APH: YEAH! IT'S THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF THE MUC!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!
MX: I don't get you. What are you excited about?
Sarah: It has something to do with summer vacation…
APH: Anyway, since I'm so excited to finally get to do what I want…
MX: Ooh… and what's going on in that naughty little head of yours…?
APH: …Now where did you… never mind that. The thing is, I CAN FINALLY ENJOY ANIME WITHOUT LIMITS!!!
Arda: He's lost it.
MX: NO F-ING WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
APH: I DID NOT-DESU! I am simply celebrating my temporary freedom-desu. And nothing you people say can ruin it!!
MX: …Now where have I heard that before?
APH: What-desu? Can't I-desu?
Suisei Seki: (Appear out of nowhere) HOW DARE YOU-DESU!!!
MX: Oh… so that's where it's from…
Disclaimer: ME NO OWN NEGIMA OR SUISEI SEKI!!!! It belongs to mister Ken Akamatsu
XXXXXXXXXX
Emotion is a funny thing as Sarah finds out mere hours after Negi and the rest of 2-A, going on 3-A, departs on the train. It never occurred to the vampire for the past 700 years that logic and emotion simply don't mix.
When they were still here, with her, making enough noise to wake the dead, Sarah had wished for them to simply go away so she could have a moment of peace and quiet and simply enjoy the tranquility.
Now that they're all gone, Sarah wished that they'd return early so they could chat her ears off and drag her around to do Kami-knows-what every now and then, or that they'll molest Negi-sama in front of her so she had a reason to molest him while pretending to be rescuing him.
It was remarkably quiet. Or at least that's what Sarah thinks as she walks around the now empty school yard with her hands clasped in front of her. With each step, a loud click emitted from her shoe echoed into the night, shattering the tranquility of the place.
The vampire sighs for who knows how many times, wishing that right now, she has a particular child trailing behind her chatting on and on or having an argument with a certain red head. Kami how she missed him, as the words say: you don't know what you have until it's gone. Forget his irritating attempts to try and please her, forget his unnatural skills of getting into perverted situations and forget about that damn ermine that always tagged along with his aniki… Sarah just wants to hear the boy chat her ears off right now so she can pound his head in while silently giggling at the antics of the boy that aims to please.
It's funny really, how times fly. She remembers the first time she met the boy, who was only about four years old. Tiny, chibi, tended to be a bit too hyperactive than most children his age, and of course, showed this unhealthy obsession about his father that he still has now.
'Hohoho, but that obsession is dimmed down for now…' Sarah thought to herself as she watched the front gate that lead to the train station. 'These girls may be noisy, but they serve as good distractions…' The vampire continues to muse, but for every second that she thinks about these girls, she felt tiny tugs at her heart strings.
It feels like… 'Jealousy… funny isn't it? I'm jealous…' The thousand year old vampire muses as she stops right before the double doors that lead into her class's building. 'Is it because I'm jealous that he's spending time with them more than me? Is it that he pays a little too much attention to that Asuna girl now instead of me? Or is it that now… I'm not the only person he can depend on…?'
All in all and in the bottom of her heart, Sarah knew that it's all of the reasons. She wants Negi to only spend time with her and only her. She wants Negi to only fuss over her and no one else. And she wants Negi to only depend on her instead of some… hormone driven girl!
That was selfish and she knew it, but when it comes to the youngest of the Springfields, Sarah wants to be selfish. She never wanted anything in the world before now. She didn't want to conquer the world even though she could have. She didn't want to have this power bestowed upon her so she can live for a thousand years, not knowing what happened for the first three hundred years. She didn't want the power to change what may happen, to stop wars, to eliminate legions of soldiers, to see some of her loved ones die in front of her eyes.
But now, now when she finally wants something, and yet she can't get it. Why?
That is because there is about 20 girls competing for Negi's affection, and Sarah really doesn't like that. That makes her wants to rip their heads-
"Sarah-san? Daijobou?"
"Eh? Nani?" Sarah starts as she turns to her left to see Soya blinking at her. Looking around her, she finds herself inside their classroom. "Ara? When did I get in here?"
"Mm, you were in here a few minutes ago… And then you just stopped and simply stared into space… And now you're scaring me with whatever you're doing…" Soya whimpered as she waves at Sarah's feet. Blinking, the vampire looks down to see the floor cracked and looks about ready to collapse. "Eh?"
"Well, you were giving off this very scary black thingy, and it started to tear at the floor… And it kind of feels as if there was a monster…" Soya explains as she innocently pushed her forefingers together.
"…Soya-chan… do you think I'm a monster?"
"Eh?!" Soya gives a start as she looks at Sarah with wide eyes. "W-W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? How could Sarah-san be a monster?"
"…You must have…" Sarah whispers before giving off a chuckle. "I mean, from what you say, I must be that monster."
"Sarah-san! Stop it!"
"I'm a monster of course! I'd kill thousands of people! Maybe even millions!"
"S-Sarah-san?" Soya asks, her pale complexion become even paler at where the conversation is heading. You don't become a 60-year-old ghost without learning at least something in the years of her lonely observations.
"I'd destroy armies, flatten villages, and burn down cities-!"
"Please stop it!"
"SO WHAT PART OF ME ISN'T A MONSTER?!" Sarah shouts as a wave of black magic creates a shock wave from her, sending the entire building trembling. Soya is glued to her spot, a hand covering her mouth as she stared into Sarah's eyes…
Sarah's yellow… cat-pupil eyes… "Sarah-san… you're eyes… They're yellow…"
"Huh?" Sarah blinks before rushing over to the window and stares into her reflection. Sure enough, what looks back at her is a pair of yellow eyes with slit pupils instead of her usual empty, crimson eyes. "What…"
Just then, the girl's eyes snapped open. A pair of golden eyes with slitted-pupils stared at Sarah in confusion, then recognition, then shock and then finally one thing that Sarah somehow deemed shouldn't be there: fear.
