Curse of the Devil Z

Kazumi Asakura decides to check on her cousin Akio Asakura. When she learns he drives a blue Nissan Fairlady Z S30 that's tainted with a dark past, Kazumi becomes concerned for him, while Negi senses a dark and frightening presence within the car. Takes place after the Mahora Festival.

Disclaimer: Maho Sensei Negima is property of Ken Akamatsu and all related publishers. Wangan Midnight is property of Michiharu Kusunoki, Kodanshita, OB Planning, and Namco.

Chapter 3: The Devil Z's Siblings

(The following Saturday, late evening, Shibuya Ward)

"Haa! That was so much fun Misa!"

"Yeah you said it Sakurako! This is the Ritz! Too bad Kugimin had to be a party pooper!"

Misa Kakizaki and Sakurako Shiina, from Mahora Girls' Middle school Class 3-A and the Mahora Cheerleaders' Club, were out fooling around in the Shibuya district like gals on crack. Always out looking for fun, they spent practically the whole day in Shibuya engaging in various fun activities from window shopping, to snacking, to playing games, to Karaoke, which was the most recent activity they had for the day before this little trip to a convinience store. Their classmate and fellow cheerleader, Madoka Kugimiya, declined to join in the fun.

"Oh indeed. Sometimes I don't get what she's thinking. It's summer break for crying out loud!" remarked Misa as the pair exited the convinience store. It was then they noticed that the city had grown rather quiet with few people around and little traffic on the streets.

"Oh this is boring!" whined Sakurako. "Where is everyone?"

"They probably got sleepy and got some shuteye. Ugh!"

"Oh well, let's go find something else to..." Sakurako stopped. She noticed two women at the parking area of the convinience store near a pair of flashy sports cars. Then it hit her as she recognized one of them. "Hey Misa! Isn't that Reina Akikawa?"

"Yeah it is!" replied Misa. "And that other one is Makoto Morishita!"

"This is too cool! Let's ask for their autographs!"

(In the parking area)

"At least we clean their clocks real good this time!" said a girl with long brown hair.

"Yeah. Those jerks from the R200 Club are getting to be a real pain!" replied her companion, a girl with short red hair. "I can't believe they came back all of a sudden."

"Yeah! I thought they hung up their gloves for good after Akio-kun, Tatsuya-kun, and I gave them a run down a year ago!"

"A-ano, sumimsen!"

The two ladies turned to face the two cheerleaders. "Yes?" asked the brown haired girl.

"Can we have your autographs please?" begged Sakurako, holding out a magazine turned to a full-page ad. The ad featured the brown haired girl holding a can of juice.

"Yes, pretty please?" added Misa, holding another magazine opened to an ad featuring the redhead.

The two girls, apparently found out public that they were models, looked at each other.

"What do you think Makoto-chan?" asked the brown haired girl.

"Hmm, gee Reina-chan, I don't know..." replied the redhead playfully, as if in deep thought, taking pleasure in seeing what may be their new set of groupies looking all puppy-eyed. Finally, she said "Come one! Let's be nice for a change."

"Well, why not?" said the girl identified as Reina. She and her companion, Makoto, finally turned to the two Mahora cheerleaders. "Alright you two. Just this once."

"Yaaayyy!" cheered the two middleschoolers as they got their wish.

"This is sooo cool!" piped Sakurako. "It's so great to finally meet you!"

"Oh yes indeed!" added Misa. "Kugimin is going to be jealous when she finds out!"

"Nice to know we have such adoring fans" remarked Reina, almost sarcastically. Makoto giggled.

"You must have a lot of fun being a model." said Sakurako.

"Well, yeah, but it's not all fun and games." said Reina.

"Eh?" piped Misa.

"Well, there's the busy schedule. Photoshoots, VIP parties, and my TV show." explained Reina.

"That's right." said Makoto.

"Aww, and I just when I wanted to be a model too!" said Sakurako.

"Hey, don't let it get you down" said Makoto. "We get to meet lots of great people"

"Hmm, I guess you're right." replied Misa.

"Now that you know us, shouldn't it be fair we know who you are?" said Makoto.

"Oh, forgive us!" replied Sakurako. "I'm Sakurako Shiina, Mahora Girls' Middle School class 3-A"

"And I'm Misa Kakizaki, Sakurako's classmate and co-member in the Mahora Cheering club!" said Misa.

"Heeeh? Middle school?" remarked Reina. "Boy did I miss those days."

"Oh?" piped Sakurako.

