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 23:
Gaiety Company
A Love Magister Hina Negima! fanfic by James "Ray" Edwards
"What the hell are you?" Kanako asked the exotic girl rudely as she quirked a cynical brow at those hands, "Are you out of your mind by any chance, akuma?"
Zazie drew back animatedly, striking an exasperated pose with a hand on her hip and the back of her other hand on her forehead, accompanied by a fantastic aura of little pink stars. It was as if she were an artist or an actress commiserating over how the people, the staff, and the director could not understand her brilliance. "Iie-iie! No-no-no! Zazie told Kuro-neko already..."
"'Kuro-neko'?" First, the demon had the nerve to call me Kuro-nya, then Kuro-Kuro, and now, she calls me Kuro-neko? Is she purposefully trying to aggravate me with these frivilous nicknames? She's treating me like we're already friends! And what I am doing just sitting here?
The bizarre demon girl brightened instantly with stars in her eyes. "...Hai-hai! Zazie play-play friend name for you! Isn't it cute, Kuro-Kuro?"
"...I'm beginning to hazard a guess why the Vatican mediators or the dogs of the Mage's Association haven't taken care of you yet. You're a lunatic."
"Hweeeehhhh? Zazie told Kuro-nya, yes? Zazie not a demon. Zazie special!"
"Uh-huh...special indeed."
"Mouuuu, Kuro-neko mean just like Zazie expected." She deflated visibly with a childish pout. "Kuro-unyaa! Really hates Mahora Academy, like she said this morning. Poor, poor Asuna-wan wan! Zazie saw everything. Mister IT must be very happy now. IT saw everything too, just like IT saw you before.."
Okay, so she had a lunatic demon girl for a classmate, or at least that was what the evidence before her suggested it to be true: the ability to tap into the magic circuit born into every being, superhuman strength and agility, claws, and fangs. It was extraordinarilly rare that these many qualities would find themselves in one person, although Kanako figured she would still have to double check with Keitaro later to be sure. He always was better at seeing things like this than she could...
Wait a minute, what is the demon talking about an 'IT'? The IT saw me before? thought the raven-haired girl in sudden alarm, her eyes widening in realization.
Maybe it was a good idea, after all, that she decided not to kill Zazie Rainyday.
Kanako schooled her countenance into some semblance of civility, although she was terribly dreading what she had to do. It was time to make a new --- friend --- and did not like it one bit at all. "Rainyday-san, could you --- give me a hand --- please?"
Ugh, she said it.
"OOOO-OF! COOUUUUUU-RSE!" the demon girl cried brightly in exaggerated English, throwing her arms wide apart. "Anything for Kuro-Kuro, Zazie's new friend!"
What a troublesome, demon girl. I haven't even said I'm going to be your friend yet and you're already assuming-Ah!
Apparently even in her more human state, Zazie retained a considerable worth of her otherworldly strength. She bent down and literally hauled the raven-haired girl up by the waist, as if she were a child, giving her newfound "friend" a little whirl before setting her down again. It was easy to see that the genius girl was incensed by such "childish" treatment, but it did not bother Zazie in the slightest. Few could understand the pure joy she felt to be with other people. It was simply just too lonely, too sad to be alone all the time, and that was part of the reason she loved the circus so much!
"Ugh... Thanks."
The exotic bronze-skinned girl beamed, dancing away happily. "Anytime, anytime, Kuro-nya! So long since Zazie made new friend! Kuro-neko lucky Ghost Girl save her! Super lucky!"
A 'Ghost Girl'? Was that the female figure I saw? Hmmm, she definitely has to be crazy, but she's also the best lead I have. I wonder what Nii-san will think of her when he meets her? "Rainyday-san --- I --- who is this --- 'Ghost Girl'?"
"Aisaka Sayo! Also known as Yuurei Shoujo! Student Number One (don't change her seat though)! Born approximately in the year Nineteen Twenty-Five. Died Nineteen Fourty. She's been haunting Mahora Academy for over sixty years now."
Silence.
"What?" Kanako blurted out in bewilderment.
"Un-un, Zazie thinks something sad, really sad happened in this school. That's why Sayo-Sayo can't rest in peace."
"Wait, hold on, you can see ghosts?"
"HAI! Zazie special, don't you see? Zazie can see many other things and do other things too, like she did with Kuro's mist."
