DISCLAIMER: I don't own Negima.
Kotarou was all alone in the villa's infirmary by himself. That is if you didn't count an unconscious girl as company. The hanyou was still in a buzz over the battle from a couple of minutes ago. It was pretty intense, he had no doubt that Asuna would win but this nee-chan really gave the gosururi warrior a run for her money.
"Ungh", Shisca groaned. She was lying on a bed. She reached to touch the still tender bump on her head. It must've been hit pretty hard for it to throb like it did. The girl opened her eyes which did nothing but make her even more nauseous. Through the muddled colors of her vision, she could make out a face. "Who?", she breathed out in her whispered voice. It didn't take another second before she realized that said face was almost touching with hers and screamed.
"Whoa whoa whoa!", Kotarou suddenly leaned backwards from the sudden scream out. "What the heck are you screaming for?", he complained while picking his badly disturbed ears.
The girl looked left and right before coming to her senses, "Oh I-I'm sorry. May I ask where we are?". She looked about as lost as a sheep.
'And equally tasty.', Kotarou jokingly mused to himself. He mentally chuckled at himself. Nah, he wasn't for these types of things. He took his usual posture on a seat which was cross-legged with hands on his ankles. "You're in the infirmary in the villa. We won't be able to get out till another 10 hours so I suggest you get some rest. That was a pretty nasty shot that rocked your skull after all. You were awesome out there though nee-chan.", Kotarou gave his ever present canine grin.
Shisca could not help but smile at the atmosphere this person gave off. 'Exuberant and passionate, a bit caring on the side as well as extremely fight loving', she discerned from his words. "Thank you", she expressed.
"That stick of yours sure is tough though. I've seen very few things take on Asuna's Hama no Tsurugi like your staff did.", Kotarou pointed a thumb behind him over his own shoulder.
Shisca followed his thumb's direction where the end stood her precious Kyouryou leaning against a wall. "Did you hold it?", she asked with some worry in her voice.
Kotarou laughed, "Don't worry. We made sure not to make a scratch on it. Though it was Asuna carrying that thing after all.". The hanyou held a thoughtful look on his face.
Shisca sighed a breath of relief. If it was that girl that held her Kyouryou then it was fine. The new comer had heard of the girl's ability to disperse ki and magic upon contact. If anyone else had gotten their hands on Kyouryou, she couldn't even think of the consequences.
"Anyway.", Kotarou's voice broke through her thoughts. "you should rest for a bit more. We'll wake you when the time for us to leave comes."
Again, Shisca thanked the Inugami before letting her consciousness fade into blackness once more. Kotarou sat there staring at her face. He couldn't help but be interested to the fact her eyes were black. They weren't an uninteresting black. No, they looked like they had been emptied of life, much like the eyes of a blind person. Yes, they definitely reminded him of a blind person.
-----
The next day proved to be a rather eventful one. It happened during lunchtime, Konoka wanted to invite Shisca to join them for lunch time but the girl seemed to disappear into thin air as soon as the bell rang. It was common practice for her to join Asuna and Setsuna for lunch along with the library exploration group. She didn't want the new student to feel left out, especially after being assigned as her guardian but not being accepted as a member of Ala Alba.
She wandered the campus grounds with her bento in hand. The campus may have been huge but the area they could wander off to was still limited during break times. The roof was out of the question since Evangeline always took the spot as her own. "I wonder where Shisca-chan is?", Konoka looked around the grounds. She noticed that she was by the edge of the school grounds. The boundary was marked by a small forest of trees lining around the school. A frown reached her face as she decided to sit down on a nearby bench to rest herself. She had really wanted to eat with Shisca. The girl was very nice and she didn't complain when she had been cast out. The Konoka heiress resignedly began to unwrap her lunch so she could begin eating. She felt the breeze through her hair, tickling her ears. She giggled and turned around to fix her raven locks before they kept her from eating lunch altogether. Her chocolate brown eyes noticed something move in the forest. It was very slight but she was sure she had seen it.
Konoka stared right at the spot where she saw shadows moving and soon enough, there it went again. Curiosity got the better of her as she approached whatever it was inside the forest. She slowly made her way through the foliage. The sun was covered by a canopy of leaves overhead but it still allowed an appreciable amount of sunlight to pass through. The Konoe heiress was suddenly reminded of times that they ate lunch under a tree. "Maybe we should do it again sometime", she whispered to herself.
