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Side Stories: Little Witch Shenanigans #1

Shinobi #1

"It is finally done!" Akko threw her hands up in exhaustion. "No more essay!"

Luna Nova sure loved their surprise essays, therefore the group agreed that each member would handle the topic they were most experienced in. Sucy blazed through potions and monster biology, while Lotte trivialized magical items and creature communications. Akko herself was tasked with processing astrology and fortune telling. Unfortunately, despite the shared labor, everyone would still have to write the paper themselves, which brought her to her current situation.

She stretched her back and let out a yawn. "It's almost 1 am… I am so beat… Really should've done this earlier, but oh well..."

As she left her chair and headed for the blessing of her bed, she was suddenly interrupted by an explosion of smoke.

The exhausted Akko snapped her head up to find another girl had appeared by the door. She had black hair tied into a long ponytail, in uniform, with a long scarf masking half of her face. She had what seemed to be a short katana by her waist.

Awkward silence lingered for a few seconds before the intruder exclaimed, "Y-You are still awake this late!?"

"Ah… I should be asking you." Akko glared. "Who are you? And why did you puff into our room without permission?"

The intruder looked panicked before she quickly composed herself. Her tone became more serious as she tried to sound super mature and cool. "-No matter! I simply underestimated you!" She proclaimed and stood tall.

"Wait… That hand sign… you are a Ninja?"

"I am, you bet!" the girl sounded excited all of a sudden. She pressed her palms together and bowed to Akko formally. "Domo, Marianne Bond desu." she introduced in Japanese.

"Ah… Domo? Kagari Atsuko desu." the brunette bowed back. "Her accent's way too thick."

"Amazing! So you do know the super secret honorable introduction of Ninjas!" Marianne exclaimed in happiness before shifting back to her edgy tone. "But now that we have introduced ourselves, Demon Witch Atsuko… I must make my escape… so PREPARE YOURSELF! YEEEEEART!"

Akko raised an eyebrow when the ninja girl leapt at her for a karate chop, and she noticed there were colored powders in her hand.

Her speed was impressive but…

Akko casually grabbed her wrist out of the air and twisted.

"Let go! LET GO- Owowowowowowow!"

Sucy and Lotte finally awoke to find Marianne had been forced to her knees. Her scarf mask had slipped off, revealing the face of a crying British girl.

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[II] [IX] [VII] [X]

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - [0] - Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

[XIII] [XV]

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Pixie's healing spell calmed down at the same time as Marianne's sobbing. Sucy tied her feet up with ropes, forcing her to kneel in shame until she fully explained herself.

"Not bad. Paralzying powders. I would go with a heavier dose, but a good idea for a Ninja cosplay." Sucy noted.

"I am not cosplaying!" the response was emotional. The girl seemed outraged that she was considered a fake. "I was sent on a mission… If I hadn't made that mistake I would've gotten away with it for sure!"

"I don't know about that…" Lotte said. "I'm pretty sure Wispy would've detected you."

Her pet nodded, proud of her thermal vision.

"This is unbearable shame..." the ninja lower her head. "I must atone for my action with honorable sudoku… I won't tell you anything about my employer!"

"So someone did send you, got it. Thanks, idiot," Sucy said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah… Did you mean Seppuku? Sudoku is the math puzzle." Akko said, "But don't do either of them, please. Also, I don't think Ninjas even need to do that… They usually blow themselves up, right?"

"I really doubt she had the nerve, her head's clearly still in la-la land," Sucy said. "Stop wasting our time, girl. Or do I have to bring out the pain?"

Terror were all over Marianne's face when she saw the test tubes and needles. Finally, she let out a sigh and her façade broke.

"... My name is Marianne Bond. And someone sent me to gather info on you and your team, Atsuko," she answered with her real voice.

As it turned out, Marianne was a huge fan of Japanese culture, especially when it came to Ninjas. The myth of the silent spy assassin and their portrayals in media were always what inspired her. Being born a witch, by all means she got the physical capability and magic to really achieve her dream.

Unfortunately due to many issues, she couldn't go to Japan yet. While still learning Japanese, she settled for acting out her dream until then. Which in turn, created another problem as her attempt to be seen as a proper ninja was mocked relentlessly to the point where she had no friends and everybody saw her as that weirdo that wore cosplay all day.

"Don't blame people. You did this to yourself," Sucy pointed out.

"That's why I am going to prove everyone wrong! If I succeed in my mission to discover the secrets of the Demon Witch for my employer then I can prove to everyone I am a real Ninja!" Marianne replied. "But I failed… now my classmates are going to mock me even more… So shameful… I give up, report me, do your worst…" She looked down in defeat.

Akko eyed the girl sympathetically. She stood up and reach a hand to the ninja. "No, we are not going to do that. We will pretend tonight didn't happen, all right?"

"Huh?"

"A real life Ninja, huh? That sounds really cool!" Akko complimented. "How about this? I'll ask some people I know back home and help you look for training. By the way, I noticed your Japanese needs work, how about coming to me if you need practice speaking it? I will help you out!"

"Y-You would do that?" Marianne was shocked. "T-This is incredible! You are the first person ever to say my dream was cool and worth pursuing…!"

Tear leaked down her face.

"I-I am crying? I must be so happy…!"

Sucy flicked her wand and removed the ropes. "This is over right? Can I go back to sleep now?"

The Ninja witch got up and shook hands with Akko. "Thank you so much for your offer, Atsuko! In return, I will fight to redeem your honor! You are not a Demon Witch- if anything, you are a saint! From now on, you are my new employer!"

"You're welcome! Just call me Akko from now on!" the brunette said with a smile.

