hey everybody! Just me again dropping off a new chapter for you to read! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2
Chris leaned over the railing as he stared out onto the campus grounds, the large stone walkways and natural greenery dotted with live-on-campus students giving the campus a very kind feel to it.
"Man, this Campus is huge Takamichi. How do you people not get lost around here?"
The older man chuckled to himself as he took a huff from his cigarette.
"Well, when you've been here for a good while, you just kinda learn where everything is Chris. I take it were you where wasn't as big as this?"
Chris leaned back as he held onto the railing, pushing himself back and forth in a see-saw motion as he did.
"Nope. My Master lived out in the middle of the woods away from people. The busiest place we had was a small village. All in all a nice enough place. Pretty boring though."
"It couldn't have been that bad. Certainly you must have stayed busy with your training."
Chris thought about that for a moment before he nodded his head.
"True enough. Time just seems to fly when you stay so busy after all. Course, my master did give me breaks as well. 'The mind is only as sharp as a rested body. Much to learn, but we must be moderate in how we do it.' He liked to say."
"Sounds pretty wise to me."
"He is. Very wise. But at the same time, he has a bit of a problem in the common-sense department. Must be because he stays away from people so often."
Chris hopped off the railing and made his way next to Takahata. The older man taking one last drag out of his cigarette before he snuffed it out.
"So Chris, you ready to go and meet your new boss?"
"Ehhhhhhhhh not really, but I suppose since I don't have much of a choice…"
Takahata laughed a little to himself before he lightly roughed up Chris's hair.
"You'll be fine. There won't be that much work to do thankfully, so you'll have a little more free time than usual."
"Alright alright, I'll stop whining about it. So how far off is this place anyway?"
"Not too far, it's actually in the teachers' lounge."
"Huh… I take it most of the defense force is made up of magical teachers and the like?"
Takahata nodded his head as he walked on ahead.
"Right. Along with a few magical students. However, the person in charge of all the comings and goings of the magical operations is a woman by the name of Toko Kuzuhona."
"Don't know why, but that name sounds kinda scary."
"She's actually a decent person, if not a bit cold at times. She's a good person though, so don't let her scare you with her icy exterior."
Chris only smiled at the older man before he stretched out his arms.
"Guess I'll see for myself then… I am getting paid for this right?"
"Mostly as a part time wage seeing as actual fighting is far and few between. We'll also work out something for your housing as well. I'm not sure what we can do for you at the moment since you came on such short notice."
"How about just sticking me in the same room as Negi?"
Takahata turned his eyes upward in thought for a moment, a contemplative hum coming out of his mouth before he simply shook his head.
"Sadly, the rooms are small enough as is. Just sticking three people in them is pushing it. Four is just getting crowded. Don't worry though, we'll have something worked out by the end of the day… by the way, here we are."
Chris turned his attention away from Takamichi and looked at the school building they were at. It was a simple thing really, but Chris could feel a number of seals and protective barriers in place. Takahata continued on into the building with Chris close on his feet where the duo passed a number of doors and halls until they eventually found what they needed. It was a pretty basic room, like a teacher lounge really. It was pretty barren at the moment save for a few people. A portly man with squinty looking eyes that Chris could tell was someone who had a jovial personality by looking at him. A Dark-skinned man with hard features like he had seen a number of hardships in his life, and a tall shapely woman with a face like iron. Takahata waved at the portly man, upon which the man smiled back.
"Takahata-sensei, good to see you! What brings you over here today?"
"Oh nothing much Nijuin-Sensei. Since someone took over my teaching position at the middle school, I'm just waiting to be re-assigned to a new job. However, the main reason I'm here is because I have someone here who'll be joining the defense division."
As if taking his cue, Chris lifted his hand in greeting of the man
"Howdy, nice to meet you! Name's Chris. Chris Abernathy."
The large man gave him a smile before he extended his hand in greeting, a greeting Chris took firmly.
"A pleasure to meet you Abernathy-kun. I'm Mitsuru Nijūin. I'm a teacher here at the co-ed grade school, but I'm part of the defense's here if the need arises."
Takamichi nodded his head before spoke up.
"Nijuin-Sensei practically runs our communications network. Our divisions aren't really much in the way of divisions, but we all have our specialties which helps out here on campus."
"Ha ha! You overestimate me Takahata-Sensei. In truth Chris-Kun, every teacher here at Mahora is part of the 'defense' division. It's a catch-all term for us overworked mage teachers. We just happen to be good at one thing or another."
A second later and the dark-skinned man walked up with something of a smile on his face.
"The only reason we happen to function is that the headmaster gave us a capable supervisor really. Isn't that right Kuzunoha-Sensei?"
The woman in the back of the room was staring at the men with a cross look on her face.
"Maybe, Maybe not Gandolfini-Sensei. But if you all have the energy to talk, then you have energy to work."
Takahata laughed a little to himself before responded to the woman's cold remark.
"My apologies Kuzunoha-sensei. We'll get right to it… ah, but first, the headmaster wanted you to get young Chris-kun set up."
The woman looked to Takahata, then to Chris. Her look told Chris that she was having a hard time believing such a young boy was going to be stationed here.
"Not to be rude to the headmaster Takahata-sensei, but isn't he a little young to be doing this line of work?"
However, Chris spoke up first before Takamichi could get a word in, the young man looking somewhat livid at her response.
"Have you ever heard of the phrase, 'no one knows if a crow is male or female'? Don't be so hasty to presume… Kuzunoha-sensei was it? I'm sure I'll surprise you in some way shape or form."
The woman stared him down for a moment, not really provoked, but somewhat agitated at his rather forceful tone. However, she wasn't going to argue a point that wasn't meant to be debated.
"I'm not going to refuse you if that's what you think. If the headmaster believes your able, then I'll trust his judgment. I have no doubt that your capable, but my concern comes from the fact that I'm not sure if you'll be able to deal with the kind of stress that comes with this job. Much of what we do is break up small campus problems and the occasional magical problem that a student causes. It's rather boring a good deal of the time."
