his arms. That day marked the day when she called him papa for the first time. Her mother was a wonderful woman, a gentle healer and a combatant as ferocious as Haruka was on the field. She spent more time bailing Nagi out of danger than healing his wounds. Nagi had vanished one night after the war. And then, she was born. It was unlikely that Nagi was her father, but to Sarah, Seta was all she needed.

'Besides,' Sarah thought bitterly as she walked into the red light district of Hinata City. 'That asshole would be my brother. And I'm not ready for that to happen yet.'

Ignoring the stares that came from the drunken salarymen and the lecherous old men, Sarah threaded her way towards the heart of the district. Things like this didn't bother the girl, she was rather adult in nature despite her smaller frame and young age. It came from having to bail out Seta more often than needed. "Hey," said a tough looking man. "Little girls shouldn't be out here."

Sarah ignored him but the man simply grinned and pressed on. "You must be one of the new girls. C'mon chickie, there's a room over there."

"Buzz off lolicon lover, unless you want to get burned," snarled Sarah.

"Oooh, she's feisty," chuckled another man. "I'll bet she's a screamer."

One hand clasped onto her shoulder and Sarah snarled. Grabbing the hand, she heaved him over her shoulder as best as possible. The man hit the ground with a thud and the others backed up. "So, want some?" said Sarah as she slid into a Jeet Kun Do stance.

"Little girl, you have no idea what you just did," said one man as he lurched forward with a downward stop. Sarah simply spun away and flashed up into a spinning crescent kick that sent him flying into the trash cans. "Shit!" snapped the man, adjusting his jaw. "She's tough. Hold her down boys!"

As one, the men charged as Sarah reached into her pocket. Suddenly, there was a blur of movement and the half-drunken men flew backwards as a kid her age sneered back at them.

"You guys shouldn't pick on a girl that could kick your ass," said the kid with a vicious grin. "You should leave."

"Damnit. It's not worth it, I'll bet she's a cheap little girl anyhow." The lead man spat out a tooth and limped away. The boy flashed them the American finger.

"Feh, they're just stupid drunks," said the boy as she turned to Sarah who watched him with a neutral stare. Her left hand was still thrust into her front coverall pocket and the boy raised an eyebrow. "So don't I get a thank you?"

"Hmph," said Sarah. "You move good. Lemme guess; Wolf Style Martial Arts?"

"You're good to know that," said the boy. "At least lemme give you my name. I'm Inugami Kotarou."

"Well thanks for your help," said Sarah as she loosed her grip on her Adeat card. "I'm Sarah MacDougal and I'll be just leaving."

"Hold on there," said Kotarou. "It's too late for someone to be wandering around, especially with this many half-drunk assholes about. I have a room here that you can dry off in. Interested?"

Sarah didn't reply and Kotarou pressed on. "It's warm and I promise you can kick the crap out of me if I do anything stupid."

"Fine."

"Man those guys were stupid, trying to pick up a girl who can fight," said Kotarou as Sarah toweled off her head. She was dressed in one of Kotarou's long shirts as he was making tea on the other side of the room. The room itself was in a rather respectable part of town, a few blocks away from the red light district. it was cheap enough to be known as one of Hinata's various Love Motels but it was fairly upper class so it also gathered a respectable clientele. Picking up two japanese-styled cups, Kotarou set it down on the small table between the two beds and picked up a small package. "Sugar?"

Sarah reached over and ripped open four of the packets, dumping them into the liquid. "Look, I'm glad you helped me out there, but I could have taken them easily."

"I don't doubt that," said Kotarou easily. "You look like you've had experience fighting."

"Heh. Papa tends to get into more trouble than it's worth."

"You looked like you were crying back there," said Kotarou. "It showed in your stance."

"Hmph... it's this stupid kid I know. He thinks his father was the most incredible man ever, but he won't even open his eyes to the flaws that people around him knew. Everyone calls him a great man, the Thousand Master and it sickens me that he was a regular idiot who didn't get his spells right half the time." Sarah sipped her tea. "Wotta jerk."