"…I've seen them before…" Just then, the event that occurs in the deep end of the Library Island comes rushing back at her.
"Y-you shouldn't be in here… Y-you're not supposed to be here… I-I won't a-allow it… I WON'T ALLOW IT!"
"S-sorry… I d-didn't mean… I…"
"It's better if you don't remember…"
"P-please… J-just… leave me alone… and never come back…""GAH!" The vampire screams as an intense headache burst into her skull, as if something is going to drill its way from the depth of her mind and push itself out of her head. It is so extreme that the vampire who lived through being mutilated falls to her knees, clutching her aching head while whimpering as images flashes in front of her eyes.
A castle…Flowers… white lilies…
A girl about her age… beckoning… calling…
A man so tall that he is virtually a giant…
A woman whose smile can tame any beast that ever existed… The lilies are stained red…"S-stop it…"
Burning, fire, blood… The castle is full of corpses… Men, women, children…"Make… it stop…"
"Hey, Sarah, what do you think of this dress?" A girl who looks like her asks as she pulls an elegant dress to herself and twirl in a circle. "Isn't it pretty? Mother made it! She also made one for—!"
The girl is strapped to a table with some weird symbols drawn in a circle…
"Sarah… come here. Mother has something for you." A woman of extreme beauty says with a heart-warming smile.
…Said woman is lying in a pool of her own blood.
"Onegai… yamete (stop it)…"
"Sarah…" A man whispers as he gently stroked her hair……The man is lying in front of her, a hole in his chest where his heart is suppose to be…
…There is something warm in her hands…
"STOP IT!" Sarah shouts as she slams her fists into the floor, sending yet another shock wave through the building. Instantly, the pain stopped, and the reddish-blonde head simply sat there panting as sweat drips off of her. Her hair is now matted to her forehead and face as something warm slid down her cheeks. '…Tears…'
"Sa… Sarah-san…? You alright?" Soya asks as she floats next to the whimpering girl, who continues to cry, but no sobs or hiccups come out. "Sarah-san…?"
"I… I… I h-have to go…" Sarah whispers before she teleports herself away from the building, leaving behind a very worried and confused ghost that has haunted this room for about 60 years.
XXXXXXXXXX
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Damn it! Who would be bothering me at such a late- Oh Sarah… What happened? You look like shit!" Evangeline exclaims, as standing in front of her door is a very scared Sarah with every wide yellow eyes. "…What happened?"
"…I… I don't know…" Sarah whimpers as she collapse onto the shorter vampire and lets loose. "I don't know what happened! I was just walking around when t-these images popped into my head! I was scared! I don't know what to do! I… I…!"
"C-calm down! You're scaring me!"
"I…I'm not a monster right? Tell me that I'm not a monster!" Sarah shouts as she starts to shake Eva rather harshly. "TELL ME!"
"S-SARAH! C-C-CALM YOURSELF!" Evangeline shouts as she tries to get a hold of the hysterical and physically-stronger girl in front of her.
"TELL ME I'M NOT A MONSTER! TELL ME THAT I DID NOT SLAUGHTER MILLIONS OF PEOPLE! TELL ME I DID NOT ENJOY BLOOD! TELL ME THAT- SLAP –Ah…"
"…There… You calm now?" Evangeline asks the stunned girl, who gives a small nod before smiling and promptly fainting. "…What happened to you?"
XXXXXXXXXX
It's strange that a shiver travels down the length of Negi's spine just as he was about to get to bed.
Dragging an unconscious girl back is bad enough. Getting ambushed by your own student who shall remain nameless, who 'TRIPPED' and smacked you in the lips with her own lips, and then rushes off giggling, having succeed in whatever scheme she came up with is not how you want to end a day..
And now, there is this bad feeling that makes him think of Sarah…
"Ne, Negi-bouzo? You alright?" Asuna asks after seeing Negi frozen in his tracks.
Having being snapped out of his daze, the boy blinks before shaking his head reassuring the girl that he is fine. Asuna's expression is somewhat doubtful, but she bought it in the end… "Um? Oh, yeah. You know what, I think I'll go take bath…"
'…I wonder how Sarah-san is doing…'
XXXXXXXXXX
The girl whimpers as she observed the lock on her cell gain larger cracks.
It is nearly cutting the entire thing in two. The girl continues to whimpers as she hugs her head, trying to find someway to stop the process.
"W-what to do?! What to do?!" The black hair beauty whispers as she paces right and left in her rather ordinary cell. "I… This is bad… I can't let this happen… Um… W-what to do…"
XXXXXXXXXX
Darkness…
There is nothing here but eternal darkness that stretches on forever…
That means…
…She's back 'here' again…
This empty void of darkness… If she remembers correctly, she should be wearing…
'Huh? This isn't what I wore last time.' Sarah thought as she peers down at herself to see herself wearing a ruby red Victorian style dress . 'I wonder what triggered the change.'
Deciding to think about that later, Sarah starts walking.
Sure enough, she comes up to the magnificent mirror from last time… but no reflection of the girl.
"Eh? Now where could she… Oh that's right! I can walk through it huh?" Sarah muses before she takes a step into the mirror… then another… and arrived at what looks like a corridor. "What the? I thought it'd be all white… oh well." The vampire decides to put it aside and simply walks forward.
And so she walks… and walks… and walks… and the corridor never seems to end.
Just as her frustration builds up, she comes up to this dimly lit room with what looks like a giant cage in the center.