Chris was a little surprised at her exasperated tone, but he recovered and simply shrugged his shoulders.
"That's fine. I'm not looking to be a big time hero or anything. Just earn some money and eek out a small living for the time being."
Toko looked him over a few times before she let out another sigh.
"That's fine. Most of the paperwork has already been taken care of since the headmaster sent it over quickly, so your pretty much ready to start. I don't have anything for you to do today other than patrol the campus though. Many of our usual's are either teaching class, or in class at the moment. What you see here is what he we have freed up at the moment… though Nijuin-sensei will need to be heading back to teaching his classes soon enough. Gandolfini-sensei could I ask you to show him around to give him a feel for what we do?"
Before the man could respond, Takahata spoke up.
"Actually, if you don't mind it, I'll take him out and show him around. I'm still out processing, so my time is pretty free at the moment. Plus, I happened to want to catch up with my friend here."
Toko nodded, a relived look crossing her face as she did.
"That would help a great deal Takahata-sensei. Just show him the basics and the rest should fall into place."
"Will do Kuzunoha-sensei."
Chris turned his attention to Takamichi, but the man named Gandolfini caught his attention.
"Abernathy-kun was it? The name is Aaron Gandolfini. I look forward to working with you… though if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
Chris thought about that for a moment before he extended his hand to the man and shook his hand in turn.
"Likewise. As for my age, I'll be 12 come this May."
"Hum… I see… just a little older then my daughter then. Anyway, learn quick, we need all the help we can get around here!"
Chris and Takahata said their goodbyes and made their way back outside. Chris breathed in deep of the air before he turned his attention back to Takahata.
"Pretty nice group. Though I take it that's not all of them. I'm actually surprised no one made a mention of my age though."
"They are… in answer to your question though, we actually have a girl who works in our department who's a little younger then you."
"Really? Then I guess a 10-year-old teacher isn't all that odd around here huh?"
"N-… well actually yes, that is odd even around here. Though speaking of a ten-year-old… I think the school-day is just about over. Did you want to go and check up on Negi?"
Chris tapped his chin in thought before he smiled widely at the older man.
"Of course. I wanna see how he handled himself. Knowing him, the first day probably had him in jitters… that or he failed horridly."
Takamichi simply shook his head as the pair began to make their way back to the middle school.
"I don't think he did that badly Chris. Sure it's his first day, but he's studied for the past three months on how to be a teacher after all. You know how diligent of a study he is."
Chris nodded his head, though he folded his arms stubbornly.
"I know how hard of a study he can be, you know I've had to drag him out of the library back at the academy on a number of occasions. Nah, my concern is from practical application. Actually, you said he was taking over your particular class right?"
"That I did."
"And would you say your class was well behaved?"
Takamichi didn't answer that immediately, taking a moment to think on how best to answer that question. However, his momentary silence made Chris smile wickedly.
"I thought as much. Your class must be particularly rambunctious."
The older gentleman could only grin worriedly.
"Ah ha ha ha… well… class 2-A does tend to get rather… rowdy a great deal of the time."
Chris's grin only got bigger.
"And you've been a teacher for how many years now? Almost half your age if memory serves me right. You really think Negi isn't going to have a hiccup or two on the first day?"
"Well, we'll see what we see won't we?"
Takamichi attempted to divert the subject of the rather loose morals upon which Negi was thrust upon by working adults, but Chris wasn't fooled. He wasn't going to pursue the matter though, mostly due to the fact that he kinda knew how it was going to turn out. Eventually they got back to the class just as the bell rung for the day, Chris being amazed at how quick time flew. Just as Chris and Takamichi made it to the door, many of the girls where making their way out for the day, however, one particular twintailed redhead caught his eye.
"Oh shit, she was in this class?"
Takamichi looked to see what Chris was on about and saw Asuna.
"Ah… Yes, she's been in my classes for a long time now… she's Asuna Kagurazaki."
"I wasn't really interested in her name, though it helps for me to know what to put on the missing listing when I get rid of her."
"Oh come on now Chris, she's not that bad."
"She nearly strangled Negi for no reason. I'm surprised you let her roam the light of day with her anger issues."
Takamichi laughed nervously.
"Uh… well… She's kinda… emotional at times, but she's a good strong girl. You just need to get to know her is all."
Chris almost looked ill when Takamichi said that.
"Yuck, I'd rather go stick my head in front of a fastball before interact with her again."
Takamichi knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Chris in debating so he decided to let it drop for the time being. A moment later and a familiar face left the classroom, causing both males to greet him with smiles.
"Yo Negi!"
"Ah, Negi-sensei. How did you first day of teaching go?"
However, unlike the usual enthusiasm one has at the start, Negi looked somewhat defeated, though he perked up a bit when he saw them both.
"Ah! Takamichi, Chris! It actually was pretty b-"
However, Negi found himself being cut off when Asuna almost shoved him out of the way and almost bluster over herself to try to get a greeting out.
"Ah! Takahata-Sensei! Hi!"
The next thing they knew, she was patting him on the head as affectionately as a girl would a puppy, though it was easy to see her eyes were on Takamichi the whole time in some manner of approval.
"Don't worry Takahata-Sensei! I was with him the whole time, so everything went off without a hitch! Isn't that right Negi-sensei!"
"Uhhhhhhh."
Negi couldn't find the words for the almost creepy behavior this girl was currently exhibiting and found himself locking up when it came to communication. However, Takahata simply smiled at Asuna and gave her a pat on the shoulder.
"Is that so? Well, it's good to hear your taking care of him Asuna-kun. He'll need a great deal of help from now on until he gets the job down. I'm counting on you."
Chris simply gave Takahata a deadpan look as if to say to him 'you really believe this bullshit', a look the man mostly ignored as he turned to Chris and gave him a smile.