Kotarou had some indeterminable emotion flicker in his eyes as he emptied some cream into his own cup. "This guy was that powerful? What was he, a fighter?"

"Some kind of war hero," said Sarah. "It just sickens me that Negi thinks his father was the end all."

"Maybe, he's trying to live to a memory." Suggested Kotarou. "How old was he anyhow? When this Thousand Master guy died?"

"God, I dunno. Maybe one or two. If half the stories were true, over fifty women across the world could attribute their children's birth to Nagi Fucking Springfield."

"Look, the rain will let up. Do you want me to walk you back to where you were staying?"

"Fine." Sarah took another sip of her tea and sighed. "Hey, wake me up when the rain lets up, okay? And no funny stuff. Last time some old letch tried to feel me up, I stopped him from passing his genetics on."

"Right. Sleep well."

"You're late," said Chigusa as Kotarou opened the door to the balcony. "Did you find the location of Konoka-ojousama?"

"All reports say that she went back to Mahora Academy," said Kotarou. "It'll be harder to enact our plans with her out of reach once more."

"Keep at it. Who is that girl who sleeps there?"

"Meh, some kid I helped. She lives with the son of the Thousand Master."

"Does she now? Very interesting. Watch her, and if Negi Springfield deems to interfere once more, get rid of him."

"Right."

Chigusa vanished as her form reverted to a paper talisman as Kotarou snatched the paper out of the air and crumpled it. Pocketing the paper, he looked across the room at the still sleeping Sarah. "Still out like a light."

Walking over and grabbing her clothing that was hanging over the bed, he wrung it out with a twist of the fabric. The water pooling onto the hotel room, a slip of paper fell out of the front of her pocket. Stooping to pick up the paper, Kotarou looked at the picture on the card and realized with a start that the girl had a Pactio card on herself. The picture of Sarah had her dressed in a stylized western design of combat togs. A t-shirt, jacket and overalls with her predominant baseball cap on her head. Slung over one shoulder was a simply massive silver and blue sword that even on the card seemed to glow with an internal chilly light. Another sword was slung over her shoulder, this one silver and red and seemed to glow with flames on the page. Sarah stirred and Kotarou pocketed the card. "Hey, it's stopped raining," said Kotarou and Sarah came to full awareness.

"Right," she said. "My clothing dry?"

"Almost," said Kotarou. "They're damp still. It's what you get for wandering around in the driving rain."

"Good enough for me," said Sarah as she grabbed her stuff and wandered into the bathroom. Soon enough, she came out dressed. "All right, lets go."

As the pair headed through the darkened streets, Kotarou looked over at Sarah and said, "So... did you ever stop to think that Negi has something to live up to?"

"Hmm? Why do you say that?"

"Well, being the son of the Thousand Master. Dunno what that is, but it sounds important, right? Maybe, because he never knew his father, he feels that he has to do the best he can. The kid sounds green, but... in a way, I could admire his drive to prove himself."

"Kotarou..." said Sarah.

"Aaah, I've said too much," chuckled Kotarou. "C'mon, wanna play Bowl Over The Salarymen as we run through the Red Light on the way back?"

Sarah laughed. "All right!"

As Kotarou took off into a run and Sarah followed after him, Sarah thought to herself 'Maybe Negi really is trying his best. Though he's such a kid about it really. Aw well, I guess I can forgive him.' "Wait up there!" Shouted Sarah as she pulled ahead of the wolf boy.

"Sarah! Sarah! Mou, where did she get to?" wondered Naru to herself.

"Sarah?" Called out Motoko from the high vantage point on the pole. "I do not see her."

"Hey, did you find her?" called out Kitsune as she and Shinobu ran up to them.

"Nowhere," replied Motoko as she landed beside Kitsune. "I'm getting worried."

"Oh, I hope she's all right," said Shinobu.

Naru nodded as she looked across the road. "Oh, Negi! Where did you get to?"

