Disclaimer:
Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima is the creative property of Ken Akamatsu, who created this wonderful anime/manga series. Shingetsugan Tsukihime and Fate/stay night is the creative property of TYPE-MOON. Anything not attributed to Akamatsu-san or TYPE-MOON belongs to their respective owners, such as references to Cowboy Bebop (the Swordfish II) that is a creation of Sunrise and Shinichiro Watanabe, BLEACH is a creation of Kubo Tite, and vice-versa. This story is written purely just for fun, guys; please for God's sake, don't sue me! I'm just a high school student with too much free time on his hands! On the other hand, any specific author created characters I created for this fic (despite how unoriginal they may be at times) are mine. So without further adieu, let's get on with the show!
The Surgeon General's Warning:
Read at your own risk. Multiple pairings inside folks, with KanaxKei and KanaxNegi, just to name a few! You never know what you're going to get so read on (I might even do some alternative stuff, if you know what I mean).
Blue Blue Glass Moon, Under the Crimson Air
I Wanna Go To A Place...
Chapter 20:
Recovery
A Love Magister Hina Negima! fanfic by James "Ray" Edwards
Patience was always something more of a finer art form, although others might contend patience was an inherited characteristic that could be refined through meditation. Some people were just naturally more patient than others. At this time, Takamichi felt himself very fortunate to be in the company of persons who were relatively well-versed in such a virtue, but he had to wonder why Shizuna had to keep shooting darting glances at him every few minutes. It was not like he was blind or something like that, and he was well within speaking range.
Might as well breach the subject myself. I don't think women are ever going to change. Doesn't matter where they're from, who they are, and vice-versa, but at the end of the day, they still share a lot of the same insecurities.
"Maa, Minamoto-sensei, if you've got something on your mind, feel free to share it with us," Takamichi said aloud with an amiable chuckle from where he stood by the windows, basking in the warmth of the filtered sunlight. "It's not like we're going anywhere any time soon."
The blonde-haired woman gave a start, her shoulders going rigid suddenly. She was standing by the door to the nurse's office along with Hijiri who donned on her white lab coat before leaving the office. "Wh-What are you talking about, Takahata-sensei?"
"Eh? No, just 'Takahata'? You didn't seem to have a problem addressing me by my last name alone back in there when you were furious and beating --- pardon my layman --- the hell out of me. What gives?"
"Well..." Shizuna avoided his gaze timidly.
"Hmm?"
It was then that Hijiri, gazing sternly as always, decided to join the fray with an exasperated huff. Honestly, she could not understand why women and girls alike got so hung up on the English professor. It was not like he was the most charming Casanova to ever walk the face of the Earth, granted he did have a few winning qualities. "Oh, Takamichi-baka, stop trying to be so cool already. You're not fooling anyone, you realize?"
"Kirishima-kun!" Shizuna protested at her boldness, but Hijiri was not about to stop and let Takamichi have his gratification.
"Minamoto-sensei here is obviously a little raw about knocking you around all over the place in my office, like she was still a teenage schoolgirl in some romantic comedy anime where girls have superhuman strength, and the boys have equally superhuman durability. If they didn't, I'm sure quite a few people would be locked up in jail right about now for assault, battery, murder, plus pain and suffering --- you get the picture, right?"
"Hehe, well-spoken, Hiji-kun."
"Of course, and unlike her, I knocked you off my high pedestal ages ago. After going out with you for three years on and off, I finally came to the conclusion that without a doubt-"
"Wa-Wait a second, Kirishima-kun, you've been going out with Takahata for the past three years!"
"Thank you for rudely interrupting me, but yes, I've known Takamichi-baka for three years now. And yes, he is undoubtedly a baka. Any questions?"
Suddenly, Shizuna felt herself to be very small, so small, so minute, so insignificant that she felt herself being reduced to a chibi. The bespectacled woman promptly sat down in a fit of depression, complete with black clouds, a dark aura, and squiggly lines hovering about her, as she drew circles on the floor with an index finger. Oh, what a miserable woman she was at that moment.
Takamichi sweatdropped at the sight of his colleague going down for the count. "Oioi, Hiji-kun, take it easy on her."