"Anyway, sorry Chris, I hope you don't mind, but I need to head off real quick. I need to see the principle about a few things but it shouldn't take to long. I'll try to meet up with you later, say at the plaza we passed by a little while ago?"
Chris nodded his head and gave Takahata a thumbs up.
"Sure, until then, have fun old man."
Chris watched the old man for a moment longer before he turned around to see Negi, who seemed to be having some kind of altercation with Asuna, an argument he just managed to hear the tail end of.
"The fact you're his friend bugs me to no end, and I still think you're a pain in my ass. I'll never recognize you as a teacher."
Asuna stuck her tongue out at Negi and walked away from him, though she didn't see Chris and his projectile foot mysteriously make it's way to her path and just so happen to catch her foot as she walked. Asuna stumbled forward, though she didn't fall flat on her face like Chris was expecting her to.
"Tsk… bitch has some good reflexes."
Asuna bolted up and quickly rounded on Chris, recognition filling her eyes when she saw him.
"You! The little shin kicking bastard from this morning!"
"The one and only. Surprised you haven't popped a blood vessel yet with how high your temper escalates."
Chris only stared at her with a smug expression, the girl wanting to strangle him, but with Takahata still in earshot, she wasn't going to risk giving him a bad impression of her. She only glared murder at Chris for a moment longer before she stormed past, though Konoka was giving both Chris and Negi an apologetic smile.
Chris watched Asuna and Konoka take up with another group of girls and make their way down the stairs before Chris turned his attention to Negi. The young mage was shaking his head at his dark-haired friend.
"That wasn't a good thing to do Chris, she could have hurt herself."
"Bah, she's fine isn't she? But enough about the demon for the moment, good to see you Negi! How was your first day teaching?"
Instead of verbally answering, Negi let out a long sigh. Chris nodded his head and crossed his arms knowingly at his friends depressed look.
"Badly I take it then. Come on, we can talk all about it as we walk."
Patting him on the shoulder, Chris and Negi made their way outside into the beautiful day. After a little bit, they started to actually talk, Negi being the first to open up the conversation, however, unlike what he had been learning, he decided to switch to english. Though his Japanese was good, Negi still missed the sounds of wales and was happy to have someone to talk to in his native tongue.
"It's good to see you Chris, I honestly had not been expecting to see you here after you left 3-4 months ago."
"He he. Surprises are my trade Negi, you know that better than most."
Negi chuckled a little before he continued.
"True… Though I am curious as to what you're doing here in Japan of all places when last we had heard of you, you were going to Ireland… You didn't really expound much after that. We only got one letter from you after that first week just explaining all that. Nekane was getting somewhat worried about you."
"Sorry about all that. my Master wasn't really a big fan of sending things to new-age mages, even small letters, so he forbade me from doing it unless I did it his way… and I don't think you would have been happy with me sending things that way…"
"Did it involve the old magic?"
Chris held his hand up to his mouth and shushed Negi loudly.
"Shhhhhhhe! Zip it ya moron! You know the old magic is supposed to be a secret!"
Negi clamed up at that, remembering that he was only supposed to talk about that with Chris in a much safer setting then out in the open.
"Sorry…"
"It's fine… just be a little more careful okay? You know that is considered a taboo subject among those who still remember it… in answer to your question though, it did involve using that. And I do want to apologize again for not staying in contact much."
Negi smiled at his friend and pat him on the shoulder endearingly.
"It's alright. I'm just happy to know you're doing well. I'll send a letter to Nekane and Anya later on today."
"From that demon called Asuna's room? You'll be lucky if that girl doesn't try to strangle you by the end of the day."
Negi let out a long sigh again as he slumped his shoulders in despair.
"Ugh… Don't remind me of her right now please… I'm just glad the day is done so I don't have to worry about her killing me."
"I'm going to take a guess and say she's why your day has been so miserable so far?"
"Well… she's only about 65% of the problem."
"That's over half bud."
"I know. But yeah… I have no idea what her problem with me is. All I know is that if this keeps up, I won't be able to make it out of the week in my training. Tack that on top of the fact that the class I'll be teaching is notorious for being rambunctious and it's just one big headache. But I think that's enough about me, how about you Chris? How is your own assignment going? I seriously can't believe that you would be done with your training after only three months."
"Well… There isn't really much to tell, but I'll say what I can… after we sit down of course, my legs are starting to kill me here. I see a decent seat over in the plaza we can use there while we talk about me."
Negi and Chris made their way into the pavilion and found a nice spot to sit on the steps. Chris stretched out while Negi pulled out his class roster. Seeing it, Chris became somewhat curious and pointed it out.
"Wazzat?"
"Huh? Oh, It's the class roster Takamichi gave me. I've gone through it al- Hey!"
Ignoring Negi's surprise, Chris pulled the book from Negis hands. He then proceeded to flip through the pages until he found the class that Negi was in charge of.
"Ah, here we are. This is the group of spazz's you're in charge of? Hum…"
Taking a closer look, Chris started to read through the names while negi, still somewhat agitated by Chris's theft, nodded in answer.
"Yes, those are my students."
"Hum… Ah, Asuna Kagurazaki. Didn't the principle say you have to room with her and his granddaughter tonight?"
"Ugh… yes, he did. I seriously do not see that happening though, and even if she did, I'm pretty sure Kagurazaki would smother me in my sleep… and give that back already!"
With the same amount effort used to take it away, thus Chris lost the book in the same way to its rightful owner. However, rather than put it away Negi looked at the page for a moment before he placed it on his lap and pulled out a pen. For a moment, Chris was confused as to what he was doing until he peeked over his shoulder and saw that Negi had opted to doodle on Asuna's portrait. Asuna's face now sported a pair of horns with the words 'bully' and 'boo' written next to it. Chris could only give the picture a flat stare before he shook his head.