Negi shuffled forward, still sniffing. He was sopping wet and everything about him seemed listless. "Negi, what's wrong, kiddo?" asked Kitsune.

"N-Nothing," sniffled Negi.

"I doubt it's nothing," said Kitsune. "C'mon kiddo, lets get you dried off and then round up Su and Kamo. They're somewhere here."

"I don't believe this," said Naru. Despite the anger welling up in her chest and the urge to hit Negi, she couldn't bring herself to punch the little kid who had begun to cry once more on the way back to the Hinata House. Currently they had holed up in Haruka's Tea House as the rain had hit once again with driving force. Even Su and Kamo came out of the rain but the jump kick had been forestalled for the moment. "You got into a fight with Sarah, over your father and mother?"

Negi nodded wordlessly and Kitsune sighed. "Poor kids. Look, there's nothing to worry about, I'm sure it'll blow over soon."

"But... what if she won't speak to me anymore?" asked Negi as he sniffled. "I don't think I could face her after getting angry and calling her mother a liar."

"Sarah has always been sensitive about her mother," said Haruka. She lit up a cigarette and then placed a cup of strong tea in front of Negi. "What did she say to you?"

"That... my father, was a failure. A Magic School Drop Out," said Negi, his voice catching in his throat. "And..."

"Mmm..." said Haruka.

"Oh, poor Negi-san," said Shinobu and she hugged him. "I know how it is when parents are the topic of fights."

Negi burst into a fresh bout of tears as he wrapped his arms around Shinobu. "Neesan..." he whispered.

"Cute," whispered Naru and Kitsune nodded. Su grinned with Kamo.

"Negi, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while your father was a hero, he was also a royal screw up," said Haruka. Negi's eyes widened as he looked up at her. "I'm not telling you this to be mean, but to tell the truth. You see, as a kid, he dropped out of the Wales Magical Academy and went traveling the world. At the age of ten, he entered the Mahora Fighting Tournament and won a price of nearly 1,000,000 Yen. But he didn't do it for himself, but for the people he cared about. Your father had the biggest heart I had ever known, and that's what drew people to him. He was kind, caring, and always gave people chances. Hell, that's what happened with the Dark Evangel, the Undying Mage Evangeline. Your father let her travel with us and gave Evangeline the chance of redemption. There was always something there with the people he attracted. People followed him because he wasn't the most powerful, or the most skilled or even the most handsome but because he was a man who made you feel you could do anything, someone with a heart as big as anyone alive."

Haruka paused to take a drag of smoke and blew it out, making a neat little circular puff. "The point is, Negi, that your father was a complete and utter screw up. But the other point is that because he was kind and loved people that he was a great man. Great enough, that he was soon known as the Thousand Master. Of course, he was the one who gave himself that title. Nagi always said to us : It wouldn't be good to call myself the master of five or six spells tops. What do you expect from a Magic School Drop Out? So I never studied, sue me. You have your fathers blood, but you are your own person. Didn't you promise to see him one day?"

"H-Haruka-san..."

"Aw there I go all reminiscing and mushy. I suppose you wanna see my Adeat weapon too?"

"No, it's fine. Really. Thanks, for everything. And for all of you too, for helping me." Negi took a deep breath and said, "I must thank each of you. Without your help, I wouldn't have been the boy I am today."

"Hey, kiddo, maybe you'll earn the right be called a sexy man-thing by me later on, but for what it's worth, you're all right." Grinned Kitsune.

"I like Negis! I want to study you lots!" added Su.

"I wouldn't call you Aniki if you gave up now," said Kamo and Motoko nodded as well.

"You have a heart of a swordswoman. It would be a shame to see it go to waste."

Naru reached over and ruffled Negi's hair. "Look, you're a kid still. Even though you've got a big reputation to live up to, why not try to relax? Just no perverted stuff like blowing off clothing, okay?"

Negi sniffled as he wiped his tears away with a rub of the back of his hand across his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you everyone."

