"Hot... so hot..."

It was indeed hot outside, and the fact that Negi had air conditioning in his room wasn't helping at all. He simply lay on his futon, sweating, wishing he had something else to drink besides hot tea. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Grumbling to himself, Negi got up and descended the stairs.

Opening the door, he found Kaede standing there. "Good afternoon, Negi-kun," she said.

"Good afternoon to you, too, Kaede-san," replied Negi.

Kaede smiled. "You look a little hot."

"So do you," replied Negi, smiling.

Kaede laughed. "Well, that wasn't really what I meant, but I appreciate the compliment, anyways."

Negi invited her in, and she came in, sitting down on Asuna's bed. "So what can I do for you today, Kaede-san?" asked Negi.

Kaede smiled. "Well, Negi-kun, I was wondering if you wanted to get a little training in today." Seeing the look of incredulity on Negi's face, Kaede quickly added, "It wouldn't be anything major, considering how hot it is outside. We can run to the store before we go, if you want, and pick up some stuff for a picnic dinner for after we finish. How does that sound?"

Negi looked at Kaede. "Honestly, it's the best idea I've heard in a long time. Can you wait outside while I change?"

Kaede looked confused. "Why do you want me to wait outside?"

Negi said, "Well, if you want to, I guess you could stay in here..." Grinning, Kaede sat back down on the bed as Negi began to change. About halfway through, Negi began to feel that someone was watching him, and sure enough, when he glanced over at Kaede, he found her staring at him intently. Negi grinned. "You like what you see?"

Kaede flushed a bright red. "Well... I wasn't really looking at anything in particular... but I guess you could say I did." Negi laughed.

As Negi strapped his staff onto his back, Kaede said, "You know, Negi-kun, I've always wanted to take a ride on that thing. Do you mind if I ride on it today?"

Negi thought for a second, then said, "That's fine. It's the weekend, so I don't think there are going to be any prying eyes to see us." He walked out of the room, holding the door open for Kaede as she passed him.

"Why, thank you, Negi-kun. You're quite the gentlemen," remarked Kaede.

"It's how I was raised," replied Negi. "My father, for the small time I knew him, tried his best to make sure I would always be the best I could be. I've tried to live up to his expectations... I'm not sure how I've done, though."

Kaede said, "We need to get going. Oh, and by the way... from what I've heard about the Thousand Master, you're going to grow up to make him the proudest dad on earth." Blushing, Negi mumbled something, then closed the door.

Walking out onto the street, Negi asked Kaede, "Are we going to train in the same spot we did last time?"

Kaede smiled. "No, Negi-kun, I'm taking you to a brand new place- one that's very special to me..." As they walked along, a thought occurred to Negi. "Kaede," he said, "did you ever get to meet my father?"

Looking a bit confused, Kaede replied, "No, I never did get to meet him- but I would have loved to. From all the heroic tales I've heard about him from my parents... he's my mom's hero. And to think his son is my teacher..."

Hopping on Negi's staff, Kaede and Negi rode off; they went on for about another mile before Kaede said, "Okay, see that patch of woods over there?" When Negi nodded, Kaede said, "That is where we will be doing our training."

Negi looked at the patch of trees. "It looks like that's someone's backyard. Do you think it's alright for us to train there?"

Kaede smiled. "Yes, Negi-kun, I do. I know the people there very well, and I am always welcome there, no matter what the reason. There is another spot beyond the house, one that we alone know about. I will show you that spot later on."

As they passed the house (on foot), Negi heard someone call out, "Good afternoon, Kaede-chan!!!"

"Good afternoon," she called back as they entered the woods. Negi wondered what kind of training they would be doing that day. After walking for another half mile or so, they came into a clearing, and Negi couldn't believe what he saw.

They had come out into what looked like an island paradise; a lake was in the center of the clearing, with a hut off to the side. What really amazed Negi was the fact that the lake was crystal clear; he thought he could see to the bottom, and when he wandered over to the water's edge, he found out he really could.