Inside that cage is the girl from before. All the contradicting feelings rushes back at her, but something is different… She looks different…
While her face is still the perfect mirror image of her, her raven black hair is now longer, with the entire right side covered in random strains of hair, but with her left side virtually the copy of Sarah's own left side, which shows the girl's worried eye and mumbling mouth. Her black hair is almost brushing the ground as her kimono, now replaced with a Victorian dress of royal blue, fluttered with her movements.
There is only one way to describe her… "Beautiful…"
"W-wha! Y-YOU! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO… YOU'RE… I… Oh no…" The girl whimpers as she slowly backs away from Sarah.
Confused, the reddish-blonde slowly approaches the cage; only then did she see the cracked lock that's keeping the door together. "…This looks broken…"
"DO-DON'T TOUCH THAT!" The other girl snaps, causing Sarah to jump back in shock and confusion. "Y-YOU ARE NOT T-TO TOUCH THAT!"
"…Then how do I get in?"
"YOU ARE NOT- What?"
"I mean… if I'm to get to know you… I have to go in and properly meet you… nee?" Sarah asks shyly for some reason unknown, but it felt right. It's nice feeling shy in front of this person…
"Y-you… you are not… to ever enter…" The girl hisses as she points a shaken finger at Sarah. "You are t-to never return to this place! I TOLD you to ne-never return! OR ARE YOU SIMPLY DISOBEYING, HUH?!"
That sounds… familiar…
"W-WELL! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I GOT HERE!" Sarah protests as she waves her arms around. If feels really nice… first she felt shy, then she felt scolded… No one ever scolded her that way… "It… it's not like I have a choice…"
"OF COURSE YOU HAVE A CHOICE! YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO COME HERE!!" The girl shouts as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. This only adds to Sarah's frustration.
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I GOT HERE!" Sarah shouts in frustration as a vein twitches on her forehead. The girl blinks before she starts laughing sarcastically.
"AHAHAHAHAHA! YOU GOT HERE BECAUSE YOU FAINTED! SO STOP FAINTING FROM NOW ON YOU KLUTZ!" The girl shouts as she point an accusing finger at Sarah, who flinches back before her anger increases.
"I AM NOT A KLUTZ!" Sarah gasps out with comical tears running down her cheek and a mock hurt expression on her face.
…Yes, this feels right…
"OF COURSE YOU ARE A KLUTZ! HOW CAN SOMEONE WITH AT LEAST SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OF EXPERIENCE FAINT IF THAT PERSON IS NOT A KLUTZ?!?!"
"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR FAINTING! I'M SURE IF YOU HAVE AN EXTREME HEADACHE WITH EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY, YOU'LL DO JUST FINE AND NOT FAINT AT ALL, MISS I-SHALL-NOT-FAINT!"
"YOU! Y-YOU-! AGH! I give up! Even after a thousand years, you still win at arguments!" The girl mumbles before gasping. "…Oh no…"
"AH-HA! SO I DO KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE!" Sarah shouts in excitement, only to be sent flying backwards as the same invisible force slams into her. "OOF!"
"S-stay away!" The girl shouts, looking both worried and afraid it's as if she's reluctant to do whatever she just did.
"B-but…" Sarah coughs as she slowly climbs to her feet. "But I just want to know you…"
"I… I…" Oh no! She looks like she's going to cry! "I ORDER YOU TO STAY AWAY! RETURN TO YOUR PLACE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!" The other girl snaps again before another force, stronger this time, sends Sarah crashing into a wall that appears out of nowhere. "OH! OH NO! I'M SORRY! Y-YOU ALRIGHT?!"
"I… I'm fine…" Sarah wises as she got up to her feet again. "I… got it… I'll leave…"
"Oh… Oh th-that's right! Leave this instant!" Sarah blinks… she sounds… sad… But if it satisfies her, then she will leave.
"Alright then… I'll leave…" Sarah says with a small smile before turning around. Just then, something pops into her mind, and it is something that's… simply there, as if it's a missing piece to a puzzle… "I'll see you soon then, onee-chan…"
"WHA?!" The girl shouts only to see Sarah disappear as if she was never there before. Slowly, the girl sinks onto her knees as tears starts to pour out. "She… she is s-starting to remember…"
Clunk… Another small crack appears on the lock…
XXXXXXXXXX
With a gasp, Sarah shoots up into a sitting position from a king size bed… Oh, that's right, she's at Eva's…
"Feeling better?" Speaking of which.
"Ah… What happened?"
"That is what I like to know. You scared me a while ago." Evangeline says as she pinned a glare on Sarah. "And just so you know, you were out for about ten minutes."
"…Really…" The taller of the two says before she swings her legs off of the bed and onto the floor. The cool touch of the wooden floor on her feet instantly wakes her up. With a groan, the girl stands up and slowly pads over to the window and looks at the moon. 'It's not full…' "I… really have no idea what happened… I was just walking…"
"You mean you don't remember?"
"It's not that."
"You chose not to remember?"
"I told you it's not that."
"Then you simply don't want to talk about it."
"Look…" Sarah starts before interrupting herself with a sigh. "…Sorry, long night…"
"I've got time."
"You've had it for about seven hundred years now…" Sarah lightly jokes before sat herself back onto the bed. "…Nee, Eva-chan."
"Nani?" The chibi vampire asks as she sits down right beside Sarah, who continues to look out at the window.
"…Do you remember how we met?"
"Eh? Of course I do. It's about seven hundred years ago when you…" Evangeline stops as she blinks.
"When I stumbled onto your pathetic image?" Sarah whispers softly, only to get slapped on the arm playfully. "Gomen."
"Anyway, why do you ask?" Evangeline asks as she also peers out the window to seek the object of interest.
"…Remember I told you that I have no memories of my origins? Of where I came from, when I came from?"