"So rather than doodle on her actual face, you opt to take the easy way and get her in a way that does nothing for you. I swear Negi, you need to grow a backbone."
"I'm sorry Chris, I prefer living over being mauled to death by an angry teen. Anyway, back to what we were talking about."
Chris nodded his head before he lay back into the steps, his head tilted upward at the clear blue sky as he thought about it for a moment.
"Right, about my own training… well, there really isn't much to tell about it. I'm not necessarily done, but I guess I'm on something like a progress check. My Master basically told me I need to do a certain thing in order to pass his test, but he said I could do it at any time and at any place. Strictly speaking I pretty much don't have a timer nor a specific place to be when I do it, so I kinda just opted to come here. Other than just wanting to come say Hi, there was no deep meaning for it."
"As whimsical as usual Chris… though I will say It's nice to see you… but if you don't mind my asking, what is it you need to do?"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh… sorry pal. I'm not allowed to tell you. However, if you were to ask someone else who knows about my assignment, they could tell you. I'm under oath to keep quiet about it until I complete it or if I'm on my death bed. However, that's just the way in terms of my progress, I can show you some of the things I've learned though if you wanted me to."
Negi shook his head and held up his hands as if to stop him.
"No, I'm good. I know you would get in trouble if found out, so I won't ask anything of you in that regard. But it is good to hear your doing well in training."
Chris rolled his head to the side to look at Negi and gave him a smile.
"Better then well actually. I will admit though, though I'm actually learning something… well, magical in nature, I have no idea what you becoming a teacher in japan does to help you in your own training."
Negi shrugged his shoulders and looked out over at a large stairway in thought.
"I don't get it either, but I'm sure something will happen here that will help me in my training."
Chris nodded his head in understanding. Though the scrolls did have odd missions for each of them, they made it that way for a reason, the assignments being drawn up by fate reading fey. Chris couldn't dispute that kind of prediction without making himself look a fool. Letting out a small huff, Chris turned back to look at the sky before something sounding like surprised escaped the lips of his friend. Looking back over, he saw Negi looking forward at the staircase. Curious, Chris sat up to see what Negi was looking at. He found it when he saw a girl no older than 15 walking precariously on the large stone steps with a stack of books in her arms that went well to eye level. Blinking a few times, Chris made his input known about what he was looking at.
"That's kinda dangerous for her to be doing, especially when walking down steps that tall."
"That's… seat number 27 in my class… Miyazaki Nodoka. And your right Chris, that is dangerous for her to be doing."
"Yeah, I think we should go over and see if we can help her carry that before she slips and-"
The moment the word was about to pass his lips and Negi and Chris watched in Horror as the girl misjudged her next step, sending the books falling from her arms as she went tumbling off the side of the stairway in an effort to right herself.
"-DOES THAT! NEGI GRAB HER! I'LL SLOW HER DOWN!"
Without even needing to ask what Chris was going to do, Negi dashed forward with his staff in hand the magic in his body pushing him to reach a speed beyond a mere child. Chris pointed at the ground below Miyazaki Nodoka and called out in a loud voice.
"SYLPH HEED MY COMMAND! DON'T LET HER HIT THE GROUND!"
The next moment, something came flying out of his palm, flying past Negi and then stopping just below Nodoka. A moment later and an explosion of air blew upward, causing the girls fall to momentarily stop in mid-flight. Not even wondering what just happened, Negi threw himself under Nodoka just as she began falling again. Thankfully, Negi managed to catch enough of her that her decent was only slightly painful and not permanently damaging. Chris ran forward to see if the both of them where okay, worry on his face as he came to a stop next to them.
"Hey! Negi! Are you and the girl alright!?"
Lifting his head up from the ground, Negi hissed a few times as some scratches started to sting, but he looked down at Nodoka first before he let out a relived sigh.
"I'm fine Chris, just a little banged up. Miyazaki-san also looks alright, I think she just fainted is all."
Chris let go of a breath he was holding as he slumped to the ground in relief.
"Oh god... that's good… I got seriously worried there for a second. When she wakes up you need to give this girl a firm reprimand for not being more careful. She could have broken her bloody neck for Christ sake!"
"He he… I know Chris, I'll be sure to let… her… knoooooow… uh oh…"
Chris looked up to see what the problem was only to see Negi looking behind him with a shocked look on his face. Dreading what would no doubt be there, Chris slowly turned his head around to see what he could guess would be trouble.
Standing behind him staring at them both with an equally shocked face as their own was Asuna kagurazaki. For a few moments, no one said anything each one currently trying to process what is now transpiring in this very short time frame. The first to break it in perfectly legible Japanese was Chris.
"Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssshit."
Before either one of the boys could think or do something to make an excuse for what just transpired, Asuna grabbed Chris by the top of the head, Negi by his coat, and Negi's staff in her teeth as she hauled the both of them over her shoulder like potato sacks and ran to the most secluded spot she could find, all while Nodoka was just barely getting herself out of unconsciousness though in just enough time to see her teacher being hauled away. A moment later and Asuna dropped the staff, grabbed both of the boys by their shirt collars and pinned them both to a tree, her face a mixture of triumph and anger.
"What the hell was that! I just saw you make her float long enough for you to catch her! Both of you!"
Chris could only mentally beat himself for having been so careless in not making sure the area was clear for witnesses before using magic. Too late now though. Negi, however, was not quite so calm in his mental facilities as he tried desperately to fumble together some kind of excuse to get himself out of this situation.
"N-N-No! Your mistaken! She just-"
"Don't you try to bullshit me! I saw it with my own two eyes you little four eyed freak! Now spill it! Your some kind of super heroes aren't you!"
Before Negi could get a word in, Chris laughed out loud harshly.
"HA! As if we were anything so banal! However, before we continue this little conversation Kagurazaki Asuna, I would suggest you drop us now before I take the steel tipped toe of my boot and proceed to kick you in the teeth with it."
Asuna blanched at the threat and was about to retort in force, but Negi quickly looked at her.
