The park was quiet, though that wasn't all too weird, considering it was about ten o'clock at night. Not many people were out at this time of night, only some students taking a late-night jog, and maybe a few of the university students making sky charts for their Astronomy class. But all in all, the night was peaceful, quiet- not to mention the air was very cool and inviting.

Which is why Makie loved practicing at night.

Her lithe body moved through the air, a series of leaps and jumps, with a touch of spinning for variety. She seemed to flash in and out of the air, her athleticism showing in her every move. Now, she paused for a second, and picked up her main piece- her baton, with a large flexible streamer at the end of it. Using it like a windmill would use its long, wooden arms, she spun it around in front of her, taking great care not to drop or fumble it.

She practiced like this for a good half hour, before she finally took a quick break, panting, her face covered in sweat. I've gotta take a quick breather... She walked over to where her stuff was at, and picked up a towel that was laying by her bookbag, wiping her face and forehead off with it. A light breeze played through the air, and Makie craned her face towards its source, trying to use every bit of the wind to cool her body down.

After about a five-minute break (and her downing the water that she had in both of the water bottles she'd brought, and refilling them), she walked back over to where her baton lay, and was about to pick it up, when she heard a twig crack behind her. Starting, she spun around to face whoever had made the noise, only to find no one there.

"I'm hearing things..." she said aloud, to no one in particular, as she cast a glance around her in every direction, in case the noise came from a passing jogger, one who just happened to step on a stick that was laying in their path, not wanting to kick it aside.

A fear began to creep into the back of Makie's mind: It'd be just my luck if there's someone out here, watching me, stalking me... She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of that train of thought- if there was one thing that Makie was really good at (besides her rhythmic gymnastics, of course), it was scaring herself for no real good reason.

Finally, she felt she could bend down and pick up her baton again. She did so, not looking around again this time. Just as she was about to straighten back up again, she heard a small voice from behind her.

"Erm... Makie-san? Is that you?"

Her heart jumped up into her throat, as she spun around again to identify the voice; this time, though, she lost her balance, and ended up falling down on her rear. As soon as she hit the ground, she could feel the dampness soaking into her leotard- not to mention her face growing hot and red. She looked up to see who had spoken to her, and was quite surprised at who it was.

"Negi-kun?"

Negi stood a few feet away from where Makie was now seated in the damp grass; he had a bit of a perplexed look on his face. "Are you alright, Makie-san?"

Makie laughed nervously, as though trying to brush it all off. "Yeah, I'm fine. You just... scared me. Kinda."

"Sorry 'bout that." Negi held his hand out. "Here, let me at least help you up."

"Thanks." Makie reached out her own hand, and grasped Negi's; he helped her to her feet, Makie helping out a bit. As she straightened back up, a thought passed through her mind, unbidden: Wow, Negi-kun's hands are really soft. I don't think I've ever gotten a chance to hold his hand before. I wonder if the rest of his body is as soft as his hands...

"-you doing?"

Makie was still in thought as Negi spoke to her, so she didn't catch all of what he said, but his voice did snap her back to the waking world. "Sorry, Negi-kun; what did you say?"

Negi smiled. "I asked, what were you doing?"

"Oh, this? Nothing... I was just doing a little late-night gymnastics practice."

Negi looked a bit surprised at this. "This late at night?"

"Yeah," replied Makie. "Usually, I'm so busy during the day, I don't have time to get much practicing in, so I find the best time is late at night."

"You're pretty dedicated to your gymnastics, Makie-san," commented Negi. "Probably moreso than your teammates. I don't see any of them out here, practicing with you."

Makie blushed at this. "Yeah, well, I pretty much have to be. I got into the American Semi-finals, you know."

Negi's eyes grew wide at this; he hadn't heard this bit of news yet. "When did this happen?"

"About a week ago, is when I found out about it. I was sure I told you..."

"Never mind that," replied Negi. "When do you head over there?"

Makie thought for a second. "Probably in... three or four days. The actual tournament starts about a week and a half from now, but I want to get over there early, maybe do a little bit of sightseeing before the tournament starts. That's going to take up a lot of my time, once it begins."

"I'd say so. I wish I could come with you, but..."

"Yeah, I know- you have your duties as a teacher. I understand." Makie looked down at her watch. "Oh man, I need to get back to the dorms. I wanted to get a bit more sleep tonight." She ran over to her bag and stuffed her baton into it, along with her extra clothes. She turned and bowed to Negi, then took off, waving behind her. "See you in class tomorrow, Negi-kun!!"

Negi bowed also, as Makie took off into the night. He said a quick prayer for her, that she would have the best of luck at her tournament; then, he started walking in the direction of the dorms, wanting more than just a little bit to catch some sleep before his classes the next day.