"…Of course. I always remember when someone scary like you simply appears, then when I asked who, you simply said…"
"…I am nobody, without a home, without a destination, without a name, and without a time, right?" Sarah answers with a sad smile as her eyes travels down to the floor. "I remember it was only a few months after you got turned into a vampire."
"Um…" The blonde girl only makes an affirmative noise. "But then you remembered your name… and that you'd been around for at least three hundred years, but do not remember a single thing in it."
"That's a month after I start walking around with you trailing behind."
"I was not trailing behind… I'm simply following the ways of getting meals and shelter."
"Yeah, and you didn't sneak into my bed at night."
"S… Shut up…" Eva stutters as a blush works its way onto her face. Sarah: 1, Eva: 0. "Just how do you find them anyway?"
"Hmm?"
"You know, how do you always manage to find food and shelter in a war-torn continent?"
"Hmm… I guess I have a thing for finding kind people…"
"For you information, I'm not kind."
"You're just misleaded."
"Whatever." Sarah: 2, Eva: 0. Evangeline groans again at having lost another argument (EVA: I swear I'm gonna get you for this APH!). "Anyway, just what does this have anything to do with you collapsing?"
"…I think… I am starting to remember where I came from…"
There is only silence for the next few hours as the two girls simply find comfort in each other, gradually falling asleep while leaning against one another.
Hanging on the wall, Chachazero blinks her glass eyes a few times before shaking her head. Those two were simply too hard to figure out sometimes.
XXXXXXXXXX
Morning has come, and today, the inn is already blazing with activities no thanks to a certain group of girls.
A certain group girls that's currently trying their best to harass their sensei.
"C'MON SENSEI! LET'S GO WATCH A MOVIE!!"
"SENSEI, WILL YOU GO TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK WITH ME?!"
"SENSEI, I HEARD THEY ARE GIVING AWAY FREE STUFF AT THE MALL!"
"SENSEI!"
"SENSEI!!!"
"SENSEI!!!!!"
Oh yes, it's pretty normal for Negi as he pulls himself out from the piles of girls and crawls towards the safety of Asuna. 'S-SCARY!'
"Ne-Negi-sensei!" A meek voice asks as Nodoka and Yue make their presence known.
"GAH! O-oh… Nodoka-san, Yue-san, can I help you?" Negi asks as he puts a hand on his chest to try and calm his racing heart. Asuna meanwhile is being dragged off to who knows where by a hyper Konoka, both oblivious to Setsuna trailing in the shadows.
"Um… a-ano…"
"Nodoka is wondering if you'll go with her to the amusement park." Yue blurs as she sips on another weird drink and ignored her friend's protests. "So sensei, will you accept?"
"Y-Yue-san… that's-."
"Would you refuse, knowing that it'll break a girl's heart?" Yue whispers darkly as she suddenly appears in Negi's face with a shadow on her face that makes her stoic face rather creepy.
"A-ah…"
"I would suggest that you do not turn her down… Or sensei, be prepare to guard your sleep…" Yue says as her eyes become two yellow glowing dots in the shadow of her hair, which sealed the agreement.
"I… I got it…" Negi says before he quickly grabs Nodoka's hand and sped off.
"…I'm cheering for you Nodoka…"
(MX: I've always hated the NegixNodoka pairing since I don't like Nodoka too much…
Nodoka: HEY!
APH: OI! BE NICE TO NODOKA... Even if you don't like her too much... Just be nice or be butchered by Nodoka fans.
MX: I'm sorry but it's true your just a little too shinobu-ish, so to protest to APH about this possible pairing I'm not gonna beta read the part that includes their date smug look)
XXXXXXXXXX
"G-gomen sensei. Yue can be a little extreme sometimes." Nodoka says as she pants from the run that Negi dragged her onto.
"It's okay… I said that I'd take you to the amusement park, didn't I?" Negi says after he recovers from the run and smiles. "If I say I would, then I will, for I am an English gentleman. Besides, I'm curious as to see what the amusement park has."
"Eh?" Nodoka is puzzled. The boy in front of her is really something, one moment scared by her classmate, then threatened by her friend, now sincerely wanting to take her to the amusement park as if ones on a… 'D-Date?!?!?!'
"Mm? Nodoka-san? Are you all right? Your face is very red… You don't have a fever right?"
Oh, the naivety of the boy… But that's part of what makes him soooooooooo attractive.
"N-nothing sensei. Saa, ikimashou (shall we go)?"
XXXXXXXXXX
"…Wake up…" A puff of air blows into Evangeline's ear, making her shiver and snuggle into the warmth next to her.
"C'mon sleepy head… wake up…" A sultry voice whispers right next to her ear and gives it a nibble.
"Ah… go away…"
The teeth disappear only to be replaced by a pair of arms that surrounds her small body. "Oi, how long are you going to sleep?"
"Mm… five more minutes…" Evangeline mutters as she snuggles into something that's big, soft, and warm.
"Iyada, I never knew that you leaned that way."
"Eh?" Eva opens her green eyes to finds herself lodge between a pair of breasts. Not just any breast, it's Sarah's breasts and their owner grin down slyly at her. "GAH! YOU! I SHOULDA KNOW YA DO SOMETHING LIKE 'DIS!!" The girl screams from her new position off the bed, on the floor.
"Ara, Eva-chan, I don't know what you're talking about." Sarah says innocently as she gets into a pose that screams 'I'm innocent' all over.
"Che, troublesome woman." The chibi vampire growls out as she gets back onto her feet, only to have a yawn break from her mouth. "What time is it?"
"Almost 9 in the morning." Sarah says with her usual small smile on her face. "So what do you want for breakfast?"
"Mm, Chachamaru usually already has breakfast ready by now." Evangeline says only to notice the missing aroma of eggs and bacons. "Eh? Where'd she go?"
