Disclaimer: I do not own Magister Magi Negima! or any other variant of the name.
Katarina levelled a distinctly displeased glare at Evangeline, who for her part returned it with one of annoyance.
In other circumstances it might have shaken the bespectacled girl, if only due to knowing what lurked beneath her adorable doll-like exterior.
But not right now.
Katarina was kind of angry.
Partly because Evangeline had just attacked Nodoka, and partly because her actions were less than well thought out, and she had no desire to get caught up in the potential fallout.
Of course, something, something vague and incomprehensible seemed to tell Katarina that there was nothing to worry about, but that only served to keep this civil.
Katarina still wanted to question what Eva had been thinking.
"What if Negi actually, for once, did the smart thing and went to Takamichi-sensei, his closest friend in this entire damn school, and asked for help?" She spat out.
"That brat won't do that. Despite every other challenge that has come his way, I can count the number of times he turned to his fellow faculty on my fingers." The vampire shot back.
"And I do agree, but I still wouldn't count on him not suddenly understanding that he needs to turn to others for help." Katarina sighed. "There's also the risk posed by some of our fellow students…"
"Like Sakurazaki or Tatsumiya? I'm not stupid enough to actually do anything to provoke them. And they're not going to move without a reason, and neither are interested enough to interfere out of pure goodwill."
"Doesn't Tatsumiya-san essentially run an orphanage? She has plenty of goodwill hidden inside her."
Evangeline released a sigh of her own. "I understand your points, but the situation is actually under control."
A period of silence followed this statement as Katarina mulled over it, calming down in the process.
Ugh. Emotional outburst like these never felt good…
Under control…
"Don't tell me… you have an understanding going on?"
"Perhaps."
The bespectacled girl groaned softly. "Do you have to be like that? Oh well, I'll drop it. Not really any of my business anyway."
"Finally. You know, I would have thought you would focus more on the fact I attacked your friend."
"You wouldn't really have hurt her anyway, and she wouldn't really have remembered… I didn't feel like there was any point to focusing on that… That reminds me though. Why don't you just suck my blood? You've done it a few times, and it's the least I can do to repay you. Just… ask, next time."
"I have my reasons for wanting to target others. Still, if you insist…"
Evangeline rose from her seat and instead plopped down next to Katarina.
"Hold out your arm." She then said.
"Like… this?" Katarina replied and uncertainly raised her arm, holding it straight in front of the vampire.
"That's fine." Evangeline responded and took a hold of the arm, seemingly inspecting it for a short while.
Then, before the bespectacled girl could ask any questions, the vampire bared her fangs and bit into the arm before her.
The suddenness of the whole thing jolted Katarina, but she kept herself from moving too much.
And, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.
It was a strange feeling, as Evangeline used what limited magic she still had access to in order to heal the wound left by her bite.
Or was it just something inherent in a vampire's bite in the first place?
"I know what I said, but… I did ask you to ask." Katarina said.
"I know. I didn't this time as a bit of punishment." Evangeline smiled a slightly wicked smile. "I'll consider it next time. Still, so you have noticed that I've sucked your blood in the past."
"Well… part of it was pure conjecture, but there have been a few suspicious moments. I'm not completely oblivious to the condition of my body… just really good at pushing it aside." The last part was but a small whisper.
The vampire made a small grimace, but said nothing.
"You know, I can't help but feel like you've done some exercise that I didn't assign to you…" She instead suddenly said with a dark look.
Katarina's blood ran cold at this glare.
"I… I…" She didn't really know what to say.
Should she lie? To Evangeline? To Evangeline's face?
"I… blame… Chao…?"
"You blame Chao?"
Evangeline held her gaze for a few agonizing moments.
Then, she sighed and simply returned to her original seat.
"I'll have to talk to her about this, you do know that?" The vampire calmly added.
Katarina sighed, and in her mind asked herself just what she was doing.
"She's… been teaching me some martial arts. I could say that she strong-armed me into it, which isn't completely false, but none of it would have happened if I hadn't held an interest in the first place…"
"So that's what it was." Evangeline sighed as well. "I suppose I should have realised. Martial arts are good for physical conditioning and protecting yourself, but do remember that you are studying magic in order to not self-destruct. Nothing else really matters if that were to happen."
"I know. Has it impacted my magic studies yet?"
"Just a friendly reminder. I've invested too much into you to see it all wasted." Evangeline then seemed to fall into thought. "I'll have to coordinate a bit I suppose…"
Katarina sighed, and fell back into the sofa.
Eva had brought up a point she didn't like to contemplate all too much. The real reason she is being taught magic.
Partially because it was kind of unsettling, and partially because it made her slow (not really) progress… well, even less pleasant.
She groaned softly, and pushed away all those thoughts, burying them deep within, alongside worries over her own identity and other things, both small and not so small.
-Break—
A sigh escaped Katarina's lips as she noticed Asuna and Negi's concerned glances at her when she entered the classroom.
While she wasn't particularly worried they would do anything to her, it was a clear sign that Evangeline's actions had spilled over onto her.
Which meant she'd have to do something.
Both of them were susceptible to letting their imaginations run a bit wild, and there was no telling what that could result in.
And just when she had considered attempting to reach out to her.
Luckily, she got an opportunity once class was over.
Excusing herself to her friends, she headed over to where Asuna and Negi both stood.