"I started modelling when I was in highschool. As a consequence I didn't go to college. I missed all my school friends because of that." said Reina.

"Soka" said Misa.

"But that's alright. Like I said I've meet some great people, like Makoto-chan here."

"Ah, so you're working together?" asked Sakurako.

"Actually, we met not mainly because of being models, but because of a common hobby." said Makoto.

"What's that?" asked Misa.

Reina patted her car, a white Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, while Makoto patted hers, a yellow Nissan 300ZX Z32.

"You're looking at them" said Reina.

"Ehhhh???" gasped the cheerleaders.

"You... you're into sports cars!?" asked Sakurako.

"That's right!" said Makoto.

"Do you like, race them?" asked Misa.

"Bingo!" said Reina.

"No way!" said the two cheerleaders.

"Way!" replied the models.

"Okay, this is weird." said Sakurako. "I mean, I just can't picture you ladies racing and stuff."

"Yeah. Most models I've seen just pose on cars, not drive them!" said Misa.

"That's true, but we're not like 'most models' so to speak." said Makoto.

"I still kinda find that hard to believe." said Sakurako.

Reina and Makoto looked at each other, and smiled.

"How about we give you girls a demonstration?" said Reina.

"EHHH!??"

"Sure! Besides, at this time of night, it's dangerous for young girls like you to be wandering around by yourselves." said Makoto. "Why not hitch a ride and we can take you home?"

"Well, we do live at the Mahora dorms." said Sakurako.

"And it's quite some way from here, and we kinda ran out of pocket money" said Misa sheepishly.

"I can imagine" said Reina. "So, who's riding with who?"

"Can I ride with you Reina-san?" asked Sakurako.

"And may I hitch with you Makoto-san?" added Misa.

"Of course! Hop in!" said Reina.

"Come on!" said Makoto.

The models unlocked their cars so that everyone could hop in. After everyone was buckled up, they drove off into the night, until they reached Route 3 of the Shuto Expressway.

"So, why'd you call it the 'Reina-R'?" asked said Sakurako, riding in Reina's car.

"Hehehe, well, it's a way to say it's my car, and my car alone!" remarked Reina.

"Wow this is amazing" said Sakurako, watching Reina tackle the corners of the Tokyo Metropolitan Highway.

"Ha! This is nothing. Wait till we reach Wangan!" said Reina.

"Wangan? As in the Bayshore Route?" said Sakurako.

(BGM: Fun Loving Spirit)

Within minutes, the two cars rolled along the New Beltline route, approaching the Tatsumi Junction.

"Alright, brace yourself!" said Reina.

"Eh?" piped Sakurako.

As they exited the ramp, they emerged into the Wangan Expressway heading west. Then Reina gunned it.

"WAAAAAAA!!!" yelled Sakurako in reaction to the car's acceleration. She glanced at the mirror and saw Makoto's car following them, matching their pace. She then glanced at Reina, who looked completely focused on the road. "Sugoi..."

"Having fun yet?" asked Reina.

"Ah- uh, hai!" blurted Sakurako.

Reina giggled. She let up a little so that Makoto's 300ZX caught up to run side by side with them on the Skyline's right. "Check out Makoto-chan." she ordered.

Sakurako glanced at Makoto and was awestruck. She almost laughed at Makoto's passenger Misa who was looking really nervous. "Misa's not exactly having the time of her life."

Reina laughed. "Some people just can't handle the speed. My manager for instance really freaked out when I drove him back to the studio." she said, earning a laugh from Sakurako. "Well well well."

"What is it?" asked Sakurako.

"Look who's here." said Reina, indicating a blue car ahead of them. Reina made an enigmatic hand signal to Makoto, who nodded back.

"What's going on?" asked Sakurako.

"Watch this!" said Reina, as she floored it.

"Uh? HEEHHH!!??" hollered Sakurako as they accelerated. Eventually the Skyline and the 300ZX flanked the blue car.

"Say hello to the Devil Z!" said Reina.

"Devil Z?" remaked a confused Sakurako, who looked at the Fairlady Z S30. First she noticed the driver, a handsome young man. Then she saw the passenger and was greatly surprised. "Kazumi!?!?"

"Eh? Someone you know?"

"Yes! That's my classmate!"

"Hmm, so that's why Akio-kun's been visiting your school. That must be his cousin there he was talking to me about."

"Huh!?" piped a very surprised Sakurako. "Kazumi has a cousin?"