"Oh, I sent her shopping for some cleaning supplies and food. Apparently you guys are running out." Sarah explains as she leaps off the bed and clasps her hands behind her, further emphasizing her chest. "So, what'd ya want for breakfast?"
"What can you make…?" Eva yawns again before remembering that she's talking to a girl who was raised to be a good wife. "Oh wait, never mind… what do you have already prepared?"
"How 'bout pan cakes?"
And so, a few minutes later, we find the two inside Evangeline's kitchen with Sarah making a batch of mixture while Evangeline watching in anticipation. When Sarah set the mixture down to turn to the stew, Eva snuck over and tried to dip her finger into the sweet bowl of good stuff… Keyword: tried.
Smack! "No dipping!" Sarah warns as she waves a spatula dangerously with narrow eyes. The shorter one just gives a cute pout before getting back to her seat. "Be patient. I promise you'll get rewarded."
"Fine, but make them faster." The Undying Mage demands as she put her chin into her left hand.
"Hai, hai!" Sarah chirps happily as she went back to frying the pancakes. Evangeline watches as her counterpart hums in front of the stew. She looks like the perfect image of a wife or girlfriend that's preparing breakfast. An overly large tee shirt hanging from her shoulders to mid-thigh, leaving everything to the imagination. Eva chuckles at how many guys that had tried and failed to get into Sarah's skirts. Oh yeah, that girl is the queen of man eating. "What? Do I look that good to eat?"
"Oh stop flattering yourself." Evangeline says as a smirk slaps itself onto her face. "You just continue to make my pancake."
"Hai, master!" Sarah sings mockingly with a huge grin on her face before turning to the stew again. A period of silence reigned over them before the cook broke it. "Ne… about last night…"
"Don't worry about it…"
"…Thanks…"
"Mm… now back to pancakes…"
"…Hai…"
XXXXXXXXXX
Ayaka is fuming as she stomps down the halls, looking from one particular person with some of the more active girls trailing behind her at a safe distance. After seeing Negi dragging Nodoka off somewhere, the inncho immediately started to shout nonsense into the inn, successfully scaring any and everyone unfortunate enough to be within a hearing distance of half a mile. Strangely, their sensei just happens to be outside the range… Oh well, lucky him.
"Grr… where is that girl?!"
XXXXX A while after Negi returns from the amusement park… XXXXX
"Ah, I didn't know a bath after a day like this was so good…" Negi moans as he sinks lower into the water.
"Nee, aniki, aren't you afraid of getting a cold?" Kamo asks as he rests himself on a rock next to Negi's head. "I mean it is pretty late…"
"Ma, it's okay. Besides, my magic helps prevent me from getting sick." Negi reassures the familiar, only to get shot down by the next sentence.
"Yeah, like the time when Sarah had to fetch you 'cause you got heat stroke."
"U-urusai!" Negi exclaims, remembering that particular embarrassing episode when he was six, ran around the beach without sun block, and fainted when he got heat stroke, and woke up to a furious Sarah that gave him a rather long earful. Yeah, who could forget?
Just then, the sound of someone entering reaches Negi's ear, and the boy turns to see: "Eh? Shizuna-sensei?"
"Ah, Negi-kun! It's such a surprise to see you here." The busty woman says with a smile as she strode towards Negi.
"…Of course… this is the male bath…" Negi mumbles as two black dots appear where his eyes use to be and a sweat drop appears behind his head.
"Ara, don't be like that." The blonde (APH: I think?) woman says as she lowers herself into the hot spring and scoots up next to Negi. "Besides, no one will know…"
"C-choto, Shizuna-sensei!" Negi protests as he tries his best to get away, only to be grabbed and pushed into the woman's chest.
"Ara, ara, Negi-kun, don't be like that. No need to be shy…" Shizuna says with a sultry voice as she presses Negi further into her chest. "Now then, Negi-sensei, is it true that you can do magic?"
"W-what are you talking about?" Negi asks as he tries his best to pry himself from the woman's heavenly valley.
"Mm, don't be like that. You can tell onee-sama anything. So, can you do magic?"
"Ah, t-that's…"
"Oh, so you can… can you show me?" Shizuna says as her eyes takes on a sinister glow that went unnoticed by Negi and Kamo, the latter having gone into a daze at the size of her breasts.
"…Shizuna-san… did your chest shrink?"
Ka-chin! A vein appears on 'Shizuna's' head. "S-S-S-SRHINK! I'LL LET YOU KNOW THAT MY BREASTS ARE RANKED FOURTH BIGGEST IN OUR CLASS!!! …Oops…"
"Eh? Our class?" Negi asks as he blinks up at the imposter. "…Who are you?"
"Oh… OHOHOHOHOHO!!!" The Shizuna laughs as she jumps away and tore off her disguise to reveal a livid Kazumi.
"A-A-A-A-ASAKURA-SAN?!?!?!"
"OHOHOHO! NEGI-SENSEI, I KNEW IT! YOU'RE A MAGE!!!" Kazumi screams only to be tackled into the pool by a panicking child. If it was any other situation, the paparazzi would have be embarrassed by the sudden closeness, but now that she's fuming… "W-WHAT ARE YOU-!?"
"WAAAAHH! PLEASE DON'T SCREAM THAT OUT LOUD!!!"
"GET OFF ME!!"
"I BEG YOU! PLEASE DON'T TELL THE OTHERS ABOUT THAT!!!"
"I SAID GETOFFA ME!!!" Kazumi screams before grabbing Negi, and with strength that woman somehow possesses when pissed, and tossed the child a few feet away. Luckily for her and Negi, she tossed him into a deeper part of the spring. "Now that I have your attention. What will you do for this information?"