"Please Kagurazaki-san! Do as he says! I've known Chris for years and he never makes a threat he won't carry out!"
Asuna glanced between the both of them, her adrenaline and anger still running high, but she could see that the one called Chris could easily kick her if he wanted to. And if this morning wasn't solid proof, she had a feeling that he would do it too. Glaring at the both of them, she put them both down none to gently. Negi let out a small relived sigh while Chris simply dusted himself off nonchalantly before he looked back up at Asuna.
"Alright, since you asked so kindly by use of force, I'll oblige you with an answer. We are not superhero's, we are mages."
"So what! Same thing… wait a minute…"
Asuna drew her attention away from Chris and on to Negi.
"You're the reason my clothes blew off of me this morning you little creep!"
"Auuuuuuuuu! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to! But please please please! I need you to keep this s secret! This can't get out to anybody!"
Asuna bristled in anger at the boy, a small part of her deep inside happy to finally get sweet revenge on her teacher for embarrassing her and the creepy one for kicking her in the shin.
"Nobody? I'm telling everybody I meet!"
Negi was about to say something before he felt something odd. That odd feeling coming off his friend. Negi looked over and saw Chris let out a deep sigh, however, the odd feeling he was getting was growing larger and large, like an aura of sorts as his friend looked back at Asuna with something like… pity on his face?
"That's a real shame Asuna-chan. It really is. I honestly thought we could work this out with talking, but if you're not going to be amicable…"
The next thing she knew, Asuna felt something ram into her back and throw her to the dirt face down. It felt like someone had just rammed into her, but when she turned around, what she saw surprised her. Hovering over her with a large child-like grin was a fairy. Or what she had come to know what a fairy looked like. It was no bigger than her hand and had long emerald green hair that went well past it's feet. What looked to be bird wings where in place of its arms and it's feet had avian quality's to them with the feet being those of a bird and a birds leg up to about the knee. It was dressed in a silky dress of sorts that looked unearthly, like it was made more like materialized air if that made any sense, and it hugged the things bodily tightly, revealing its more feminine qualities. Asuna was stunned to say the least, her mouth hanging open as she looked up at the thing in sheer wonder and confusion. The little fairy giggled before it flew over to Chris and landed on his outstretched hand, where he gave it a smile and gently reached up and pat it on the head.
"Good job Sylph."
"~~~~~~!"
It responded in kind, but neither Negi nor Asuna could understand what was just said, the thing sounding like a breeze. However, Chris seemed to understand it and smiled more widely.
"Yes yes, You'll get your share later, for now though, I need you to keep silent for a bit m'kay?"
"~~!"
The thing made a sound as if it understood before it vanished into thin air. Chris saw both of their stunned reactions and looked to Negi quizzically.
"I don't know why your so surprised Negi. You know what a Sylph looks like."
"I'm more surprised that you just used it on a person! And the fact that you can even control it in a corporal form!"
"Old magic can do all kinds of things Negi… anyway, back to the matter on hand."
Realizing that they had an audience, Negi looked back down at Asuna, who had managed to gather enough strength to stand back up, though she felt really sore after being hit like that. Chris gave her something of an impressed look.
"Thats pretty impressive of you Kagurazaki. Didn't think you would be able to stand back up for another little bit. But it's futile really. Negi, go ahead and wipe her memories."
"Right!"
Negi quickly grabbed his staff and held it aloof and began to concentrate. Asuna, however, did not like how that sounded.
"Woah woah woah! Wait what?! Your gonna wipe my memories, even after attacking me here!? Can't we talk about this!?"
"We tried that already and you blew us off. Sorry babe, dem's da breaks."
Negi, being the ever-optimistic sort, tried to consul her in some small way.
"Don't worry, you might just feel a tad light-headed for a few days but you'll be just fine! … you might also have a craving for crispy chicken for a short period of time, but I don't think that's a bad thing!"
"Woah wait what!? Empty headed?! What's that supposed to me-!"
Before she could even finish talking, Negi pointed his staff at her, his growing power released in a single blow.
"Erase!"
The next thing she knew, Asuna felt a flood of something wash over her, and her clothes save her blazer where completely eradicated right down to her panties and leaving her as naked as the day she was born. For a few moments, nobody said or did anything, the situation being completely alien to all parties involved. However, Asuna took action first, her hands quickly reaching down to cover her more delicate bits while the blazer cover up her bared chest. Negi was utterly flabbergasted while Chris looked on at the both of them in utter shock.
"Uh… Negi? Did you cast that right? Last I remember, that was not supposed to happen with that spell."
"Uhhhhhhhhhh… I'm pretty sure I did!"
"Hey what are you all doing back here?"
At that precise moment, the sound of a familiar voice caught everyone's attention, causing them to look over and see Takahata T. Takamichi looking at the group in curiosity before he realized that Asuna was currently butt naked, forcing a blush on his face and averting his eyes as quickly as he possibly could. Chris could only shake his head at the older man before he let out a small sigh.
"Wow Takamichi, you have by far got the worst timing in the world right now."
Asuna could only stare in horror and embarrassment as her long-time crush saw her in the nude and her mind did the only thing it could do. Make her scream.
"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Before the situation could get even more out of hand, Negi tried to give Takamichi a hastily put together excuse for her current state of dress while Chris quickly doffed his cloak and gave it to Asuna to wear, using magic to enlarge the size so she could at least cover up. After that, Takahata simply went away telling Chris he would get him later at the classroom while Negi and Chris escorted Asuna somewhere so she could change into decent clothing. It didn't take long, but by the time they made it back out to the plaza, Asuna was pretty dead on the inside right now. Awkwardly looking to each other, Chris and Negi didn't have much to say that could comfort her. However, Negi felt that since he did it, he should try to apologize.
"Um… look… Kagurazaki-san… I'm… really really sorry for what happened. I guess… memories are still there huh?"