"Ba-ka. I bet she's been trying to ask you out ever since she came to Mahora Academy just some three years ago from Toudai with her Masters' degree."
"So...miserable...I am..."
"Oh no, Hiji-kun, she's going into her 'YOU WA SHOCK-U!' mode."
"She has a Hokuto no Ken mode? Didn't think she was the type with a rack like that, but I imagine that's where all her angst went."
Shizuna whimpered. "Nobody...loves me...fuuuu. And my glasses are broken...this is going to take a chunk out of my paycheck to get fixed. Awuuuuu..."
"Hiji-kun, you can be really vicious you know that?" Takamichi sweatdropped at the soon-to-be resident doctor.
"The job of a doctor is to make sure her patients understand completely just what sort of situation they're in and what can be done to treat their condition. Honesty, Takamichi-baka, is something you're rather lacking in."
"Ouch, you're definitely going to make a good mother some day --- ack!"
The dark blue-haired woman was blushing visibly as she held Takahata-sensei at scalpel point again for the umpteenth time, fixing him with a withering look. "I double dog dare you to say that again, Ba-ka."
From where they stood back (well, more like standing in) watching the action unfold, Ayaka had to admit this was a rather rare occasion. It was a notion that her classmate also apparently shared, as they stared in awe and wonder. After all, it was not every day that got to see an inside look at a moment in the life of the faculty members when they were not busy being --- well --- responsible adults.
"Wow, they're a lot like us actually," Ayaka and Konoka said aloud simultaneously, much to the embarrassment of the former and the amusement of the latter.
The dark-haired girl giggled brightly. "Ayaka-iincho, this is pretty funny, isn't it?"
"Ah, why, heh, of course!" She was blushing herself, and trying to cover for the brief moment of impropriety. The blonde-haired girl took a considerable pride in her leadership role as the class representative, after all.
"Who would've thought Takahata-sensei still has boy-girl problems at his age?"
Ayaka sweatdropped. "Yes, heh-heh, it is rather unusual for a respectable professor like himself."
"Uh-huh, I think that's why so many girls are in the 'His Majesty Takahata's Women' fan club."
"WHAT!"
There was an awkward silence. All eyes present focused themselves upon one Ayaka Yukihiro, who personally she should have kicked herself a couple of times for such a impulsive outburst. This was the sort of improper behavior that perfectly suited Asu...
"Anou, Ayaka-iincho, are you alright?" Konoka asked the girl worriedly, with her hand raised as if she intended to reach out in a consoling manner. "You're looking a bit pale of a sudden."
Ayaka lied, bringing up the back of her hand to wipe her brow and mask the pained emotion in her luminous aquamarine eyes, "It's nothing, Konoka-san, just a little under the weather."
Thankfully, she was very much like her eyes, which could alter their character with the slight change of light, so that none would know whether they were more blue or more green. It was skill that was invaluable to a leader like her who could not show weakness, not even at a time like this. Already she had been shamed enough by her spectacular defeat at the hands of Kanako Urashima. It was humiliating just to think about it.
Her daily verbal spars with Asuna was child's play, nothing serious, but today with the raven-haired mastermind --- that had been for real. She honestly had been trying to worm her way up to gain the upper hand and put the girl in her place. Ayaka knew Kanako was dangerous from the moment she opened her mouth and that things were not going to end well at all. This catastrophe was all her fault. If only she had been stronger, more in control, then none of this would have happened. It was because of her weakness that Asuna had to pay the price; it was all her fault!
Fortunately, she was spared any further inquiry from the others or berating on her part when Naru Narusegawa finally emerged from the infirmary. The honey-haired girl looked like she had seen better days. A heavy air clung to her like an invisible weight; it was a burden that no one else could carry for her, but they could certainly perceive.
"She'll be fine in a few hours. Asuna probably won't remember exactly how she got so worked up in the first place, and should be back to her old energetic self, but..." Naru drifted off, having taken the first steps to addressing the immediate concerns. "...she will remember who did it, and I can guarantee she won't be happy. I'd suggest everybody keep an eye on her for a while. As you can tell, Asuna-chan's anger gets the better of her pretty easily."