Just then, he heard Kaede's voice. "This is where our training will be." He turned around to see Kaede smiling. "You do know how to swim, don't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Negi, "I've known for ages."

"Excellent," replied Kaede. She then undid her sash and let her clothes drop away, leaving her completely naked. Negi was a bit surprised at her action; he had already seen her naked body before, the last time they went out to train, but nevertheless, he was still a bit embarrassed. Kaede must have noticed, because she said, "Is everything alright, Negi-kun?"

Negi replied, "Yeah, everything's fine, but... do you really plan on swimming naked? What if someone sees us?"

Kaede laughed. "I'm sure no one will see us; not many people even know this is back here, and the ones that do know not to disturb me when I am here."

Negi asked, "Do you want me to swim naked, too?"

For some reason, Kaede blushed when Negi said this. "Well... I wouldn't mind, particularly... but if you feel embarrassed, then just wear the clothes you have on."

Kaede looked up, and when she did, she found that Negi had already stripped, and was smiling at her. "Did Negi-kun always have that good of a body?" she thought to herself; soon, she found that she was getting a bit too excited, so she jumped into the lake to try to clear her mind. Negi jumped in right after her. "So what's our training?" he asked again.

Smiling, Kaede said, "Well, there are quite a few fish in this lake, and they are easy enough to catch when you have a pole. But, we are going to catch them a completely different way today. Oh, and the fish you catch are going to be part of our picnic dinner later."

Negi understood suddenly, and he said, "We're going to catch them by swimming at them?" Kaede seemed glad he understood so quickly. "This is going to be fun..." Negi muttered to himself. When he turned to Kaede to ask her how he was supposed to find the fish, he found her already holding two fish, one in each hand. Negi's jaw dropped. "How'd you catch those so quickly?"

Kaede laughed. "Very carefully. Now you try. There should be fish right to your left." Negi looked and, sure enough, there were two medium-sized fish swimming right beside him. Negi carefully turned around and, before the fish knew someone was coming, he had both of them in his hands.

He turned to Kaede, and he found her with her mouth hanging open. "You really do learn easily, don't you, Negi-kun? It took me months to learn how to do this..." She smiled. "But let's see how you do a second time."

Negi smiled, then reached down into the water; when he pulled back up, he had two more fish in his hands. Kaede laughed. "Well, I see I have found a very good training partner." She noticed it was getting a bit dark. "Let's go ahead and get the food started," Kaede said. "If you would, go get some good firewood."

As Negi walked off, Kaede couldn't help but stare at him. "What's going on?" she thought to herself. "I mean, I've always thought Negi-kun was cute, but... never this much. Do I... do I love him? And what would happen if I did love him? I already know that Nodoka-chan and Yue-dono are both in love with him, too; could I take him for my own, knowing I wasn't the only one who wanted him?"

As Negi came back and started the fire, Kaede helped him out in silence. War between her feelings raged inside of her; every time she looked at Negi, she felt guilty for loving him, for that's what it really was, she decided- she truly loved him, no matter what she said to herself to the contrary...

Soon, Negi noticed her unusual silence. "Are you feeling alright, Kaede-san?" Kaede jumped. "Yes, Negi-kun; I'm fine." Negi didn't fully believe her, but he let the topic drop.

As Kaede was coming to grips with her own love for Negi, Negi was asking himself almost the same questions. "What is this? Kaede-san has been a great friend for so long... why start falling in love now?" He glanced over at Kaede, obviously worried about something, and a thought came to him: "Is it possible Kaede-san is in love with me, too? Wow, this puts me in a predicament; I already like Nodoka-san, but... today, Kaede-san was amazing. I've never seen anyone as awesome as she is. I may love her, but what do I want to do with that love?"

Negi speared the fish and set them over the fire; walking over to the picnic basket, he took out a tablecloth and set it in a flat place. He then did something Kaede was not expecting at all: he reached into his backpack and took out two candles and, lighting them on the fire, set them on the tablecloth.