At that little note, Asuna rounded on him, a delirious fury in her eyes.
"GEE YA THINK!? The shame will be seared into my brain from until the end of my life! Which hopefully should be any day now!"
Negi nervously reached out as if to try to comfort her, his panicked face telling Chris that he had no idea what to do.
"I'm sorry! I really am!"
Next thing he knew, Asuna had got up off the ground and picked him up by the scruff of his collar, her eyes mixed between anger and humiliated.
"So what the heck is a pair of mages doing out here anyway? And one as a teacher no less? Unless you happen to be a substitute teacher or something."
Chris shook his head.
"Nope, not teaching nothing round these parts. I'm here for something else… Negi though is the teacher."
"Um… yeah… I happen to be here for training to become a magister magi… a great mage in other words."
Asuna, now having lost some of her ire, gave Negi a confused look.
"Uhhhhhhh, what?"
Chris rolled his eyes at her before he nudged her in the shin with his foot.
"I'll explain… just drop him please. You have an asphyxiation fetish or something?"
Asuna looked to Chris before she looked back to Negi and put him down, though she was unfamiliar with the word Chris had just used.
"Anyway…Negi is training to become a great mage, a job that includes him going out into the world and helping people to the best of his ability as a magical sort. It's greatly sought after by many mages as proof of having obtained great power and a selfless attitude. We're pretty much a non-government organization like NATO. Negi happens to be on a probationary license"
Asuna looked to Chris, then Back to Negi, curiosity in her eyes as a question formed on her lips.
"So what happens if you guys get exposed as mages then?"
Negi started to get really anxious at the prospect and flailed in concern.
"I'd lose my temporary license, get deported back home as a failure, and if I really screw up, I'll get turned into an ermine! So please keep it a secret!"
Asuna looked back and forth between the both of them, gauging the both of them before she looked back down at the ground and her eyes darkening.
"I see… so you guys help people, right? Then after all this, you'll obviously help me out, right?"
The look on her face told Negi that it wouldn't be a good idea to refuse her, and quickly nodded his head to seal the Deal. Chris however, simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I guess I'll help you out. Though I ain't like Negi here, so don't expect me to be so nice about it."
Asuna looked to Chris with a wary look in her eyes, though it was easy to tell she was curious about that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means I'm not a mage like Negi. Can't really say more than that for the time being. Anyway, I need to head back to your classroom so Takamichi can pick me up. I've got a number of things I need to do today, and messing with you any more than necessary is just gonna give me a headache."
"Whatever brat, though thanks for reminding me, I need to grab some stuff from my desk back at class anyway."
Chris rolled his eyes at that before he turned to Negi.
"You might as well come too Negi. We're stuck helping her out one way or another, and we might as well keep an eye on her until we can confirm she won't rat us out."
With that established, the group of three made their way back to the middle school building, Asuna already trying to use her new mage connections to work in her favor.
"Alright look, we gotta try to make it where those predictions you made this morning don't come true okay? I need you to try to help me repair my relationship with Takahata-sensei so that he doesn't hate me, or else I'll really spill the beans on you guys being mages."
Chris shook his head at Asuna, giving her a cross look on top of that.
"We said we would help already, geez. Don't get your bear panties in a twist okay?"
Asuna bristled at that stabbing remark before she took a few deep breaths to keep her calm.
"Just forget about that okay? What kind of magic can you guys use anyway?"
Negi thought about it for a moment before he tapped his temple in thought.
"Not much on my part, I'm still in training after all."
Chris thought about it for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.
"I know a bit about magic, but what exactly are you looking for here?"
Asuna thought it over for a moment before an idea struck her and she looked to them both in excitement.
"I Know! Can you guys make a love potion?"
Negi shook his head and replied with a meek 'no' while Chris thought about it for a moment.
"I could but I require certain ingredients in order for that to happen. Could take at most a month for me to make."
Asuna snapped her fingers in frustration before another idea came to mind.
"Drat, well okay, how about a tree that grows money on it so I can buy his love."
Negi looked at her in confusion while Chris gave Asuna deadpan look.
"I don't think I understand what you mean…"
"That is the most retarded thing I have heard come out of your mouth yet. And no, that's not a possibility on grounds of physical, moral, and legal implications."
Asuna ignored Chris's scathing remark and looked at the both of them in a manner of disappointment.
"You know for a pair of mages, you guys are kinda useless."
Chris only gave her a bland stare at that while Negi could only shrug his shoulders in some acceptance.
"Sorry, Apart from mind reading I really don't know-"
"Mind reading!? Now ya tell me! We can use that to figure out how Takahata-sensei feels about me and try to fix any bad thoughts he might have about earlier."
Chris and Negi followed Asuna as she tried to think about how best to use this, However, Chris decided to burst that bubble of her.
"I can already tell you that it's just going to end badly."
Asuna glared back at Chris, who remained unfazed by her irritated look.
"Are you always trying to rain on someone's parade or something? You always say the things that would make people angry at you."
Negi laughed at that remark nervously.
"Well… Chris has always been very honest with himself and others… brutally so on a number of occasions actually."
Chris could only smile at her as he crossed his arms almost defiantly.
"I only say what I think is true Kagurazaki-chan."
Letting out a sigh, Asuna didn't press the point any further, the brat obviously set on being a pain in her ass.
"Whatever… let me just go and grab my stuff out of the classroom and then we can go and try it out on-"
The moment the door was opened, the sound of poppers filled the room as much as the confetti as it sailed forth into the air as the entirety of Class 2-A gave out a rambunctious cry of greeting.
"Welcome Negi-Sensei!"
Asuna, Negi, and Chris all stood there dumbfounded for a moment before Chris broke the momentary silence with a surprised grunt.
"Well that was unexpected."
Asuna suddenly realized what was going on and looked back down at the bag in her hand before she turned her gaze to Negi.
"Ah Crap! That's right, we were having a welcoming party for you, that's what I had gone out to do!"