"Hahahaha! I thought we were done for back there!" Laughed Nagi Springfield as the small group sat around the campfire. "At least we have good food, right?"


"Nagi you're a putz," said a blonde woman with a deadpan expression. "Sure we can sneak by them. No really, it's perfectly safe, Ogres have bad eyesight! Jerk."

"Hahaha, Tara, you're too hard on Nagi, don't you think?" Laughed Seta from the other side of the campfire.

"He deserved it," snapped Tara.

"Maaa, can't we all get along?" Protested Nagi. "Takamichi, help me out here!"

"Oh no, I'm not pulling your ass out of the fire again, Nagi," said Takamichi.

"Gaaaah. Anyone?"

Haruka lit her cigarette. "Look we have a day till we get back to friendly territory. Can we NOT bother with trivial manners such as arguing?"

"I think she's upset," stage whispered the large man who sat behind Nagi. Nagi grinned at him for a moment.

"True. Once you get Haruka-san mad at you, nothing can save you!" Pointed out Nagi and Eishun laughed from the other side.

Haruka snorted. "Men, all pigs. Say, Nagi, one of those girls out there claimed you were the father of her kid. So?"

Nagi rolled her eyes. "If the rumors were true, I'd be making kids since I was five."

"..." Offered a small blonde haired girl and the even smaller girl offered the same amount of commentary on the scenario.

"Aw Eva-chan, don't be like that," said Nagi with a grin. "I'll be your husband when you grow up."

Evangeline merely produced a half-smile as she scootched over closer to the fire.

"It's getting late," said a man dressed in a casual suit. "Say Takamichi, want to take the first watch?"

"Me? Get Nagi to do it. He obviously has the stamina to still run in terror!"

"There's no problems then, we'll just Janken for it!"

"Right, but none of that baseball Janken crap."

"One, two, three, shoot!"

"Aaaaw, she threw out scissors again!"

"Tough! All right, which one do you want to take first watch?"

"... Nagi."

"HA! SUCKER!"

"Man, it really likes to rain a lot today," said Kitsune as the small group got back to the top of the hill. "Hmm?"

Sarah stood there, arms folded and looking rather annoyed. Beside her, a teenager dressed in black and white sort of smirked at the group. "There you all are!" said Sarah. "Geez, what's up with running out like that?"

"Sarah, you're all right!" Cried Shinobu, grabbing her in a hug.

"Hey, lemme go! You're squishing me!"

"Did you bring her home?" asked Negi of the boy and the boy grinned.

"Yeah. You'd best keep her safe. So you're Negi Springfield, the guy who made her cry."

"Ulp... Um, yeah, I sort of got mad at her."

The boy laughed. "I'm Inugami Kotarou. Look, I dunno what kind of relationship you and she have but promise me you'll keep her safe. You have a long way to go... as a wizard."

"Eh?" said Negi as Kotarou pressed the card into his hands. "But..."

"Hey, Negi!" Called out Sarah and Negi turned to her. "I heard Haruka told you how your dad was. Ready to admit he was a screw up?"

Negi had to smile back at her as Sarah's grin was wide and without malice. "You wish!" Laughed Negi and Sarah grinned back.

"C'mon, it's a reunion party!" Cheered Kitsune.

"I get to pick the video game!" Called out Su as the girls headed into the Hinata House.

Negi turned back to where Kotarou stood but found the space currently not occupied. Running to the top of the steps, he looked down the stairs. Kotarou was already at the bottom with his hands in his pockets. Looking at the Pactio card in his hand that depicted Sarah, Negi cupped his hands and yelled out, "KOTAROU! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!"

Kotarou held up a hand in salute as he disappeared around the corner.

'Dad... Nekane-neesan... Anya... everyone... I promise I'll become a great wizard. And I'll do it, with the help of the people who love and care about me.'

"What'cha doin' standing there looking so cool, huh!" Cried Sarah as she plowed into Negi with a flying knee.

"ARGH! I was having a moment!" Cried Negi as he chased Sarah around. But the pair were laughing.