Takamichi blinked at this rather profound prognosis by his former student. She spoke as if she had experienced this before and had dealt with the crisis in a similar fashion. "That's good news, Naru, but how are you holding up?"
"Huh? Me?" Naru blinked.
"Yes, it's been over an hour since you left."
"Oh --- okay."
She's hiding something. I'm amazed I didn't hear a single thing about her relationship with Asuna until today. Six years is plenty of time for things to happen, to shape a young impressionable mind, and to alter its destiny. What more could she have done other than teach Ba Ji Quan to Asuna?
"So, Asuna is going to be alright, isn't she?" Konoka asked the honey-haired girl excitedly as a wave of relief rushed through her. She just knew Asuna would pull through! When the going got tough, her best friend never gives up, but it only pushed her to try harder, and that was the best part that Konoka liked about her. Nothing in the whole world could keep Asuna Kagurazaka down for long. Not a thing!
Naru gave a small smile. "Yes, and she'll be stronger than ever."
"Ha! Asuna-san's just going to be even more stubborn than she was before!" Ayaka joked with an imperious toss of her hair for dramatic effect.
This earned a sweatdrop from everybody present, as it was rather "obvious" that the class representative held her "rival" in very good graces, in fact. Why else would she have followed after the auburn-haired girl when and stayed by Asuna's side, trying to coax her out of her near-catatonic state? "However, it's good to hear that 'Devil Girl Asuna' still has what it takes. I would've been mortified to hear that my nemesis gave up so easily after a little fight like that! She's made of much tougher stuff, after all, and I'm not talking about just her skull either."
"Hahaha, Asuna, can be headstrong like that. I should know that best of all-"
Hijiri took this as her cue to jump in and exploit the good mood everyone was slipping into at the moment. She had her own suspicions about Naru Narusegawa, and she could careless for the pleading "NO! STOP! I PROMISE TO TAKE YOU OUT TO A FANTASTIC RESTUARANT, HIJI-SAMA! PLEASE!" glances Takamichi gave her. It was high time to pry the cat out of the bag:
"And why do you know that, Narusegawa-kun? What happened in the six years that you've known Kagurazaka Asuna, my patient, such a huge confidence in your opinion in regards to her welfare? How do you know that the she won't have a relapse of this trauma? How do you know that she'll be fine in a few hours? That she won't remember any of this very well?"
"Kirishima-san..."
"I might not be a professional doctor yet, but I think I know well enough that you just don't automatically integrate somebody who has been through a traumatic experience of that degree back into society without some counseling. She may not have any physical wounds, but what about the psychological scars, Narusegawa-kun? What about them?"
Everybody stared in shock. The brutally simple question had come out from a blind spot that nobody, except for Takamichi, had honestly thought about that much. The English professor had wanted to address this particular issue in private, but now that the stern dark blue-haired woman had blown the floodgates open, they would have to face it down here and now.
Naru lowered her gaze, allowing her bangs to veil her eyes in shadows. "You're right, Kirishima-san. She doesn't have any physical wounds. However, she's always had --- scars."
"Is that so?"
"Hai. It was just like this on that day six years ago, the first time I met her."
"And that is?"
"Sorry, I can't tell you. This is Asuna's story to tell, and I won't betray her," the honey-haired girl declared with a resounding air of finality as she looked up to meet everyone's inquiring gaze. There was a powerful resolve burning in her eyes that crushed the of any further questions.
Hijiri relented with a sigh. She should have known that this girl would protect Asuna, just like she had done and still did for her own little sister, Kano, in regards to a private family matter. Personally, it amazed her how strong the ties were between Naru and Asuna, though they were not even related by blood. "Fine-fine. I'm amazed just how much baggage some people can carry around with them these days. Though, I'm warning you. We can't be held responsible if there's a relapse. Actually, we will be held accountable officially, but the weight's going to be on your shoulders. You could have told us when you had the chance, Naru."
"I understand, Kirishima-san. Demo, there is one thing I'd like to ask from all of you."
"Eh?"
"I want --- a name."