Yes, there was definitely more to this girl than meets the eye. "Never mind that, do you know how she died?"
"IT."
"'It'?"
"No-no, Kuro-nya! IT, like Mister IT. IT saw her, Sayo looked, IT spoke, Sayo answered, and IT --- ate her. IT hasn't stopped eating since then. Zazie thinks Mister IT ate thousands of people since coming here, not just students but adults too. No bodies ever, sometimes blood, lots of blood, mostly nothing though. Zazie not like IT."
Kanako cringed at the implications. Turns out she had been saved by the ghost of Sayo Aisaka, a spirit that could not rest, from the same fate that had befallen her over sixty years ago. If she had answered, that --- thing would have killed her too. She had been utterly powerless against it, but what made it even worse was that Mahora Academy was still in operation.
How was it possible that nobody from the police, the Church, or the Mage's Association has taken notice of the string of murders and disappearances that have no doubt been plaguing the school? Did the Headmaster know about the exact specifics of this macabre mystery? How much did he know? Why did he not close down the school?
"Rainyday-san, can you tell me how to find Aisaka? I want to --- talk with her."
Zazie deflated visibly with a sigh, dropping down into a rather --- unlady-like squat. This was rather scandalous considering the short length of the standard junior high girls' pleated skirt. Of course, this fact was the furthest thing from the silvery-haired girl's mind. "Gomen ne, Kuro-unyaya. But even Zazie don't know how to find Sayo-Sayo. Zazie saw her one time, only, at a convenience store near school, night time. That's it. Zazie know she in class, can feel Sayo a little, but can't see her. Only one time at convenience store, night time, did Zazie see Sayo-yuurei shoujo."
"Huh? Only once at a convenience store?"
"Un! Zazie want to see Sayo! That way, Zazie and Sayo be friends too! But Sayo too weak, so Zazie don't know, can't see. Kuro-nya felt Sayo, yes? Zazie saw Kuro-Kuro at Sayo's desk in morning."
"But how? There wasn't anyone-"
"Kuro-neko should open eyes more. Animal friends everywhere. That's why Zazie know! Zazie saw Kuro with Ta-ka-hata-sensei."
Unbelieveable, she can communicate with animals too? So --- oh great, so she must have seen... "Rainyday-san --- did you see..."
"Hai! Very scary first, but Takahata-sensei took care good of Kuro-nya!"
Kanako frowned, palming her hand to her face in an effort to assuage herself of the growing ire she felt for the smiling demon girl. What else did Zazie know about her? "Okay, looks like Aisaka is a no go until Kei-niichan gets here."
"'Kei-niichan'? What's a 'Kei-niichan,' Kuro-Kuro?"
Oh no...
Don't tell me I just said that aloud?
"Does Kuro-neko have an O-nii-sa-ma?" Zazie grinned slyly at her with a twinkle in those reddish-brown eyes, causing the raven-haired girl to blush furiously at her blatant slip. "Zazie's jealous. He must be nice, really, really nice. Why else would Kuro-Kuro call him, 'Kei-niichan'? Fufufu!"
"B-Baka! Onii-cha... I mean, Nii-san... Shut up! Forget it!"
"Wow, Kuro-neko so kawaii when she's embarrassed."
"Don't you dare say a word of this to anyone else, Zazie!"
"Waiiiiii! Kuro-Kuro just called Zazie by Zazie's name! Zazie so happy!"
"Shut up! I won't forgive you if you say a word about --- him to anyone else, understand?"
"Hai-hai, Zazie promise with Zazie's heart and soul. Zazie won't spoil Kuro-nya's fun."
Ugh, what I have gotten myself into now? thought Kanako in a disgruntled fit as she put her hands on her hips akimbo-style. This girl had to be a demon for sure! "Anyways, how did you find out all of this about Aisaka? Do you have any idea why she's so 'weak' apparently?"
"IT told me."
"WHAT? The monster told you?"
"Uh-huh, IT told me everything. IT tried to eat Zazie once when it happened, but Zazie got away see!"
"Why did the thing tell you this?"
"Zazie don't know, probably has to do with Kuro-neko's second question. Why Sayo so weak..."
"And that is?"
"Zazie don't know."
Kanako did a doubletake, barely holding her urge to sweat profusely at the absurd turn of events. Of all the questions that her new --- "accomplice" --- did not know the answers to, it had to be these ones in particular, perhaps the most important questions. "Tsk, what about IT? Do you know what IT is?"