"ANYTHING!" Negi shouts as he burst from the pool and runs in circle. "I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST PLEASE KEEP IT A SECRET OR I'LL BE TURNED INTO AN ERMINE!!!"
"Oh, an ermine? I certainly won't mind that as I could keep you ALL. TO. MY. SELF!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Smirking, the paparazzi takes out her cell phone and held it in a sort of taunting way while grinning and says, "I have everything in need to prove that you're a mage. Like the incident with the cat this afternoon…"
'I knew that it's a bad way to save an expert in licking themselves…' Kamo thought as he, torn between helping his aniki or simply remain and stare at Kazumi in all her towel-covered glory, is glued to the spot on a rock. 'What to do… what to do… such hard decisions…'
"A-Asakura-san!"
"Fufufu, and all I need to do is press this little bottom right here," Kazumi says as her thumb inches towards the green bottom on her phone with glee, "and not only do I get my major scoop of the month, but I can also become famous for discovering magic!"
"A-Asakura-san!!" Negi whines before a deathly serious expression settles on his face, forcing Kazumi to take a step back. "If you refuse to listen, then I'll be forced to resort to drastic measures…"
"Eh?"
"Hmm, humans. Always only thinking about themselves…" A monotone voice says from the fence, and as Kazumi, Negi, and Kamo turns to its owner, Neko, in only a simple white yukata, leaps off the fence and lightly land on the dry edge of the hot spring. "Simply disgusting…"
"N-Neko-san! Aren't you supposed to be resting?!?" Negi asks as he, in his worry, has completely forgotten about Kazumi and her dangerous phone.
"This won't hinder me from moving around. It only bothers me when I'm fighting." Neko says as she moves her half-lit green eyes onto Kazumi's wide brown one. "And what are you looking at?"
"E… E… Ears… and tail…" The stuttered answer pretty much reminds Neko of the fact that she left her ears and tail exposed.
"Well, isn't this interesting…" The cat girl mumbles before the sound of a camera taking picture rings out into the air. "…You did not just do that…"
"…SUGOI!!!" Kazumi screams as she suddenly appears next to Neko and starts poking at the girl's ears, which twitched at every poke. "WOW! REAL LIVE CAT GIRL!!! THIS IS NOT A COSPLAY! WOW! I MEAN, WOW!!"
"I request that you stop touching me…" Neko says as she hisses out from clenched teeth. She will tolerate this, for her onee-sama tolerates it. If she can do it, so can –GRAB- …she did not just grab her tail…
"Wow… so soft and long… Oh my KAMI! THIS IS ANOTHER BIG SCOOP!!!"
"Err… A-Asakura-san… I think you should stop…" Negi says nervously as he observes how Neko's left eye continues to twitch and how tight her hands are clenching. "Asakura… san…"
"Wow, now I'm definitely going to be famous! I can see it! Famous middle school reporter, who found real life magic and a legend!"
"Asakura-san, I really suggest you stop!" Negi now sounds panicking once more as Neko's lips parted to reveal sharper teeth gritting together in anger and her pupils shrank to become black slits.
"I still can't believe it! It's really amazing! Simply amazing!" Kazumi continues to rumble on as she touches just about every inch of Neko, saved the few more private areas, to see if the girl is really real. "Wow…"
Quicker than the paparazzi girl can blink, several things happened at once. First, Neko, finally having enough and couldn't held in her anger anymore, rise her left leg in a powerful kick that could break Kazumi's neck easily to push the girl away. During the same time, her side suddenly burst into a world of pain, and the cat girl, having forgotten the injury, paid the price as she lost her balance, shifting her aim so that it actually IS going for her neck. During which Negi, having the insight to move in to intercept anything that's to go wrong, appears between the two with his staff raised to block Neko's kick. Kamo shouts something, but during the moment, the trio finds themselves too shocked to understand it.
Then, the air pressure from the kick alone suddenly sent Kazumi zooming into the air, the cell phone flew out of her hand, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. Kazumi opened her mouth to let out a shriek. Neko's green eyes widen at her own action and reaches out a hand to try and grab the girl, but the pain on her side too great to really do anything and she slumps down onto the ground on her knees.
Thus everything falls onto Negi's shoulders.
Acting at a speed he didn't know he possessed, the boy leaped into the air, grabbed onto Kazumi's flailing hand, and with strength that he is sure he also didn't have before, lifted her up onto his already floating staff. With a heavy grunt, Kazumi immediately latches onto Negi in her moment of fear, pressing her barely clad body to Negi's bear back, causing the child to blush crimson.
"Phew, that was close." Negi sighs as he tries to his best to not let lose the pressure that's building in his nose. He knows that if Sarah ever finds out about this, he'll never hear the end of it.
"…W… what was that?" Kazumi mumbles in her daze after the attack. Looking down to her original spot, she sees the cat girl whizzing while holding onto her side as if in pain. "I-is she alright?"
"Neko-san suffered an injury last night, and despite her… unique circumstance, it doesn't seem to look any better." Negi explains softly as Neko continues to try and stay conscious from the pain. "It may be caused by a cursed item, or someone who is well versed in dark magic."
"Damn it… don't just s-sit there… h-help me or something…" The cat girl hisses out from pain, the last part of the sentence sounding extremely forced. Kazumi suspect it to be due to her having to swallow her pride.
"Hai, hai." Negi says, sounding exasperated as he lowers him and Kazumi down onto the ground. Once they touched down, Negi hopped off the staff and shuffled over to Neko, looped the arm of her uninjured side over his shoulder, and started to help the girl stand. The cat girl winces as she wobbles onto her feet, but otherwise showed no other objections.
During the entire time, Kazumi held onto Negi's staff as it rest against her shoulder. Her brown eyes follow every movement the duo makes as they slowly make their way towards the entrance.