"A name? Do you mean, Urashima Kanako?" Shizuna said aloud, much to Takamichi's horror as he began to realize where this was going.
"Is she the one who did this?"
Ayaka huffed carelessly. She too was remarkably missing where these chain of events would lead, a foolish mistake for a budding politician such as herself. "Why, of course, it was her! I saw it with my own two eyes --- and I was completely powerless to stop her."
The English professor groaned inwardly. Everybody had just made his job that much harder.
"Thanks, Yukihiro-kun. Asuna was right. You might be a loudmouth, but you're a good-hearted one," Naru told the blond-haired girl, much to her outraged double-take. She smiled warmly and turned to leave. "I'll be going now everybody, and thanks for looking after Asuna. There's --- there's some things I need to do."
"Wait! Don't go, Naru!" Takamichi cried out suddenly in desperation. His emotional outburst stunning his peers and students alike, as it put a significant dent of their image of him. Never would they have imagined they would see the day Takamichi T. Takahata, PhD, lose his laidback cool in such a manner. "You've no idea what else that girl's capable of! Just stop and think for a second here. If you go, we won't be able to stop you or her."
It was a stupid gamble, trying to talk Naru out of going to fight Kanako, but he had to try. After all, he was still a teacher, and it was his responsibility to look after the welfare of the students, regardless of what grade they might be in. He knew exactly what his former student was planning, the word beginning with an "R":
Revenge.
"Thanks for the information, Sensei. Now I really have to meet this girl."
Oh...
...pardon my transgression, O Heavenly Father, but...
...God Damn it!
I think I screwed up, sir.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes:
Well, well, I bet you folks all saw this coming, huh? Took a while but we finally hit another big check point in the series; oh, and I hope you all don't mind the early release. I figured we need to get through the angst a little bit faster to get to the really, really good stuff.
On the other hand, w00t! 20 Chapters/Episodes and 60000+ words, and we're still going strong.
I'm totally feeling the love from you all! Remember, I always encourage each and everyone of you to feel free to comment, review, and/or discuss the story. Your comments can really make a difference, I assure you, and if you're up to it, feel free to ring me up on AIM, or even send me an e-mail (although you really don't need to boost my ego too often). You know how to get in touch with the meister here. And with that said, it's time to say hello to the All-Star Reviewers from our last line up:
To the Point Guard #23, Mister Havenoname, hmmm, have you ever wondered that you might be psychic? I think you could seriously put Mizz Cleo out of business, man, not that I'm confirming it might actually happened. Then again, it could... You never know what'cha going to get.
To the Shooting Guard #5, Mister Skuld's Sentaro 5, dude, I had the exact same thoughts when I thought about it. Fortunately, I put these things in question marks, so you won't know if they're actually happening unless --- they are actually happening. Wink-Wink.
To the Center #1, Mister Alpha Draconis1, dude, Kanako, Motoko, and Naru are just the tip of the iceberg. Just the tip, and you know what they say about icebergs.
To the Power Forward #21, Jak Sacul, no hard feelings, man. Heck, I made pretty darn "blatant" who was going to show up, not to mention chapter title had her name right smack dab there. Now, on the subject of "Imouto," I can only apologize if you did not pick up its meaning in the context of the chapter. "Imouto" means "little sister" and I did not think I really had to define it again since I already used it many times on previous occassions. Oh well, no hard feelings, and its good thing you asked; that takes guts right there, man.
Well, that wraps it up, folks, so until the next time we meet (probably this Friday): Peace Out! SPIRITS Are Always With YOU! BWOH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Omake!
Naze Nani Glass Moon Desu
New Pairings Sighted?
HijirixTakamichi --- What's this? Scalpel Lady and His Majesty Takahata? Must be a royal match made in Hell.
AyakaxAsuna --- It was probably inevitable! Something about opposites imploding and exploding, right?
AsunaxKonoka --- Wow, who would have thought Konoka had it in her? Does the Princess want to add the Iron Knight to her collection too?
And where would we be without the...
Episode Preview!
Chapter 21:
Friendship
"Bakamono --- how many times do I have to tell you? We're comrades, colleagues --- not friends."
Tsudzuku!