A few paces further in and Konoka could hear a voice. It was a familiar one. A gentle voice that sounded spent from exertion as they made kiai sounds. Her voice was accompanied by the unmistakable hum of a blunt staff against the wind. The sight was just as familiar as it was new to her. In the middle of a small canopy covered clearing was Shisca practicing with her still sheathed spear. Except she wasn't holding it like a spear, she held as one would hold a sword. The heiress watched in awe as the small girl swung the sheathed ebony weapon in wide graceful arcs that seemed to shimmer among the light shadows. The scene was a beautiful as it was deadly. Soon the movements quickened in pace. The movements became more erratic, frustrated, violent even. Shisca spun Kyouryou and ended with an intense vertical slash the never touched the ground but sent dust flying nonetheless.
Shisca looked absolutely exhausted before she crumpled onto the grass. Her face showed satisfaction at the cooling feel of the grass against her body. She lay on her back, shielding her eyes from a spot of sunlight that landed directly into her eyes. Slowly she began to sing, "Tenshi-san, tenshi-san, doko wa mitai no tenshi-san? Sora ga wa iru? Yama ga wa iru? Doko wa mitai no tenshi-san?".
Konoka slowly approached the girl. She was wearing the uniform roday but in her current state, she had loosened the tie and opened a couple buttons. Her hair was in disarray as it splayed around her face. She looked nothing like the demure girl from yesterday. The soft crunching of grass alerted Shisca to the sound so she stopped singing and turned her head to the intruder. The exhausted girl saw that it was only the Konoe heiress. "Konoka-ojou-sama.", Shisca gave an embarrassed smile. She quickly got up while fixing her uniform. "I'm sorry to appear before you in such a disorderly state."
Konoka waved it off, "Don't worry, I've seen people in more awkward states."
Both girls giggled at the comment. "Really?", Shisca asked in relief.
"Yeah", the heiress nodded. "I once saw Asuna and Negi hugging in bed while Asuna was half-way to being undressed".
The guardian candidate turned quite red at that revelation. "That's very err… daring. I guess anything is possible if you're that pretty though.", Shisca tried to look none too embarrassed. She was failing badly. To further add to her embarrassment was the fact that her stomach decide to roar for food at that moment. If possible, the girl's face turned even more red than it already was.
A bento was held up to Shisca's face which surprised her. "Lunch?", Konoka offered.
They both sat beneath a cozy little tree that Shisca recommended. It was lofty with a hollow in it big enough to house a person comfortably, three if you forced them in a tight squeeze. They both sat side by side, sharing Konoka's lunchbox.
"I still can't believe that Shisca-chan doesn't have lunch.", Konoka commented.
Girl in question looked at the heiress. "Don't worry, it's nothing. I'm pretty used to it.", she smiled. She took another bite of the rolled omelet before she said with pink cheeks, "Delicious."
Konoka returned the praise with a smile, "Thank you."
They both ate in relative silence for a few moments before Konoka asked, "Are you mad?".
It wasn't exactly the best conversation starter but it caught the guardians attention enough to distract her from her meal. "Hm?"
"Are you angry? For not getting into the White Wings.", Konoka asked with a bit more guilt bleeding into her voice.
Shisca looked at her with a pitying gaze before answering, "Not really.". She paused for a while as she mixed her rice with her hand while her mind stirred her thoughts for an answer. "I never really found myself fitting in anywhere. I'm better suited to be alone."
"But doesn't it get lonely?", Konoka asked subdued.
"Sometimes.", Shisca began. "But then again, I'd rather have nothing. After all, everything that I hold dear is destroyed by my own hands.", she finished sadly.
"Shisca-chan.", Konoka watched her new guardian.
"I apologize for being so gloomy. Come, let's finish our lunch.", she smiled brightly.
Konoka couldn't do it though. A thought struck her that felt a little painful, "So does that mean I'm not important to Shisca-chan at all?"
Shisca shook her head, "No, Konoka-ojou-sama is very important to me. It's just that I'm afraid that I may hurt you if I stray too close."