Kaede's heart skipped a beat when she saw this. "I wasn't expecting a candlelight dinner tonight, Negi-kun. What made you want to do this?"

Negi smiled. "Well, Kaede-san, I simply wanted to give something back to you for doing all this for me- taking me out to do this training, being my Sessha... just for being there for me."

Kaede found herself blushing harder than ever as he said that. "Th-thank you, Negi-dono..."

Negi looked up, surprised that Kaede had addressed him with such a high honorific. "Why do you show me such respect?" asked Negi.

"It's simple," replied Kaede. "You may be a bit younger than I, but I look up to you more than practically anyone else. You seem to have everything in line- what you want to do, what you're going to do to get there... Me, I don't know what I want to do when I graduate..."

Negi took a spear of fish out of the fire and gave it to Kaede; she smiled and started to walk over to the picnic spread when she felt someone's hand enclose hers. She looked to her side and found Negi holding her hand; she was a bit surprised, but she took his also, and they walked like that, side by side, to the spread.

Dinner passed too quickly, in Kaede's opinion; it had gotten to the point where she wanted every waking moment to be spent with Negi. Once they had finished, Negi said, "I've got an idea. Would you like to take a bath with me, again?"

Kaede was shocked, as this was the very idea she was considering. "Could it mean he really does like me?" she asked herself. "I was thinking the same thing," she said to Negi. "Stay here, and I'll go get the bath."

Negi watched as Kaede walked away, and he started to feel lonely, empty inside. "I want to be near her so badly!" he thought. It wasn't long, though, before Kaede returned with the same makeshift bath that she and Negi had used the previous time. Kaede lit another fire under the drum; soon, the water was perfect and Kaede was about to step in when Negi said, "Do you mind if I wash you this time?"

Kaede was a bit shocked, but she recovered and said, "I'd love that." Negi got in first, then Kaede followed. As she got into the tub, she leaned backwards, so that her back was resting against Negi's chest. Negi took the washrag and began to wash her body, starting with her shoulders and working his way down. All the while, Kaede was thinking to herself, "I really should not be enjoying this as much as I am, but... oh, who am I kidding? This boy knows how to use his hands..."

Negi's hands reached her breasts, where they lingered for awhile, washing them longer than was probably necessary, but neither of them minded much. He then continued downward, to her stomach... her hips... She began to feel a sensation near her waist, and she couldn't take it anymore. She reached out, took Negi's hand, and placed it near her groin so he could wash it. Negi was a bit surprised at her straight-forwardness, but he simply smiled and began to caress, to wash.

Negi soon finished washing her, and they simply sat in the bath, Negi's arms around Kaede's waist, Kaede holding onto Negi's hands with her own. Soon, Kaede leaned back so her head was leaning against Negi's shoulder. "I could stay like this forever, you know," she told Negi.

Negi smiled. "I know exactly how you feel." He bent his head down and kissed her; she received it, her lips caressing his. His hands began to wander downward, feeling, fondling. She held onto him, tightly, as nature began to take its course.

After awhile, they noticed the water had begun to get cold, so they both got out and wrapped themselves in the towels Kaede had brought. As Negi began to get dressed, a thought came to his mind, and he asked Kaede, "How do you know the people who live in that house?"

Kaede laughed. "I was wondering when you might ask that. As a matter of fact, the person I greeted as we passed the house was my mother." Negi's eyes widened. "So, all this... belongs to your parents?"

"Yep," Kaede replied. "You're standing in my backyard. Welcome."

Laughing, Negi reached out and took Kaede's hand; they started to walk back to Mahora. Soon (too soon for the two of them), they reached Negi's dorm. Kaede said, "Sorry I can't stay, but I need to study for a test tomorrow."

"That's fine," Negi replied, and he kissed her one last time before she left. As she walked away, Kaede turned around and said, "Oh, and Negi-dono... you know that if you ever need anything... you can always count on Sessha."