First story I'm sharing here so I hope you enjoy. It's an Asuna/Negi story that starts off during the Mahora Festival.

Disclaimer: I dont own any part of Negima, I'm just a fan of Ken Akamatsu's work.

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Chapter: A Night of Unrequited Love

It was a night full of merriment as thousands of people gathered into the streets to celebrate the Mahora Festival. Excitement and laughter filled the air, but all was not fun and games. There upon a single rooftop stood an unlikely couple. A nervous young girl and a calm older man.

The two of them stood there isolated from the rest of the world, and it was here the girl silently struggled with herself. She had one clear objective in mind, to confess her feelings for the older man before her. It took her a great deal of effort to finally get this one moment to be alone with the man she admired so much, and she didn't want to let this chance go to waste. She found it hard to get such simple words out into the open. Simple words that had such a great mysterious power. Words that if said could change one's life forever. But every time she opened her mouth, no words came out.

This nervous girl found it so ridiculous that she couldn't say such simple words, and even more so that someone else who was far worse at these situations was able to do it. Her heart was sinking further and further into despair the more she thought about how hopeless she was. But then she remembered a certain troublemaker who once told her that courage was the real magic. With this she found a new sense of resolve, and decided that now was the time to do it.

The girl stood there in front of the older man clutching her chest as her heart began beating faster and faster. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, it was now or never.

"Takahata-sensei ever since I was young...I've always...I've always been in love with you." she said it. This girl put forth all her courage into this one moment to confess her feelings.

Takahata was surprised by his students' words, and yet a sad look overcame his face. In his mind he felt that he didn't deserve to be loved. He took a careful look at the girl and regretfully gave his answer.

"Thank you...Asuna-kun, it make me happy hearing that...but I'm sorry." Takahata's words pierced through Asuna's heart but she stood there and took every bit of the pain without showing it.

"Oh...well I think I'll call it a day...now if you'll excuse me." Asuna responded trying to laugh off the situation but she wasn't fooling anyone. She ran away from that awkward moment. She wanted to cry so hard but couldn't do it in front of the person she loved, so she ran as fast as she could.

Asuna ran without any destination within mind, the only thing she wanted to do right now was to get away from that scene, away from Takahata. Her breathing became harder and her lungs started to scream in agony, but she wouldn't stop running. Tears began welling up within her eyes and soon the world around her became a blurry mess. She didn't care what was in front of her; she just kept running hoping she'd be able to escape reality.

***

At the same time of Asuna's heartbreak, a child and a student were walking through the festival together.

"Hey Negi-kun, do you you really want things to work out for Asuna?" The girl cheerfuly said to the boy.

"Eh? What do you mean Konoka-san?" Negi replied confused.

"Hmm...Don't you think losing Asuna to someone else is a bit sad?" She said in a teasing manner.

Negi took this in and thought about the relationship he shared with Asuna before giving his response to Konoka.

"Well, whenever she ignores me it makes me really sad..." Negi said this as he remembered the fight he once had with Asuna.

Konoka cheerfully laughed as she heard Negi's words, "Ah I knew it! Negi-kun has feelings for Asuna~!"

As Konoka's words rolled off her tounge in a playful manner, Asuna suddenly appeared from within the crowd. She was running in a desperate manner with tears flowing freely from her eyes. As she forcefully made her way through the crowd and passed Negi she had a second of clarity and instantly recognized the boy. The shock of seeing Negi so suddenly made her feel even more ashamed with herself as she remembered his words of encouragement. She didn't want to face him at this moment and put forth all her strength to run even harder.

"ASUNA-SAN~!?" Negi quickly shouted as the girl passed him, but she didn't listen. "Konoka-san...Asuna-san was crying wasn't she?" Negi said in a worried voice. Konoka stared off into the direction where Asuna had disappeared and nodded her head in agreement.

"Negi-kun...go after her." Konoka said. "Bad things will happen if you let her go."