"Then I'm the one who should say sorry", Konoka looked at her with saddened eyes. "I can see. Shisca-chan has been through some hard times. Even now, because of me, Shisca-chan might have to be hurt again, all to protect me."
"That's not true.", Shisca protested. "In fact, I should be thankful that I've been given the mission to protect Konoka-ojou-sama.". The look on the heiress face belied little of her confusion so the guardian merely sighed and explained. "Ever since I was little, my parents had already realized my potential as a warrior. It had been predestined for me to be a great warrior. That's why, as soon as my feet could stand and my hands could hold another's. I was trained in the ways of combat. Shut in a house which was covered by seals. No one could come in nor could one get out till my family authorized it. I was completely hidden from the world and in effect, the world was hidden from me. For ten years, I stayed in that house in order to hone my skills till the day I was needed came. I'm grateful that the day came sooner than it did later. That's why Konoka-ojou-sama, never blame yourself for my misfortune.", the guardian wiped a stray tear that was making it down the unknowing Konoe heiress cheek. "Ever since I came here, the sky, the birds, the people I've met. I feel blessed to see them. To feel the morning sun upon my face, it makes me grateful that I'm here today."
"Shisca-chan!", Konoka glomped onto the girl.
The guardian comfortingly rubbed the top of her mistress's head, "Don't think about it anymore. We better finish our food before the bell rings."
"Okay", the girl turned to her food whilst rubbing her eyes free of tears.
"And Konoka-ojou-sama"
"Yes?"
"This is our little secret."
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Night came too soon for Setsuna Sakurazaki. She had once again been asked by Mana Tatsumiya to help in an exorcism. It seemed that there were some spirits that were causing a ruckus in the shrine's back yard. The hanyou had no doubt that the gunwoman could take care of the mess without her help. But knowing the girl, Setsuna had the feeling that the miko was just trying to be as cheap as possible. Compared to bullets, Setsuna had a huge amount of debt under Mana, clearly the better economical choice.
The samurai girl reached the temple and knocked on the humungous gates. "Tatsumiya-san, Tatsumiya-san. It's me Sakurazaki!", Setsuna hollered. There was no answer. Setsuna waited a bit before trying once more, "It's me, Setsuna. Can you hear me Tatsumiya-san?". She knocked once more. This was weird, Mana was not one to be forgetful like this. Setsuna looked up at the moon in the sky, guessing about ten minutes had passed already.
A ki force suddenly expanded across the darkness of the night. "Wh-?", Setsuna could only utter half a word before the sudden flare died out in the same instant. This was too suspicious, as Setsuna had decided. She drew Yuunagi and muttered, "I'm sorry about this Tatsumiya-san.". In one smooth stroke, the samurai girl sliced the gates in half. She knocked down the pieces off their hinges and entered the courtyard. It was too quiet, despite her noisy entrance. "No security after a ruckus like that?", Setsuna noted grimly. She placed Yuunagi back in its scabbard before anyone would mistake her for any ill intent. "Tatsumiya!", Setsuna shouted as she wandered the shrine. "Where are you Tatsumiya-san?", the samurai girl bit her lip in frustration. Just what was going on?
The familiar ki from earlier suddenly flared again, this time with less intensity. Setsuna was somehow able to trace the source before the signature vanished. It had come from behind the temple. She ran for it. She held up her sword in case of need for an easy draw. She skid along the turns in the dirt path and dove into the forest where the ki began to show traces.
"Suspicious, too suspicious", Setsuna grit her teeth. Both hands on Yuunagi and senses scanning out wide for any enemies, the samurai girl wasn't taking any chances. The air smelled of blood that was enough to tell her that something bad had gone down here. A weak groan alerted her to a nearby person. She stopped to pick out the sound before rushing over. She kneeled by the person before recognizing the familiar miko garb. "Kami-sama", she breathed. "Tatsumiya-san!", she rolled the gunslinger on her back. "Tatsumiya-san are you okay?", she checked over all the girl's injuries. There were no readily visible marks on the gunslinger's body but upon closer inspection, there were ki burns over small bruises. "Pressure point attacks?", she searched further and found a stab wound on Mana's side. Judging from the wound, the weapon was a sword with a blade no longer than 40 cm. Entry point was from the back while the blade went all the way through and out the front. Bleeding was heavy as the white kimono had already been drenched as red as the hakama. Setsuna immediately began bandaging the wound before her friend died of blood loss.
