Here's Part 2: You all read my disclaimer so without further ado, here we go!

Fuka, Fumika and Kaede were strolling around the campus. Kaede smiled, the twins were getting better and she rarely had to carry them over the various routes anymore. Just then, a high pitched scream filled the air. It stopped after a brief second and for a moment Kaede wondered if she had imagined it, but the twins had identical looks of shock on their faces and Kaede knew it was real. Without a word, she pulled the twins onto her shoulders and dashed off to the direction it had come from.

Meanwhile...

Natsumi moaned, she was tied to a chair and there was a cloth over her mouth. Chizuru and Ku Fei stood in front of her.

"Are you willing to cooperate now?" Chizuru began.

Natsumi shook her head defiantly and she tried to lunge at Chizuru, but the ropes that tied her to the chair held her down. She stopped struggling because even if she managed to break free, Ku Fei was more than capable of defeating her.

Chizuru and Ku Fei had been questioning her for over an hour about her feeling for Kotaro. She had denied anything at first, but when Ku Fei started poking her to get information she had confessed. She had been allowed to move around the room but Ku Fei made her sit on the chair after her 5th escape attempt. After an hour, Chizuru had ordered her to confess to Kotaro at that moment. She had immediately refused. Ku Fei poked her and Chizuru was about to call Kotaro when she had screamed her loudest. Ku Fei's lightning quick reflexes had stopped her by covering her mouth with a cloth and tying her to the chair.

"Ok" Chizuru replied

"Ku Fei, would you please Persuade Natsumi again?

Ku Fei got ready to poke Natsumi, but then the door flew open. Chizuru, Ku Fei and Natsumi looked, and there stood Kaede and the twins.

"Please untie Natsumi de-gozaru" Kaede said in a voice filled with warning.

"Ku Fei?" Chizuru replied

Ku Fei got into a martial arts pose. Kaede reached for something behind her back and threw it to the ground. The room was instantly filled with a cloud of thick white smoke. Chizuru and Ku Fei felt a rushing sensation, and when the smoke cleared, they were under the World Tree.

"I didn't want to break your belongings de-gozaru"

"Fine by me" Ku Fei replied, "This just gives me more space to defeat you"

Kaede smiled and adopted a battle ready stance. Ku Fei got into a Martial Arts pose. They looked at each other, nodded, and charged.

"Sagitta Magica Series Lucis!" (Magic projectile barrage: 11 arrows of light) A voice cried out from nowhere.

Ku Fei and Kaede were thrown back. There was no pain, but there was a great force pushing them, like an elephant had smashed them. But without the pain.

Ku Fei flipped in the air and landed on her back on the ground. Kaede was more coordinated and was able to land on a tree branch. There was a cloud of white smoke where she had been a few seconds earlier. A new enemy, and a powerful one by the looks of it.

Ku Fei was having the same thoughts. She waited for whoever it was to make their next move. When none came, she charged right into the smoke, fists raised high.

Kaede threw a shuriken into the smoke and waited.

Meanwhile…

Kotaro came out of the bathroom. He walked into the living room and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone there. He then heard a moan from Chizuru's room. Without pausing to wonder why the door was lying on the ground, he dashed into Chizuru's room and looked for who had moaned.

His gaze immediately fell upon Natsumi who was tied to a chair with a cloth on her mouth. He immediately untied her and removed the cloth. Once she was free, she grabbed onto him and began to cry.

"Whoa Natsumi, are you alright?" Kotaro was bewildered by her sudden move.

"We… we must go be- before they come back for me" Natsumi replied between sobs.

"Ok Natsumi, just hold on to me" Natsumi held on to Kotaro's shoulders and Kotaro wrapped his arms around her behind him. He dashed out the door and kept running, looking for a safe place to hide. No doubt about it. He thought, that was Ku Fei and Kaede. The scent was clear. If they catch up to me then Natsumi won't be able to escape and I won't be able to defeat them. Only one place to go.

Kotaro held on to Natsumi and sprinted towards Negi's room. Once he got there, without pausing to check if anyone was in there or if the door was unlocked, he leapt and thrust out his right leg. The wooden door shattered underneath the sheer force of his blow. The room was empty. Kotaro gently carried Natsumi to the bed and let her lie down.

"Rest for a while, I'm going to stop Ku Fei and Kaede from fighting and I will avenge you. Don't worry, Setsuna and Asuna won't give you away" I hope, He silently added. Before he left, he bent down and touched Natsumi's forehead with his own. Good, there was no fever. Her face seemed to turn slightly red but Kotaro blamed it on the shock of the situation. With those dramatic words, Kotaro left.