Negi's heart skipped a beat as he heard Konoka's words. He wanted the best for Asuna even if he couldn't do a damn thing for her, he still wanted to be by her side no matter what. He clentched his fist and gave the first answer that came to mind.

"I'm going after her!" Negi said in a serious voice.

***

Asuna ran far away from the rest of the world before fatigue finally got the better of her. She stopped in the middle of an empty park with a large fountain display. And with a quick look around the area she found herself walking towards a bench overlooking the fountain to rest in.

"Stupid Negi, why'd he have have to see me like that?" Asuna said as she collasped onto the bench. "Huh...why the hell do I care if that stupid brat saw me?" Her troubled mind ate away at her as she thought about both Takahata and Negi. The girl's eyes fixated on the water as she thought about many things that night. Her history with Takahata and her fairly bizarre relationship with Negi. The more she tried to think about what she liked about Takahata the harder it was for her to remember a reason to love him. Negi popped into her head everytime she thought about Takahata and this greatly disturbed her. She was in love with the older man but the boy was so close to her.

"Stupid Negi get the hell out of my head!" She screamed out with a shaking fist. She looked around to reconfirm that no one was there and silently looked towards the ground with a thoughtful expression. "Even if I say that... I already kissed that brat twice." She sat there silently after saying these words and let time pass without notice.

"Asuna-san..." A familiar voice came from behind her. "Can we talk?"

The voice caught Asuna off guard and she wanted to run away again but every part of her body screamed to stay put. She sat there without moving and wished so hard that this person would just leave her alone for now. But something inside of her wanted the opposite. Something within this girl's heart wanted to embrace him.

"Are you here to make fun of me...Negi-bouzu?" She said in a broken voice.

"Now why would I do something like that?" Negi replied in a calm manner. "Asuna-san, you shouldn't be sad right now, you had the courage to confess your feelings and thats not an easy thing to do."

"Then why did I have to be dumped like that?" Asuna quickly replied. "Maybe if I wasn't so stupid I would've had the brains to know it would've turned out like this. Plus my personality sucks, and I'm not really that pretty either..." She hid her face between her knees and started to sulk as she said this.

Negi was visually upset after hearing her words of self doubt. "Asuna-san, look at me!" He forcefully grabbed her and looked directly into her eyes. "What you just said...none of that is true, not a single word of it." His sudden agressive nature took the girl by surpise. "The Asuna-san I know is beautiful and so determined, don't let what Takamichi said get to you, because even if he doesn't return your feelings, I still really like you."

Tears started to form in Asuna's eyes as she heard Negi's words.

"You stupid brat...10 year old kids like you shouldn't be cheering up girl's like me." She shoved her face into Negi's chest as her tears flowed uncontrollably. Negi in turn pulled her body closer to him and hugged her.

***

An hour had now gone by since Negi found Asuna alone on that bench. Fireworks filled the night sky with a variant rainbow of illumination. And the girl who had cried so many tears that night was now resting peacefully on the young boy's lap.

Remembering the girl's sad expression earlier pained the boy's heart as he ran his hand through the girl's hair. His eyes wandered upon her face as she calmly watched the fireworks. It was the first time for this boy that he truly took in just how beautiful this girl was.

"Asuna-san..." The boy whispered to the girl. "Do you regret it?"

Asuna's eyes focused on Negi's worried look as she thought about her response. "It hurts, but no, I'm glad that I was able to hear the truth."

"I see." Negi replied vaguely. "You know...magic can't fix everything in life."

"I know, you said that when we first met. Courage is the real magic isn't it?" Asuna said this as she reminisced their first day together.

Negi smiled as he heard her response. "You remembered."

"It was your words that gave me the courage to confess, stupid." Asuna replied.

Negi took another long look at Asuna's face before saying another word. "Just this once, Asuna-san. Don't get mad at me." He reached into his pocket as he said this and pulled out an elegant looking watch. He looked over it briefly and raised it towards the night sky. A rush of magic flowed from the boy into the watch and soon the world around them began to disappear.