"Sa…Sakura…zaki?", Mana's lips weakly groaned.
"Tatsumiya!", Setsuna exclaimed in surprise. "You're in no condition to talk, stay still while I stop the bleeding.", Setsuna worked laboriously.
"Tch! I was careless.", Mana forced herself to move. She only succeeded in twitching and aggravating her wounds though.
"I said don't move! You could die from losing so much blood.", the samurai girl reprimanded.
Mana groaned once more. "You're right. My vision… is… getting blurry.", Mana smiled bitterly as her sharp eyes began to waver. They began to feel very heavy, closing on their own. Before darkness could claim her, horror did. "Behind you.", she warned before losing consciousness.
Setsuna had just registered the words before she drew her blade in a flash of steel and moonlight. Blades clashed with blinding sparks in the night. Before Setsuna could lay her eyes on her opponent, they vanished and reappeared beside her. She could only tell from the faint ki left after the displacement technique. She brought her blade up to her side without looking and blocked. The blow felt slack and Setsuna panicked, 'A faint!'. Before she knew it, a sharp pain came from her left temple. It felt like hot needles being stuck into her mind from that area. She couldn't even scream before she hit the ground with absolutely no control over her body. 'What is this?', she thought.
"Hmm, not her either. Still, you're pretty good.", a female's voice came from the area. "If you had been prepared, you might actually have given me trouble like that one over there."
'Was this the same person who beat Tatsumiya-san?', Setsuna thought. She strained her body to move. If that was true then this opponent was very dangerous.
"It's useless. You're already disabled. I've damaged your brain so most of your conscious motor functions will be disabled. Be thankful I'm even letting you breathe.", the voice explained. "It is unfortunate that though you are not my target, you are still a guardian of the Konoe house. So forgive me, since I must kill you.".
Setsuna braced herself for the blow that wound end her life, but it was stopped with a clash of singing steel. A shuffle of clothes and moving bodies told her that somebody had come, hopefully to save them. The samurai tried to get a look but her whole body could not move. She listened to the sounds of blows being traded, bones being hit with enough force to emulate the sound of them breaking and steel clashing and ripping into each other. Fear gripped Setsuna, this was not the closest she had come to death. No, she wasn't afraid of death, what she was afraid of was the powerlessness she felt at this time while two unknowns fought over her.
With a final ring of metal, the match ended. "You are still as sharp as ever", the assailant's voice reached Setsuna's ears.
"Why are you here?", a new voice replied. It sounded familiar but the solid edge it had to it felt dangerous.
"Apparently so is your tongue", the assailant said with no showing of amusement. "I guess that's why you are a dog, you come quick to the rescue of anyone. We'll finish this another time.". With a the sounds of rippling cloth, Setsuna felt the ki signature disappear.
Setsuna only took serious note of the new stranger's ki when they began to approach. It was too much for her to even fathom. The ki didn't feel exceptional in amount but in control. It felt like it was molded dangerously compact. 'Like a bomb', Setsuna panicked. Slowly, the ki began to change, loosening, weakening and finally it just disappeared.
"Rest, it's alright. You're safe.", the gentle voice lulled Setsuna to sleep.
-----------
A new day began with all of Ala Alba gathered in Eva's villa. Negi had asked for a special pardon from the dean so that the White Wings club could hold a meeting. The dean understood the circumstances clearly hearing that Mana Tatsumiya and Setsuna Sakurazaki had been attacked, sustaining grievous injuries was almost unheard of unless the assailants were of some serious power.
"What happened?", Negi asked as he looked over Setsuna's still form. She lay on the bed with only her eyes moving. There were lots of complicated machines hooked up to the girl. They ranged from oxygen to dextrose to large incomprehensible computers with diagrams.
"Don't worry sensei", Chachamaru informed the boy teacher. "Sakurazaki-san has had the part of her brain that controls motor functions partially scrambled. If we restore the bioelectric flow, she'll be back to normal in no time.", the gynoid reassured him with a smile.