Once Kotaro had shut the door, Natsumi let out a breath that she had been holding since he had touched her forehead. It hadn't been deliberate, but seeing her hero leap into action then having him actually touch her forehead had made her temporarily forget how to breathe. Once he had gone, however, she had found her voice. NO! She wanted to cry out. She didn't want Kotaro to try to stop Kaede and Ku Fei from fighting. Did she? She had no problems with them being stopped, it was just the thought of the young Kotaro trying to separate them… what if he got hurt? Or worse? She could never forgive herself if he got hurt fighting on her behalf. Truth be told, it wasn't her fault. It had been coincidences and accidents that had led to the current situation. Still…

Natsumi sat on the edge of the bed. She could barely hear the sounds of the fight. She tried to tune it out till one voice caught her attention. Kotaro! He had yelled in pain. Natsumi brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms round them. She sat there, trying to comfort herself, blocking out all noise except for the sound of Kotaro's voice.

Meanwhile…

Kotaro knew exactly what to do. He would walk towards the battle taking place near the huge tree, he forgot what it was called, then grab Ku Fei and slam her on the ground. If she fought he would fight back. Then he would use the rope he brought and tie up Kaede. She could probably untie it but it would buy him some time. Then, if Negi was there, he would smash him with his right hand. He clenched his fist in anticipation. Smiling, he charged right towards the large cloud of dust.

Later…

Kotaro yelled again. He had rushed to try and stop the fight, only to get hit by a large black shuriken which knocked him to the ground, thanks to Kaede, helped up and then had every bone in his body hit by a fist that felt like a sledgehammer, courtesy of Ku Fei, and for the grand finale he had been hit by 59 arrows of light, by none other than the only other boy on campus, Negi!

He now lay on the steps leading to that huge tree, World tree? Something like that. Kotaro moaned and sat up. So much for getting revenge. He thought he saw lights flashing before his eyes. Am I losing consciousness? He rubbed his eyes and looked closely. Worse. Once again Kotaro screamed as his body was hit by 59 arrows of light. He tried to get up. Darn it Negi, just you wait. I'm coming. That's right, just you wait….

Kotaro swayed slightly. Then, without a word, he collapsed. Sorry Natsumi… was all he thought before he really did lose consciousness.

Kotaro opened his eyes and winced. There was a bright light shining. "Kotaro?" A voice called out beside him. That voice… so beautiful… like the most harmonious melody on Earth. Kotaro tried to move but his strength was gone. He struggled and just managed to turn his head to the right, where he saw Natsumi sitting beside him. Kotaro was so shocked that for a moment all he could do was stare. However beautiful the voice had been, it was nothing compared to this, this, this angel sitting next to him. For a second Kotaro wondered if he was in heaven, but he immediately crossed out that thought. He was a mercenary! He had killed many Many people. He must be in hell. Well, if this beautiful person was in hell with him he would gladly take the pain. Wait a minute, he realized, this person looks familiar, who… Ku Fei? No that was someone else. Natsumi… For some reason the name seemed appropriated for someone so beautiful.

He felt a light pressure on his hand. It felt good after the fight. THE FIGHT! He sat up. A third possibility had occurred to him. If he wasn't in hell, and he wasn't in heaven, then he was still alive. This realization came with another one. Sitting up had brought a fresh wave of pain. He fell back. It was only then he knew he was in lying in one of the beds in the school infirmary. Then he saw that he wasn't alone. Natsumi was sitting next to him, holding his rough injured hand with her small one.

"Natsumi?" He asked. His voice sounded terrible.

"Kotaro! You're awake!" Natsumi exclaimed. Then she looked down and quickly let go of his hands.

"Kotaro I don't know how to thank you. You risked your life for me. You saw I was hurt and tried to take revenge. Thank You" Natsumi blushed

"It's ok Natsumi, I'm always happy to help you. If anyone's ever mean to you just let me know." Kotaro replied. He clenched his uninjured left fist to show his readiness for action.

"Hey Natsumi, do you know where the nurse is? I want to know how long I have to stay here"

"Actually, the nurse isn't around. Your injuries were so severe that the nurse had to go to the nearest town to get supplies. She cordoned off an entire section of the infirmary for you. She'll be back in about a day, so get ready to stay here for at least twenty-four hours. For now, it's just the two of us."

Kotaro froze. 24 hours alone with Natsumi! I'm gonna go crazy. It was a dream come true mixed in with a nightmare. This was the perfect opportunity to get to know her, but one little mistake and… Kotaro couldn't bring himself to even think of what might happen. He lay back and closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do.

Natsumi suddenly felt hot. She turned away from Kotaro. A voice in her head kept telling her to do it now. Confess or forever hold her tongue. She couldn't bear it. She confessed.

"Kotaro, lately I've realized that you are a very good friend to me. You're kind and brave; you would face death itself to help me. I've always thought of myself as weak and useless, but you still accept me. You don't judge based on appearance. I thank you for that. But Kotaro, lately…" Natsumi took the plunge

"I just found out that my feelings for you aren't that of a friend. I want us to be closer. I feel like I hardly know you. Being around you makes me uncomfortable, and I never knew why. Now I know."

Natsumi was closing her eyes. She couldn't bear to look at Kotaro

"I Love You Kotaro Inugami ."

Natsumi kept her eyes closed. She waited for Kotaro's response. There was a minute of two of pure silence. Wondering why he hadn't replied, Natsumi opened one eye. "Kotaro?" she asked, not knowing what to expect.

He was asleep.