- - - - -

The next day came way too quickly for Negi; he awoke with a start, sweat pouring down his face, his eyes wide and dilated. He looked around the room frantically, trying to see if the demons in his dream had followed him into the world of the waking. Of course, they hadn't, and Negi flopped back down onto his pillow, still breathing heavily.

"Man, my dreams haven't been that vivid in a long time..." he said aloud to himself. He finally got the strength to look around again, and noticed, oddly, that neither Asuna nor Konoka were in the room; in fact, their school stuff wasn't laying around like it usually was, either.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking at the clock. It read 8:15.

Negi jumped out of bed immediately, magically summoning his teacher's clothes from across the room, and began to put them on hurriedly. "Oh no, oh no... I'm late!! And I told Takamichi I would come early to help him out with the next year's 3-A roster..." It only took him a few seconds to get dressed, then, grabbing his backpack and wizard's staff, he hurtled out the door, running full-speed down the hallway.

When he exited the building, he noticed that the streets were almost completely bare. Good... now I don't have any qualms about doing this. Hopping on his staff, he zoomed off towards the school- keeping behind the buildings, just in case there was someone who happened to look out into the streets at the moment.

It took him less than a minute to reach the school grounds, and he dismounted his staff, already running towards the school building. He burst through the door; luckily, his classroom was only a few feet from the entrance, so he stopped outside the door, trying to catch his breath.

"Thought you were going to be late?"

Negi looked up, to see Takamichi standing by his side, smiling gently.

"Yes," Negi said, straightening up, then bowing to his long-time friend and mentor; Takamichi did the same.

"Luckily for you," said Takamichi, as he straightened up, "you have a few minutes to spare before your class begins. Which is why I want to talk to you about something. No, you're not in trouble," he added, as he noticed the expression that had just crossed Negi's face, "I just have a bit of a... favor to ask you."

Negi was a bit puzzled at this. "A favor? Yeah, sure. What is it?"

Takamichi smiled. "Well, all I need you to do is..."

- - - - -

That same day, after Negi had finished grading the tests that his students had taken that day, when he got back to his room, he pulled out the suitcase he had stored behind his chest-of-drawers and set it up on his bed. He opened it up and, starting to rummage through his drawers, he began to pull out everything he thought he might need for-

"Whatcha doin'?"

The voice startled Negi, who jumped up onto his bed in fear; he turned around to face whoever had just spoken to him, but when he saw who it was, he calmed down.

"Oh. Hello, Asuna-san."

Asuna was trying very hard not to laugh- so much so, that her face was growing very red. "Did- did I scare you?"

She could hold it in no longer, and she let out a great laugh, so loud that someone yelled from upstairs, "Shut up! I'm trying to study!"

"Oh, Negi, you should have seen the look on your face! It was priceless!"

"I bet it was..." muttered Negi. He turned and began packing again.

Once Asuna had calmed down, she looked over at Negi oddly, still trying to get her breathing back to normal. "Negi, what are you doing? You going on a trip somewhere?"

"Yeah," was all Negi said.

"Well... where are you going?"

Negi looked over at Asuna. "You promise not to tell anyone, if I tell you where I'm going? Takamichi made me swear not to get the information leaked out..."

Asuna would have kept a secret quite willingly for Negi, but since it was for Takamichi, she all of a sudden became extra-willing to keep it, and she told Negi as much.

"Alright, I'm going to..." He leaned over and whispered his secret into Asuna's ear.

When he'd finished telling Asuna the plan, she had a wide grin on her face. "Negi, I know this really means a lot to her. And seeing as she really likes you... I think this is a good idea."

Negi was quite relieved that Asuna thought it was a good idea. "Glad you think so."

"When do you leave?"

Negi checked his calendar, which was hanging up above his bed. "I leave on Memorial Day, which is... in two days."

"That soon? I'm really gonna miss you, ya know."

Negi smiled. "And I'm sure I'll miss you, too, Asuna-san."

Asuna laughed at this. "No, you won't. You'll be having too much fun to miss any of us." She turned and started to head out, but stopped and faced Negi again. "Me and Konoka are going out for pizza. You want us to bring you back anything?"

"No, thanks. Chao-san invited me over to her restaurant for dinner tonight."

This was news to Asuna. "The Chao-Bao-Xi? I didn't know she kept it open during any other times than MahoraFest..."

"She usually doesn't, but she said she really wanted me to try one of Satsuki-san's new recipes tonight."

Asuna laughed. "Alright, suit yourself." She waved goodbye to Negi, as she opened the door and left.

Negi turned again, and stared down at his suitcase. "Alright, I'm going to need..."