"Still", Kaede interrupted, "Someone who can execute a sneak attack on both Tatsumiya-dono and Sakurazaki-dono is unbelievable. The number of people who can do that on campus is close to none."
"She's right-aru", Ku Fei nodded. "If they can do this we should be all on our guard-aru."
"Even Ku-roshi is getting serious.", Negi noted with a bit of tension.
"We should all be serious boya", Eva entered the room with an irritable scowl on her face. "The fact that one of our front line vanguards has been taken down like this tells us just how strong our opponent is and how serious they are."
"How is our information on the attacker?", Asuna asked from her corner.
"Asakura is taking care of it right now. She's scouring the campus for clues with her artifact and doggedly asking people on what they saw last night. Nodoka's been busy with her artifact as well along with the mutt whose been sniffing around since last night.", Eva informed.
"How is the class taking it?", Asuna then asked the resident gossip monger, Haruna.
"All taken care of, I told them that Setsuna would be out for a week with a cold.", the mangaka brightly answered.
"A cold?", questioned ever logical Yue.
A frightening aura encompassed Haruna as she stared down the much smaller girl, "Yes Yuecchi, I told them it was a cold. Any complaints?".
Yue looked away in fear, "No ma'am."
"Good", the bipolar middle-schooler smiled.
At bedside, Konoka was all over the injured samurai girl. "Secchan! Secchan, you're hurt!", Konoka cried.
Setsuna just wished she could comfort the girl beside her but could not due to her paralyzed state. She could still feel which gave her hope of moving again. At first, she had been shocked when Chachamaru's diagnosis said that she was paralyzed. She wasn't able to even grasp the gynoid's statement that her recovery would be easy as she began to enter near hysterics from the knowledge of her paralysis. The gynoid had to smack her one up the head to show her that her nerves were still well and that her neural pathways had just been disrupted. From her last check up, it would take two months for her recovery, but with Eva's villa it would take only around two to three days. She just had to put her faith in Chachamaru and Chisame who were working hard to make a quick fix of manually reprogramming her motor functions, though the thought of being programmed didn't sit too well with her.
"If only I was there, I could have healed you immediately.", Konoka sniffled.
"What are you talking about?", Eva grunted in irritation. "You'd be just another target at best, a hostage at worst. You not being there was for the best."
"B-but I could have done something"
"Don't kid yourself. You are still incapable. You maybe a healer but you have no business in directly engaging the enemy.", Eva scolded.
"Still I-", Konoka couldn't find the words in herself as she ran away.
"Master, that was a bit harsh.", Negi said with disapproval.
Asuna nodded, "I think so too. I think we should talk to her about it more clearly. I'll go after her."
"You'll do no such thing Kagurazaka.", Eva said in complete seriousness. The tension in the room suddenly increased. "I purposely drove her away because of what I'm about to tell everyone. Now take a seat before I make you.", she made a gesture and immediately, chairs materialized out of thin air. The present members of Ala Alba wisely took their seats. "Good", Eva began. "Before I informed any of you about Sakurazaki's condition, I called for Nodoka first so I could debrief Setsuna on what had happened. It seems our enemy right now is exceptionally skilled in stealth, she may even rival Kaede's abilities as a kunoichi.". the vampires met eyes with the chuunin who just consented for the meeting to continue. "However, those are not the important points. The important point is that Setsuna heard of the enemy's objective. It appears they are targeting protectors of the Konoe household."
"Protectors of the Konoe household? Do you mean us?", Haruna asked out loud.
Eva spared her a glance before shaking her head, "No you dunce. We may keep Konoka safe but we aren't her protectors. The Konoe house is one of the higher ranking mage families within Japan. In fact, it can be considered the highest after they merged the Kansai and Kanto magic associations with their bloodline. It would be of little surprise that such a powerful and influential clan had a dozen or two vassal clans.".
Negi raised his hand, "So master, you mean that they only target people dispatched from these clans?"
Eva nodded, "Quite possibly, but we're not yet sure. As it stands, we can only assume that people who have close relations with the Konoe clan are the ones in the worst possible situation. The list of people include: Konoemon Konoe, Konoka Konoe, Sakurazaki Setsuna and Fuuga Shizuka."