Chris and Negi looked to each other before they simply shrugged their shoulders in unison. Not much they could do about it now. However, a moment later and Negi was dragged off by a few others girls to be seated in the middle of the room where the girls could no doubt target him more easily with questions. Chris could only chuckle behind his long bangs before he looked around to see if he could find a place to sit. However, he quickly came to notice that his presence was drawing some attention from a number of girls and it suddenly hit him that, outside of Asuna and Konoka, nobody in this class had ever seen him before. No doubt they were curious as to who this mysterious boy was. Waving kindly at many as he passed them by, Chris walked over to Negi (said boy having suddenly been presented with a bronze bust of his head by a girl of obvious wealth) and gathered his attention.
"Hey Negi, I think I'm going to have to take off for a bit. I need to see if I can find Takamichi and get back to-"
"If you're looking for me Chris, I happen to be right here."
Chris turned around to see that Takamichi was coming up on him followed by Shizuna-sensei. Negi lit up as the other two teachers approached and Chris moved out of the way so that the both of them could have a seat next to Negi.
"Well that saves me a trip then!"
Negi nodded as he turned his attention back to Takamichi, the older gentleman taking a sip from his cup before he gave Negi a reassuring smile.
"So Negi-kun, I take it you must be tired from your first day of teaching."
"He he… well, maybe a little."
However, where Negi's attention was on the older man, Chris turned his attention back to Asuna (who had gotten herself in the middle of a brawl with the rich looking girl from earlier) before she quickly noted that Takahata was in the room. Shoving her opponent out of the way quickly, she dashed forward right past Chris and none-too-subtly bashed Negi in the back. Chris knew exactly what was about to go down, knowing Negi's nature like his own, but he honestly didn't care enough about Asuna to try to stop this train wreck in progress. Chris also felt that maybe Negi was letting himself be pushed around far too often by this girl. She was his student after all, so why should he have to take this crap from her? Despite thinking that though, Chris knew exactly why Negi allowed it to happen. He was kind to a fault and if he felt responsible for something then he would do his best to see it righted. Giving off a weary smile, Chris simply watched for a moment longer before he watched the two of them make a few exchanges until eventually Asuna ran off with a sullen and almost hurt expression on her face.
'I bloody told her that wasn't going to work…'
Oddly enough though, Negi quickly followed after her, his feeling of responsibility obviously making him feel as if this was his fault somehow. Chris shook his head as he felt maybe the tiniest sparks of guilt about all this. Shrugging it off for a moment, Chris took note that a number of people had watched Negi go, and since the object of attention had obviously walked out, that meant that those who were interested would obviously follow. However, a good number of people still remained in the class, drinking and eating and just having a good time all around.
'Well… those two need to work their own problems out themselves. I'm not going to mediate it for them.'
Looking around again, Chris found a nice empty spot to sit his behind on and promptly did just that. Not even a moment later, and Chris found himself being eyed yet again by a number of people who seemed interested in this person who seems to be hanging around. They weren't giving him rude looks or anything, but they were curious to say the least. Despite the hesitation in some of them, a number of them found that now was perhaps a good time to start poking around. The first person to approach him though was someone he happened to be familiar with. The girl was Konoe's granddaughter Konoka. She came over with a bright smile on her face and waved at him as she stopped next to Chris.
"Well Hello there Mr. Shin Kicker! Fancy meeting you here!"
Chris had to laugh at that one. With an amused smile on his face, Chris nodded to her.
"I see you still remember this morning then. I'm not going to apologize about that though, your friend was being rather aggressive today."
"It's fine, Asuna's a lot tougher then she looks, so I'm sure it didn't to any lasting damage. Though I think next time you should probably try negotiation first before resorting to violence."
"I'll keep it in mind Konoe-san."
The girl puffed her cheeks out a little bit, confusing Chris as to why she was doing that in the first place. A moment later though and she simply smiled.
"Oh please, call me Konoka. The headmaster is my grandfather after all, so I don't want people to get us mixed up. Besides, everyone else calls me by my first name anyway."
"Maybe that's because your uber friendly. Not trying to be rude or anything, but you just seem to ooze kindness like a sugarcane."
"He he… does that bug you?"
Chris waved his hand in a manner as if to shoo the very notion away.
"Hardly! I find it quite sweet if you'll forgive the pun. The name is Chris by the way, Chris Abernathy. Feel free to call me Chris though, the last name I think might be hard to pronounce in English for you Japanese folk."
"Alright Chris-kun… I'm going to admit Chris-kun, your rather well behaved for someone who would resort to kicking someone in the shins. You seem rather adult like in your manner of speaking as well."
Chris grinned widely at her before he took a drink from his glass.
"Comes from hanging out with Negi. All prim and proper and he's got me doing it too. Anyway, how can I help you? Surely you didn't come over just to chat with lil' ol me did ya?"
"Actually, yes, that's all I really came over to do. I just wanted to talk with you."
Chris placed his hand over his heart in mock surprise.
"Well goodness me, that just makes my day when a cute thing like you comes over to talk with a guy like me! The least I can do is offer to get you something to eat for making my day, or something to replace that drink of yours. It looks rather empty from where I'm sitting."
Konoka looked down at her cup to see that it in fact was empty though she could have sworn that it was full before she came over and talked with Chris.
"Huh… well that's unusual, I thought I had a full cup…"
Chris stood back up and dusted his legs off before he gave Konoka another small smile and walked away to find her another drink. He quickly made his way over to the drink stand and grabbed another cup, though instead of making his way back immediately, he stopped by the table where Takamichi was sitting.
"Hey there Takamichi!"
The ex-teacher turned his attention back to Chris and smiled.
"Hello there Chris, enjoying yourself? You seem to be getting along well with Konoka-san at the very least."
"I'm pretty sure she's just nice to everyone in general. In truth, I'm not really one for events like this, I'm not a people person if ya catch my drift… Though I'm not complaining about it, it's nice enough."
