Disclaimers: I do not own Negima or High School DxD. For that matter, I technically do not own this story either.

This story was originally called "The Wildcard" and was written by kroz phantomville here on FFnet. Real Life however, decided to interfere with his storytelling, and thus he decided to put the story up for adoption. Since I enjoyed the story he had started, I decided to adopt it and asked permission to do so.

Please note that I have changed a few details from the original "The Wildcard," although I have tried to keep the spirit of the story intact.

Please read and review. I can't improve as a writer if I don't know I am making mistakes. Especially when it comes to spelling Issei's name. It is Hyodo or Hyoudou? I'm using Hyodo because that is how it is spelled in the anime.

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Chapter 3

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Firsts, Meetings and Impressions

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'Why am I doing this? Oh right. I was asked to do this.'

Issei Hyodo trudged up the hallway in the same manner that condemned men walk to the gallows. Motohama and Matsuda had preceded him up this very hallway the day before. Both reported back that the new sensei was friendly and polite, but was firm when describing proper behavior around 'the fairer sex' as they said.

Motohama mentioned his 'three-size scouter' ability to Springfield-sensei. His opinion was that sensei was less than impressed about that.

'This might be bad. This might be really bad.'

Issei approached the door that was his destination. He hoped that it was not his final destination before he knocked.

Within fifteen minutes of talking to him, Negi learned quite a bit about Issei.

First and foremost, Issei liked breasts.

I like all of the parts of girls Negi-sensei, but breasts are my favorite. That quote from Issei ran through his mind even as he mulled over the facts.

Second, Issei wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Negi had already deduced that from looking at Issei's grades, so it was not a complete surprise. However, to talk to Issei in person was still an experience.

Not a bad experience, mind you. Perhaps a little overwhelming. Even Chamo had not been this passionate about his collection of panties, compared to Issei's passion about breasts. Negi spent two minutes trying to calm Issei down about that when he started going on at length about the subject.

Third, the reason all of the girls chased him around was that he was the one who kept getting caught. Especially after Motohama and Matsuda would sneak off beforehand.

Something about that annoyed Negi, as both Motohama and Matsuda had all but bragged about ditching Issei to be caught. Reprehensible as Chamo was, he never ditched anyone. If anything, Chamo, and several other familiars that had served him in the past, firmly believed in "no man left behind."

"Sensei."

Chamo, and Jack Rakan for that matter, both shared a certain amount of perversion when it came to the fairer sex. He wondered, not for the first time, if he attracted perverts to him somehow.

"Sensei?"

He recalled some of his more 'eager' students and familiars. Not all of them had been perverts, but several were less than noble when dealing with the fairer sex. He'd spend quite a bit of time on each to try to educate them into proper behavior, or at least calming down long enough to at least speak to someone they were interested in without scaring them off. Sometimes it had worked, sometimes not.

"Sensei?!"

"Huh?" Negi turned his head to see Issei leaning over him with a look of concern on his face.

"Sorry Sensei. You seemed lost in thought."

Negi chuckled, "I apologize Issei-san. I was woolgathering."

Confusion replaced concern on Issei's face, "Wool what?"

"Woolgathering. I was indeed lost in thought remembering old friends." Negi looked up at Issei, "You are not the first pervert that I have encountered."

Issei nodded, "You did say that."

"And I meant it. As I said, you are not the first, but you are certainly among the most enthusiastic that I have met. And I have met more than a few in my lifetime. Go sit on the couch again and I'll tell you a little about one of them."

As Issei went to sit again, Negi adjusted himself in the chair he was sitting in. After Issei was seated, Negi began, "Among my first friends was one named Albert."

A faint "Boooo!" came from Chachazero, sitting on his desk. He ignored her and resumed, "He was among my first friends when I was younger. I found him while I was playing out in the woods. He'd gotten himself into trouble because of his penchant for panties and happened to be hiding in the woods I was playing in."

"Excuse me sensei, but... 'a penchant for panties?'"

Negi nodded, "Albert was rather obsessed with women's underwear. He stole them from girls and women constantly."

"Um, isn't that wrong?"

"Yes it is Issei. So don't get that idea in your head," Negi said. "I know you 'favor' breasts..." Negi said in an effort to be diplomatic about Issei's obsession, "But I notice you have not started collecting brassieres, so don't start doing that either."

"Brassieres?"

"Bras, Issei. Brassieres is the proper term."

"Don't you worry sensei. I won't start collecting them. That is just wrong."

Negi smiled, "Good to hear Issei."