"Don't know. All Zazie knows is that IT is old, very old. IT much older than Mahora Academy. IT is powerful. Don't know why IT let Zazie go. Zazie don't like IT because IT likes eating people. Zazie mad!" Zazie declared, rising up to her feet with her hands balled into fists, a passionate fire burning in her eyes. However, just as quickly as it had appeared, the flame was extinguished as the girl hung her head low, slouching forwards with a black aura of depression about her. "...But Zazie can't fight IT alone. Even Zazie not that strong. Zazie wish she was stronger, so Zazie could protect everybody."
Well, this was surprising behavior. None of the forbidden texts ever spoke of a demon like this, and Kanako certainly never expected to meet one that empathized so much with humans. They were not supposed to be able to feel compassion or anything like that; their lack of humanity was one of the more fundamental qualities that separated demons from humans. As soulless abominations, they only desired the most base of things: power, lust, bloodshed, wealth, and glory.
However, she could certainly find her fair share of humans who were not much better.
I suppose I'll have to wait and see what to do with you, Rainyday Zazie, contemplated the raven-haired girl, her expression a emotionless mask. The rest of the school would pay dearly, but for now she would reserve her final judgment on the demon girl. It was rare enough to encounter an anomaly that did not fit the vast halls of knowledge she had acquired through many books and lessons, and perhaps, it may prove interesting to study such a subject. "I see. Rainyday-san, could you-"
Suddenly, Zazie straightened up, her shoulders rigid as a tremor ran through her body. Baring her teeth, she hissed like a feral cat at the air. "She's coming! I --- I can feel it."
"Huh? Who's coming?" I think Rainyday changes the way she speaks depending on her mood. I wonder why?
"Can't Kuro-nya feel it? The electricity in the air? Hnnnn, Scary Girl's coming for yoooouuuuuu."
"'Scary Girl'?"
The bronze-skinned girl brightened abruptly, as if her previous agitation never happened, while she bent down on all fours into a crouch. "Looks like time for Zazie to leave, Kuro-Kuro!"
"Wait, hold on a-"
"Let's talk again some time, Kuro-neko!"
In a single powerful bound, Zazie was gone, leaping through the thin canopy from branch to branch through the rustling leaves with the power and grace that could have only come from her otherworldly blood. All that was left in her wake was the haunting laughter of her voice, a naive joyous lilt fitting for a child. Kanako could only stand there and fume, knowing that her only lead had escaped through her grasp. She would have to wait for another time to confirm her suspicions, so it seemed.
However, there were more pressing matters to attend to presently. The noisy crackle of brush being trampled and pushed aside alerted her to the approach of another immediate presence, one that the silvery-haired girl had detected long before Kanako herself had heard the sound. What other mysterious senses did Zazie have? She would have to ask the demon girl next time.
"Now, my little Nanashi-chan should be around here somewhere," said a familiar mellifluous voice aloud in a rather haughty manner. "Yoo-hooooo! Urashima! I know you're around here somewhere!"
Oh great, of all the luck she had to meet Evangeline A.K. McDowell now!
The petite foreign girl emerged moments later, crushing the grass underfoot loudly as if she were grinding her ire into another's face. Her dark blue eyes of indigo locked onto Kanako and immediately a toothy predatory grin found its way onto her beauteous face. It was the sort of look a huntress gave unto her quarry, one and only. After all, she had spent quite a bit of time searching for the delightful new transfer student, who had proven elusive to her, and now that she had finally found her, all would be right soon enough.
Kanako scowled in reply, wrapping the cold cloak of apathy and malice that she had shed unconsciously in Zazie's presence back around her heart. She had few doubts that the blonde-haired girl was the 'Scary Girl' that the demon had spoken of, and if Zazie was uneasy around Evangeline, then it was all the more reason for her to use extreme caution when speaking to this deceiving creature. "It's you."
"'It's you'? That's all you have to say after the many arduous hours I've spent looking for you?" Evangeline scoffed with a theatric toss of her hair as she shouldered a plain black school bag across her back. "How ungrateful, how --- impertinent, but that's what I like about you."
"Looking for me? Hmmm..."