"Well that's good."
Chris nodded once before he decided to steer the conversation in another direction.
"As well and good as this party is, I'm a little curious about a few things though, mostly entailing to my new job and my new accommodations. I need to place to stay after all."
Takamichi coughed a little nervously as he tried to find something else in the room to look at in that moment.
"Well… in reference to your new job… you'll start in a few days. Just go to see Kuzunoha-sensei and she'll help you get set up with what you need to do. As for the place you'll be staying…"
Takahata didn't answer outright, causing Chris to drill his gaze into the professor, his lack of amusement causing takamichi to sweat ever so slightly. However, Shizuna-sensei came to his rescue by speaking up.
"We're sorry Chris-kun, we tried to get you a place to stay, but your coming was such short notice that we don't really have anything lined up for yourself or Negi-sensei. I hope you won't mind if you room with him as well for the next few days? Just long enough for us to get you both situated in another room."
Chris looked to Shizuna-sensei before he turned his deadpan expression to the man of current ire.
"Takamichi. Did we not just get done talking this morning about how fitting four people into a room would be rather hard in terms of living conditions?"
Takamichi tried to remain elusive in both stare and answer, his eyes looking for other things in the room to take up his field of vision other than Chris's disappointed gaze.
"I… vaguely recall such a conversation."
"Oh? What's this about Asuna and myself getting another roommate?"
As if to spare her sensei from having to keep up his act, Konoka unknowingly came to the rescue when she had come looking for Chris. Takamichi lit up when he saw her and quickly answered her question before Chris could cut in.
"Ah, yes Konoka-san. Chris-kun actually doesn't have a place to stay right now much like Negi-sensei and we were hoping you and Asuna-kun would be willing to put up with one more for a short time before we find them a place to stay."
Konoka tapped her chin in thought on that one. She wasn't sure how Negi-sensei would fare in the new environment, Asuna already having a great dislike of him, but Konoka knew for a fact that Asuna hated Chris even worse. However, Konoka wasn't one to be deterred and nodded her head.
"It'll be a little tight, but I'm sure we can fit them both in the room. Besides, it'll be like I got two little brothers in one day!"
Takamichi let out a relived sigh while Chris's own sigh was one of defeated acceptance. Shaking his head, Chris looked back at Takamichi with moderate disappointment in his eyes.
"I hope your happy Takamichi. You guilted a girl less than half your age to take care of your adult problem for you."
However, Shizuna came to the rescue yet again, a bit of a chastising tone in her voice.
"Oh come now Chris-kun, all the blame can't be pinned on Takahata-sensei for this. You are partially to blame as well with such short notice in coming here."
"Ugh…"
Chris felt the truth of those words hit him. She wasn't wrong, he did have some part to play in this debacle. Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Chris let out another sigh of defeat.
"Alright alright… It won't kill me to keep an eye on Negi anyway. I promise I won't make myself to much of a problem Konoka-neechan."
Konoka ruffled his hair affectionately, something the young mage begrudgingly let happen.
"I'll be happy to have you Chris!"
Chris felt his spirits rise a little bit with her smile, though the sound of someone yelling 'LOSE YOUR MEMORIES' in the hall cut that feeling short.
"Oh boy… that can only be one person…"
Takamichi cocked his head to the side in some confusion at Chris, though Chris only waved him off and told him that 'it's nothing important.' The rest of the evening was spent dragging Negi back into the classroom and allowing him to get swamped by erroneous questions by many of the girls while Konoka let Asuna know about the new rooming situation. She was not happy with it, even all the way up to the point where the party was done and everything cleaned up. She was still grumbling on the way back to the dorms even.
"Oh my god, this day just cannot get any worse."
Chris smiled at her smugly as he walked next to Konoka.
"Funny thing I heard once Asuna-chan. It can always get worse."
"Oh shut up already…"
Chris watched Asuna for a moment longer before she decided to hang back a bit to talk with Negi, the boy obviously still dejected about the whole thing in the hallway. Chris for his part opted to once again stay out of that business, though he could tell that the both of them seemed to have bonded in some small way with how Asuna wasn't berating him for something. Chris found it to be somewhat amazing, but at the same time he sorta expected them to work something out at least. They did that for a moment longer, though Negi's happy expression and Asuna's slightly proud-of-herself look told him that maybe they might just get along. Curious, Chris also backtracked and passed Asuna on the way to see Negi pull out his student roster and start to write in it.
Chris peeked over his shoulder in enough time to see Negi mark out the negative things he wrote about her and replaced them with 'She's surprisingly nice after all.' He couldn't help but be nosy about that little change in attitude.
"Oh whats this Negi? Did something nice happen between you two?"
"Eh… no… not really. She's just… nicer than we thought is all."
"Hum, well to each his own I suppose."
Negi simply nodded his head before he sucked in a deep breath and looked to the sky determinedly.
"Chris… I'm going to be the best Mage I can possibly be. And from here on out, I'll do everything in my power to make it happen."
Chris looked back to Negi, a little confused at first, but a wide grin spreading on his face as he slapped his friend on the back.
"Of course you are dumbass, you made a promise remember? I'll never settle for you doing anything less than that."
Both boys looked to each other, big grins on their faces as something only they could understand as males was shared between them. Asuna looked back and saw them both still standing there before she yelled at them.
"Come on! Lets go you two, we have class tomorrow!"
Negi looked back to her and quickly dashed off to catch up, a quick 'coming' escaping his mouth. However, Chris stayed back for a few seconds, and had anybody taken a moment to look at him, they would have noted a somewhat sad expression on his face. However, nobody did as negi just so happened to have one of his soon to be famous sneezes rush from him and blow up a few skirts, causing Asuna to bluster, Konoka to fluster, and Negi to try to apologize. Chris sighed in an amused manner before he caught up to them and made for the new apartment he would call home.