"Besides, I intend to..." Issei started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

She sighed as she walked through the hallway. It wasn't as if she needed to do what she was doing, as this was only partially her territory.

But this new teacher had so many rumors flying about him that she wanted to investigate. After all, he really couldn't be as young as they said he was, could he?

"They say he is as handsome as the Devil."

"There has been a lot of rumors Tsubaki. That is why we are going to see Springfield-sensei. Between the both of us, I am sure we can sort the truth out from the exaggerations everyone has been spreading." She sighed before continuing, "I really wish Onee-sama would learn to do her own paperwork instead of placing it in my hands."

"I'm sure she has her reasons."

"Yes, and her main reason is that she is too busy making her Magical Girl shows. I know she wants to change people's perception of devils, but she isn't going about it the proper way. But I can't convince her of that," Sona said. Her impatience about the situation with her sister became apparent as her gait changed from casually walking to measured strides. As a result, she reached her destination quicker than intended.

Tsubaki had been more then her usual half-step behind when Sona stopped in front of Springfield-sensei's office door, but caught up with her while her King knocked.

"Yes?" came the reply from inside.

Sona took that as her cue to open the door. When she did she noticed first the office was larger than the standard offices Kuoh Academy had. But that was expected, as those teachers that provided counceling had larger offices to provide space for more seating, such as the couch along the wall currently occupied.

Sona glanced over at Issei before turning her attention to Negi. "Am I interrupting a session?" she asked.

"Well, I am not sure I would call this a session. More of an interview really," replied Negi.

Issei nodded in agreement before adding, "Springfield-sensei was just gathering wool when you knocked."

Negi smiled as both Sona and Tsubaki turned to face him. "The notion of 'woolgathering' does not translate well into your language," he explained.

Sona paused to think for a full second before asking Negi, "Doesn't that word mean almost the same thing as 'reminiscing'?"

Negi nodded, "Indeed it does. Do you understand English?"

"I do not claim to be fully fluent in the language, but I can speak it," Sona said slowly. She had to speak English carefully so that Springfield-sensei would not suspect that she could easily understand him. He was a new teacher so she needed to observe him.

So when he turned to Hyodo Issei sitting on the couch, she happened to catch sight of the doll sitting on the desk. As Springfield-sensei spoke to Hyodo-san, she studied the features of the doll. When Issei had replied to Springfield-sensei, she turned her attention away from the doll and back to the mysterious teacher.

But the doll was still in her field of vision. She meant to ask him about it, since it was rather unusual in design.

Negi turned away from Sona long enough to tell Issei, "I believe we are done for today Hyodo-san. I do not seem to think you need as much counceling as your friends do. From what I have heard, you are just the unlucky one who gets caught more often than they do. But I do wish to speak with you more about your behavior around the female students here."

Issei nodded, "Alright sensei."

"Perv."

Negi froze as Issei stood up, but turned to the two young women standing in his office as Issei passed by him on his way out. He noted both of them recomposing their expressions as he faced them.

Drat. They noticed Chachazero. Right. This has happened before. Just distract them with conversation until they started asking uncomfortable questions, which meant that the memory spell needed to be cast. Or they would not say anything at all and believe they didn't hear Zero's little outburst.

"I see that both of you are third year students. Might I ask why you are here?" Negi asked, trying to keep a friendly smile on his face as he did.

He could almost see Sona's emotions that she was trying to hide with her own friendly smile as she replied, "I am Shitori Sona and this is Shinra Tsubaki. President and Vice President of the Student Council." Both Sona and Tsubaki bowed to him then before continuing, "We have heard so many rumors about you that we had to come see you for ourselves. We had heard that you were young, but I did not believe those rumors."

He chuckled quietly, adjusting his glasses before speaking, "I am not as young as I look. If I stopped exercising and ate more fatty foods, I would look older in no time." He glanced at both visitors again and spotted their auras.

So much for using the memory spell. Both of them are Devils. Right. Let's see if they ask any questions.

Neither Sona nor Tsubaki asked about Zero. Instead they asked about Negi's teaching credentials and spoke just enough about themselves to almost convince him that they had not heard anything unusual.

Almost being the key word.

Author Notes

Far too much time has passed since I started working on this chapter. I might change this soon as it is still far too rough for my liking. It was intended to be longer but I decided that splitting it where I did makes it easier for all of you to read.

Be sure to review. I might be updating my stories again, but I can feel the rust coming off of my skills. I can't get better if no one tells me I am making mistakes.