"Looks like I'll be poking Akio-kun about this later on." said Reina.

"Not a bad looking guy. Your boyfriend?"

Reina laughed. "Not exactly, though I have been seeing him a lot, usually around these parts like we the way we are going now."

Sakurako boggled. "You RACE him!?"

"I've always wanted to beat his car since he brought it back from the scrapyard." She noticed the Devil Z's turn signal, indicating it was intending to leave the Wangan by the next exit. She let the blue car go ahead, then followed it to the Ooi exit ramp. The 300ZX followed suit, as the three cars entered the Yokohane line going east. "Looks like he's going back east. Must be heading to your school."

"Soka"

(end BGM)

(Mahora dormitories, 30 minutes later)
The trio of Nissan sports cars entered the parking lot of the Mahora Dormitories, each taking a parking slot side by side. Everyone got off.

"You alright Misa?" asked Sakurako.

"Yeah, as soon as I take a breather" panted Misa. Reina laughed after hearing Makoto tell her side of the experience.

Sakurako then turned to Kazumi. "And you Kazumi, you never told us about your good looking cousin there."

Kazumi laughed sheepishly. "You never asked. Akio-niisan, these are my classmates, Sakurako Shiina and Misa Kakizaki."

"Domo" said Akio. "Reina-chan, Makoto-san, my cousin Kazumi. Kazumi-chan, Reina Akikawa and Makoto Morishita."

"Hi!" greeted Reina.

"Yo!" greeted Makoto.

"Hmmm? So you've been fooling around with some women these days eh?" teased Kazumi.

"Ehehehe. Actually, we race each other."

"WHAAAAAT!?!?" yelled Kazumi. She then turned to Reina and Makoto. "Not you too?"

Reina and Makoto giggled.

Kazumi sighed. "And I was hoping you'd settle down with a girl by now. Mou!"

"Misa! Sakurako!" called another girl.

"Hey Madoka!" Sakurako called back.

"Hey Kugimin! You missed out on the fun!" said Misa.

A girl with short black hair entered the area. "Really?" remarked Madoka Kugimiya.

"Yeah! We hitched rides with models! Can you believe it?" said Sakurako.

"EHHHH!?" blurted Madoka.

Sakurako made the introductions. Madoka was aghast.

"You- you mean th-they..." stuttered Madoka.

"Calm down Kugimin! We'll tell you all about it at the dorms." said Sakurako.

"Yeah. Anyway we gotta go" said Reina.

"Thanks for the ride!" said Sakurako

"Yeah, thanks!" added Misa.

"Don't mention it!" said Makoto.

"'Nite girls!" said Akio.

"'Nite Akio-niisan!" said Kazumi. "And remember what I told you!"

"Hai hai! Oujousama."

Kazumi glared at him, while Reina and Makoto laughed and the cheerleaders looked confused.

Minutes later the three sports cars drove off into the night. Kazumi and the cheerleaders walked back to the dorms. While the cheerleader trio talked avidly amongst themselves, Kazumi was in deep thought.

'I wonder what Sayo was talking about? I didn't notice anything weird about the Devil Z' Kazumi thought. 'What was she scared of anyway?'

-TBC

A/N: So now the model girls of Wangan Midnight have made their appearances, along with their cars. I kinda figured they'd get along well with the Mahora cheerleaders, particularly Sakurako and Misa, with the two of them being typical "gals" and all.

Negimafan: Thanks for your interest. Stay tuned for more.

Mariner945: Sorry pal you're the one who's got things all backwards, not to mention "misspelling" the name Asakura. Check Wikipedia - there's an article there about the name Asakura and it's clearly described as a Japanese Surname. In fact I've never seen any instance of the name Asakura being used as a given name. Also, the Japanese writing of Akio Asakura's name can be found in the Wangan Midnight article there was well - the Kanji characters pronounced "Asakura" are identical to those found in the Negima website where Kazumi Asakura's name is written in Japanese (and in both cases, the said Kanji are written first before the given name, which in Akio's case, is written in Katakana). And what's more, I've verified it against the offical Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune Japanese website (hosted by Bandai-Namco, the game's developer) at the Characters section. And lastly, in Episode 2 of the Wangan Midnight anime, Akio introduces himself to Tatsuya and Eriko as "Asakura Akio", which in Japanese naming convention signifies Asakura being his surname and Akio being his given name. As an extra, Eriko Asakura is the sister of Akio Asakura's late namesake. It would be very strange and illogical for siblings to share the same given name while having different surnames.