"Yes, yes, your --- infamy has already spread quite far, like wildfire in fact, in the span of a few hours. It's high noon now, if you care to look up at that wretched sun above your head. I must say, you're a person who certainly commands power and respect to have gotten such a vigorous reaction in a relatively short amount of time."
"There's more to this, isn't there?"
"Oh yes, there is. Would you like to join me for lunch, Nanashi-chan? Or should I say, Kanako-cha-"
"Don't. say it. You don't have the right to," Kanako hissed dangerously. Unlike her big brother, the raven-haired girl was very much interested in propriety and did not appreciate it in the slightest bit when strangers overstepped their bounds with her.
Evangeline pouted with an exaggerated puppy dog look on her face. "Mou, can I? Can I please, Nanashi-chan? I promise I'll be good! What you did in class was sooooooo wonderful, cool, stupendous! Can I call you 'Sempai' too, please? Please?"
"...You're not very good at groveling are you?"
"Pshhh! You could at least try to humor me, still you're exactly the sort of --- partner --- I've been waiting for."
"'Partner'?" What's she talking about now?
"Your actions in the classroom are every bit the validation I need. I was surprised when you helped out our new little squirt, but even more so when you showed more color against Kagurazaka. It was --- delicious to watch you torment her..."
Torment? Torture? Was what I did to Kagurazaka? thought Kanako to herself. She did not know whether to be more disturbed by Evangeline's eerie recount of her recent exploits or the cold invisible knives burrowing into her gut. Was it guilt she felt?
"Speaking of which, it is lunchtime right about now. Why don't you join me?" Evangeline proposed to her suddenly, knocking the raven-haired girl out of her reverie.
"What?"
"A classmate of ours tends to be a little bit --- zealous when it comes to her cooking, and I don't think I can honestly finish the massive bento lunch she made for me all by my lonesome self. So why don't you join me? You look absolutely famished."
Right then, Kanako's stomach punctually decided to speak for itself with a rumbling growl. She did her best to ignore this, but it was difficult to suppress her embarrassed blush under the feral scrutiny of the blonde-haired girl's gleaming indigo eyes. "I suppose..."
"Fufufu, besides, you'd want this back, don't you?" She gestured at the black school bag in her hand.
"And why would I-"
"Urashima-boke, its yours. Don't tell me you've forgotten already? Oh wait, my mistake --- you forgot it back in class, didn't you?"
Kanako scowled grudgingly. Looks she did not have much of a choice, if she wanted to get her satchel back. She would have to have lunch with the Little Devil herself. "Fine, let's go then."
"Fufufu, I knew you'd see it my way, Na-na-shi-chan!" Evangeline laughed merrily as she gestured for her "guest" to follow her lead.
It looks like this was going to be the start of a beautiful relationship.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes:
Sweet Jebus, it's chapter 23! Finally, we're getting some answers and a few half-answers-turned questions! But on top of that, there's STILL more questions yet! Do I smell a conspiracy? Has Konoemon-jiji been feeding kids and people to this IT? What IS Zazie exactly? Will Sayo get her own episode? Can you smell what Evangeline's cooking?
I don't know but maybe we'll find out in episode 24 (sometime this week)!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I cannot thank you all enough for your time (6000+ hits, you guys and gals rock!). 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 maestro here. And with that said, let's give a word-up-yo back to homies who braved and reviewed chapter 23:
To the Guy with Icha Icha Paradise, Mister Havenoname, I promise there WILL be a no holds barred, no ninjutsu barred, no magic limits, ALL-out crazy battle fest; a true fight to the finish with all the big guns coming out. Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet! Ditto on Zazie, although I think she gets a cameo episode to herself in the anime run somewhere and just gets to flip out. Don't know much beyond that, I'm afraid.
To the Man who (probably) Co-Wrote Icha Icha Paradise, Mister Alpha Draconis1, glad you liked Zazie and you know what? You might just be on the right track, but hey, let's not get paranoid here, all right?
Well, that wraps it up, folks, so until the next time we meet (probably this Thursday since I'm in one of those moods again): Peace out! And get your Storm Trooper freak on!
Omake!
Naze Nani Glass Moon Desu
Episode Preview!
Chapter 24:
Murderous Intent - Side A
"That baka is Miyazaki Nodoka, Student Number Thirty-Seven, from our class. She's a mousy little thing, don't you think? Actually works part-time at the school library too."
Tsudzuku!