"Kagurazaka-san, Sensei! There's something I need to talk to you about, if you can spare a moment."
Their look when she called out to them wasn't particularly promising, to say the least.
"McDowell-san, what is it?" Negi replied, putting up his best front, which wasn't particularly convincing.
"This isn't a good place to say it, so can we find some privacy?" Katarina remarked, then directed a smile at Asuna. "You don't need to be so tense Kagurazaka-san, I don't have any intention of doing anything towards either of you. As a matter of fact, I'm here to clarify something…"
"A-alright. We'll find some privacy." Negi said.
Asuna looked a bit uncertain, but didn't say anything.
They moved away from all the people moving about the school, but not to a location so remote that no one could see them.
An out of the way but quite visible spot on the campus.
Either Negi intentionally chose it to prevent any altercations, or he just went far enough.
She gave it a 50/50. Which was probably quite generous towards the child teacher.
"First, let me say that I have no part in Evangeline's grudge against you, Sensei." She opened.
"Evangeline?" Asuna seemed confused. "Don't you always call her 'Onee-chan'?"
"That would be because it annoys her. Sensei, you should have had at least some suspicions."
"What do you mean?" Negi questioned, confused as well.
The bespectacled girl sighed. "Evangeline and I don't look nearly that similar. Close enough to fool the girls in class, but you should be able to see it."
"Certainly, you have a lot of differences that the girls might not be able to pick up on, but… Siblings don't have to be all that similar." The child teacher responded, tilting his head.
Asuna for her part looked thoroughly confused.
"Look, there's no way I'm actually her sister. We're just pretending."
Both of the other two's faces lit up, although Asuna took a little longer.
"Wait, are you serious? Why?" The heterochromatic girl questioned.
"Honestly? I'm not quite sure myself. You could try asking the headmaster, he's the one who decided upon the arrangement." Katarina responded with a carefree shrug.
"That… doesn't really make any sense…" Asuna said.
The bespectacled girl sighed. "I'll just give you this… I don't remember much of anything about myself. Bits and pieces, but not enough to say where I actually belong… or what my actual name is."
Her statement was mostly true. She had a few more pieces available that did give her an indication, but some of them weren't particularly useful for one reason or another, and the rest 'Katarina' wasn't even sure about in the first place.
The other two were quiet. Looking over at them revealed two separate expressions, although both of them contained quite a bit of sympathy.
Especially Asuna…
Katarina almost wanted to chide herself.
Asuna didn't remember much about her past either. She'd forgotten about that…
Damn it, she didn't want these two to involve themselves, yet they weren't exactly the type to ignore other people's problems.
"I-is there anything-?" Negi started.
"I appreciate your concern Sensei, but you won't have any better success than the faculty or… Well, the faculty." Katarina interrupted him. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Sensei, Kagurazaka-san."
She then left with rapid steps, hoping that they would leave it all at that.
Of course, she already knew the answer.
She did hear some exclamation from behind her, but didn't care to pay enough attention to even properly register who it was.
Honestly, it would probably be far better if she just straight up said that they wouldn't be able to do anything, but that would raise questions from Negi, and Katarina wasn't in a position to start telling him things.
Negi was clever and inquisitive, but even he wouldn't be able to actually use the information she could provide…
Mostly because it didn't mean much to her either…
Damn it… She had just wanted to alleviate any worry the kid might have regarding her, but had only replaced one worry with another.
Hopefully, the matter with Evangeline would distract him long enough that he would forget it…
A small derisive snort escaped her lips.
Wishful thinking at its finest.
Hm…?
This feeling…
How distracted must she have been to wander over here?
Before her, the World Tree towered, a place she didn't like approaching.
She did with a hint of satisfaction note that it felt a lot better that it had all that time ago.
It was almost pleasant, in a way.
She still didn't have a good grasp on how all that worked.
She might have better awareness and tolerance now, but she didn't exactly have the ability to control any of the things related to magic.
Of course, there was another thing.
Now that she didn't feel intense discomfort over here, the sense of dread she'd had back then was instead all too noticeable.
There was something, something connected to this tree that-
Oh.
That…
Is a very fair reason to feel unsettled here…
Of course, what had come to mind wasn't the definitive, actual, answer, but rather a good candidate.
The very thought did certainly chill her, but that didn't mean that was why.
Because that assumed she actually understood enough about herself to confidently pinpoint the reason for something like this.
It could simply be that it was part of her nature now to be concerned about places where the magical energy would spike, even if such an explanation didn't exactly feel very convincing.
She sighed and moved on.
If it truly was the former…
Then, come on, she wasn't actually that close while you were standing by the tree.
'Why did I have to know about something like that? This is getting absolutely ridiculous…'
Author's notes: Well... what can I say? Honestly, I don't exactly have any excuses. I just... haven't been writing (on the things I should be writing). Tangentially, but not at all so don't worry about it, it is disheartening not to see any feedback on what I've written. Indication of what people think of the direction I'm going, comments on mistakes I've made... Like... saying rose LEAVES, when I meant petals. I've never heard of anyone having rose leaves in a tea-blend, but rose petals? I actually enjoy tea with rose petals in it myself. Can you imagine my embarrassment when I finally caught it, several months later? *sigh* Maybe you just found it to be so obvious you didn't feel the need to say anything? In that case, I would definitively appreciate having it pointed out in the future. Feedback helps me improve... I should... probably also just... proofread better...
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.