Looking back down to the staff, Kazumi contemplated her next course of action as her eyes automatically found her discarded roughly but other wise unharmed cell phone. The paparazzi trod over to the innocent phone and picked it up, her thumb moving to the 'accept' bottom and gently brushed over it. All she needs to do is press that bottom and everything that she learned today will be sent to a certain publisher and she'd gain fame and glory… Or she can find the 'delete' command and erase all evidence as well as the chance to become famous.
On one hand, she can enter a world where things are that much easier to cope with…
On the other, she will be dragged into a secret that the world may not be ready to deal with…yet…
So what to do… what to do indeed…?
"Ne, ane-san, you do know that whatever you do, aniki won't hate you right?"
Kazumi looked down to see the white ermine that always followed Negi around without any surprise or shock. The girl just smiles as she looks back at her cell phone, her decision made, her fate decided, and years later, when she looked back at this moment, she'd laugh her head off saying just how much she enjoyed making that choice.
XXXXXXXXXX
"You know, just because you're a demon-"
"Half demon and proud of it!"
"Fine, whatever, HALF demon. That doesn't mean that you can just do whatever you want." Asuna scolds as she probes the large bruise on Neko's side with each touch emitting a wince. "Well, it certainly doesn't look any worse than it already is, but it isn't getting any better."
"Thank you for the obvious fact." Neko says sarcastically as she puts her yukata, which is opened during the check up, back into its rightful place: on her body and securely tied.
"I agree. Though it doesn't look any worst than it did from last night, it isn't getting any better." Setsuna, who'd just recently join the trio (Asuna, Negi, and Neko) due to last time's incident, comments as she pin the cat girl down with her gaze. "It is advised that you rest in the bed and do not move around."
"…" Neko only stares back with just as much intensity if not more. Brown versus green, both burning with something that puts Asuna on edge as the girl alternates from looking at Setsuna to looking at Neko.
"I… I'll go get Negi…" The red head mumbles as she quickly beats a hasty retreat out of the room when the child is just right out the door.
Back inside the room, Neko and Setsuna continue with their unofficial staring contest, neither moving nor making any sound. Just then, when they both open their mouth as if to say something, something rather unexpected occurred.
"WAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" Two distinctive shouts from the outside blows into the room, and seconds later, Asakura Kazumi, in all her paparazzi glory, charges into the room carrying both Asuna and Negi under her arms with Kamo riding on top of her head. Before anyone can understand the issue at hand, Kazumi turns around, kicks the door shut, and tosses her 'cargoes' onto Setsuna while planting herself next to a very surprised Neko and says, "So, what'd I miss?"
"…" A cricket of unknown location chirps as the room becomes deathly silent. No one makes a sound as Neko stares, Setsuna lay motionless with Asuna and Negi, both with swirly eyes, added their weight on top of the kendo girl.
"…What? Is there something on my face?"
"…" The cricket continues to chirp as even Kamo sweat drops at the situation. The girl whose head he is riding on is simply… amazing…
"Ane-san, I think aniki and Asuna-ane-san and Setsuna-ane-san are… unconscious…" The ermine hinted as he points his tiny paw at the three individuals who have swirls on their face where their eyes should be.
"Eh? How do you know?"
Now this time it's Neko's turn to sweat drop as she stare openly at the paparazzi. '…Is this person for real…?'
"Anyway, sorry about earlier. The name's Kazumi, Asakura Kazumi. What's yours?" Kazumi asks as she beams towards Neko, who is too dumbfounded to really form any part of speech. "Ara? A shy one are you?"
"N-Neko… Kagemaru Neko…"
"A kitty? Interesting name. I don't really know why, and I guess it's not because of the ears or the tail." Kazumi says as she rubs her chin with a grin on her face. "Interesting. Very interesting indeed. So there must be more like you then?"
"A… whole clan…"
"Really? I'd like to meet them sometimes. Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to take any pictures!"
"Kazumi…" A menacing voice whispers, instantly shutting the paparazzi up as its owner glare at her with bi-colored eyes.
"A-Asun-ya… how's it going?" Kazumi asks nervously as she rubs the back of her neck. "…P-put that down Asuna. You wouldn't want to hurt poor little me now would you?"
"Oh… I don't know…" Asuna hisses out as she heels up a pillow threatening. "I think… I'll pay you back for earlier!"
"EEP!" THUMP!
"Aycha?! You guys are having a pillow fight without me knowing?!?! How could you?!" Konoka, who chooses that moment to opens the door, says before she too pick up a pillow and starts pounding Asuna and Kazumi into the ground. She never notices Neko quickly hiding her ears behind puffy hat nor the two unconscious people in the corner of the room. Just then, Ayaka enters the room with a flourish, only to get smacked in the face by a pillow, courtesy of Asuna of course.
"Ah… inn…cho-san…"
"…What is the meaning of this?" The class president asks as she picks up the pillow with shaking hands. "I demand an explanation!"
"We're having a pillow fight!" Konoka, the ever air-headed girl, shouts as she paddles over to the confused blonde. "Like this! THUMP! See?"
"…" Ayaka only gently remove the pillow on her face and returned it into Konoka's hands… then… THUMP!!! "OHOHOHOHOHO! YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME SO EASILY?!?!" The blonde girl shouts as unholy fire burns in the background while she loomed ominously over all the 'participants.'
"WAAAAH! INNCHO!!!" Asuna and Kazumi shouts as they ducked under powerful pillow strikes while Konoka, giggling, successfully pounds Kazumi in the face, only to receive a blow to her behind from Asuna. "IYA!!!!!"