With that said, she pulled her mask back on, her glare and voice once again serious. "Sayonara!" She performed the classic hand sign and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"I can see why you are helping her, Akko," Lotte smiled. "You did good. I hope she really does get to become a Ninja! That would be so cool!"

Supreme Ultimate #1

Akko, having just finished a morning jog with Ursula and Sarah, was returning to the main building when she encountered a peculiar sight.

A young witch was seemingly doing some kind of martial art. She had short hair tied with twin buns, and those buns were covered with cute panda faces. Her movements were slow but at the same time very graceful, if not mesmerizing. Curious, Akko decided to speak with her.

"Hi, can I ask what you are doing?"

The girl snapped open her eyes, startled. Apparently she was so focused that she hadn't even registered Akko's presence. "啊, 什么?!"

"… I don't understand that. But sorry I surprised you," Akko greeted.

"... No problem," the girl said with a Chinese accent. "No need for introduction, Kagari Atsuko. I still haven't thanked you for helping the Pixie Hair club."

"Oh! You know Catherine and Zizi?"

"They are my teammates," the girl nodded. "My name is Chen Lin-Lin, just call me Lin or Lin-Lin. As for your question, Atsuko. I am practicing Tai Chi."

"You can call me Akko. But Tai Chi, huh?" the brunette questioned. "I heard of it from my senpai and from movies, is it that really slow kung fu for old people?"

Lin-Lin groaned. "... It's that misconception again. I see I will have to explain very thoroughly."

The girl did a few moves of Tai Chi; they were slow and gentle. "You see what I just did? This is what normal people practice in the parks. These are non-combative Tai Chi meant for health and longevity. Yes, it is popular amongst older people, but really anyone could learn it. I was doing it as warm ups… Now, let me show you some real Tai Chi."

Her movements shifted to a faster pace, surprising Akko with the variety of movements and strength behind each strike despite how gentle each one looked.

"Wow! Amazing!" the brunette clapped.

"What you saw was Chen style, my family's style," the Chinese witch explained. "So, you're interested in practicing with me?"

"Huh?"

"Practicing by myself is boring… I tried teaching Catherine and Zizi so they could join me, but they lack the interest and diligence. I don't even have Li-Li with me…"

"Li-Li?"

"My Panda familiar. The government wouldn't let me bring him to England because he's a national treasure," the Chinese witch sighed. "闷死啦!"

"Oh…" Akko wondered. "I could join you if you want!"

"You will?"

"Yeah, I might not know Tai Chi, but I do know Wing Chun!" She demonstrated by immediately going into a ready stance.

"哦, 二字钳羊马? 有趣~" Lin-Lin's look shifted, now looking more like a fighter thirsty for a match. "I've fought Wing Chun masters before. Let's see how you do!"

Both girls now stood facing each other in a proper match set up. Lin-Lin greeted with the fist-to-palm Chinese gesture, which Akko mimicked, before going into combative stances.

"让我们开始吧! Let's go!" Lin-Lin declared.

Both stood cautiously for five seconds, doing nothing.

"I suppose she fights defensively?" Akko thought. "I guess I will go first…"

Akko's palms collapsed to fists as she speared in for a jab. She expected Lin-Lin to block or deflect her blows.

Except she did nothing of the sort. Stepping in a spiral motion, the Chinese witch sidestepped the oncoming Akko and struck her forearms with her own. The force was gentle, it was as if Akko was being softly guided forward… before her forearm was hammered down, tipping her body's balance forward.

"Eh-?"

Lin-Lin delivered a low kick, sweeping Akko off-balance. The match was over as the brunette slammed down face first and slid through the lawn.

"EEHHHH?!" Akko exclaimed in confusion with a red face.

"Strong… very strong. Fast... very fast." Lin-Lin rubbed her sore forearms. "Ow… I would've went down instantly if you hit me." She helped Akko get up. "Your 二字钳羊马 was just forgotten instantly. No wonder I could easily knock you down! Who was your master? He doesn't deserve to teach!"

"Hehe… I didn't really practiced that part," Akko stuck out her tongue. "I know Wing Chun, but I mostly practiced the fist forms on the wooden dummy."

"I see," Lin-Lin sighed. "You need to fully master your art. As it stands, it's not worth being called Wing Chun."

"Hehe… Sorry..."

"This can't do," Lin-Lin said determination. "You have potential! You are strong and fast! But your strength is completely stupid brute force. You need to learn balance!" she pointed at Akko. "Come learn Tai Chi with me!"

"Well, you did beat me, so I guess I am your student now," Akko smiled. "Anyway, what you did was very cool, Lin-Lin, It's like my body was being guided along by you! How do you do that?!"

The Chinese witch smiled. She took up a Tai Chi stance again. "The prevailing principle of Tai Chi is the Ying and the Yang, how opposites will interact with each other. What I did was use soft force to cancel your hard force- 以柔制刚. That's what I meant when I said you need balance. All you are doing is hitting with hard force and no soft force, resulting in an easy counter!"

"That's really interesting!" Akko cheered. "Please teach me more, Lin-Lin sensei!"

"Sensei's fine, but please call me 琳老師 Lin Lǎoshī!" She began demonstrating forms. "Follow my lead!"

Having spent the rest of the morning with Lin-Lin, Akko found Tai Chi to be slow but very relaxing. She would definitely be doing more with her new teacher.

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[II] [IX] [VII] [X]

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - [0] - Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

[XIII] [XV]

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AuthorNCS: Yeah, temporary stand in for CH16 until the Oven finally finish baking...

Lol, Ninja Slayer up the butt.

Yeah, I know Tai Chi when I was twelve. Don't ask me to do it now through, I am rusty.

Fun fact, Lin-Lin is most likely named after Lin-Lin, the first son of the Panda with one of the most bizarre life in China, Báixuě.

Hopefully we will see you all soon with the real update...