- - - - -

Two Days Later

The plane dipped its nose downward, preparing for its final descent. Among the passengers on this plane was a young lady, very nervous about heading to America for the first time. The plane finally touched down, and the pilot came on the intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have now arrived in Los Angeles, at LAX Airport. Please remain in your seats until the plane is finished taxi-ing to its final spot. And once again, we thank you for flying with Air Japan."

Soon, the plane stopped, and the seatbelt light turned off. Breathing a sigh of relief, Makie unbuckled her seat belt, and stood up, stretching her legs. She hadn't gotten up a single time during the flight, not even to use the lavatory; her legs had been too unsure to do much of anything except nothing.

As soon as Makie exited the plane, she began to look around, anticipating seeing someone. "Where is Takamichi?" she asked herself. "I thought he was going to meet me here..."

"Just a slight change of plans, is all."

Makie almost immediately recognized the small, yet commanding voice, but she didn't believe it could be who she thought it was- why on earth would he, of all people, be out here in America, when he was supposed to be back in Japan, teaching? When she turned around, though, she saw her ears hadn't deceived her.

"N-Negi-kun? Wh-what are you doing here?"

Negi smiled at his student. "Sorry to scare you like that; Takamichi had some urgent matters come up, so he asked me to come here in his place. I hope you don't mind..."

Makie's mind was swirling with emotions: Yeah, I'm glad he's here, but I was really looking forward to spending some time with Takahata-sensei. Besides, Takahata-sensei is a big adult, and he could probably look after me. But Negi-kun...? I mean, yeah, he's strong and everything... But, I guess I'm glad he's here. Maybe I'll even get a chance to stay in a hotel room with him... She didn't notice that as she was thinking this, a very heavy blush had come over her face; unfortunately for her, Negi did.

"You alright, Makie-san? Your face looks a little red..."

"No, no, I'm fine." She looked down at Negi and smiled. "You want to go get my bags? And yours, probably?"

Negi seemed lost in though, but when she said this, he snapped back to reality. "Yeah, sure. Do you know where the baggage carousel is?"

"Yeah, follow me." She grabbed onto his hand (only to keep him from getting lost... she thought to herself), and dragged him forward, Negi trying to keep up behind her. All the while, Makie's mind was running on high fuel: I was right the first time- Negi's hands are really smooth... She shifted her grip slightly, so that their fingers intertwined, and she slowed down to a regular walk. There, that's better... Heh... it almost feels like we're on a date...

Soon, they made it to the carousel and, luckily, they had no problem finding their bags as they came around.

When they had all their stuff, Makie turned to Negi. "I already had the hotel reservations made before I came here. You wanna just head on over to the hotel, seeing as it's already getting dark?"

"Sure," replied Negi, as the two made their way to the exit. "But, what do you want to do when you get there?"

Makie smiled at Negi, and he could tell she was thinking a mile a minute. "Oh, we'll think of something..."

- - - - -

Two Days Later

"We're back!"

Akira smiled, as she saw Makie and Negi step off the plane, both looking very tired, but happy nonetheless.

"How'd you do?" asked Ako, who was also with them.

"Yeah, don't keep us in suspense," urged Sakurako, who had just popped her head out from behind Akira.

"Well, I didn't do as well as I thought I would," replied Makie. "I placed eighth in the tournament."

"That's still pretty good," said Ako. "Probably way better than I would do." This elicited a laugh from all of them.

"And how about you?" asked Akira, turning to Negi. "How'd you enjoy everything?"

"It was nice," said Negi. "Good to be able to go to America for once." Noticing Makie had her back turned to them, Negi whispered something to her three companions, something that made them all gasp.

Makie turned, hearing their gasps. "What? What is it?"

"When you were at the hotel," began Akira, "did you and Negi... you know...?"

Makie blushed a deep crimson when she realized what Akira was referring to. "Oh, come on- no! I like Negi-kun, you all know, but I don't like him that much!!"

"Well then, what did he mean when he said-" Ako was interrupted by Sakurako. "Where'd Negi go?"

They all looked around, and indeed, Negi had slipped off without them. "We'll find him later," said Makie. "Now, I want to know what he told you."

Akira spoke up again: "Well, we couldn't hear him exactly, but..."

"Well, what did it sound like he said?"

"For a second there, it kind of sounded like... 'I never knew some of the things Makie-san could do with that baton of hers'."

End Note: Sorry if you guys are mad at me for not writing the actual tournament that Makie went to, into the story. I just kind of felt like the story was long enough without having a blow-by-blow report of her tournament added into it. Don't worry- I may make her competition into a one-shot sometime soon, but until then... just use your imagination.