"Yosh!", Asuna felt pumped up. "So all we have to do is keep'em safe right? Then let's just wrangle everyone up and wait for the enemy to come to us!", she proudly suggested.
All it got the twin-tailed girl was a sandal in the face. "We will do no such thing.", Eva snarled in irritation. She muttered a distinctive 'idiot student' under her breath. "If we were to do that, then the enemy would be expecting it. They are no amateurs like you people. That's why you shouldn't let your guard down just because you saved the world a couple of times. Remember, 'There is a sky above the sky, there is a cloud outside a cloud'. Nothing in this world is absolute.".
"Then what do you suggest we do de-gozaru?", Kaede asked.
"Our best option?", Eva began in a questioning tone. "Isn't it obvious? It's nothing.". Everybody tripped from the unexpected answer.
"What the hell was that!? And here you said that my suggestion was stupid.", Asuna complained in indignation. The reward for the statement was the matching sandal of the first.
"An idiot to the end.", Eva sighed. "Besides a rough estimate of the enemy's strength and their intentions, we have absolutely no data on them. Who they could be, possible area of activity, we don't even have a description of the enemy to narrow down the search.".
"What about the enemy's voice? Couldn't we discern anything from it de-gozaru?", Kaede suggested.
"That's right!", Negi piped up. "We could at least tell wether we're facing a male or a female."
"And do what?", Eva groaned. "See who gets a try at dating them? Well you're in luck boya, it's a girl.".
"Huh?", Negi intelligently answered with an extremely red face.
The vampires sighed again. "Dealing with this idiocy will give me a heart attack one day.", she muttered to herself. She turned to her apprentices and their friends before explaining, "Over half of Mahora Gakuen is composed of girls. Hundreds of thousands live in this town, now with that population, can we find ourselves being on guard against each and every one? The answer is no and therefore a dead end. The best thing we can do right now is to travel in groups, especially when in the company of the people within the list. Is this understood?"
"Yes!", the group chorused.
Eva looked pensive for a moment. Everyone assumed that the meeting was over and began to rise from their seat before Eva spoke once more. "Wait.", she commanded. "There is more. When the enemy was about to strike down Sakurazaki, someone had gone to her rescue. We have no idea whether this stranger is an ally or whether they are an enemy. It remains best for our interests if we stay cautious of this third party.".
Everyone nodded, not sure on how to take the information. It was easy if it was going to be one on one, but if there was a third party and an unknown one at that, then things would be very complicated.
"Eva-san", Yue raised her hand.
"Yes Yuecchi?", Eva noted. She had the smallest bit of respect for this girl, albeit a grudging one. After all, it was nice to know there was someone who knew what they were talking about in his rabble she got herself into.
"Did you see this third party? Setsuna-san is in your care after all. That must mean that you arrived at the scene or that Setsuna-san was brought to your doorstep.", Yue deduced as she sipped once again in her odd drink. This line of questioning got everyone's attention as they looked to Eva.
The dark evangel smiled, "You are correct in your logic, however we were not able to see this third party. By the time we found Sakurazaki, she was already at our doorstep with Tatsumiya staining my cabin with blood. Whoever this third party is, they know who is allied to whom and won't show us their face. I can't find myself believing that such a person would be an ally. Therefore we shall treat them as an enemy until they show sign of otherwise.". With that, Evangeline dismissed the meeting. In her mind, she contemplated at stepping up their already hellish training. It would be needed.
TRANSLATIONS:
"Tenshi-san, tenshi-san, doko wa mitai no tenshi-san? Sora ga wa iru? Yama ga wa iru? Doko wa mitai no tenshi-san?"- I'm not a japanese speaker but I think this is what it roughly translates to when I wrote it "Mr. angel, mr. angel, where did I see you Mr. angel? Are you in the sky? Are you on a mountain? Where did I see you mr. angel?"
Kimono and Hakama- Respectively the top and bottom of a miko's apparel. The top is specified as a kimono shirt while the miko's hakama is made specially different from other hakama.
"There is a sky above the sky, there is a cloud outside a cloud"- a rough translation of my fragmented memories of chinese proverbs. It means to say that there is always one better than the other.