"What's going on?" Kaede and Ku Fei walks into the room, having heard the commotion from the pillow fight. When the Chinese girl laid her eyes onto the fight that's proceeding, she jumped up and down in joy as she claps her hands eagerly. "OOH! A PILLOW FIGHT!!"
"Hmm… why not? It might be fun… HEY EVERYONE! PILLOW FIGHT IN ASUNA'S ROOM!!!" And soon, right after Kaede's shout, the room is full of screaming girls slamming pillows after pillows into their classmates' face, arms, chest, buttocks, hips, waist… You name it, they hit it, so the chaos from all this is rather… well, chaotic.
All the while, Neko had somehow worms her way to the side of Negi, who still lay upon an unconscious Setsuna. However, the cat girl knows the difference. "…Does this happen often?"
"…Shh… they can hear you…" Negi whispers as he tries his best to not move a muscle. Thank Kami that he isn't in any embarrassing positions.
"Whatever. They're too distracted by each other to notice…"
"Well, in that case, they usually get themselves into situations that develop into something… different."
"Like how a conversation can turn into a pillow fight?"
"Or like how doing homework can turn into chatting about boys…" Negi whispers as he remembers a rather nasty episode, where he barely escapes with his boxers on. "…And boy do they get excited…"
"…I… don't really see…" Neko says softly as she gaze longingly at the group of girls that decided to do a dog pile on poor Asuna, who's shouting and slamming her pillow at anyone within reach.
"You've never have a pillow fight?"
"No… as the sister to the clan heir, it is consider inappropriate to lower myself into something that's… unfitting. Or so the elders claimed anyway." Neko monotones as her green eyes, for once missing their usual fire, trail from one happy face to another. "…I never got to play with my cousins… I don't have much opportunity to enjoy myself either. It's like being in a cage…"
"…"
"Uhm! What hit me?" Setsuna groans as she regain consciousness. "…N-NEGI-SENSEI! P-PLEASE GET OFF ME!"
"EH? NEGI-SENSEI IS HERE TOO!?!"
"WHERE?! WHERE?!?!"
"NEGI-SENSEI!"
"COME PLAY WITH US!!!"
"WAAAAH! PLEASE! GIRLS!! WHY ARE YOU ALREADY GOING FOR THE PANTS?!?!?"
'…Negi Springfield… such an interesting child… getting me to spill something like that…' Neko thought as she suddenly realized what she just discussed with the boy who is currently getting his clothes stripped off. '…Onee-sama, did you foresee this? Or is this simply a coincidence?'
XXXXXXXXXX
THUD!
The sound of flesh hitting a bag full of sand echoes through out the hall.
THUD!
The maker of the noise is currently taking out her frustration by doing as much damage as she could onto the already abused punching bag.
THUD!
"You do know that the bag won't take much more?"
THUD!
"I know you're worried, but I can't do anything right now. Not without the head breathing down my neck."
THUD!
"…You're really angry huh?"
THUD!
"…Alright, alright. I'll send someone to check on your sister… Wait, I think Hoshiiko is already on her way…"
THUD!
"…Mataku. Are you PMSing or something?"
WHOOSH! KANG! The sound of something hitting heavy-duty metal echoes loud and clear through out the corridor as a foot plants itself in a newly formed dent in the prison bars. Arda, the person who's doing all the talking, smiles nervously as a pair of angry green eyes stare into her own nervous silver ones. "…I got it… No need to be violent…"
The pair of eyes shines for a moment before softening and gaining an apologetic light. Arda just chuckled as she waved the apology away while saying it's nothing. The owner of the green eyes smiled before removing the foot that struck the bars.
"That's going to cause a fortune to repair…"
"I know Locke. No need to tell me." Arda says as she address the new arrival, who is followed by her handmaiden Hana. With a smile, Arda turns back to the person in the cell and says, "You don't have to worry. I'm sure Neko isn't in any danger. Besides, Ko-ko-chan is going and if she's lucky, which I believe she will be, he will be there as well."
"Who?" Locke asks as he tries to figure out whom Arda is talking about that she has such confidence in said person.
"You'll see." Hana replies for her lady, who once again launches into a one-side conversation about the latest gossip as well as news of the outside world, both magical and non-magical. "…You'll meet him soon enough."
XXXXXXXXXX
"…How much longer?"
"Not that long, milord…"
"Why is Chigusa taking so long?"
"…I believe she ran into some… distractions. I believe you heard of the name Springfield?"
"The Thousand Master?"
"No, his legacy."
"…Ah… the boy… then what about-"
"McDocland is not with him… I assume that Konoemon believes having her there will be an aggresive move than initiation o fpeace talk."
"…Interesting… This is most interesting indeed… Now young Springfield, show me what you're made of… Hehe… heheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
XXXXXXXXXX
APH: For anyone that's confused about this chapter… don't be. Everything is done for a reason, which will be revealed little by little.
(MX:whispers year in like 3 years, if you keep writing at your current speed…)
Arda: Hmm… so we have some major evil person in this fic?
APH: Of course. Why shouldn't there be?
Arda: I just thought that certain vampire is already evil enough.
Sarah: …That wouldn't be me now would it?
Arda: (Very innocently) No, of course not! I wouldn't dare!
Sarah: …Treacherous, underhanded, cold-blooded…
MX: ANYWAY, this is another chapter of MUC. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it.
APH: Once again, the randomness is not here, but will probably return either next chapter or the one after that. Now that that's over with… I WANT REVIEWS!!! It's the sweetest nectar an author can get, and it also shows the author that the readers are actually INTERESTED in his or her work… And then there is also the fact that it's encouraging, knowing people are reading the story without having to check the hits.
MX: Oh, and just so you guys know, the story has pass 10,000 hits!!!
Sarah: You two are still losers though…
APH and MX: (crawls into a corner) …so… cruel…